City Water in the County                   

North Carolina cities and towns no longer have the authority to involuntarily annex their suburbs. Areas can be taken in only at the request of those wishing to be annexed, often for public health reasons. The availability of city water is often an inducement for suburban residents to request annexation. This month at a work session, Fayetteville City Councilman Jim Arp suggested city water ought to be more readily available in ‘the county.’ 

“We need to work with our county partners to provide water,” Arp said. Residents of many unincorporated areas of Cumberland County rely on private wells. Several of Arp’s colleagues agreed, but City Manager Ted Voorhees cautioned council to go slow. He said high-density areas should be targeted first. Arp said providing public water in areas outside the City could be an economic stimulus and make Cumberland County more competitive with other communities. 

“The other counties like Harnett and Moore are in the lead from an economic standpoint,” Arp said. 

The matter was tabled for further action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carelessness Causes Fires           

A recently reported fire confirms the cause of most fires. “First arriving units reported heavy smoke visible from a single-story dwelling. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the kitchen with smoke and heat damage throughout the dwelling. Firefighters also rescued a cat that appeared to be okay. Two occupants of the home were displaced by the fire, but were not injured. Cause of the fire was unattended cooking,” said Assistant Fayetteville Fire Chief Richard Bradshaw. “The highest percentage of structure fires within the City of Fayetteville continues to be cooking-related fires at 53 percent,” says Captain Moisbiell Alvarez, of the fire department’s Planning & Research Division. There have been 31 house fires in the city so far this year with no injuries. Fire fatalities have leveled off at two per year since 2012 when four people died in house fires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local Principal a Winner                                                             

Eight public school principals have been selected as 2016 regional Wells Fargo North Carolina Principals of the Year and will compete for the state title of North Carolina Principal of the Year. The winner will succeed the 2015 recipient, Steve Lassiter Jr., principal of Pactolus School in Pitt County. The regional principals of the year include Melody Chalmers of Fayetteville’s E.E. Smith High School. State Superintendent June Atkinson said that schools with high student performance, motivated staff and involved parents all have one thing in common: strong principals. 

“Our eight regional recipients exemplify the high-quality leaders guiding North Carolina public schools,” said Atkinson. Regional winners receive $1,000 for personal use and $1,000 for their schools. A state selection committee will review the portfolios of the eight contestants and conduct an extensive interview process before selecting the 2016 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year. The announcement will be made May 12 during a luncheon in Cary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Fayetteville 2016                      

“Tis a lesson you should heed, if at first you don’t succeed try, try again…”   (T.H. Palmer)

It’s an idiom that Victoria Baskett took to heart.  She competed in the Miss North Carolina pageant in 2015 as the reigning Miss Goldsboro. She tried again this year and was dubbed the 69th Annual Miss Fayetteville at Methodist University. The scholarship competition was staged at Huff Concert Hall in the Reeves Fine Arts Building. She beat three other contestants for top honors. Baskett, 22, is a 2012 graduate of Terry Sanford High School. She succeeds Comfort Johnson, who represented the City as Miss Fayetteville last year. Gina Clymore, who attends the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, was first runner-up. Clymore also took top honors in the swimsuit competition and was named Miss Congeniality. Baskett will compete in the Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant in June in Raleigh.

 

“Through the darkness of the heavens shine the lights of knowledge.”                                           –  Tom Grubb –

Tom Grubb is an artist, specifically a sculptor, who uses his knowledge of missile technology and abstract space exploration in his work. He is educated and experienced in both areas. These days he’s creating artwork in his home studio and experimenting with new technology.  Grubb’s 20 years in Fayetteville are immortalized in three sculptures which have become part of the community’s landscape —from the airport to downtown. He received a National Endowment for the Arts project grant for his sculpture “Star Gate 2003.” He created another piece, “Sprint Voyager,” for Fayetteville’s Festival of Flight, also in 2003. His local art was chronicled in an Up & Coming Weekly cover story that year. His works have been exhibited in collections and museums in the United States and abroad. Grubb was Executive Director of Fayetteville’s Museum of Art from 1990 to 2010. When the museum went under, Grubb moved on and now makes his home on the ocean in Washington, N.C. Art, his sailboat and teaching art appreciation at Beaufort Community College are his life today.

His first local work of art was erected at the airport in 1988. More recently came “Star Gate 2003” at the roundabout near the Headquarters Library. “Sprint Voyager” is off Hillsboro and East Rowan Streets near downtown. It’s actually a telephone company cell tower for which Sprint won an award as the “most creative cite concealment of a tower.” It was noted as “the height of ingenuity” in the New York Times Magazine.

Perhaps you’ve wondered about the inspiration for his futuristic designs. 

“I combine elements found in physics, astronomy, navigation and sacred geometry to create my works of art. I believe that the arts and sciences are closely connected to the health of the human spirit. It is through this seeking of the unknown that one can grow and develop as a human being on planet earth. I create these works of art that are part ancient, part futuristic and part spiritual to inspire the viewer to consider the unlimited possibilities of exploring earth and the universe,” said Grubb.

Time is taking its toll on both local sculptures. They need painting. Presumably CenturyLink inherited maintenance responsibility for maintaining the “Voyager” which the now-defunct Sprint originally agreed to maintain. Grubb says painting “Star Gate 2003” is up to the City of Fayetteville. He tells Up & Coming Weekly that he’s working with Michael Gibson, Director of the Parks & Recreation Department, to have the painting taken care of. The sculptures are made primarily of aluminum and stainless steel.  Grubb says he has volunteered to oversee the painting. The two poles from which the sculpture is suspended have already been painted. 

What is love? Consider the immortal B.B. King who once mournfully sang, “Nobody loves me but my Mother/And she could be jivin’ too.” America is about to descend into Valentine’s Day: our annual festival of love and over-compensation. Today’s column, prior to transitioning into tomorrow’s fish wrap, will reverse engineer Valentine’s Day into its elements. We will then reassemble love’s components into something that Madison Avenue can sell for consumers to buy.

Valentine’s Day likely began with the Roman holiday of Lupercalia — the wolf festival. Lupercalia was the Romans’ equivalent of Mardi Gras and The Bachelor TV show rolled into two days of making whoopee in February each year. Roman dudes got together, got nekkid, got drunk and killed a dog and a goat. This was well before PETA came on the scene, so some animals were in fact harmed during this festival. After skinning the poor critters, the Roman lads would then go hang with the Roman lasses and literally hit on them with the animal skins. 

In a colorful Roman theory of biology, the ladies would stand in a group to wait to be flailed with the animal skins by drunken Roman frat boys. The theory is being swatting with animal skins increases ladies’ fertility. This leads to the production of more Romans; thereby serving the Empire’s need for more soldiers. The names of the ladies would be put into a jar. The lads would then pull out a name like Jeff Probst does on Survivor. Foreshadowing 1970s key parties and the Rolling Stones’ hymn to love, Let’s Spend the Night Together, the lucky couples united by the Jar of Love spent quality time together to boogie until the cows came home. 

Our old buddy, Roman Emperor Claudius II gave Valentine’s Day its name by executing a gentleman named Valentine on Feb. 14. Like many third century activities, the actual facts are difficult to pin down. One of the versions of the story is that Valentine was a Christian priest. He got on the wrong side of Claudius by continuing to marry Romans after Claudius had come out against marriage. Claudius did not want his soldiers entangled in marriage as it would divert them from their military mission. If the Empire wants you to have a wife, it will issue you one. 

Like Donald Trump, it did not pay to get on the wrong side of a Roman Emperor. Claudius tossed Valentine into a dungeon. While waiting for the Executioner’s Song to be sung to him, Valentine struck up a friendship with the jailor’s daughter. As his last act before crossing to the Great Beyond, Valentine wrote a love letter to the daughter signing it, “From your Valentine.” Valentine was later upgraded from prisoner to Saint by the Catholic Church.

 A couple of centuries later, Pope Gelasius I came up with the brilliant idea of combining the Lupercalia festival and St. Valentine’s day to submerge naughty bits of Lupercalia into a fifth century’s more sedate version of love as opposed to lust. After the Roman Empire bit the dust, Valentine’s Day continued. In the medieval period, between fighting off wolves and the Black Plague, every February folks would give each other handmade cards expressing their undying love. A cynic might point out that all those medieval people expressing undying love are now quite dead. Whether their love continues without them is a matter of conjecture.

America monetized Valentine’s Day into the orgy of cuteness it is today. In 1913, Hallmark Cards began mass production of zillions of Valentines to sell to a public looking for love in all the wrong places. Industrialized no calorie love for $5.95 a card covered the Earth. We are now tormented with an annual infestation of Peeps, a thoroughly hideous candy version of chicks, bunnies, dogs and goats. 

The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre exploded in 1929 in Chicago (some things never change) when seven members of Bugs Moran’s North Gang were lined up against a wall and machine-gunned by Al Capone’s boys, a couple of whom were dressed as Chicago Police officers. Frank Gusenburg, a member of the Moran gang who survived a few hours after being shot 14 times was asked by the real police who had shot him. Frank, a bit of a hard case, replied, “No one shot me.” 

If given the choice, being swatted with animal pelts in Lupercalia seems preferable to being riddled by bullets in Chicago. As Dean Martin once sang, “Ain’t love a kick in the head?” 

Just over four years ago, a popular Fayetteville restaurant caught fire in a rear storage area. Firefighters put the blaze out before it could spread to the main dining room, but smoke and water damage ruined the interior of “Miami Subs Grill” on McPherson Church Road. It was devastating for owner/manager Jimmy Diamantopoulos. 

“It had just been remodeled and was free and clear,” said Diamantopoulos, as he’s known, for obvious reasons. He had acquired a 50-year land lease and a 20-year franchise renewal.

Jimmy is managing JK’s Deli and Family Restaurant nowadays, but has high hopes of returning to ownership of a local eatery. In fact, it won’t be long now. Loyd Builders is constructing a strip center on Walter Reed Road, and Diamantopoulos will be back in business. 

Diamantopoulos  has been in the restaurant business for a long time. Before coming to Fayetteville 19 years ago, he had businesses in Montreal, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York. Of Greek descent, he found a home here, and at one time owned five restaurants. The Miami Subs Grill was his anchor store. He bought the building from the Miami Subs corporation. The aftermath of the fire in January of 2012 changed everything. 

