A called meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners was canceled Monday evening because a majority of the commissioners did not attend.
County Manager Amy Cannon had been expected to ask the board to consider creating two more water and sewer districts to combat a growing accumulation of forever chemicals in part of the county’s well-water supply.

But board Chairman Glenn Adams adjourned the meeting moments after the 6 p.m. start time.
The new water and sewer districts would serve an existing district in the Linden and Vander areas in an effort to stem the pollution of drinking water by forever chemicals that leech into the Cape Fear River and groundwater.

The chemical compound GenX is a byproduct of the manufacturing process used by Chemours chemical company. Formerly known as DuPont, the company has a plant on the Cumberland and Bladen county line. In 2017, chemicals associated with Chemours’ manufacturing process were discovered in the Cape Fear River. Since then, additional chemical contaminants have been found in hundreds of private wells.

Adams and Vice Chairwoman Toni Stewart and Commissioner Jeannette Council attended Monday’s meeting. Commissioners Larry Lancaster, Michael Boose, Jimmy Keefe and Charles Evans were absent.

Adams said he was not aware beforehand that a majority of the commissioners would not attend Monday’s meeting.
In the past, board members who could not attend a meeting in person had the option to participate by phone or online stream.

Former commissioners Chairman Marshall Faircloth, currently an at-large candidate for a seat on the board, said he was surprised and concerned that a majority of commissioners failed to show up for the meeting just a week before the state is scheduled to hold a public information session about chemicals in private wells in the county.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public information session at 6 p.m. on July 26 at the Crown Coliseum complex. Registration starts at 5:30 p.m.
Assistant County Manager Brian Haney said Monday evening’s meeting will be rescheduled.

On Monday night, the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners agreed to place a temporary moratorium on certain businesses while the town’s staff works to create an overlay district.

The moratorium is effective immediately and will stay in place until January, the same month the staff plans to introduce the town’s new overlay districts.
The temporary moratorium allows the town to restrict and even temporarily hold business licenses until an overlay district can be put into place. Overlay zoning is a regulatory tool that creates a special zoning district over existing zoning. It can include additional or different regulations that apply within the district.

“The overlay only affects the commercial district,'' said Chancer McLaughlin, the town’s planning and economic development director.
The board will decide during work sessions which business will be allowed in what commercial areas.

“It just stops certain businesses from being in those particular commercial areas,” McLaughlin said.

“Businesses think we are limiting their uses outright, we are not,’’ he told the board. “We are just saying for a period of time we are not allowing you to move forward.”

McLaughlin said he was still getting calls from concerned business owners about the moratorium and the overlay districts. However, those calls are mostly from businesses that have just been approved and are preparing to go forward. The new policies will only affect businesses that have not applied for a license and are in their current planning phases.

The board held a public hearing on the proposed moratorium before the vote. No one spoke during the hearing.
The moratorium includes the following businesses:
● Motor vehicle parts and accessory sales.
● Motor vehicle repair and/or body work.
● Motor vehicle rentals.
● Motor vehicle sales, new and used.
● Retail establishments primarily tied to smoke shops and vape establishments.

The board also heard an update on the public safety building project from its architect, Scott Garner, and unanimously passed a requested change order for nearly $75,000.
Before the vote, Commissioners Joanne Scarola and Grilley Mitchell raised concerns regarding one of the items listed on the change order — a motorized damper listed at $12,873 for the kitchen’s four-burner gas stove.
Both asked whether the change was necessary.

Garner stepped aside to allow Steve Lopez, the town’s operations chief, to better explain the expense. The motorized damper was required for the stove and allowed firemen who live at the station to access the stove in large groups. Lopez said that on some days, as many as 40 firemen would need access to the kitchen at one time and that particular damper was required by code. The expense also paid for additional ducts and wiring.

After hearing from Lopez, the board approved the change order.
In other business, the board also voted to move forward with its proposed splash pad and voted to allow the town manager to negotiate the deal with Carolina Parks and Play.

The splash pad will have a baseball theme, making it unique to the town.
Before the vote, Commissioner Bryan Marley expressed his excitement about the project and the board’s ability to get it done.

“This is another item that all the citizens have asked for,’’ Marley said. “Once again, this board is finally getting it done and moving forward with it.”

After the vote, Town Manager Scott Meszaros took a moment to recognize Parks and Recreation Director Lamarco Morrison for his drive in making the town’s vision a reality.

Two men are being sought in connection with a road-rage incident that left a man with gunshot injuries on July 11, according to a Fayetteville Police Department news release.

The victim’s wife and infant child were in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, the release said.
Demetrius Tydre McNeill, 27, of the 3500 block of Town Street in Hope Mills, and Alphonza Demorris Teasley, 45, of the 2800 block of Baywood Road in Eastover, have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury; shooting into an occupied vehicle; and felony conspiracy, the news release said.

Just after 5 p.m. on July 11, Fayetteville police officers responded to reports of a shooting near the intersection of Cliffdale and Pritchett roads. The officers found a man lying on the ground and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
The man, his wife and their year-old child were in their vehicle when the shootings occurred. The wife and child were not harmed, the police report said.

Witnesses described the shooters’ vehicle as a gold Jeep Cherokee that left the scene on Skibo Road. The vehicle was located and the suspects were identified.

McNeill is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall; 140 pounds; and having black hair and brown eyes with tattoos on his face, neck and arms.

Teasley is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 155 pounds. He is bald, has brown eyes, and has multiple tattoos on both arms.

McNeill and Teasley are considered armed and dangerous, the news release said.
Anyone with information about the suspects or the shooting is asked to contact Officer A. Wolford at 910-705-2141 or Crimestoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477).

Crimestoppers information also can be submitted at http://fay-nccrimestoppers.orgor by downloading the fre “P3 Tips” app available for Apple devices in the Apple App Store and for Android devices in Google Play.

Fairies, flowers and rainbows set the stage for a fantastic downtown adventure on July 29 and 30.

Expect a hint of enchantment in the air as Midsummer Magic returns for its seventh year with more fairy fun for the entire family.
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s tale of magic and mischief, “A Midsummers Night’s Dream,” the fun-filled two-day scavenger hunt will send participants on a journey around downtown Fayetteville to search for clues.

Following a fairy journal, which can be found online or at several downtown businesses, those participating will journey to a fairy door, behind which will be a letter to help reveal a secret message.
And, like any good guidebook, the fairy journal will also point out where participants can find special promotions, points of interest and special activities.

Everyone is encouraged to dress in their most fantastic fairy, sprite, goblin, dwarf or wizard ensemble for a chance to win this year’s costume contest. Participants only need to tag their picture on their personal social media page with #MidsummerMagicFayNC to enter for a chance to win prizes.

The costume contest is separated into categories for pets, groups, adults and children aged 12 to 17, 5 to 10 and 0 to 4 years old.
The LlamaCorns of Midsummer Magic will return for their second year, provided by Shaky Tails Party Animals, and performers will be scattered throughout the event to delight those on their quest.

The day promises a wealth of unique sights and sounds, which is what Betsy McElwee, former social media marketing coordinator for the Downtown Alliance, is looking forward to the most.

“I love walking around downtown and seeing people and talking to them. I’m really excited to see the new performances this year. I’m looking forward to just being downtown,” she said.

According to their social media page, “The Downtown Alliance’s mission is to encourage business and retail growth in downtown Fayetteville, and to promote the success of downtown businesses.”
Conceived as a signature event for the Downtown Alliance, Midsummer Magic is a unique opportunity to bring the people of Fayetteville together for a tour of the businesses downtown has to offer.

Each participating business is tasked with creating a unique theme-driven experience for potential customers so that each stop will provide something new and different.

“Even if you don’t want to do the scavenger hunt and quest, it’s still fun to go down and see everything,” McElwee explained.

“We want people to know about the businesses and shops downtown. It’s really about getting people to engage with the businesses, see how great downtown is and circulate through the area.”

The festivities begin at 11 a.m. on July 29 and 30, but there’s no official “start” time for the scavenger hunt.

Midsummer Magic is free and open to the public, but some activities will have an associated cost.
All fairy journals must be turned in by July 30 to be eligible for prizes.
For more information regarding Midsummer Magic and to download a fairy journal, visit https://www.faydta.com/our-events/downtown-fayetteville-scavenger-hunt/.

How did a Salisbury woman beat the powerful forces of Smithfield Foods, Inc. and its hog farming allies?
As described in my column last week, Mona Lisa Wallace and her law firm won $32 million in verdicts against the Smithfield group for its nuisance damage to the homes and lives on properties near hog farms.
In a letter promoting his new book, “Wastelands; The True Story of Farm Country on Trial,” for use in college and law school classes, the book’s author, Corban Addison, explains how he learned about Wallace and her efforts.