Fayetteville Fire Department investigators, city police, State Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents were unable to determine cause of the fire. No charges were filed. But Diamantopoulos says when he filed a $400,000 loss claim, Nationwide Insurance called the fire “suspicious” despite the lack of any evidence. And in May of 2012, the claim was denied. Unable to speak with his insurance agent or Donan Forensic Engineering, which Nationwide hired, Diamantopoulos brought a suit against the insurance company. He tells Up & Coming Weekly the matter still has not been settled. 

Late last year, Diamantopoulos struck a deal with the owner of vacant property where JK’s is located to build a new restaurant there. It would face Raeford Road near the corner of Owen Drive. The final straw in his land preparation was the N.C. Department of Transportation’s decision to build a center dividing median along Raeford Road. N.C. DOT told Diamantopoulos he could not have two driveway access points, and that decision killed his plans. Actually, it changed the plan. Diamantopoulos is determined. 

That’s when he learned about developer Buzz Loyd’s plans for a new building on Walter Reed Road off Owen Drive. Diamantopoulos says it will be a 4,100 sq. ft. full-service restaurant about the size of JK’s. Featured items will include wings, burgers, gyros and other Greek favorites. He hopes to open his new Miami Grill this summer. It’s been a long road to Miami.   

Cities and towns have official seals for authenticating certain documents. Fayetteville has had three different seals over time. The first two were nondescript. The most recent, which has been used for more than 20 years, has the historic Market House as its focal point. The iconic building in the center of downtown has been emblematic of the city in modern times. And the official seal is everywhere … on the city’s website, all kinds of documents and publications as well as public buildings. It hangs on the wall in council chambers in city hall. 

Because of its history, the Market House in recent decades has become controversial. In antebellum Fayetteville, the structure was used as a market for the sale of produce and livestock. Occasionally slaves were sold there, and that’s the rub. 

“The Market House is a symbolic and significant part of our history. However, in my opinion, it should not be used in any official capacities concerning our city,” says Mayor Pro-Tem Mitch Colvin. 

Last year City Council instructed the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Commission to research whether the city should consider changing the seal by removing the likeness of the Market House. Public meetings on the subject have wrapped up, and council soon will tackle the issue, which has become racially divisive. Colvin and others point out the “history of the place is offensive.” Some members of council declined to comment.

Mayor Nat Robertson recognized two years ago that the city seal had no decorative place in his office, “…when I took over I had the Fayetteville logo used in place of the seal on all my letterhead, business cards and note pads,” he told Up & Coming Weekly. Colvin notes Fayetteville is North Carolina’s most racially diverse community, “I feel that it is time we began to look at a city symbol that reflects the diversity of this community. I feel if it offends one citizen that’s one too many.” 

City Clerk Pamela McGill outlined the seal’s official uses. “I use the seal on all official documents of the city that require my attention: City Council meeting        minutes, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, easements, and proclamations.” And there are a couple of other more obscure uses for the seal, she said. No one really knows when the city began incorporating likenesses of the Market House into what once was an official logo. It’s no longer used that way, but in the 1960s and ‘70s, graphics of the building were even plastered on police cars and fire engines. A more contemporary logo replaced it many years ago. 

  says the emblem could be retired to only its official uses, “Removal in such a way is an option. However, I would prefer having it removed as an official representation of Fayetteville. It is a symbol not appreciated by the majority of the black community.” 

Since taking office, McDougald has refused to wear the city lapel pin because it is a replica of the seal.

City & County Settle Tax Differences, for now   

Individual members of Fayetteville City Council and the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners spent the last few weeks hammering out a local tax agreement. Senior staffers joined in the discussions. Council members agreed with commissioners to renew the current sales-tax distribution agreement for three more years. 

“We’re just kicking the can down the road again,” said Councilman Bobby Hurst. 

He said commissioners made no attempt in recent years to work out an extension to the agreement that is expiring this year. The inter-local agreement entered into 13 years ago will remain in effect until June 30, 2019. The towns of Spring Lake, Hope Mills, Stedman, Wade, Falcon, Godwin and Eastover are also parties to the arrangement.  Part of the deal requires that city and county leaders begin negotiating a new sales tax distribution agreement no later than January of next year. 

At stake is the future of local sales-tax distribution. County government has the authority to select one of two methods. The method currently in use tends to favor the municipalities. But all parties agreed to it, as well as a 50 percent rebate of city sales taxes to the county in areas annexed by Fayetteville in recent years. The rebate is the heart of the issue. City Council wants to phase it out and retain all sales-tax proceeds received via the population method. The county threatened to adopt the method that distributes revenue by tax district. It would benefit the county and financially hurt the city and towns in Cumberland County. 

“We owe it to our citizens to come up with a practical solution,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Mitch Colvin. He was one of the city’s negotiators. “It would be political suicide” for commissioners to make any changes, he said, noting that most of the county’s voters live in Fayetteville and the small towns. “We need to send a clear message to the county, that we won’t be caught flat-footed again,” he added. 

Councilman Ted Mohn pointed out that ad valorem property revaluation will be done later this year. It could complicate matters for all local governments because, typically, property tax rates are adjusted depending on the outcome of the appraisals. County Commission Chairman Marshall Faircloth has said for the first time in modern memory, property values are down significantly. His hope is they will rise during the summer, lessening any operating deficit that would possibly result in tax increases. Councilman Jim Arp joined Mayor Nat Robertson in voting against the new sales tax agreement.

“This open-ended agreement is not fiscally responsible,” said Arp.

2015 Local Crime Report      

“I have failed as your police chief,” says Harold Medlock. Those were among his first words in a report to Fayetteville City Council. Medlock was alluding to a 5.4 percent decline in crime in 2015. A year ago he had promised a double digit reduction. As it turns out, violent crime went up 15 percent. Murders were down a bit, but aggravated assaults skyrocketed 50 percent over 2014. Robberies were down nearly 17 percent and larceny inched down. Chief Medlock told City Council 400 guns were stolen from 950 cars which had been left unlocked.

A lot of emphasis this past year was on police cameras of all kinds. The chief said 89 surveillance cameras have been installed around the city. All patrol officers are now equipped with body cameras which will eventually replace in-car dash cams. Medlock says he wants more red light cameras installed at dangerous intersections. Eight intersections are protected now. The chief ended his presentation with another promise. “I’m convinced we can reduce crime and I’m accountable for that.” 

Again he pledged a double digit reduction in overall crime this year.

Few Voter ID Cards Sought       

The Primary Election on March 15 is the first election in more than 100 years that North Carolina residents must identify themselves in order to vote. Many people claim requiring personal ID would be a hardship and would deny many their right to vote. But there apparently has been no groundswell among those without driver licenses or other forms of identification to acquire ID. 

“Since 2014, 1,739 N.C. identification cards for voting purposes have been issued” by the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles, according to North Carolina Board of Elections Spokesperson Jackie Hyland. 

“It’s an unusually small number” she said, adding that figures for individual counties were not available.

The general assembly provided opportunities for residents without ID cards to acquire them from the state at no cost. To obtain no-fee voter ID cards, residents are required to sign declarations stating they do not have acceptable forms of identification. The state will then assist them in completing registration applications. Applicants must provide two documents showing their full names and dates of birth, plus social security cards. ID card applicants must be U.S. citizens and N.C. residents. Residents who are homeless and wish to obtain IDs must present letters to DMV from officials of facilities that provide care or shelter to homeless persons.

Spring Lake Traffic Safety      

The Town of Spring Lake is one of the winners of the 2015 North Carolina Traffic Safe Communities award program sponsored by the AAA Carolinas Foundation. It was one of 15 localities in North Carolina recognized for traffic safety efforts made over the past year. Spring Lake was a winner among communities with populations of 10,000 – 30,000 residents, according to Police Chief Troy McDuffie. 

“Triple-A Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety strives to educate the public on traffic safety issues and positively influence driver behavior,” said Tiffany Wright, president of AAA Carolinas Foundation. 

In 2015, the Spring Lake Police Department focused on a number of highway safety initiatives such as “Booze it or Lose it” and “Seat Belt” campaigns. Criteria such as crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, and the existence of a formal traffic safety program were considered. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte provided statistical analysis.

City’s Chief Financial Officer Retires    

The City of Fayetteville Chief Financial Officer Lisa Smith is retiring after 28 years of service. Smith has guided the city manager’s office and City Council through budget preparations, and day-to-day financial stewardship, according to Kevin Arata, the city spokesman. She will be succeeded by Cheryl Spivey who comes to Fayetteville after six years as Chief Financial Officer for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington.

“We are fortunate to be able to bring Cheryl to our organization as her considerable experience is right on target for the City’s needs at this time,” City Manager Ted Voorhees said. Spivey previously served as Debt and Risk Manager for Wake County from 2006-2009 and Finance Manager for the Town of Cary from 2000-2006. Spivey is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she majored in business administration and minored in accounting. She began her duties with the city this week.

“March to Work” Job Fair      

Local employers are invited to participate in the upcoming “March to Work” Job Fair on March 23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crown Expo Center. The annual job fair traditionally attracts about 100 employers and thousands of job seekers. Human Resource professionals will be available to review resumes for job seekers. Booth space with wireless Internet access is free. Electrical outlets for booth space is available for a $25 fee. 

The job fair will feature an Internet job café hosted by the Cumberland County Public Library to help job seekers submit online job applications. 

The fair is sponsored by the Cumberland County Department of Social Services, the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center, City of Fayetteville, Fayetteville Technical Community College, Public Works Commission, Beasley Broadcast Group, Cumberland County Workforce Center and Hardee’s. The event is free and open to the public. To sign up for a booth, call or email Toni Wright-Harris at 910.677.2151.

Gardening Workshops          

Cumberland County Cooperative Extension’s ‘Better Living’ series will provide two workshops this month. Each workshop requires pre-registration and class registration fee payment one week beforehand. Both workshops will be held at the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Center, located at 301 East Mountain Drive, Fayetteville.

A “Raised Beds” seminar will be held Feb. 9 from noon - 1:30 p.m. Attendees will learn about the benefits of raised beds for gardening. Participants will also learn how to make and use raised beds. The $5 registration fee is due by Feb. 2.

A workshop entitled “Herbs: Out of the Garden and into the Pot” will be held Feb. 25 from noon - 1:30 p.m. This tiered program will provide information on growing herbs to preserving them at harvest. Participants will season and taste pre-homemade focaccia dough seasoned with home-grown herbs and enjoy a sampling of pot roast enhanced with bay leaf. The $5 registration fee is due on or by Feb. 18.