“Three years ago, a friend called me and told me a story that sounded almost too good to be true. It was about a lawyer he knew, a woman named Mona Lisa Wallace from his hometown in North Carolina.”

Addison’s Salisbury-connected friend is best-selling author John Hart, whose most recent novel is “The Unwilling.” Addison continues, “In 2013, Mona took up the banner of a rural community ‘down east,’ as the locals call it, a community comprised of mostly Black people of modest means. Over the course of a generation, that community had seen its ancestral land — as well as its air and water — degraded by pollution from factory farms tied to the world’s largest hog producer, Smithfield Foods. They had agitated for change, but the change never came. Not until Mona took Smithfield to court.

“Her mass action required seven years to litigate. It sparked rallies in the streets, a firestorm on social media, death threats to the lawyers, witness intimidation and an attempt by the industry’s bedfellows in the state legislature to modify the centuries-old definition of nuisance retroactively to prevent the lawsuits from ever reaching a jury. Notwithstanding these headwinds, Mona and her co-counsel persisted, bringing five cases to trial and winning five plaintiffs’ verdicts.”

Of course, Wallace could not have done the whole thing by herself. Lawyers and paralegals interviewed people who had been impacted by the hog farming, mostly people whose homes were nearby, mostly in Duplin, Bladen, Pender and Sampson Counties. They did the research and drafted motions and briefs. And Wallace engaged a talented and energetic
co-counsel, Mike Kaeske, a Texas lawyer with working class roots. Kaeske handled the trial witness presentations, cross examinations and, most important, opening and closing arguments, for which he spent hundreds of hours in preparation and practice.

All the work paid off in trials in a Federal District Court, but the defendant appealed the verdict to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although one judge dissented, the panel of three judges, including conservative J. Harvie Wilkinson, voted to assure Smithfield’s loss.
Addison noted that Wilkinson, in a concurring opinion, wrote “with Mosaic thunder,” saying that the Smithfield group’s “interference with their quiet enjoyment of their properties was unreasonable. It was willful, and it was wanton.”

For Smithfield, Addison writes, the ruling was a devastating blow. Its public relations team launched a preemptive strike in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. Its press release “then regurgitates the same warmed-over pablum that the hog barons have served up for more than a generation — that no one understands the industry, that all the negative media and lawsuits and jury verdicts are biased and unfair, that Smithfield cares about farmers, and that it is committed to feeding the world.”

But writes Addison, “The press release, however, is not just propagandistic. It contains a nugget of news: ‘We have resolved these cases through a settlement that will take into account the divided decision of the court. Information about the terms of the settlement will not be disclosed.’”

Unfortunately, the book ends on this note, leaving the reader to guess how much more Smithfield had to pay to each plaintiff and whether the settlement will significantly change Smithfield’s methods.

Still, the book has gained national attention, including a detailed review in the July 10 edition of The New York Times Book Review. Stay tuned. The hog wars are not over.

We have a great thought – an epiphany even — and begin hatching a plan to carry it out. Then we gather a few people to rally around our well-intended plan and begin to see the vision of what could be if we get everyone on board with the idea.

Maybe the goal is to end gun violence, clean up the planet, address an epidemic or something a little less global, but whatever it is, we’re sure as soon as they hear it, everyone else will see the logic in our plan and climb aboard; until they don’t.

What happens next in too many cases is that the people we sought as allies in our cause suddenly become detractors and fools — at least in our eyes.
This has played out countless times in history. Heck, it played out several times last week!

The lack of true unity in our world — down to the smallest denomination of people — is why politics, lawyers, the Constitution and “big brother” exists: When there is no unity, we begin to look to an enforcer of ideas.
In the Bible, we see this play out as the new order under Jesus becomes known as the way begins to take hold. Righteous-thinking leaders gradually lose sight of the goal and start devising ways to employ and incorporate this new path to God.

What once was exclusive and bound to a large (and growing) set of hard-to-keep rules was seemingly erased and replaced by a new deal that centered not around the old code, which punished wrongdoing, but around the central idea that God has wanted us all along and loves us so much, he allowed his own son to step up and defend us.
But tradition — as traditions do — died hard.

Not everyone agreed on the way to come together under this new deal. So the well-known Apostle Paul writes a letter to a group of leaders in Ephesus who are divided over the process.
In what we consider the fourth chapter of his letter, he reminds us that the mission itself unites us.
Not the method. Not the rules. Not the endless disgruntled chatter over what you can and can’t eat or which rules matter most — the mission.
So, whether your plan is to unite people around the next great way to stem playground violence or clean up the streets in your city, maintain your focus on the goal. Realize many parts make the whole in accomplishing the mission.

Likewise, for believers — we may differ in the how, but we need to maintain our unity in Christ nonetheless. Love must be our motivation — love for the gospel and one another.

I’m a liberty-minded conservative, not an anarchist. I think government is inevitable and necessary but its legitimate scope and practical competencies are rather limited. The many public-policy failures during the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the point well.

For the most part, these failures were about competency, not legitimacy. As I argued when the COVID crisis began, combating communicable disease has always been a proper exercise of the police power enjoyed by states and localities. And reacting to truly national emergencies is one of the few powers properly enjoyed by the federal government.

Alas, when the time came to deploy these powers in a prudent manner, public officials mostly blew it. In Washington, the Food and Drug Administration excluded private firms from offering rapid testing and then bungled the release of its own test kits. Congress and the executive branch (under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden) ran massive fiscal deficits to fund massive expansions of cash relief, unemployment insurance, business subsidies, Medicaid and aid to state and local governments.

While some fraction of this largesse might have been justified if judiciously spent, that’s not how things worked out. Billions of dollars flowed to households and businesses that were never at significant financial risk. A large share of UI payments, as much as half in some places, turned out to be fraudulent.
Many states and localities exited the pandemic with piles of (borrowed) federal money they wouldn’t or couldn’t spend on the originally stated purpose of keeping schools open and avoiding mass layoffs. Indeed, a new study by Jeffrey Clemmens and Philip Hoxie of UC-San Diego and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute estimated that the federal aid amounted to a mindboggling $855,000 per job saved in state and local government.

Speaking of school closures, public officials in North Carolina and most other places got that policy wrong, too. Perhaps there was a justification for shutting down schools and other critical services during the first weeks of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Much was then unknown about the severity and transmissibility of the coronavirus. But by the start of the 2020-21 school year, it was obvious that the costs of closure, in both educational and economic terms, far outweighed any health and safety benefits.

As a longtime advocate of restoring the constraints of the federal constitution on Washington and devolving power and responsibility to states and localities, I will freely admit that the greatest public-policy success during the pandemic was a federal one: Operation Warp Speed, which used a combination of financial rewards and regulatory relief to encourage the rapid development of effective vaccines by private companies. To the extent states and localities facilitated the rapid deployment of the vaccines, they also deserve credit.

If you look at COVID death rates adjusted for age, obesity and other risk factors — and you should only be looking at the data that way — the statistical relationship between vaccination rates and mortality is unambiguously negative. That is, the vaccines clearly reduced the severity of the illness and somewhat reduced the chance of getting it.

On the other hand, when researchers study state and local policies such as school closures, shutdowns and limits on public gatherings, they typically find little-to-no relationship between the stringency of state and local restrictions and health outcomes. What they do tend to find is that places with more stringent regulations had larger job losses during the height of the COVID recession.
While North Carolina and other states have largely recovered from the economic costs of the shutdowns of 2020 and 2021, the same can’t be said for the economic costs of the federal government’s policy errors during the pandemic. By adding trillions of dollars to the federal debt while vastly expanding the money supply, Washington set the stage for our current inflation crisis as well as the recession that may well follow it.
Government coercion is a blunt instrument, best used sparingly. We’ve just relearned this timeless lesson.

Ok, Fayetteville City Municipal elections are fast approaching on July 26. By now, most are aware that voter turnout has been pretty lackluster during the Early Voting period, which began on July 7 and runs through Saturday at 3 p.m. on July 23.

As I write this, less than 1300 residents have made it down to the Board of Elections on Fountainhead Lane in downtown Fayetteville. Observers say that is disappointing and pathetic, but I say it's engineered and self-inflicted! It makes you wonder what the Cumberland County Board of Elections were thinking when arranging the Early Voting period or if they were thinking at all.
Many others are speculating such negligence could only be intentional with the intent to design and engineer a voting period that fosters low turnout to shore up and protect the incumbents. This would make a great debate, with plenty of evidence substantiating this notion. Our current nine districts form of city government and the Board of Elections couldn't have made it more difficult for Fayetteville residents to participate in one of America's most cherished rights, the right to vote.

Voting disincentives are many. There is only one inconvenient Early Voting location in Downtown Fayetteville. Some residents in outlying districts must travel 12 to 15 miles and 30 to 45 minutes to reach the polling location. Voters only get to vote for two out of 10 candidates, not making the journey downtown worthwhile. The only (inconvenient) Early Voting location in downtown Fayetteville closes at 5 p.m. and does not provide those voters who are getting off work at 5 or 5:30 in the evening an opportunity to vote. However, 5 p.m. is when the county election officials get off work.

There were too few relevant candidate forums and no debates, especially at the district level. Consequently, voter awareness of the candidates and the critical issues that impact the residents of Fayetteville is lacking.
During the past several weeks, I have fielded many personal calls and requests from friends, family and residents asking me, "Who should I vote for?" Even though many newspapers and media outlets across the country endorse political candidates, Up & Coming Weekly does not.

However, here are my assessments of all 20 candidates. These are based on their achievements, community involvement, work ethic, integrity and overall willingness and desire to represent all Fayetteville residents of all districts. These candidates know and love this community and have demonstrated their advocacy for doing what's in the best interest of Fayetteville's citizens, businesses and organizations while enhancing our quality of life through better and more efficient government.

I have bolded the candidates demonstrating the values I feel Fayetteville needs to move successfully into the 21st century.

Mayor
• Mitch Colvin - incumbent
• Freddie de la Cruz
District 1
• Kathy Keefe Jensen - incumbent
• Alex Rodriguez
District 2
• Shakeyla Ingram - incumbent
• Tyrone A. Williams
District 3
• Mario (Be) Benavente
• Antonio B. Jones - incumbent
District 4
• Thomas C. Greene
• D.J. Haire - incumbent
District 5
• Johnny Dawkins - incumbent
• Frederick G. LaChance III
District 6
• Peter Pappas
• Derrick Thompson
District 7
• Brenda McNair
• Larry O. Wright, Sr. - incumbent
District 8
• Courtney Banks-McLaughlin - incumbent
• Michael Pinkston
District 9
• Deno Hondros
• Yvonne Y. Kinston - incumbent

Most of my preferred candidates, not all, favor term limits and adding four at-large seats to the Fayetteville City Council. This would give Fayetteville citizens six votes when choosing municipal leadership, rather than only two (one for Mayor, four for at-large council members, and one for their district).
Many pundits are calling this a "friends and family" election, meaning that because of the collective barriers to voting mentioned above, the winning candidates will be determined by how well they turn out the vote. One thing you can count on, and I have said this many times before, is that we will ultimately end up with the Fayetteville leadership we deserve.
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

Around 500,000 Americans use American Sign Language to communicate throughout the United States and Canada. Introduced in 1817 by Thomas Galludet, ASL is one of over 300 sign languages used worldwide.
Interest in ASL has increased with additional available access to tutorials like those found on YouTube and TikTok. Additionally, ASL is often offered as a foreign language in the country's secondary and post-secondary education curricula.

Deaf visibility has also risen tremendously over the last several decades, with interpreters signing major political events, awards shows and press conferences for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. However, the ASL community is comparatively small, comprising only about 1% of the population, and opportunities for socialization can be difficult.

One way for both deaf and hearing people to come together for conversation or to practice conversational ASL is through Deaf Coffee Chat. With chapters all over the country, Deaf Coffee Chat is a social event where deaf people, students of ASL, or otherwise affiliated members of the deaf community meet regularly to socialize.

While these gatherings often occur in local coffee shops, they can also happen in malls, ice cream shops and generally any place serving food and drink. No matter the setting, Deaf Coffee Chats’ chief objective is to offer a safe environment for members of the deaf community to interact in their native tongue.

After a lengthy hiatus due to COVID-19 precautions, Deaf Coffee Chat Fayetteville is set to return to its regularly scheduled meetings on the first Thursday of every month beginning August 4 on the second floor of The Coffee Scene on Morganton Road from 6 to 9 p.m.

The free, family-friendly event isn’t exclusive to fluent speakers of ASL. From beginners to interpreters, the door is open to anyone interested in learning more about the language and deaf culture.
Up & Coming Weekly spoke with Tabby, owner and web developer of DeafCoffee.com, a website that provides an index of social places in the United States where deaf people can “get together, chat, and enjoy!”

DeafCoffee.Com was first launched in 2003 by Grant Laird, Jr., and has since operated under one goal: to create connections across the United States for members of the Deaf Community no matter where they happen to live or where they happen to visit. The site is designed to be an easy-to-use reference and works diligently to keep meeting places up to date.
In addition to the Fayetteville chapter, there are at least three active coffee chat meet ups out of North Carolina in Apex, Boiling Springs and Princeton, according to DeafCoffee.com.
While socializing is at the top of the group’s agenda, Tabby sees great value in the get-togethers outside of sharing a laugh and a cup of coffee.

“Opportunities for ASL students to further practice their signing by meeting deaf people are quite valuable. They also have a chance to learn things they would not have learned in a classroom setting. Also of value is meeting people in a deaf coffee chat which could lead to friendships and even careers (such as interpreters).”

Deaf Coffee Chat is free and open to the public. While no purchases are necessary to participate, support of the coffee shop is encouraged.
Coffee Scene is located at 3818 Morganton Road in Fayetteville.
For more information on Deaf Coffee Chat Fayetteville, visit https://www.facebook.com/deafcoffeefayetteville.

Watermelon is a stand-out fruit in the summer and is easily accessible at roadside markets, grocery stores and pickup trucks selling by the road. This common summertime delight is used for elaborate carvings, salads, drinks and desserts. Rinds are used for pickling, and you can even line dance to The Watermelon Crawl. It is also used in a popular dessert in Italy, consisting of almonds, chocolate and cinnamon.

The first recorded watermelon was documented about 5000 years ago in Egypt. It has been depicted in ancient wall carvings and was often placed in burial tombs for nourishment in the afterlife. The most repeated account of watermelon is from South Africa, where it was believed to have been domesticated more than 4000 years ago. Watermelon was often used in the desert when water was contaminated or not available.

Watermelon is a fruit related to cantaloupe, zucchini, pumpkin and cucumber. Watermelon is a summertime favorite and comprises about 90% water and about 85 calories per serving.
Outside of the refreshing flavor and color combination of the skin, meat and rind, it has many health benefits. The bright red flesh is packed with nutrients that include antioxidants and contain Vitamins A and C. Other nutrients include potassium, fiber, iron, Vitamin B6, calcium and magnesium.

The fruit also contains other antioxidants such as lycopene, and cucurbitacin E. Studies have suggested that lycopene may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. The fruit can help with inflammation, eye health, skin and digestion. Who would think this bright and refreshing fruit would read with such a long list of benefits for our health?

The easiest way to cut watermelon is by cutting off each end to create a flat surface, taking your knife, slicing down the sides and slicing to your liking—types of watermelon available vary.
There is watermelon with the traditional hard black seeds and the seedless, cultivated with soft and edible seeds. The seeded variety is extra-large and oblong with a green rind, pink flesh and large black seeds. Watermelon seed spitting has been a tradition for decades, and the furthest recorded was 78.6 feet in Georgetown, Texas. Seedless melons were cultivated over 50 years ago with a lengthy process of cross-pollination in a protracted process with male and female flowers. Any seeds the fruit tries to produce remain immature and result in white edible seeds.

The Japanese have developed ways to grow melons shaped like cubes!

There is a difference between male and female watermelons. The males are larger, oblong and contain more water, while the female is round and sweeter. Watermelons are produced from plants or seeds, and both male and female flowers can be found on each plant. The difference between males and females is that females have a large bulb at the base for pollination.

Bees and other pollinators pollinate the female, which grows into a watermelon. It takes about 50 days for full harvest, which means bloom to pick.
There is an art to choosing a sweet watermelon. If there are white stripes where the melon is laid on the ground, it is not fully ripe. A “field spot,” usually yellow, indicates that it has been ripening for a long time while ripening on the ground. The melon should be heavy, and the stem dry and not green. A low-pitched sound when you thump it should be present.

Enjoy your melon in the summer in various ways, seeded or seedless!
Live, love life and watermelon.

Fort Bragg may soon go by another name: Fort Liberty.
In last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, Congress charged the Naming Commission with renaming any military installation whose name commemorates the Confederacy.
Fort Bragg is named after North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general and slave owner prior to the Civil War.