 

Don’t you just love the Internet!?!

Our recent “weather event”— as I actually heard one television news anchor refer to the snow and ice smothering a good part of our nation — gave me plenty of time to surf the Web. A meeting I had assumed would take most of a day was cancelled, so I had an entire day of unexpected, but welcome freedom inside my own house. Such fun!

I read book and movie reviews, caught up on most of the too many magazines I take and checked online with friends and neighbors to make sure everyone was weathering the storm. When I could stand sitting in front of the screen no more, I made two pots of soup and a chocolate cake!

I surfed both out of curiosity on subjects I do not usually have time to learn about and just for fun. I confess to being a digital immigrant, but how did I find out anything before the Internet?

We all know we Americans adore lists, and there are lists galore on the Web.

Inexplicable laws that make you wonder why someone thought of that. Every state has them, and here are a few gathered by The Huffington Post.

You will be zapped in Alabama if you wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in a church. A pickle cannot be considered a real pickle in Connecticut unless it bounces — not sure about eating that! If you tie your elephant to a parking meter in Florida you must feed the meter just as you would if the critter were a vehicle. If your frog dies during a frog-jumping contest in California, it is illegal to eat him. EEW! 

Planning to be in Idaho over Valentine’s Day? Be careful — it is illegal to give your sweetie a box of chocolate weighing more than 50 pounds! No wife-beater tees in Maryland parks, where wearing a sleeveless shirt risks a $10 fine. In Massachusetts, it is illegal to own an exploding golf ball. I would love to know why that one got enacted. I would not dream of trying this anywhere, but in Missouri it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear. And, heaven forbid you should try this at home, but in Minnesota, it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head. In New Jersey, men are not allowed to knit during hunting season, and in Utah, it is illegal NOT to drink milk, lactose intolerance notwithstanding. 

What about the Tar Heel state? Don’t even think about plowing your cotton field with an elephant!

Computers and Web surfing, unlike books, require passwords, and from Gizmodo.com under the title “We’re All Such Idiots” come the 25 most popular passwords. Raise your hand if you are guilty of any of these…123456, password, 12345678, qwerty, 12345, 123456789, football, 1234, 1234567, baseball, welcome (identity thieves must love that one!), 1234567890, abc123, 11111, 1qaz2wsx, dragon, master, monkey, letmein, login, princess, qwertyuiop, solo, password (again!) and starwars. 

As long as we choose passwords like these, crooks will laugh all the way into our bank accounts.

From the “Mouths of Babes” department with a nod to Art Linkletter’s “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” comes a series of questions.

1. How to decide who to marry? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. Alan, age 10

2. How can a stranger tell if two people are married? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. Derrick, age 8

3. What do you think your mom and dad have in common? Both don’t want any more kids. Lori, age 8

4. What do most people do on a date? Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. Lynnette, age 8

5. When is it okay to kiss someone? The law says you have to be 18, so I wouldn’t want to mess with that. Curt, age 7

Another child had another view. The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It’s the right thing to do. Howard, age 8

6. Is it better to be single or married? It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. Anita, age 9

7. How would the world be different if people didn’t get married? There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn’t there? 

8. And my personal favorite….

How would you make a marriage work? Tell your wife she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck. Ricky, age 10

That boy has a future in the diplomatic corps.

Many people travel great distances to see the works of masters like Auguste Rodin, whose pieces are routinely shown in premier museums like New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum in Paris. The David McCune International Art Gallery at Methodist University and Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation have arranged to make Rodin’s works available for viewing in Fayetteville. The exhibit Rodin: Portraits of a Lifetime, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections opens with a reception from 6 -9 p.m. on Feb. 11. The exhibit is open until May 7. The opening reception features Executive Director of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Judith Sobol as the guest speaker. She will speak at 7 p.m. The reception and the exhibit are both open to the public. 

“I am confident that viewers will find this show’s 17 bronze Rodin sculptures to be a stunning installation featuring works that span the artist’s long career,” Art Gallery Director Silvana Foti explained. “The exhibition includes Rodin’s famous depictions of writers Victor Hugo and Honore de Balzac; of the musician Gustav Mahler; and of the artist Claude Lorrain. Also included in the show is a photographic portrait of Rodin by Edward Steichen.”

Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin was born in  Paris in 1840. Well-known for his works “The Thinker” and the uncompleted “Gates of Hell,” Rodin didn’t blossom as a sculptor until later in life. As a youngster, he struggled in school. He was nearsighted but did not realize it. He turned to drawing as a way to ease his academic frustrations. By the time he was a teenager, Rodin was taking formal art classes. His confidence still suffered though, and when he was 17 he applied to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts only to be rejected not once, but three times. 

It was a trip to Italy in 1875 where Michelangelo’s work reignited Rodin’s artistic passion. In 1877, Rodin’s sculpture “The Vanquished,” which was later renamed “The Age of Bronze” premiered. The sculpture is of a nude man with clenched fists. The work was so realistic that some accused Rodin of using molds directly from the model’s body. By his 40s, Rodin had become established as an artist creating pieces like “The Three Shades,” The Old Courtesan,” and “The Thinker.” He died Nov. 17, 1917. Rodin is considered a pioneer in the world of modern sculpture.

The David McCune International Art Gallery provides an intimate space for patrons to enjoy the exhibit.  “Art students everywhere study Rodin,” Foti said. “I was fortunate to see Rodin sculptures in museums in Europe and large U.S. cities, and it’s nothing short of amazing that a gallery in Cumberland County will have the opportunity to exhibit his work.”

Since opening its doors in 2011, the David McCune International Art Gallery, housed in the William F. Bethune Center for Visual Arts at Methodist University, has hosted several exhibits featuring nationally recognized artists. Last year saw “Picasso: 25 Years of Edition Ceramics from the Rosenbaum Collection” at the gallery and fall 2013, the featured exhibit was “Igneous Expressions,” which featured the works of contemporary glass artists including Harvey Littleton, John Littleton, Kate Vogel and Mark Peiser. 

The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation supports the arts through exhibitions and other programs that recognize and show appreciation for visual and performing arts. The foundation also supports medical institutions that focus on biomedical research and clinical care, especially those that focus on women’s healthcare.

Exhibit hours are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. The gallery can arrange “touch tours” for groups of visually impaired visitors. Admission is free. Find out more at http://www.davidmccunegallery.org or by calling 425-5379.

Much ink and reel has been given over the past week to the seizure of The Haven Friends for Live, a no-kill rescue by the ASPCA. Our televisions, social media and newspapers have been filled with photos of animals in makeshift cages. Thousands of words have been written regarding the plight of the animals at the shelter and about the 15 graves of animals that died while in the care of organization. But few, if any, have told the total story of the shelter. And, this is where I would like to weigh in.

I first met Linden Spear in the spring of 1998. I had recently moved to Fayetteville to be with my then-boyfriend, now husband, and was working as a reporter at Up & Coming Weekly. Spear invited me out to her relatively new shelter to talk about the plight of animals in our community. At the time, she was lobbying to have the county pass a law requiring anyone who wasn’t a breeder to have his or her pets spayed or neutered. She was also trying to bring attention to the way the county was euthanizing its unwanted animals. Instead of using the gas chamber at the facility, the shelter was shooting animals. Spear was horrified.

On my first visit to the county pound with Spear, she rescued two or three dogs. Our next stop was at a local vets office, where the vet donated his service to spay or neuter her rescues. We dropped the newest animals off and picked up several cats and a few dogs. While there, Spear talked about the irresponsibility of pet owners who allow their animals to breed uncontrolled. She talked about not only how it added to the local animal population, but also hurt the animal’s health in the long run.

We talked about the way that feral cats were a problem in the community because of the quick rate of cat reproduction and the number of cats that are allowed to breed unchecked. Also on her mind that day was the practice of some military family’s that got pets, but when they received orders to a new place, they simply left the pets in their old neighborhoods. This was something that hit home with me, as I had recently taken in a beautiful cat that we lovingly called Big Kitty. He became a beloved pet and member of our family. 

Spear also talked about the plans she had for her shelter. She was writing grants, seeking support not only from the local community but also nationally. She was building relationships with stores that would give her damaged bags of pet food. She was reaching out to non-profits to get volunteers out to help her build kennels and do the never-ending work at the shelter.

Also on her mind were the folks who would wait until the pound, local veterinarian’s office and her shelter closed. They would quietly slip up to these places at night and throw boxes of kittens over the fence or tie pets to the gates. These were the people who made her angry.

At the time, Spear had the resources and volunteers to keep it all together. But as the problem of abandoned animals grew, she became overwhelmed. Where she is now is not where she started, and it definitely is not the vision she had for her shelter. Some call Spear a hoarder and some, who have not followed her journey, call her cruel. But that’s not the case. Spear has an absolute love and passion for animals. The thought of killing animals broke her heart. But she couldn’t save them all and she surely could not keep up with the sheer number of animals that wound up at her farm. 

Linden Spear is a woman whose passion exceeded her ability to meet the demand. I believe that she simply became overwhelmed by the war she waged for more than two decades. She is not the demon that some would portray her to be, and perhaps that is the story I wanted to tell today. When Linden Spear started her journey at The Haven, she had a clear plan. Unfortunately, the problem was much bigger than her, and, if the truth is told, we, as 

a community are as much at fault as she is. 

Cape Fear Studios is the only visual arts cooperative in Fayetteville; as such, it already has deep roots in the local artistic community. The beautiful brick building houses a gallery, a retail area, seven studios for member artists and an open area for classes and meetings. And starting last year the cooperative annually opens its gallery walls to all artists in the community. 

“The ‘Cabin Fever’ Public Exhibit is non-juried exhibit open to all; participants don’t have to be a member of Cape Fear Studios. The art can be of any type including fabric or quilts, which is unusual for us; something we normally don’t do,” Ann Griffin, the executive director, explained. It is an exhibit that brings a fresh perspective to all of the talent in the area. 

To further engage the community, Cape Fear Studios often coordinates their exhibit openings with 4th Friday, and “Cabin Fever” is no different. Generally, exhibits open on a 4th Friday and remain open until the next one. Guests at the opening can snack on hors d’oeuvre and drinks, and often artists are available to chat with the public. This is especially true for solo exhibits featuring the work of a single artist. “The 4th Friday event … is like a regular exhibit opening reception. The only prize is a People’s Choice Award that people who come to the reception can vote on. They can also come the day before to vote,” Griffin said. 