The Naming Commission released the potential new name of Fort Bragg, along with eight other military installation names that commemorate the Confederacy, in April.
In October, the commission will present the new names to Congress for review, after which the U.S. Department of Defense will implement the new names by Jan. 1, 2024, per the federal legislation.

According to documents from the Naming Commission, Liberty was chosen as a name due to its value being “more essential to the United States of America and the history of its military” than any other.
Views on name change

Jimmy Buxton, president of Fayetteville’s NAACP chapter, said that, while growing up in the area, he wasn’t aware that Bragg was named after a Confederate general. But after learning the history in adulthood, he supports the change.

“If you have a chance to correct it, correct it,” he said, referring to the racist history of Confederate monuments and commemorations.
Some, however, feel differently about the name change.

Grilley Mitchell, president of the Cumberland County Veterans Council, said he viewed the name change as erasing history.

“You should never try to erase history,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that he that (does) not learn from history (is) doomed to repeat it.”
Mitchell, a Black man who grew up in the Jim Crow south in Georgia, said the name change won’t heal the racist past of that era.

“Changing the name, it’s not going to heal anything, it’s not going to fix anything,” he said. “To me, it covers it up by putting a coat of paint on something.”
Mitchell said the history involved with the name of Fort Bragg shouldn’t be ignored.

“That’s just the truth, this history,” he said. “That’s the ugly part of history in this nation. That is something that we should understand and know that no human being that walks the face of this Earth should be subjected and treated in that manner. Period.”

Mitchell did say he recognized that some view the name change as stopping the glorification of Confederate figures.

“Some feel and believe that taking that name away would allow them to move forward with that part of the past behind them,” he said.
Buxton said, speaking specifically to white people who oppose the renaming, that change is inevitable.

“Change is something most people don’t know how to take, especially when you do a big change like this,” he said. “I can live with the name change because I can see the reason why, I would say, a lot more because of my color as a Black man.”

While many may not be ready for the change, regardless of their reason, Buxton said it is for the better.

“That’s something I think we as a people have to get used to, change for the better,” he said. “In the long run. We shouldn’t have a Confederate general’s name on an Army post, especially one who owned slaves.”
Even though Mitchell initially opposed the change, he said that many on active duty, as well as veterans, will accept it.

“The decision was made, and I’m an old soldier,” he said. “Once the leaders make the decision, we adapt to the new decision.”

Many in the Fayetteville community have given back to help Ukraine and its citizens as the small country fights Russia. The Gilbert Theater plans to join that growing group of supporters.

Two summer camps at Gilbert Theater will perform a Ukrainian play called “The Blabbermouth, The Puff Monster and The Wolf.”

The play comprises three comedic folk tales from Ukraine. In “The Blabbermouth,” a clever woodsman devises an ingenious ruse to keep a buried treasure secret, despite his gossipy wife. The following story is about the goofy, cellar-dwelling “Puff Monster,” who bites off more than it can chew. The last tale, “Sirko and the Wolf,” tells the story of two wolfy cousins who outwit a cranky, noodle-wielding Babushka.
Tammy Woody, the education director at Gilbert Theater, says they chose this play because the playwright, Patrick Rainville Dorn, and Pioneer Drama Service will donate all of their royalties to the International Red Cross’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal.

“The Gilbert Theater is very outreach-oriented. As a non-profit, we look to help other people. The situation in Ukraine is sad, and when this came through, it just seemed like something we could be a part of to help the country,” Woody said.

On top of purchasing the rights to the play, the Gilbert Theater will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the camps to the Red Cross in support of Ukraine.
According to Pioneer Drama Service’s website, the Gilbert Theater is one of eight current productions of this Ukrainian play.

Performers will come from two camps, separated by age. The first camp is for kids 12 to 18 years old. Their performances will be held on July 22 at 7 p.m. and July 23 at 1 p.m.
The second camp, scheduled for the week of Aug. 8, is for kids aged 7 to 11 years old. Their performances will be held on Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 13 at 1 p.m.

Woody says the camp will teach the kids all about acting, singing and dancing to prepare them to perform the play within one week.

“We will have theater games and exercises. They will have a vocal performance to learn the vocals and choreography time to learn the movements. We will be adding some songs to the play,” Woody said. “It takes a lot of time to put a play together and to do it in one week. It’s a pretty fast-paced week.”
Details on ticketing for productions have not been finalized at the time of Up & Coming Weekly’s interview with Woody. Still, she says more information about the performances will be available on their website and social media pages.

Camp registration is still open for the younger age group. Registration costs are $150 for one child. Each additional sibling is $125.
To learn more about the camps, email Woody at education@gilberttheater.com for more information.

Cumberland County has a cool solution for beating the heat this summer.
With daily average temps hovering in the 90s and weekly heat advisories making outside fun exhausting and dangerous, parents with little ones to keep safely entertained need to look no further than their local splash pad and community pool.

With over twelve locations throughout Cumberland County, splash pads provide a fun, safe alternative for water play. It’s not uncommon to visit a splash pad and see children of all ages playing together amongst the various spouts, nozzles, sprinklers and dumping buckets.
Up & Coming Weekly spoke with Nacarla Webb, Public Information Specialist for the City of Fayetteville, about the splash pad’s many advantages.

“Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation splash pads are free to everyone,” she said. “Many splash pads are located near recreation centers or schools which are visible, public sites. These locations are areas where neighbors and families can look out for each other.”

Another benefit of the popular water feature is that, unlike public pools, splash pads don’t require a lifeguard on duty and are generally much safer for children who are not yet confident swimmers, a relief to parents who may want to relax as their children have fun.

“The splash pad zero depth entry feature is welcoming because it means the play area is flat,” Webb explained. “Additionally, there may be children in the community who haven’t learned to swim or are afraid of larger bodies of water. A splash pad is a place where they can get wet and then easily step away. Also, a parent can be nearby to watch their child’s movements and join in on the fun with little hassle.”
The splash pad maintains a detailed seven-day-a-week cleaning schedule, ensuring those spaces stay safe and sanitary.

Cumberland County offers four public pools and several aquatic programs to develop safe, confident swimmers for children ready to move from splashing to diving.
For residents aged 12 and under, the pool costs $1, while non-residents in the same age group will pay $2. For residents 13 and up, the cost is $2, and $4 for non-residents.

Lifeguard certification courses are held throughout the year for those fifteen years of age and older. Registration for weekly swim camp is still open until July 25, with the last camp offered this summer Aug. 5.
The many aquatic offerings in Cumberland County allow parents to treat their kids to some fun without breaking the bank or a sweat, and many are grateful for the convenience.

“We’ve been to a few of the splash pads and have thoroughly enjoyed them every time,” local author K.M. Rives shared with Up & Coming Weekly. “We try to go once a week if we can. Our kids love them, and it’s a great way to get them outside during the summer.”

Cumberland County splash pads are open from May 1 until Labor Day, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information on the splash pad and pool locations, visit https://www.fcpr.us/facilities/aquatics.

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.”
— William Butler Yeats

“But things don’t just fall apart, people break them.”
—Robin Wasserman

It is increasingly difficult for this American, and perhaps for you too, to feel that our nation is at a pivotal moment in our history, a moment at which we are deciding which direction we want to take as a nation. Harvard
Historian Jill Lepore’s astounding book, “These Truths,” posits that the United States was founded on two contradictory pillars — the idea of natural rights and liberty and the reality of human slavery. She goes on for 29 hours in the audiobook version to explain how these truths have shaped us since 1619 and continue to shape us today.

The innate tension between these two pillars has rarely been clearer than today in our divided nation. Two wildly controversial issues make this division crystal clear.
Since America decided, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass murders in 2012, that our guns, especially military-grade assault weapons, are more important to us than our children, mass shootings have become so commonplace that we hardly notice them. The Washington Post reports more than 300 mass shootings in the United States in 2022, about 20 since the Uvalde Elementary School murders in late May. Ask yourself how many of those you are even aware of, much less knowledgeable about.

Shocking as mass shootings used to be, the numbers of people injured and killed in them pale compared to the everyday gun-related deaths across the country — murders, accidents and suicides. If we define mass shootings as those in which at least four people die, they account for less than 1% of all gun deaths, yet our reaction to this is increasingly “ho hum.” We are the only nation with more guns than people, 393 million to 330 million, according to a 2018 report by the Small Arms Survey. This imbalance will only grow as we Americans have been on a gun-buying spree since COVID began, and we can now manufacture our own, do-it-yourself unregistered weapons at home.

And then there is the other divisive issue, a woman’s right to control her own body, a right recently rescinded by a highly politicized U.S. Supreme Court decision. No matter what side of the abortion issue one falls on, it is impossible not to acknowledge some of the absurdity of the current situation. Some states ban abortion altogether, recognizing a fetus as a person.

A pregnant woman in Texas took advantage of this point of view by driving in the High Occupancy Lane of a freeway. When a law enforcement officer pulled her for being the only person in the car, she announced that her unborn child was a person under Texas law, making her HOV driving legal. The officer ticketed her anyway, and her court date falls on her due date.
Internet memes take this legal head-butting even further by encouraging Americans to call the IRS and demand a tax deduction for their fetus, for pregnant women who are imprisoned to sue for wrongful imprisonment of their fetus, to check with the Fire Marshall on occupancy regulations because pregnant women now count as two people and to demand life and health insurance for their fetuses. In other words, a fetus is either a person, or it isn’t. We cannot have it both ways.

This American is sad, alarmed and apprehensive about our nation’s future. We must find ways to dial down the heat in our national conversations, respect each other even when we disagree and get out of our silos and actually talk to each other.

Marianne Williamson, author, spiritual leader, activist and 2020 presidential candidate, said this, “don’t be concerned that things appear to be falling apart: This has to happen for something new and wonderful to emerge.”

I hope and pray she is right.

It's a sunny Sunday morning. The streets of downtown Fayetteville are quiet at 7 a.m., and the urge to tip-toe feels appropriate so as not to wake the sleeping city.

Plush green lawns sparkle in the early morning sun, the roads are empty ahead of the Sunday morning church rush, and it's the perfect time for a run — or leisurely walk if one feels so inclined.
For members of the Fayetteville Running Club, it's always a good time for a run.

A loose group of people, around 12 or so, assemble in the Airborne and Special Operation Museum's deserted parking lot, and it's hard to detect a stranger among them. The club members all squeeze in for a smiley "before" picture snapped by hostess Nichole Jenkins, and then they're off.

The group immediately falls into threesomes, pairs and singles as everyone sets their pace for the four-mile loop through a shuttered downtown.
It's a motley crew as some in the group look as if they'll attack the four miles in a single bite, while others have only come to graze. The chatter is light and easy as they wind down Hay Street, around Festival Park and through gardens in riotous bloom.

There's not a whiff of competition or judgment as everyone finds their rhythm within the group, and it's easy to see the camaraderie and affection between them.
Long-time members Karen Shotwell and Trina Tellames, who arrived in matching Fourth of July-inspired T-shirts, make it a point to speak to everyone; their energy is nothing short of infectious.
Angela Crosby, director of operations at Cozy Corner Child Development Center and Jump Start University, who arrived with her 9-month-old granddaughter in tow, has been a member of Fayetteville Running Club for two years and smiles easily when asked about it.

"It's a great way to stay active," said the newly minted grandmother. "A friend from my gym told me about it, and I originally came just to hang out with her — now here I am."
The feeling of acceptance is immediate and genuine. No one is left out or left behind, and according to Fayetteville Running Club's President, Shawn Wussow — that's the point.

"The first hurdle is signing up," he explained. "There's a fear of not fitting in, of thinking you're not a runner or that you won't be able to keep up. We have people in our club who can run a mile in 20 minutes and people who can run it in six. We try to make our meetups inclusive. We try to make them fun. It's more about community and dynamics rather than how fast you can run. We're a socially inclusive club, and we celebrate every milestone."

A member of the group since 2012, Wussow summed up the Fayetteville Running Club with one word when asked:

"Awesome!"

Fayetteville Running Club, established around 2009, is an ongoing active running club that offers weekly runs, social gatherings, training, support and accountability to the people in their community.
While there is a heavy emphasis on running, Wussow wants people to know that Fayetteville Running Club is much more than just a running club.

"Fayetteville Running Club is one of the most incredibly diverse groups of people I've ever seen, and that's what drew me to it," he shared. "People think we're a pack of Olympic runners, but there's a lot they don't see —we're much more than a group of runners."

As a non-profit organization, Fayetteville Running Club dedicates its time to the betterment and support of its community in a number of ways. From monthly donations to local charities to volunteering to run with animals at local shelters, Fayetteville Running Club is an organization committed to an attitude of service.

With over 10 weekly meetups, and at least one every day, the club takes the running aspect of its reputation very seriously. With runs that suit every fitness level, lifestyle, body type and schedule, the Fayetteville Running Club is first and foremost a club for all people — not just the athletic ones.

The sign-up is the same for the first-time walker ready to get healthy or the seasoned runner with medals adorning their wall.
Potential members can look up Fayetteville Running Club on its various social media platforms or register through runsignup.com. While access to meetups is free, a paid membership offers the following incentives: a free T-shirt, a discount at local running store Fleet Feet, access to a private Facebook page, nutrition and fitness advice and discounts on fun activities and races.
As outlined on runsignup.com, current membership rates are $30 for the year for new members or $45 for a 12-month membership for a family of four (new membership only).
Wussow, dedicated to "making membership matter," invites anyone interested to check out a meetup, introduce themselves, and get a feel for the group.

"We have a walking group twice a day. You can find a run at 5:30 in the morning or 5:30 in the evening, and two a day on the weekends. We try to fit into your schedule, so you don't have to work hard to fit us into yours."

The running club, which also partners with Cool Spring Downtown District, can be seen on the streets of downtown Fayetteville handing out flyers on 4th Friday. They also partner with Black Girls Run, Team Red White and Blue and other organizations supporting health and empowerment.

Through Fayetteville Running Club, Wussow hopes that walkers, runners and those in-between find a place to belong as they explore their personal goals.

"This club is my family," Wussow said. "I look at every single person and see them as a person I'm responsible for. I even worry about the new folks. I worry about them feeling welcome because joining something new is hard. I want everyone to have the time they think they should, and I want everyone to have a sense of accomplishment."

To sign up as a member of the Fayetteville Running Club, visit. https://runsignup.com/Club/NC/FAYETTEVILLE/FayettevilleRunningClub.
To join them for a walk or run, visit https://www.meetup.com/fayrunclub/.

The Chemours chemical company blamed for polluting water supplies in southwestern Cumberland County, the Cape Fear River and points south into Wilmington today filed legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its health advisory data released in late June.

In June, Chemours hinted it was considering legal action after EPA and North Carolina released new health advisories for private drinking water wells in the Gray’s Creek Community. Those advisories upgraded what EPA believed were dangers to the public exposed to chemical compounds that leached into local area wells.
Chemours Fayetteville Works is located along the Cumberland/Bladen County line and was previously known as DuPont.

Today, the Chemour Company petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a review of the June 15 EPA health advisory for hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) and its ammonium salt.
In a recent statement, Chemours states that it supports government regulation “that is grounded in best available science and follows the law.” It claims that the health advisory issued by EPA in June fails to follow science or the law.

“When an agency misuses its authority to promulgate a health advisory that is scientifically unsound, in a manner contrary to the agency’s own processes and standards, we have an obligation to challenge it, administratively and in the courts,” according to the statement.

Chemours argues that nationally recognized toxicologists and other scientists evaluated the EPA’s analysis and determined it “fundamentally flawed.” Chemours also contends that EPA knew its data was flawed, ignored relevant data and used “grossly” incorrect and “overstated” exposure assumptions in determining GenX levels.

Hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) dimer acid and its ammonium salt are compounds used in manufacturing and referred to by their trade name GenX. Chemours states that its parent company DuPont sought EPA approval to use GenX under the Toxic Substance Control Act and was given the go-ahead by the EPA in January 2009.

In its June 15 health advisory, the EPA dramatically changed the minimum levels of GenX in drinking water from 140 parts per trillion (ppt) to 10 parts per trillion. The new minimum ppt replaces the state’s provisional safe drinking water goal for GenX, established in 2018.

The EPA’s final health advisory for GenX affects a current consent order requiring Chemour to provide whole house filtration or connection to public water for any private drinking well that tests above the new health advisory ppt.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality already directed Chemour to revise its drinking water compliance requirements by considering the 10 ppt for GenX. According to the state, the newly released lower GenX ppt levels will make about 1,700 more private wells eligible for whole house filtration systems.
The concern of GenX contamination of private water wells in area communities is prevalent among County leaders and staff. So far, well water contamination has ranged 10 miles south and 25 miles north of the plant.

The EPA had also listed interim health advisory levels for several other PFAS chemicals: PFOS at .004 ppt and PFOA at.02 ppt. A third chemical, PFBS, did not have significant concentrations in samples taken to date in North Carolina.

The NCDEQ scheduled an in-person community information meeting on Tuesday, July 26, at the Crown Theater. Registration is open at 5:30 p.m., and the meeting starts at 6.
The intent of the meeting is to share information and answer questions about how the EPA’s newly revised lower health advisory for GenX affects drinking water well sampling in Cumberland, Bladen, Sampson and Robeson counties.