According to Griffin one of the most exciting aspects of hosting such an open exhibit is the element of surprise. There is no telling what may come in, but she has never been disappointed with what the community produces. “Last year was our first time doing the ‘Cabin Fever’ exhibit. I was very surprised by the quality. This town is amazing. Last year we had a wood carver bring in a 24-inch tall carving of a man with a cane and it was the coolest. You just look at these things and think ‘wow that really is hand-made.’ And the photographers in Fayetteville are really outstanding. I am always surprised by the quality of the work,” she said. 

Though Griffin is not an artist herself, she is deeply passionate about her work and about the impact that art has on society as a whole. Art is part of what drives any culture. Technology is wonderful but what tells the story of the period is the art from people that lived at that time. “Many people don’t realize how important music and the arts are for any culture,” she said. “The artists bring more than their creations, they bring their energy. I love being part of that. “She asserts that it is art that differentiates early humans from just a collection of bones. 

Cape Fear Studious is located at 148 Maxwell St. The exhibit opening and reception is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.capefearstudios.com or call 910.433.2986.

 

Longtime Fayetteville residents will remember a time when dinner theatre was a regular part of the city’s social scene. But that hasn’t been the case for more than 30 years.

Back in the day, theatre patrons could routinely make their way to the Holiday Inn Bordeaux to catch a relaxing and entertaining evening of theatre coupled with a great dinner. As the old saying goes, all good things must end, and that was the case of dinner theatre in Fayetteville. But as the community begins talking about improving its quality of life, local businessman Bill Bowman, decided it was time to bring dinner theatre back to life in Fayetteville. 

“People always talk about the lack of things to do in Fayetteville, and then they head up to Raleigh or  Durham or Chapel Hill to experience things that could very easily be experienced here locally,” said Bowman. “Why can’t we have the ‘good stuff?”

With that thought in mind, Bowman reached out to the community, and what he found was many local partners who were excited about the idea of brining dinner theatre back to Fayetteville and welcomed the opportunity to be a part of it.

Bowman noted, that the enthusiasm with which the dinner theatre idea was greeted made him even more excited about making it a reality, Because he is about community, Bowman thought the best way to bring dinner theatre back was to bring it back by showcasing the work of a local playwright. So he turned to long-time friend Elaine Alexander - now a resident of Charlotte - but a hometown girl at heart. Alexander, a Westover graduate, with family ties that go back several hundred years, has gained success as a playwright in the Charlotte area, and was only too happy to bring one of her shows, A Southern Girl’s Got to Have It,  back home. 

For Bowman, the next step was finding a venue. For that, he had to look no further than a long-time friend with roots in the hotel industry: Romona Moore. Moore is the marketing director at the Holiday Inn I-95.

“They have a great venue out there and were one of our first partners,” said Bowman. “The hotel  is very excited and is putting together an elegant evening an wonderful meal to complement a great show.”

Because dinner theatre is such an intimate event, Bowman thought there was no better weekend to offer the show than Valentine’s Day Weekend.

“On Valentine’s Day, we are all looking for something unique an elegant to do with our Valentine,” he said. “Dinner theatre, complete with an overnight stay, makes a perfect gift for your special person.”

To that end, the Holiday Inn is offering special dinner theatre packages. The Hotel Sweetheart package includes two theatre tickets, a deluxe room, two complimentary breafkasts and a half dozen roses with each pair of tickets.

To make the evening even more unique, Bowman enlisted neighboring Lu Mil Vineyard to join the team. The family-owned vineyard located in Bladen County, will bring a sampling of its wines to the event for a wine tasting.

“There are a lot of things we are doing to ensure that this is a special night for those who attend,” said Bowman.

For those who do not have a sweetheart to celebrate Valentine’s with, the theatre  is sponsoring a Ladies’ Night Out on Friday, Feb. 12. Ladies’ Night Out includes a ticket, wine tasting and dinner, music and attendance to a champagne reception for the actors after the show.

On Friday Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13, the doors will open at 6 p.m., followed by a wine tasting, dinner and the show. On Sunday, Feb. 14, the show is at noon, which includes a wine tasting and buffet lunch.

“We are really pulling out all of the stops to make sure that Fayetteville residents have the opportunity to enjoy a great night of dinner and theatre without having to drive an hour away to do so,” he said “With the upcoming bond referendum, there is a lot of talk about what Fayetteville residents deserve. And  I wholeheartedly agree that Fayetteville residents deserve to enjoy great quality of life venues and events. If we can make this event successful, we will look at other ways and venues that we can create to add to the quality of life for our residents.”

If the dinner theatre is successful, Bowman hopes to bring a Georgetown-based playwright down to present the next dinner theatre. 

Tickets are $75 and are available at the Holiday Inn, Up &Coming Weekly,the Crown Coliseum, Owen’s Florist and online at CapeFearTix.com. Discounts are available for seniors, active duty military and Cumberland County School Educators. 

For more information, call 391-3859.

Four downtown area galleries in Fayetteville have started 2016 with a strong presence of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists to share with the region. Visitors should visit all four galleries to experience the full richness of ways in which artists use materials, techniques and form to create meaning. After visiting each gallery your perception will be heightened; you will have a clear understanding about a predilection in late modern and contemporary art — artists are responding to their personal experiences in culture.

Ellington-White Contemporary Gallery, at 113 Gillespie Street, is exhibiting the photographs and sculptures by Willis Bing Davis, an exhibit titled We Wear the Mask: An Ode to Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Texture, pattern and found materials become signifiers for meaning as each art object becomes a sum of its parts to create universal meaning — abstraction becomes the real. 

Davis’ artist statement reveals his reality when he states: “My works address myself to the unlimited resources of possibilities of my existence. The conscious inclusion of social commentary in my work is the first step toward speaking to a universal condition. The rich artistic heritage of African art with its religious, social and magical substance is what I select as an aesthetic an historical link … I feel my art should be a natural extension of my existence, bringing to fruition personal images, symbols and forms that most accurately express my perception of life.”

An accomplished artist, Davis is included in prestigious galleries and museums around the world. This list includes, but is not limited to, exhibitions at Studio Museum of Harlem, American Craft Museum, Renwick Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, Anacostia Museum, National Museum of Art of Senegal West Africa, United States Embassy Accra, Ghana and Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt, Germany). His art can be found in public and private collections in the U. S., England, China, Japan, France, Australia, plus Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Namibiaand Gabon on the continent of Africa.

In strong contrast to the softened edges, textured layers and physicality of the works by Willis Bing Davis, Rosenthal Gallery on the campus of Fayetteville State University, has opened the new year with Explorer of Form and the Beauty of Number by Vandorn Hinnant. Elaborate drawings and minimalist sculptures are all connected to the interconnectivity of that which is beyond the physical for Hinnant — that which is spiritual. Visitors to the gallery will immediately sense order, harmony, balance and a sense of perfection. 

When Hinnant talks about his highly symmetrical, circular and coded works, he references the influences of how he approaches his relationship with images and object making: “My current work is a further exploration and articulation of an ancient knowledge of relationship passed on to and through notables such as Euclid, Archimedes, Plato, Pythagoras, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giordano Bruno, Johannes Kepler, Albrecht Durer, Maurits Cornelis Escher, Buckminster Fuller, Robert L. Powell Sr., Lynnclaire Dennis, and a great many others.”

He continued: “These forms and images are a reflection of the geometries of nature and embody some of the energetic matrices of nature’s pre-material template. These works of art are to serve viewers as a source of inspiration, as a springboard for the imagination, and as a visual bridge between the arts and the sciences… my practice of rendering visible signs of the unseen ‘Implicate Order’ is in keeping with the ancient craft guilds’ directives, and more ancient canons for referencing the Divine Presence in all things. Each work is born out of a deep communion with what I poetically refer to as ‘The Art Spirit.’”

You will leave Hinnant’s exhibit feeling refreshed and “centered.” So it is not surprising some of his commissions/exhibitions include the Cone Health Sickle Cell Medical Center at North Elam Medical Plaza/Wesley Long Hospital Campus in Greensboro, North Carolina; “Together We Rise” public art sculpture in Winston-Salem; Harrison Museum of African American Culture, in Roanoke, Virginia; The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, North Carolina; and the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Gallery 208 at 208 Rowan Street is hosting Dwight Smith: an Artist’s Approach to Discovery. Visitors to the exhibit will enjoy seeing how Smith transitions between mediums; each process contributes to his personal meaning or content. For Smith the act of drawing, painting and printmaking is an immediate source of discovery.

The following statement by Smith is the key to understanding how he moves so easily between the different media: “My research and investigations into contemporary painting involve mixed media painting and drawings that are influenced by material surfaces and scale … As an artist the act of discovery involves methods of integrating opposites into a state of harmony and balance. Elements of design referenced in African, African-American or multi-cultural imagery create a catalyst to begin my visual language that informs the work. Through the work I am responding to the tension generated by a resounding past and an insistent present. Each work is a commitment to intimate concerns about painting and the contemporary language of abstraction.”

Some of Smith’s most recent group invitations to exhibit include NAAHBCU National Exhibition: AfroFurturism, at the Tubman African-American Museum, Macon, Georgia; FORECAST: OVERFLOW at the Brown & Juanita Ford Art Gallery, Wayne County Community College in Detroit, Michigan; Earthy Abstraction: Works by Jack Kehoe, Kipley Meyer, Brian Rust and Dwight Smith at the Madison Artists Guild in Madison, Georgia; and Contemporary Works on Paper at the Brandywine Center for the Visual Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Selected solo exhibitions include OBSERVATIONS: Mixed Media Works from Dwight Smith at the Ellington-White Contemporary Art Gallery in Fayetteville; New works by Dwight Smith at the National Conference of Artists Michigan Chapter Gallery in Detroit, Michigan; Peintures, Le Manufacture in Aurillac, France; and National Conference of Artists International Exhibition at the The National Gallery in Dakar, Senegal.

The Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County is exhibiting Romare Bearden: Beat of a Different Drum and features the original illustrations of Li’l Dan, the Drummer Boy, a Civil War Story.

Romare Bearden is recognized as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the 20th century. This exhibition includes 26 original watercolors from the only book he illustrated in his career. Romare Bearden: Beat of a Different Drum includes the book and text panels with audio narration by the late legendary poet and Civil Rights activist Maya Angelou. 

An important 20th century late modern artist, Bearden’s work is included in many important public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The Studio Museum in Harlem, among others. He has had retrospectives at the Mint Museum of Art (1980), the Detroit Institute of the Arts (1986), as well as numerous posthumous retrospectives, including The Studio Museum in Harlem (1991) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. (2003).

All exhibits will remain open until mid-February and are free to the public. To call about information to visit the galleries or tour information, please call the following numbers: Ellington-White Contemporary Gallery at 910.483.1388; Rosenthal Gallery at 910.672.1975; Gallery 208 at 910.484.6200; and the Arts Council at 910.323.1776.

The Cape Fear Regional Theatre has a long history of producing top-notch shows. That tradition continues unblemished with its latest production, The Wiz. An adaptation of Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, the show first opened at the Majestic Theatre in January 1975. Since then it has been delighting audiences, and the audience at the Sunday matinee at the CFRT was no exception.

Originally produced by Ken Harper, a popular radio personality and producer, the show as groundbreaking in that it was produced with an all black cast. Running for four years during its original run and netted seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, proved the acceptance of an all-black cast by the mainstream on Broadway, laying the framework for future African-America blockbusters like Dream Girls. The popularity of the show has not waned, as shown by the recent televised live performance this year.

Prior to seeing the show, I wondered how the CFRT could pull of such a big production on their stage. It was something I really didn’t need to worry about. The creative staff at the CFRT has always done a great job at maximizing their space, and that was true with this show as well. Through the use of video, simple dual use scenery and the actors, the show allowed us to suspend reality and step into the make believe world of Oz. The cast also used the aisles going through the theatre as part of its acting space, which invited the audience to become a part of the show.

Pre-performance, the CFRT staff was a little nervous about how the show itself would come together because of its intricacy and size. They had nothing to worry about. During the show I attended, there was only one noticeable hiccup, and that was with the microphone of the Wicked Witch Evilene. During her first scene, her initial lyrics could not be heard, but the sound crew quickly corrected the problem, and the audience was soon drawn into her delightfully, wicked home. 

The casting of the show was perfection. Many long-time CFRT performers graced the stage, while we were also introduced to new actors  — whom I’m sure we will see again. It was not a veritable cast of thousands, but the way actors came and went off the stage, it made you feel like it was an extremely large cast. There were close to 50 performers in the cast, many of whom played dual roles. Huge props go to the dancers/singers who popped in and out of many scenes as different characters. Their talent was amazing and they brought it on the big dance production numbers. 

Special props go out to the younger actors, Justice Haygood, Annalise Kelly, Diego Macias and Helen Steffan, who stole the audience from the get go as the Munchkins, and who popped in and out of the show with great style and stage presence. If actors like these are the next generation of CFRT performers, theatre will thrive in Fayetteville for quite some time to come. 

Of course, much of the show’s success depended on the performance of Dorothy and her motley band — the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. These four had a great chemistry together and showcased what the CFRT staff does so well — bringing and eclectic group together to make great theatre. TyNia Brandon (Dorothy) is a young North Carolina performer, having earned her bachelor’s of fine arts  in musical theater, with a minor in dance, from Catawba College in 2014. Brandon didn’t just grace the stage, she owned it, which is quite a compliment when you consider the talent with which she shared the stage.

Other stand-out performers include Crystal Lynn Bradley, who played the not so magical, but street savvy witch Addaperle, Lormarev Jones playing Evilene and Fayettteville native Gigi Ritchey as Glinda. 

The Wizis a great way for the CFRT to kick off the year, and they did it in such a way that should have you easing on down the road to check it out.

A second and more expensive construction problem has arisen at the North Carolina Veterans Park in Fayetteville. It could cost nearly $100 thousand to correct. Last summer, a crack was discovered in a glass monument, which authorities are attributing to wind that rocked the tall glass structure. Engineers are still trying to figure out the best way of stabilizing the monument. The state of North Carolina funded construction of the park at a cost of $12 million. It opened on July 4, 2011, and was dedicated by then-Governor Beverly Perdue as the nation’s only state park dedicated to veterans.

More recently, another problem was discovered. Walls of a pair of large underground vaults that house huge water pumps began to collapse. Recycled water is pumped to five fountains on the park grounds. The fountains are checked regularly. The walls of the vaults, or fiberglass cabinets, face a steep hill across Bragg Boulevard where rain water runs off underground. 

“Over the last two years, we’ve encountered high runoff…six inches of water so far this year alone,” says Parks & Recreation Director Michael Gibson. 

Asked if engineers had forecast the potential stress on the large vaults Gibson said, “I don’t know if any amount of calculation could have predicted the inordinate amount of rain that caused underground pressure” to disturb the walls of the cabinets. Construction crews are in the process of shoring up the two affected walls. The cabinets measure 20 X 10 feet and 50 feet deep.

Metal plates are being installed alongside the walls. Then parallel concrete walls will be constructed to hold back the earth. Metal rods will connect the two, allowing space between them for rocks to be installed to serve as a sort of French drain. Cost of the project thus far is $88 thousand. The city has to absorb that cost even though it’s a state park because it’s responsible for maintenance and repairs to the park as part of an agreement with the state. 

“We’re always looking for issues in regular maintenance monitoring,” says Gibson. No other problems have developed that he’s aware of, he adds.

The State Veterans Park, 300 Bragg Blvd., honors North Carolina veterans from all branches of the military with flags and symbolic monuments. Walking paths, water features and sculptures are located throughout the park. The Oath of Service Wall displays bronze castings of North Carolina veterans’ hands, positioned at shoulder height as though they are taking the oath of service. Military history videos are shown in the visitor center, where a chandelier made of 33,500 dog tags hangs from the ceiling and a Service Ribbon Wall made of fused glass displays every service medal awarded since the Civil War. 

Not many companies could stay in business long if they collected only 55 percent of their billings. That’s what American Traffic Solutions of Phoenix, Arizona, is taking in from Fayetteville violators who run video-monitored red lights. An updated report prepared for Up & Coming Weekly indicates that 7,657 citations were issued since the program began last summer. 

City of Fayetteville Spokesman Kevin Arata says the new data is for the calendar year ending Dec. 31. A total of 4,257 citations of $100 each were paid for a gross total of $425,000. Sixty-five percent of the proceeds or $276,000 goes to Cumberland County Schools, as provided by law. American Traffic Solutions keeps the rest. 

“There is no cost to the city,” says Traffic Engineer Lee Jernigan. Jernigan estimates the school system can likely depend on about $800,000 a year in red light citation revenue.

What about the 3,400 violators who haven’t paid the fines? They “are assessed late fees of $100 if they aren’t paid within a 30-day timeframe,” according to Arata. After that, the company would have to take the violaters to small-claims court. Because the citations are civil violations, no records of them are shown on drivers’ licenses or insurance reports. 

Records provided by the city indicate three of the intersections monitored by the cameras have accounted for nearly 50 percent of the tickets. They are Skibo at Morganton Road, Ramsey Street at Law Road and South Reilly at Kimridge Road. Jernigan says it will take several months to determine whether the red light cameras are having the desired effect of reducing auto accidents.

Fundraiser Set for Homeless Shelter

Fayetteville’s Operation Inasmuch plans to begin construction of its new shelter for homeless men this winter with occupancy in the fall. The agency is promoting what it calls a “Drive-thru Fundraiser” for the shelter at Hillsboro and Chance Streets across from its ministry center on Jan. 31. Executive Director Sue Byrd says $200,000 has already been raised or pledged; the estimated cost of the shelter is $500, 000.

The facility will be built “in keeping with the construction and finishes of the seven Frink Street homes” owned by the charity says Byrd. The fenced-on, 6,500 sq. ft. single-story building will front Chance Street as a limited-access facility with the main entry enabled with a security buzzer and security glass. The police department will install a surveillance camera that can be monitored 24/7. The shelter will also nclude an office or the police department’s homeless project police officer. The shelter will be staffed day and night with paid staff or volunteers.

Byrd says the building will have beds for 40 men, with standard rest room facilities including two handicapped accessible rest rooms. A day room will have TVs and will provide space for group meetings. A laundry will include three clothes washers and three dryers. On life threatening, cold ‘white flag’ nights, the facility will serve an additional 15 to 25 men. 

Typically the shelter will open at 6 p.m. to receive men who were pre-registered earlier in the day at the Operation Inasmuch Ministry Center, according to Byrd. “There will be no long lines of people waiting to get in,” she said. The nextday, residents must be up and out by 7:15 a.m. They will be served breakfast at Inasmuch across the street.

Scholarships for Children of Veterans

College scholarships are available for eligible high school seniors who are the children of North Carolina veterans. The scholarships are provided by the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the North Carolina Association of Veterans Services Officers. 

The Military and Veterans Affairs Department manages scholarships for children of certain categories of deceased, disabled, combat or POW/MIA vets. They provide four years of tuition and fees at approved North Carolina state universities. Students who choose to attend private schools are given vouchers of $4,500 a year for eight semesters over eight years. Qualifications and applications are available online at www.milvets.nc.gov. 

The scholarships from the Association of Veterans Services Officers were established to honor members. They’re open to graduating seniors whose parents are honorably discharged state residents. The scholarships pay $1,000. Applications are available at the Cumberland County Veterans Services Office at 301 E. Russell St. 

Voter ID Required This Year

For the first time in more than 100 years, North Carolina voters are required to show photo ID at the polls. Five years ago, the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly changed voting laws that had been in effect since 1896. The Cumberland County Board of Elections says acceptable photo IDs include North Carolina driver’s licenses or ID cards, passports, military ID cards, Veterans Administration cards and certain tribal ID cards. Options for citizens who don’t have or are not able to obtain ID cards can be found online at voterID.nc.gov.

The Board of Elections’ early voting schedule was created after receiving input from the public. Early voting times and dates are: 

Board of Elections Office (227 Fountainhead Lane)- March 3, 4, 7-11 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; March 5 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; March 12 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Cliffdale Recreation Center, East Regional Branch Library, Hope Mills Recreation Center and North Regional Branch Library- March 3, 4, 7-11 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; March 5 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; March 12 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Health Dept. Receives Grant

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the Cumberland County Health Department a $300,000 grant for the Adolescent Parenting Program . This program serves pregnant teens and mothers who are 19 or younger at the time of enrollment. The APP is a teen pregnancy prevention program developed to help prevent second pregnancies. It’s administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health and the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Unit.