Publisher's Note:
Unfortunately, lies and misrepresentations of the Vote Yes initiative are creating a significant injustice for the Black community, by the Black community.
In essence, this proposal to add four at-large seats on the council with five district seats is not a racial issue by any stretch of the imagination. Approving and passing this proposal will allow every Fayetteville citizen to have a voice in choosing Fayetteville's elected officials.

Under the current system, citizens get only two votes. Under the proposed plan, each citizen would receive six votes. One for Mayor, one for their district council member, and four at-large council members. Every citizen benefits!

Much discussion lately has been aimed at low voter turnout at the polls during election time. The presumed blame falling mostly on “apathetic and lazy citizens.” Not so. With 10 elected officials running our city, we ask citizens to leave their homes, families and places of employment and travel to a precinct polling location to cast a ballot for only two out of 10 candidates. Fayetteville residents obviously do not see the value in that, yet those currently on the city council ignore this fact so as not to weaken or jeopardize their position.

As a result, thousands of residents are being represented (or misrepresented) by unqualified candidates elected by only a few hundred votes or less.
For our community to move forward into a prosperous 21st century, we need good ethical people with common sense, intelligence and leadership abilities.
Without it, crime, overall community safety, homelessness, affordable housing, infrastructure and stormwater issues and trash-litter problems will continue to escalate throughout our city.
— Bill Bowman, Publisher

 

The term “democracy” comes from two Greek words: "demos" (the people) and “kratia” (power and authority). So, democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people. Lately, America's democracy has been strained at all levels.

First, there's the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee hearing about an effort to overturn the 2020 elections. Second, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued some controversial opinions this term: upended a 50-year-old precedent on abortion, expanded gun rights for the first time in a decade, bolstered religious rights, notably those of Christians and declared that a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution.
Passionate opinions have caused demonstrations on both sides of the issues. Democracy is a model form of government, but it's not a guarantee.

Life won't always go the way you want it to sometimes.
Democracy is supposed to allow all citizens an opportunity to have an equal voice, and it achieves that purpose most of the time. Democracy is imperfect but inherently and highly flexible.

What happens in Raleigh and Washington, D.C., gets most of the attention, but local government is the most important for several reasons.
First, municipal governments impact constituents far more frequently and positively than either state or federal legislators. Second, citizens can have far more influence at the local level than they ever will at higher echelons.

One-stop voting for Fayetteville's municipal election is from July 7 through July 23. The General Election is July 26. Voter turnout is predicted to be very low. The power rests with the people, but that power can't be realized if citizens don't vote. Fayetteville elected officials are presently under a council-manager form of government.
The council comprises the mayor and nine council representatives elected to single-member districts. Lately, the question has become, as Fayetteville is evolving, should it continue with all single-member districts, or is the time ripe for change? A Vote Yes Fayetteville initiative recently secured 5,007 signatures from city residents to change the Fayetteville City Council from nine single-member districts to a combination of five single-member districts and four at-large districts.

If the Vote Yes initiative is successful, Fayetteville City voters could cast six votes — one for Mayor, four for at-large council members and a district council member. Fundamental fairness dictates Vote Yes supporters deserve an equal voice, and we expect this matter to be on the November ballot.
The current council has 10 members — eight are African American, including the mayor. The mayor and several African-American council members have voiced concerns about the proposed change.
It is rumored heavily in the Black community that racism is behind the call for change since eight out of 10 present members of the council are African American.

Vote Yes supporters, including two former mayors, two former mayors pro tem and two past Fayetteville City Council members, deny the race allegation. The Vote Yes initiative began the signature collection process a year ago.
Is the proposed change about race? Thus far, the allegations appear unfounded. I know players on both sides of the issue, and I believe this is more about trust than race.

I fully understand some members of the Black community holding the white community as suspect, but declaring unfounded fears as racial motivation is unfair to both sides of the process.
Again, democracy ought to give power to the people and provide an opportunity for an equal voice.

Pause the racially-charged rhetoric and let the people decide at the polls. Indeed, the ability to raise enough money to run at large is not racial. It's economics.

Empowering young girls and women, that is Andréa Williams’ mission in all of her projects.
Williams is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Blazin Beauty. The nonprofit’s goal is to educate, inform and empower women. Williams is also the owner and operator of Silhouettes Firearms Training, LLC.

With her organizations, she endeavors to support the community.

“I wanted to be able to contribute to the community in a different type of way, using Silhouettes and use partnerships within the community. So we’re always inspired by our youth. We do feel that it takes a village to raise a child. We believe in that,” Williams said. “So we just want to do our part to encourage our youth.”

Williams' team at Blazin Beauty and Sillhouettes Firearm Training, LLC will be partnering with Family Martial Arts Academy to host a one-day seminar for girls aged 11 through 16. Williams says this age is critical.

“Our girls are dealing with different stresses than what we were dealing with when we were growing up. And so it is critical that they have examples that are in the community that live among them where, one, they’re able to turn to as mentors, but two, they are able to see that ‘these people have kind of been where I was when I was younger,’ even though they may consider us old. These people have been where we are. They can relate,” Williams said.

The event aims to teach the girls self-confidence, help them practice their social skills and communication, learn self-defense and learn how to use their body and voice as proactive defense tools. The seminar is not a firearms training event.

“I think that [the girls] will have fun learning those self-defense tactics that Tracy Huff has in place,” Williams told Up & Coming Weekly.

“But I would hope that they take away having that confidence to use their voices, whether it’s to stand up for themselves or even to stand up for others.”

This seminar is the first time Williams is putting on this program. The goal is to see if the community responds well. She hopes that by providing a different set of tools to these young girls, they can use those tools again and have the courage to be themselves.

“Because that’s what it’s about, is really just having the courage to be yourself, understanding that you are enough,” Williams said.

The event is $15 and tickets can be purchased at www.buy.stripe.com/14k03989D6Di7QccMM. There are 80 spots total.

The seminar will take place on July 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Silhouettes Firearms Training, LLC. at 1165 N Bragg Blvd. in Spring Lake.
The event will include lunch. Parents and caregivers are welcome to stay during the seminar.

Trigger warning: Today, we enter Room 237 at the Overlook Hotel. There is a 100% chance that this column will irritate certain readers. If you think that the Former Guy was the greatest President in American history, tear up this page, mutter some curses and buy a copy of “Guns & Glory.” You ain’t gonna like the rest of the column. I will wait while the room empties out. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Everybody out of the pool?

Remember in Stanley Kubrick’s movie version of Stephen King’s “The Shining” when Mr. Halloran is talking with Danny about what happened in the Overlook Hotel? If you don’t recall, not to worry. I will mansplain it to you. Danny is a little boy who has moved to the Overlook Hotel, where his father is going to spend the winter as the caretaker for the empty resort. Danny has the supernatural ability to ‘shine,’ which lets him see events that happened in the past. Danny correctly intuits there is something bad about the Overlook. The hotel cook, Mr. Halloran, tells Danny that a lot of things happened at the Overlook, and not all of them were good. Danny asks, “What happened in Room 237?” Halloran says, “Nothing happened in Room 237. But you ain’t got no business going in there anyway. So, stay out! Stay out!” Naturally, Danny ends up in Room 237.

The year of our Lord 2022 is the chronological equivalent of Room 237. This year we are all in Room 237. A lot of stuff happened in 2022. As Mr. Halloran said, not all of it was good. Instead of one of my usual ridiculous columns about cheese caves or Putin’s digestive production, today we will stare at mass shootings and the Supreme Court's decision on abortion. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

These topics have no common ground between opposing parties. They tend to offend. This column was written the same day of the Highland Park mass shooting. Accordingly, I am cranky about gun violence while producing this stain on western literature. By the time this doggerel hits the streets, there will probably have been yet another mass murdering. They seem to be rolling in about every 10 days. It is difficult to keep track of the latest fresh horror without a program. Mass shootings prove once again that crocodile tears, thoughts and prayers are not a defense against a moron with a grudge and an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.

Mass shootings claim elementary students, parade watchers, church goers and grocery shoppers. The mythical good guy with a gun doesn’t stop the slaughters. They keep happening. At Uvalde, a whole passel of good guys with guns stood in a school hallway while a moron with a gun killed kids and their teachers. If the cops are afraid to go against a moron with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, arming Beaver’s teacher Miss Landers at Mayfield Elementary with a pistol ain’t gonna stop said armed moron.