 The goals are to increase self-sufficiency, increase high school graduation rates or completion of GEDs and improve the welfare of children of teen parents. APP also hopes to increase incidence of positive parenting and increase children’s physical well-being by creating safe home environments. 

The Health Department will receive $75,000 annually for four years beginning June 1, 2016. Pregnant teens must be enrolled at any stage of their pregnancy and may remain in the program until they graduate from high school or complete a GED. The program is coordinated by a full-time public health staff member with an average caseload of between 15 and 25 participants annually. It includes home visitation and peer group education sessions. 

Cumberland County was targeted for funding based on its five-year average teen pregnancy rate of 63.6 percent from 2009-2013, which ranked 12th highest in the state.

Not many companies could stay in business long if they collected only 55 percent of their billings. That’s what American Traffic Solutions of Phoenix, Arizona, is taking in from Fayetteville violators who run video-monitored red lights. An updated report prepared for Up & Coming Weekly indicates that 7,657 citations were issued since the program began last summer. 

City of Fayetteville Spokesman Kevin Arata says the new data is for the calendar year ending Dec. 31. A total of 4,257 citations of $100 each were paid for a gross total of $425,000. Sixty-five percent of the proceeds or $276,000 goes to Cumberland County Schools, as provided by law. American Traffic Solutions keeps the rest. 

“There is no cost to the city,” says Traffic Engineer Lee Jernigan. Jernigan estimates the school system can likely depend on about $800,000 a year in red light citation revenue.

What about the 3,400 violators who haven’t paid the fines? They “are assessed late fees of $100 if they aren’t paid within a 30-day timeframe,” according to Arata. After that, the company would have to take the violaters to small-claims court. Because the citations are civil violations, no records of them are shown on drivers’ licenses or insurance reports. 

Records provided by the city indicate three of the intersections monitored by the cameras have accounted for nearly 50 percent of the tickets. They are Skibo at Morganton Road, Ramsey Street at Law Road and South Reilly at Kimridge Road. Jernigan says it will take several months to determine whether the red light cameras are having the desired effect of reducing auto accidents.

Fundraiser Set for Homeless Shelter

Fayetteville’s Operation Inasmuch plans to begin construction of its new shelter for homeless men this winter with occupancy in the fall. The agency is promoting what it calls a “Drive-thru Fundraiser” for the shelter at Hillsboro and Chance Streets across from its ministry center on Jan. 31. Executive Director Sue Byrd says $200,000 has already been raised or pledged; the estimated cost of the shelter is $500, 000.

The facility will be built “in keeping with the construction and finishes of the seven Frink Street homes” owned by the charity says Byrd. The fenced-on, 6,500 sq. ft. single-story building will front Chance Street as a limited-access facility with the main entry enabled with a security buzzer and security glass. The police department will install a surveillance camera that can be monitored 24/7. The shelter will also nclude an office or the police department’s homeless project police officer. The shelter will be staffed day and night with paid staff or volunteers.

Byrd says the building will have beds for 40 men, with standard rest room facilities including two handicapped accessible rest rooms. A day room will have TVs and will provide space for group meetings. A laundry will include three clothes washers and three dryers. On life threatening, cold ‘white flag’ nights, the facility will serve an additional 15 to 25 men. 

Typically the shelter will open at 6 p.m. to receive men who were pre-registered earlier in the day at the Operation Inasmuch Ministry Center, according to Byrd. “There will be no long lines of people waiting to get in,” she said. The nextday, residents must be up and out by 7:15 a.m. They will be served breakfast at Inasmuch across the street.

Scholarships for Children of Veterans

College scholarships are available for eligible high school seniors who are the children of North Carolina veterans. The scholarships are provided by the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the North Carolina Association of Veterans Services Officers. 

The Military and Veterans Affairs Department manages scholarships for children of certain categories of deceased, disabled, combat or POW/MIA vets. They provide four years of tuition and fees at approved North Carolina state universities. Students who choose to attend private schools are given vouchers of $4,500 a year for eight semesters over eight years. Qualifications and applications are available online at www.milvets.nc.gov. 

The scholarships from the Association of Veterans Services Officers were established to honor members. They’re open to graduating seniors whose parents are honorably discharged state residents. The scholarships pay $1,000. Applications are available at the Cumberland County Veterans Services Office at 301 E. Russell St. 

Voter ID Required This Year

For the first time in more than 100 years, North Carolina voters are required to show photo ID at the polls. Five years ago, the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly changed voting laws that had been in effect since 1896. The Cumberland County Board of Elections says acceptable photo IDs include North Carolina driver’s licenses or ID cards, passports, military ID cards, Veterans Administration cards and certain tribal ID cards. Options for citizens who don’t have or are not able to obtain ID cards can be found online at voterID.nc.gov.

The Board of Elections’ early voting schedule was created after receiving input from the public. Early voting times and dates are: 

Board of Elections Office (227 Fountainhead Lane)- March 3, 4, 7-11 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; March 5 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; March 12 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Cliffdale Recreation Center, East Regional Branch Library, Hope Mills Recreation Center and North Regional Branch Library- March 3, 4, 7-11 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; March 5 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; March 12 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Health Dept. Receives Grant

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has awarded the Cumberland County Health Department a $300,000 grant for the Adolescent Parenting Program . This program serves pregnant teens and mothers who are 19 or younger at the time of enrollment. The APP is a teen pregnancy prevention program developed to help prevent second pregnancies. It’s administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health and the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Unit.

 The goals are to increase self-sufficiency, increase high school graduation rates or completion of GEDs and improve the welfare of children of teen parents. APP also hopes to increase incidence of positive parenting and increase children’s physical well-being by creating safe home environments. 

The Health Department will receive $75,000 annually for four years beginning June 1, 2016. Pregnant teens must be enrolled at any stage of their pregnancy and may remain in the program until they graduate from high school or complete a GED. The program is coordinated by a full-time public health staff member with an average caseload of between 15 and 25 participants annually. It includes home visitation and peer group education sessions. 

Cumberland County was targeted for funding based on its five-year average teen pregnancy rate of 63.6 percent from 2009-2013, which ranked 12th highest in the state.

Former Civil Rights journalist turned college professor Frye Gaillard came to town earlier this month at the behest of the North Carolina Civil War History Center Foundation (full disclosure — I serve on the foundation board). Gaillard discussed his most recent book, Journey to the Wilderness: War, Memory, and a Southern Family’s Civil War Letters. It is a curated account of one family’s Civil War experience through their letters, vividly illustrating yet again the excruciating ambivalence and pain that accompanied our nation’s deadliest conflict. Gaillard’s book also reminds us, as if we needed reminding in this election year, that we have yet to resolve many of the issues that troubled Americans 150 years ago.

Gaillard headed back to Alabama, leaving his audience with much to think about regarding long-running currents in American life, but I was struck as well by another of his works, The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir. A lifelong consumer of books, I was instantly transported to my earliest memories of books that have become part of me. Before I could even read, my mother read to me. We wept together when Christopher Robin decided it was time to put Winnie the Pooh away as a childish toy. We laughed when Scuppers the Sailor Dog hanged a “hat on the hook for his hat and his rope on the hook for his rope.” Later I lost my self in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Secret Garden and resolved to live in a tree house like the Swiss Family Robinson. Eventually, I moved on to the Nancy Drew series, biographies of famous women, and by the time I was a teenager, I read everything I could get my hands on, including some totally age-inappropriate books, probably swathed in blankets in hopes no one would notice me and my reading material.

From the time I could read, I did so until my eyes watered —sometimes under the covers with a flashlight and later boldly with my best lamp blazing.  

Frye Gaillard reveals that his love of reading began a bit later in life. He was not smitten by fairy tales, most of which seemed to him to involve eating little children. At 9, though, he discovered Esther Forbes’ Johnny Tremain, a Revolutionary War tale which turned young Frye into a lifelong reader. 

The grown up Gaillard organizes the books that speak to him by theme, with “Southern Voices” including Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, still among America’s best selling books over five decades after its publication. His “Darkness” chapter includes books that explore human evil, including Night by Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and John Hersey’s Hiroshima. A Southerner as well as a Civil Rights journalist, one would expect Gaillard to delve into issues of race and he does through African-American writers such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Henry Louis Gates as well as fellow white Southerners William Faulkner and one of my favorites, Walker Percy.

In “Poetry, Prose and a Sense of Place” Gaillard confesses that his favorite book is Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, a book both so Southern we can imagine it even today and so universal that people in other nation’s understand its truth. In “Family Values” he reminds us of the lessons Alex Haley teaches in Roots and those pounded in, perhaps inadvertently in The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. He gives a nod to Cumberland County’s own Tim McLaurin, an author whose snake-handling ways and Keeper of the Moon, his memoir of a boyhood on the eastside of the Cape Fear River, makes me sad that our paths never crossed.

Finally, Gaillard knows that while reading is how human beings have learned for millennia, sometimes we do it just for fun. Books resonating in that category for him include James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, a favorite  of the young Dicksons, Walking Across Egypt by North Carolinian Clyde Edgerton and the always wonderful Lee Smith, a Virginia girl who got to the Tar Heel state as soon as she could.

My list of books is long and, unlike Gaillard’s, totally unorganized, but reading his, we share many of the same books that have meaning for us. One of mine that did not make Gaillard’s list is The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, a novel by Rocky Mount native Allan Gurganus. A 99-year woman delivers nothing short of a spectacular monologue about her marriage at 15 to a 50 year old Civil War veteran, touching along the way on slavery, racism, the horrors of Reconstruction, the mysteries of marriage, raising children — in short, the human condition, a fictional account of some of the same themes Gaillard’s ancestors recounted in their letters. A tome by anyone’s definition, it is both a romp through things Southern and things true.

We all have our own lists, and Gaillard’s book pushes me to think about mine.

I would love to hear about yours.

The curtain rises on the new Fayetteville Dinner Theatre’s first stage production in more than 30 years. Why? Because we deserve it. 

That’s right! After all, Fayetteville residents will be going to the polls on March 15 to vote on a $35 million Parks & Rec bond that will provide amenities to enhance our quality of life and give business and industry a reason to come here and stay here. Well, that’s the theory anyway.  We’ll see soon enough. In the meantime, we forge ahead.

Fayetteville declares it wants and deserves the good stuff – at least that’s what we profess. Good theatre, great restaurants, plenty of arts and culture. So, in a town that gets giddy over a new neighborhood BJ ‘s and intoxicated at the smell fresh veggies at the Fresh Market, its time we stop hitting the road to Raleigh, Durham  and Chapel Hill for an elegant meal  and a great show.

The first production of the new dinner theatre is a test to see if we as a community can support goodness in our own hometown. On Feb.12-14, Valentine’s Day weekend, the new Fayetteville Dinner Theatre premieres in our community with A Southern Girl’s Got To Have It. A hilarious comedy written by Charlotte playwright Elaine Alexander (born and raised in Fayetteville). This will be a weekend to remember. 

Each show will include a wine tasting showcasing Lu Mil Vineyards, classic musical entertainment by Kia Walker’s Blue Violin, free gifts for the ladies, door prizes and a special meet and greet with the cast. It will be a very special weekend with a great dinner and three opportunities to enjoy hilarious fun-filled dinner theatre. But, the question remains: Will the community show up to support it? 

It has all the makings of a success; however, there are no guarantees. If we build it, will they come? All indications say they should. But Fayetteville is Fayetteville, so there are no guarantees. If they don’t come, it won’t be because the evening wasn’t spectacular and it will tell us  what we need to know about ourselves and the future of our community. 

This is only the beginning. If this project is successful we will go on to create a jazz venue in Fayetteville. Yes, a real live jazz venue where we can take advantage of the dozens of jazz musicians who travel all over the nation and the world playing their music but have no place to play in their own hometown. 

There is so much opportunity here in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Do we need amenities? Yes. Do we need a $35 million dollar bond and all it has to offer in quality of life? Yes. Does the community need to come out and support those amenities? Absolutely. 

Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. I hope to see you at the theater.

Late last December, I wrote a rather pointed op-ed piece on the development of the parks and recreation plan for the greater-Fayetteville area. 

I appreciate our mayor and city council. I’m glad they have the foresight to improve the quality of life in our All-American City, because improvements are badly needed in our existing facilities, as is planning for new facilities. Organized athletics are not just entertainment. They can build teamwork and community spirit as well, and when they also reduce juvenile crime, the community gets a further bonus. Our senior citizens are living longer than ever before, and their quality of life is just as important as that of younger people. Two senior centers, one in East Fayetteville and the other in West Fayetteville, are long overdue.

But in my op-ed, I tried to explain the plan in its entirety, not just giving a “big picture” overview, but also taking a closer look at the hidden costs of the then-proposed $64 million plan. Several readers voiced appreciation for the background research I included in the article.

Last Monday the City Council met and revised the $64 million plan to a $35 million plan, still tying it directly to the bond referendum coming up this March. I sincerely think that’s a step in the right direction. The plan objectives are now set out much more clearly, for one thing, but transparency is essential to building trust. I still have several concerns about the modified plan, and about the local political context in which it would be implemented, if approved. 

First, is the information being provided to the City Council accurate and reliable? If the council is to make good policy, they need to have accurate information. For example, on Dec. 14, city management assured the Council the total cost of the then-$28 million multipurpose complex would be approximately $700,000 per year. That very night, the council voted unanimously to approve the bond referendum being placed on the ballot in March. But later, on Jan. 4, a memo was distributed to say that the number city management gave at the Dec. 14 meeting was inaccurate. Council had already voted on the basis of an inaccurate figure. Now council learned that the true cost would in fact be around $2.3 million a year. That is an understatement of $1.6 million — every year! Unfortunately, this is not the only example of such, “mis-statements.” City management is rightfully expected to do their homework before council votes, rather than afterward. Money is not the issue here. Trust is.

Second, in the recent municipal election, some on our council campaigned loudly that they were going to hold the line on hasty tax hikes — they would support no tax increase until they had “looked under the hood” to see what synergies or savings they could find — specifically in the Fayetteville Public Works Commission. They have not yet kept that promise. In fact, due to an exceedingly ambitious city manager, who apparently wants PWC totally under his thumb, we are now mired in a sticky lawsuit that will reportedly cost the taxpayers of this city at least $500,000 to litigate. Back during the Big Bang annexation, the city signed a commitment to pay approximately $70 million toward the cost of the infrastructure in this newly-annexed area. But the current city manager wasn’t here when that promise was made, and he seems not to regard it as binding. He is now attempting to renege on that obligation. Just call us “Litigation City.” Keep in mind this $70 million cost was not written directly out of the city budget but was a reduction in the amount the city would have received from technically the ratepayers of PWC. Again, the underlying issue isn’t money. It’s trust. We like folks who keep their word, Ted (Voorhees).

Prior to negotiations crashing and litigation beginning, PWC had agreed to give back to the city approximately $1.3 million growing every year for inflation. We ended up not only giving that stream of income up but costing the citizens of this city $500,000 for litigation cost. It’s interesting that that $1.3 million a year would almost completely cover the interest expense assuming that the bonds were issued at 4.25 percent, not principal mind you but interest-only.

True, City Council has the obligation for oversight of PWC. That does not mean City Council members — all of them “part-time” public servants, with private careers of their own — have the time, skill or experience to operate a multi-million dollar public utility. Ah, but that’s why we have city management professionals, right? Re-read the above paragraphs.

We knew it would happen and it has. 

Millennials now outnumber Baby Boomers, 83 million to 75 million, becoming the largest of two gigantic lumps in the United States’ demographic snake.

The U.S. Census Bureau officially announced the rout last summer, meaning that the Boomers, my generation born into post-World War II America between 1946 and 1964, have been eclipsed by many of our own children, those born roughly between 1980 and 2000, although the exact defining dates remain fluid. Many Boomers continue hale, hearty, and in charge of at least themselves if no one else. Millennials, though, are clearly ascendant, with notables such as Mark Zuckerberg and Taylor Swift already driving
forces worldwide.

We all know and probably love some individual Millennials, but as a group, who the heck are these people? How are they different from the Americans who proceeded them? What makes them who they are?

Millennials’ most defining characteristic is that they are the first generation in all of human history to have grown up with computers in their homes. Not all of them, of course, but as a group they have never known a time without wireless communications and the reality that knowledge about almost any topic is literally a few key strokes away. Rapid communication via social media is a major factor in their daily lives, and for many, there is no such thing as the “slow lane.” The rest of us are “digital immigrants,” but Millennials are the world’s first “digital natives.”

They are highly diverse, with almost half — more than 44 percent — being part of a minority race or ethnic group, meaning they are not single-race white. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce notes that 11 percent of them are the children of at least one immigrant parent. This diversity trend is not slowing down anytime soon. Of the generation coming behind Millennials, those born since the turn of the 21st century, just over 50 percent is part of a minority race or ethnic group.

The Census Bureau also finds that Millennials are on target to be the most educated generation in American history. Seventy-two percent graduate from high school, and 68 percent enroll in college, with a graduation rate of 58 percent in six years. Many go on to graduate programs — perhaps to wait out our slowed economy — and while many do take on significant student debt, they do so because they understand the long-term value of education. 

Millennials may be interested in education, but religion — not so much. A full quarter of them say their religion is “None,” according to the Pew Research Center. Nor do they readily embrace marriage as have prior generations. A slowed economy is part of this trend, which is more pronounced among the working class who are less likely to marry and have children within marriage than college educated Millennials. In addition, Millennials are living at home longer than prior generations, perhaps from economic necessity but perhaps not, earning them the moniker of the “Peter Pan” or “Boomerang” generation.

These are just the facts, but there is plenty more as everyone from scholarly researchers to Boomer parents tries to figure out Millennials. 

What caught my attention as the mother of three of these folks is a recent piece on Inc.com entitled “3 Reasons Millennials are Getting Fired.” The author posits that Millennials are handicapped in the work place by the cold, hard facts that bosses are not their helicopter parents eager to cheer them on, that work is not always fun or accomplished on their personally flexible schedules and by their childhood experiences of receiving a trophy simply for showing up for the game. In fact, Millennials are sometimes called the “trophy generation.”

Researchers at the University of Michigan and UCLA have found that Millennials value wealth about 30 percent more than Boomers do, are less interested in political affairs, though they are classically liberal on social issues, and centrist on fiscal ones, and have little interest in “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” — whatever that might mean.

Of concern to Millennials, their parents and economists is what effects the Great Recession has had on Millennials and whether they are permanent. Many of them came of age during the Great Recession and found themselves either under employed or unemployed. No one knows yet whether slow starts in the workplace will mean Millennials will not achieve the American dream of doing better than one’s parents.

What emerges here is a portrait of a generation still defining itself, and it matters because Millennials are the largest generation in American history thus far. They, like their parents the Baby Boomers, will shape and leave their stamp on every aspect of American life, for better or for worse. Like many of my generation, I had no idea I was a Boomer until I was almost an adult, and my guess is most Millennials are just as clueless. They are busy figuring out their own lives, not their generation’s impacts and legacies. 

Does all of this sound like anyone you know and love?

If you have been following the Presidential Election Campaign for the past year, you are probably on election sound bite overload. With nearly hourly updates on the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries; with the Republican debates last Thursday and Democratic debates on Sunday; I have been forced over the edge of exhaustion and frustration and will join the ranks of hundreds of thousands of former Democratic and Republican Party members who have found credence in Groucho Marx’s advice to “Refuse to join any club that would have him as a member.”

For the average American, the polls have concluded that the government of the greatest nation in the world has not only let us down but has abused us. Both parties have grossly misrepresented their constituents, abused their power and ignored, disrespected and trampled upon the Constitution of the United States making the term “law-of-the-land” a joke. 

Americans are worse off now than they have ever been. They are scared, economically depressed and angry with a government that has proven time and time again by word and deed that we just don’t matter. Only they matter. 

This being the case, how can anyone pledge alliance to a politician or political order so brazen, selfish and corrupt? Well, I cannot. Out of protest, I have already pledged not to vote for any incumbent nationally after finding it almost impossible to distinguish who the good guys are. At least, as an Independent voter I can enjoy the fact that I have a choice. A choice without guilt. A choice without compromise. A choice that will allow me to feel that I am not part of the problem, which allows me not to advocate for a dysfunctional government. My choice allows me not to enable that government. It’s not much, but it’s a huge relief to practice my independence.