The argument that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is a catchy bumper sticker, but it’s wrong. The slogan’s premise is the gun just lays there and does not hurt anyone. It is not the innocent gun’s fault. Big Tobacco could make the same argument about cigarettes. A pack of cigarettes just lays there and does not hurt anyone. But when someone picks up the pack and starts smoking, the innocent little cigarettes kill people. When a moron picks up a gun and starts shooting, the guns kill people.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, removing abortion as a federal constitutional right. This delighted the anti-abortion folks and angered the pro-choice side. For the foreseeable future, all Supreme Court decisions will be based on simple arithmetic: six is greater than three. The religious beliefs of the Court’s six are that abortion is murder. Other people disagree. We have entered the wonderful world of living in a theocracy. When religion becomes law, there will be a bad moon rising. Trouble is on the way.

Guy A says: “My religion says I can’t do that.” Guy B responds: “OK.” Then Guy A says: “My religion says you can’t do that.” Guy B replies, “Buzz off.” (Dialogue cleaned up). When Religion A tells nonbelievers in Religion A, they must follow Religion A’s beliefs we are in Shiite versus Sunni territory. Any readers left? Are you mad yet? The six can change any rules to suit their politically and theologically correct thoughts. Math rules. Unlike when Jimi Hendrix sang: “Now if six turned out to be nine/ I don’t mind, I don’t mind.” Lots of people gonna mind while the six change all the rules.

So, what have we learned today? Math conquers all. Six is more than three. The current Supreme Court can overturn any precedent it chooses. It’s always too soon to talk about gun control. Apologies for this rant. This column tries to avoid doom scrolling. Get your bad news elsewhere. My ability to ignore reality faltered briefly, resulting in today’s fuss. Goodbye to Room 237. A return to ridiculous
topics next time.

One Friday a month, the good people of Fayetteville can make their way down to the Cape Fear River for a truly awesome live music experience. In a sea of canvas camping chairs, people can gather together with beer and burger in hand, united in one goal: to have a good time.

The Rock'n On The River concert series showcases some of the area’s most talented musicians in a laid-back outdoor venue that’s free for all and family-friendly.
Located behind Deep Creek Outfitters at Campbellton Landing, the pavilion-like stage has already presented some of Fayetteville’s favorite bands this summer season. From the country music stylings of Dark Horse to 80s hard rock cover band, The Fifth, Rock'n On The River has a band for every taste.

Next up, on July 22, is rhythm and blues band Autumn Tyde, followed by Foreigner tribute band Rev On.
Autumn Tyde, created by legendary musician and Fayetteville Music Hall of Famer Doyle Wood, will grace the stage at 6 p.m. and Wood can’t wait.
As a relatively new band on the scene, Rock'n On The River will be the band’s first concert in Fayetteville, which only adds to the excitement for long-time musician Wood.

“This is a great band with such great musicians,” he said of the group. “We have four lead singers in the band — it’s not a one-man show at all, and I just really enjoy doing it.”
Playing a mix of rock, R & B, original music and the beach music suggested by the band’s name, Wood is keen to share a little something for everyone. Concert-goers can expect to hear some Prince, James Brown, Joe Bonamassa and a little Poco.

“It’ll be a fun show,” he assured. “We’ve got a different setup than most, and I think the crowd will really enjoy it. At the end of the night, I hope they enjoyed our original music and noted the musicianship and professionalism of the band. These guys are good; if not, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

For those in the audience who “Want to Know What Love Is,” Rev On, featuring Jan Fields, will hit the stage at 8 p.m. and close out the night.
While guests are encouraged to bring their camping chairs, no outside food, coolers or containers will be allowed. Food and beverages will be for sale courtesy of Deep Creek Grill, and event sponsor Healy Wholesale will provide alcoholic beverages for guests 21 and up.

Though the concert is free and open to the public, on-site parking will be $10 per vehicle, a departure from last year.
Rockin’ on the River is located at 1122 Pearson St. East in Fayetteville. For more information about the venue, follow them at www.facebook.com/Rockn-On-The-River-271048666818630.
For updates, news and show information, follow Autumn Tyde at www.facebook.com/autumntyde.

To keep up with Rev-On, visit the band at their website https://revonband.com/.

 

It all started with a friendship. In 2014, 9-year-old Seth Wofford noticed Mr. Steve, a gentleman he often saw behind his school in downtown Fayetteville. The two felt a connection right away and struck up an unlikely friendship.  A simple wish

“Steve was really kind,” Seth's mother, Lindsey Wofford, said. “He would also say hello to the parents as they passed by with their kids, and Seth just really liked him.”

Filled with the curiosity common at that age, Seth asked questions that were difficult to answer.

“Where does Steve live, and where does he go when it's cold?”

Through a difficult conversation, Lindsey Wofford tried to help her son understand, Mr. Steve was homeless. Filled with the pure and dauntless intentions of a child, Seth was determined to help Mr. Steve and others in a similar predicament in any way he could. After months of brainstorming, the answer came from a surprising source — a television commercial.

Capital One was running a campaign called A Wish for Others that asked viewers to submit a wish they had on someone else's behalf, and Seth Wofford had a big one.

A national problem
According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, over 500,000 Americans currently live in a state of homelessness. Homelessness as a national issue originated in the late 19th century, mostly in dense urban areas, and has been a steadily growing issue across the United States ever since. Due largely to a worsening drug epidemic, a steady increase in housing costs, stagnation of wages, the displacement of LGBTQ+ youth and few resources for those with mental illness, the number of homeless people in America has grown exponentially.

As of 2019, an estimated 9,314 homeless people live in North Carolina, about 798 of whom are veterans, and just under 500 live in Cumberland County. With the economic fallout of COVID-19 and the highest spike in prices in over 30 years, the rate of homelessness in America isn't likely to slow down anytime soon.

A wish fulfilled
Armed with a $1000 gift card from Capitol One, Seth Wofford set about to make his wish a reality.

“He was so excited,” Lindsey Wofford shared.

“We picked out stuff for Steve and a couple of others, and we just kept meeting people who wanted to help. We learned as we went, it kept snowballing, and it slowly grew to this,” she said, her arms spread wide to demonstrate the enormity of their work. “Sometimes we look around and say, ‘how did this even happen?’”

From the joy of that first shopping trip, Lindsey Wofford felt the power of her son's wish and has never looked back. After obtaining 501(c)3 status in 2015, Seth's Wish has created a space where people can get the help they need with dignity and kindness. The organization's mission: “To positively impact lives and bring together the community by providing the necessary resources to those facing food insecurity, homelessness and other poverty-stricken crises in Fayetteville,” is at the heart of all they do.

Standing at about 5'2", Lindsey Wofford has a smile and a greeting for everyone who walks into the Day Room of Seth's Wish, now headquartered on South Reilly Road in Fayetteville. Warm and funny in cut-offs and a T-shirt, Wofford treats the people who walk into the white house with the blue shutters like guests in her home. The Day Room, open every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is well organized and meant to suggest a shopping experience no different than any other. There are no need-based forms to fill out or embarrassing questions to answer before people fill their carts.

“People come in and say, ‘hey, I need stuff,’” Lindsey Wofford explained, “and if you need it, then you need it. It's yours. We're here to give it, so we're going to give it.”
And while it might seem an opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to swoop in and take advantage of the generosity on display, Lindsey Wofford doesn't worry about that. “For every one person that takes what they don't need, there are a hundred people that do,” she said.

Clothing items are hung on racks that line the walls, while baby items, toys, household goods, entertainment and fresh produce from the garden are laid out on tables in the middle. A pantry off to the side holds a wealth of non-perishables donated from food banks and people in the community, and a refrigerator houses essentials such as milk, eggs and deli sandwiches. Seth's Wish also serves food from their kitchen if anyone wants or needs a plate for the road. Meals like lasagna with rolls and a glass of sweet tea might be the only full meal some patrons have all day. Seth's Wish and the items found therein are donated by people of the community, with clothing items — especially those for children, being the largest percentage of donations.

“Donations are literally how we function,” Lindsey Wofford said. “They're how this room stays full.”

Seth's Wish also partners with Second Harvest Food Bank and receives donations from outlets all over the city, including Walmart. With help from Sustainable Sandhills, Seth's Wish also grows fresh produce in the house's backyard.

“Everyone just comes and plants stuff,” Lindsey Wofford joked.

“I don't even know what's in here.”
The tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers are easily identified in the carefully tended gardens, and it's clear they're grown by a very green thumb. Fresh vegetables, which are often overlooked due to their cost and fragility in times of food insecurity, are a welcome and necessary addition to the organization's pantry. While the Day Room is a space for patrons to fill a basket with what they need, the front of the house, called Seth's Wish Gift Shop, is a space where they can shop for the things they want. Filled with jewelry, paintings, pottery and wreaths, the little boutique is a project of which Lindsey Wofford is immensely proud.