Thank you for choosing to read Up & Coming Weekly.  

The local distribution of sales tax revenue has driven a wedge between Cumberland County Commissioners and the Fayetteville City Council. In the next few days commissioners will begin discussion of changing the method by which sales tax proceeds are divided between the county and the nine municipalities. If that happens, Mayor Nat Robertson has said he will cut city services to offset up to $4 million in lost revenue. Town governments are accusing the City of Fayetteville of looking after its own interest to the detriment of the small towns. Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson concedes the point, saying he has the obligation “to protect the interests of city taxpayers.” 

For the last 13 years, the city and county have used a distribution method that shares sales tax revenues by population with a caveat. The city agreed to divide proceeds in a large area that it annexed. As the city’s population grew, the unincorporated area of the county shrank. Negotiators agreed it was only fair for the city to rebate the county one half of the new money it collected in those annexed areas. The towns got smaller shares of sales tax proceeds depending on their populations. The agreement between Cumberland County and Fayetteville has been renewed a couple of times and expires at the end of the current fiscal year.

Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson and City Manager Ted Voorhees have proposed phasing out the 50/50 sharing of revenue taken in from annexed areas. The county is opposed because it would lose millions over the five-year phase out period.  Robertson and Voorhees believe it’s the city’s money to keep because roughly 90 percent of sales tax revenue is generated inside the city.

The county is considering changing the method by which tax money is distributed to the ad valorem system or tax districts. The money would be divided, not by population, but by territories that each government unit covers. Cumberland County’s tax district is the entire county, which means it would get the lion’s share of tax collections. The city and towns would get much less money than which  they’ve been accustomed to. 

Commissioners have given the city until the end of this month to agree to a continuation of the current tax-sharing arrangement. City Manager Voorhees says Fayetteville “is prepared to extend the current agreement,” with a caveat: The city and the Town of Spring Lake want to claim all tax money available under the current formula in areas of Fort Bragg annexed by Fayetteville and Spring Lake. 

Commissioners have refused to negotiate a compromise with City Council, and have threatened in no uncertain terms to change the tax distribution formula on July 1. “Commissioners are not willing to serve on a sales tax negotiating team because the compromise has been on the table since 2013,” says County Commission Chairman Marshall Faircloth. “Further negotiation opens the door to the city’s desired phase-out of the agreement, putting county services at risk,” he added. The towns of Hope Mills, Wade, Falcon, Godwin, Stedman, Vander and Eastover would also suffer pro rata revenue losses. Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner accused Fayetteville of bullying, saying “We can’t fight the big dog…we have no voice.”

Progress, Prosperity, Places to Play! That’s the theme of the City of Fayetteville’s outreach effort to educate the public about the upcoming Parks and Recreation Bond Referendum. Voters are being asked to approve a $35 million package for several projects during the March 15 North Carolina Primary Election. 

A post on the city’s website (www.FayettevilleNC.gov/ParksBond) about the referendum reads: “A citywide bond proposal would enable us to build outstanding new facilities to provide city residents throughout the area with affordable, close-to-home options for recreation, sports and entertainment.”

The website provides an outline of the proposed projects as well as voter and ballot information. A page of frequently asked questions is included. Missing, however, is an explanation of financial details such as an amortization timeline, projected interest and total tax cost. The tax increase necessary to fund all the projects is $0.0135 per $100 of assessed property valuation. That translates to $16.98 a year for a home valued at $126,000, or as the city tells it, the cost of a two-liter soft drink bottle per month. At the request of Up & Coming Weekly, city officials said the bond debt would be retired over 20 years at an anticipated 5 percent interest rate. That is not included in the information online. 

The Fayetteville City Council came up with the list of projects after several weeks of discussions and utilizing the findings of a citizen survey. The bond package includes two senior centers, a tennis center, sports field complex, two skateboard parks, a Cape Fear River Park, seven splash pads and improvements to seven existing parks. All facilities are within the city limits. Here’s is a detailed explanation of the projects:

Senior Centers. Two full-service facilities, one of which tentatively would be built on Lamon Street downtown. The other is to be located along Raeford Road in West Fayetteville. The city says exact locations have not been identified. Key features would include libraries, video rooms, classrooms, art studios, dance studios, a fitness space and a meeting room. The combined costs are estimated as $10 million.

Tennis Center. It would be built at Mazerick Park for players of all ages and ability levels. It would include four clay courts and 13 hard courts, plus a tournament championship court with seats for 1,000 spectators and a 10,000 sq. ft. pro shop. The estimated cost is $6 million.

Sport Field Complex. A multi-purpose complex to be located on city-owned property on Fields Road off Cedar Creek Road that would include two lighted youth softball/baseball fields, two lighted youth softball/baseball fields with synthetic turf, two lighted adult softball/baseball fields, two lighted adult softball/baseball fields with synthetic turf, five soccer/football fields, two soccer/football fields with synthetic turf, three picnic shelters with BBQ grills, two children’s playgrounds and an 800-meter walking trail. Also included is a proposed 10,000 sq. ft. clubhouse. The cost: $9 million.

Skateboard Parks. One large in-ground concrete facility to serve the entire Fayetteville-Cumberland County region, and two mini parks. The larger park would provide a challenge for more advanced skate boarders. The mini-locations would be designed for novice skaters. The larger facility would include two parks at Robeson and Commerce streets for novice and advanced skaters. A novice park would be built at Westover Recreation Center. The total estimated cost is $1 million.

Cape Fear River Park.An urban riverfront park near downtown to provide passive river specific recreational activities. The exact location is to be determined. The city says it would be on the Cape Fear River bordered by Person, Broad and Grove streets. The park would include a boardwalk, access to the riverfront, boat docks, picnic shelters, trails and public open space with an estimated cost not to exceed $5.2 million.

Splash Pads. Six of them would be located at existing recreation centers, including Cliffdale Recreation Center, E.E. Miller, Gilmore Therapeutic Center, Kiwanis, Massey Hill and Myers Park Recreation Centers plus an additional location to be determined. One possible site could be Festival Park in downtown Fayetteville. 

Each location would include 2,000 sq. ft. zero depth splash pads and several water features which use recycled water. The total estimated cost for all seven locations would be $3 million.

Existing Park Improvements. Seven parks would be upgraded to include the renovation of some existing buildings and various park grounds. Among the projects are improvements to J. Bayard Clark Park & Nature Center, the Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Park building, Brentwood School Park, Massey Hill Recreation Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Mazarick Park and Seabrook Park. The estimated total cost is $800,000.

The referendum form will not allow voters to pick and choose selected projects. It’s a yes or no, all or nothing proposition. The city says some of the facilities included in the bond proposal would be able to operate with little or no additional operating funds. But, says the city, it’s important to note that membership costs and entrance fees may be required. Memberships would be offered at different levels (family, couple, senior, etc.),  and daily passes would be available for those who go less often or could not afford yearly memberships. In addition, officials believe the new facilities would be available for school athletic programs as well as recreation activities. Also, the facilities would have the added economic advantage of job creation, and would provide other opportunities for generating revenue through tournaments, swim and track meets, and other rentals for a wide range of public or private events. Attracting competitions and other events would lead to additional revenue through hotels stays, restaurants, retail locations and local attractions.

Tax Increase?

“There is a difference between a fee and a tax,” said State Rep. John Szoka. It’s a distinction that is arguable, but for the record “fees are charged to pay for the provision of a service and only for that service,” added Szoka. Republican lawmakers don’t like to raise taxes, but they apparently are not as concerned about increasing fees. The GOP controlled general assembly raised motor vehicle fees, which went into effect this month. One that you’ll notice immediately is the cost of renewing a car’s registration. According to the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles, it went from $28 to $36. An 8-year driver’s license renewal is now $40 which is an $8 increase. A 5-year driver’s license renewal went up $5 to $25. The charge for a title certificate went from $40 to $52. The 30 percent overall increase is the first in 11 years. The updated charges are expected to raise $150 million for road and bridge improvements. Meanwhile, thanks to the political clout of North Carolina’s automobile dealers, the state’s low highway use tax on car sales will remain unchanged at 3 percent. “The distinction between fees and taxes may seem to be like splitting hairs but it is an important distinction,” said Szoka. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trailblazing Female General

The new Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy took command this month. Brig. Gen. Diane Holland is the first female officer to assume the responsibility for the military, physical, character and social development of more than 4,400 cadets. She’s a 1990 graduate of the school. Earlier in her career Holland served with Fort Bragg’s 20th Engineer Brigade as a battalion logistics officer and then as a company commander. After that, Holland earned a Master of Arts at Duke University and returned to West Point to teach. She also attended the Army Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies, where she earned a Master of Military Arts and Sciences. Holland most recently served as a Deputy Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division, a unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps, which is headquartered at Fort Bragg. It was another first for a female general officer. Lt. Gen. Robert Carlson Jr., the United Stated Military Academy’s superintendent, said “The Corps of Cadets is getting a great commander and an outstanding leader.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CFRT’s New Administrator

Fayetteville’s Cape Fear Regional Theatre has a new managing director. The board of directors this month named Beth Desloges the leader of CFRT’s administrative team. She is a 2011 graduate of South University in Savannah, Georgia, where she earned a Masters of Business Administration and worked as Executive Director of Susan G. Komen of Coastal Georgia. As Managing Director of  the CFRT, Desloges will supervise all operations while working alongside Artistic Director Tom Quaintance to keep the theatre moving forward. “She is a perfect fit for CFRT, and I am thrilled with the team that we have in place going into 2016,” said Quaintance. Desloges said she learned the value of theatre as a teenager in New Hampshire. “Many of the valuable life skills that have made me a successful adult derived from my days as a theater kid in a small New Hampshire community.”

Athletics at FTCC

Fayetteville Technical Community College is establishing a competitive sports program. Mike Neal has been hired as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at FTCC. He comes to Fayetteville from Sanford where he served for 25 years as Athletic Director of Central Carolina Community College. College officials say Neal will be responsible initially for establishing men’s and women’s basketball and golf programs for the 2016-17 season. Neal is a 1986 graduate of Western Illinois University. FTCC will play its basketball games at the Crown Coliseum. The golf program’s home course will be Stryker Golf Course at Fort Bragg. FTCC will likely add other sports teams later, although President Larry Keen has said football would never be an option because of its expense. Fayetteville Tech will likely compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division II.