“This is our coolest program ever,” she gushed while walking through the shelves of handmade items.

“People that come in for services who are talented or crafty, we open a file on them and feature their work in the store. When they make a sale, 100% of the money goes back to the artist that created it. It's just a way for them to make some extra money.”

Many of the items are created through donated crafting materials, which keep costs low for the artists and free up space at Seth's Wish.

“We have such great stuff here,” Lindsey Wofford said. “There are just so many talented people.”

A home lost and found

It's hard to argue with the success of Seth's Wish in the community, but that's not to say there haven't been a few setbacks. Originally operating in a building on South Cool Spring Street, the organization, known for its efforts in the homeless community, suddenly became homeless themselves. About two months after COVID-19 gripped the city and the nation, tragedy struck Seth's Wish literally and figuratively when a van crashed through their building, destroying the Day Room. While no one was injured, the building was officially condemned. It was another two years before the organization found a space they could call home.

“We're very definite on the fact that the money that comes in or is donated goes toward services. We don't want to pay $1000 monthly to rent a space when that money could go toward helping people.”

A chance meeting with a gentleman who owned a house used as a food pantry for his church donated the space to Seth's Wish. The rest is history.

“I never thought we'd be able to find something like this,” she said, the gratitude plain on her face. “It was just meant to be.”

A request

Seth's Wish, run by Lindsey Wofford and a smattering of volunteers, is more than grateful for the organization's success and the kindness of the community. And while the Day Room and back room are filled with clothing for people to take home, Lindsey Wofford admits there are at least two things they could always use more of, food donations and time.

“Groceries are so hard right now,” Lindsey Wofford told Up & Coming Weekly. “We'll take anything, but we really need non-perishable items the most.”

Another donation Seth's Wish could use is help from the community.

“We always need volunteers,” she admitted.
People are always needed in the garden and can sign up for tasks via Seth's Community Garden, found on Facebook. Volunteering to water the plants or flip compost are all small acts that go a long way. Everyone is welcome to show up and lend their time every Tuesday and Thursday.

Passion in practice

Seth, now a teenager, often helps his mom in the little house founded on his selfless wish.

“He loves it,” his mom said, beaming with pride.
The new space, with its wide front lawn and big backyard, offers many opportunities for Seth's Wish to engage with its community in meaningful and heartfelt ways. With a back room stocked and ready for the next batch of people in need through Seth's Wish, now in operation for the past seven and a half years, Lindsey Wofford hopes to continue what her son started for as long as they're needed. When asked why she does it, Lindsey Wofford had a simple answer:

“I just like it.”

Seth's Wish is located at 204 South Reilly Road in Fayetteville.

For more information regarding donations, volunteer opportunities, and events, visit www.facebook.com/sethswish/ or call 910-476-6613.

Ron Dahle shouldered his PVC-constructed potato gun and fired yet another shot of compressed air over the limb of a tall North Carolina pine tree. His shot propelled a plastic projectile attached to a fishing line. A fishing reel mounted atop the launcher fed the line out like a well-practiced angler. The goal was to get the projectile to thread the fishing line up, over and down the other side of the limb. Reaching the right limb enabled him and his fellow radio enthusiasts to hoist antenna wire high into the tree. It was the first part of creating a loop antenna. To finish the project, the process had to be repeated at another tall nearby tree.

Dahle is president of the Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society, a 130-member-strong amateur ham radio organization in Cumberland County. The CFARS routinely steps up to help local emergency responders with radio communication services during hurricanes, blizzards or any other community crisis. When the call comes, members set up in local disaster shelters and provide communication via ham radios, while other forms of communication may have been affected by outages.

Dahle and his compatriots recently spent a hot Friday afternoon setting up antennas to prepare for the following day’s Field Day, an annual event testing the club’s ability to set up and communicate with other amateur radio organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

“This was a readiness exercise to determine the ability of CFARS to provide communication support to the community in emergency operations and disasters,” Dahle said. He emphasized this was not a contest to see how many radio contacts were made, although contacts are tracked and tabulated. “There are numerous varied contests throughout the year in different disciplines of communication where the main goal is purely a number count.”

CFARS held its annual Field Day on Saturday through Sunday, June 25 to 26, at the Hope Mills Golfview Greenway Walking Trail. The field day spans a continuous 24 hours, from 2 p.m. Saturday through 2 p.m. Sunday. The event is held under the auspices of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio in the United States founded in 1914.
This was the first year CFARS held the event at the Hope Mills Walking Trail. In the past, CFARS’ Field Day took place at Methodist University, which also housed the group’s repeater. The previous chancellor of the University was a CFARS member.

Among ARRL’s missions is promoting and recruiting people into the amateur radio hobby. But another key job of ARRL is to protect radio frequencies used by amateur radio organizations and ensure they remain available to the public. Radio frequencies are limited, and someone always vies for Federal Communications Commission-controlled radio frequencies.

The annual readiness exercise and Field Day occur in the United States, Canada and even some worldwide locations may participate. It is held on the fourth full weekend in June. Along with testing their ability to function properly in the event of an emergency, amateur radio operators try to make voice or Morse code contact with as many other amateur radio operators as possible.

The CFARS’s setup at the Golfview Greenway site included a Morse code station, a Get-On-The-Air station, and a voice communications station. A GOTA station allows people without a radio license or newly licensed individuals to speak and connect with someone on ham radio. It gives someone a chance to experience first-hand radio communication.

The ARRL website provided 2022 Field Day locations throughout the United States for interested citizens or news media. In North Carolina alone, there were dozens of sites, including Dublin, Calabash, New Bern, Jacksonville, Robbins, Albemarle atop Morrow Mountain and in the mountains of West Jefferson, among many others.
Local radio enthusiasts established CFARS as a non-profit organization in 1976 with 31 members, according to George Davenport, current vice-president and event coordinator. Davenport joined CFARS in 2016 after getting his FCC-required license. A year later, the club asked him to help coordinate its Field Day. He’s been coordinating the event ever since.

“I became interested in amateur radio after joining a Special Forces Facebook page,” Davenport said.

The page identified friends and Special Forces colleagues who were amateur radio operators. “I did a little research and found CFARS,” he said.
Both Davenport and Dahle are retired from the military and were initially introduced to radio communications during their time as Green Berets. Davenport’s introduction to communications came when he was cross-trained on a Special Forces team. Dahle, a retired command sergeant major, says the first part of his career was dedicated to communications but lessened as he was promoted through the ranks into leadership positions.

But when Dahle was in his mid-70s, he needed an outlet for what he describes as “his creative juices.”
He joined CFARS in 2018 after getting his FCC license.

“Ham radio and Morse code was a natural path for me,” he said.
Dahle, who describes himself as process-driven and regimented, says a successful field is knowing the club performed to expected standards. He defined these standards by noting whether the equipment held up

throughout the exercise, whether the club adequately handled unforeseen issues, if any, and whether the club left the grounds in the same condition as they found it.
To Davenport, a successful field day has many faces.

“It should be a learning experience for all involved,” he said.

It needs to have a wide range of tasks and activities that encourages member participation, and the event should meet all of its operational goals.
But, since one of its other goals is to foster greater interest and participation in the hobby, Davenport believes a successful field day should be a “fun activity.”

Foot traffic was slow around noon Thursday, July 7 on the first day of early voting at the Cumberland County Board of Elections. There were more candidates and their supporters outside the elections office than there were early voters.
At 12:18 p.m. — more than four hours after early voting began — 123 people had cast their votes, according to Angie Amaro, the interim director for the Cumberland County Board of Elections.

“It’s about what we expected,” she said. “It will pick up probably the last week.”
Early voting continues through July 23 for the July 26 municipal election. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Hours on July 23, a Saturday, are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Early voting is only available at the Board of Elections Office at 227 Fountainhead Lane. Fayetteville voters will select a mayor and nine City Council district representatives. Fayetteville has 126,989 registered voters, Amaro said.

“They’ve got to live in the city limits of Fayetteville,” Amaro said of the residents eligible to vote.

She estimated that the overall turnout for this off-year election would be roughly 16%.

“Because every race is contested, which is unusual for Fayetteville,” she said.
She said the May primary drew 16.25% of the voters. Amaro, who has served as the Board of Election’s interim director since Jan. 1, said a lot of people tend to vote early.

“It’s picked up over the years,” she said, “as more and more people have heard about it.”

Wesley McIntyre El, 26, of Fayetteville, was outside the Board of Elections Office to support Brenda McNair, who is running against incumbent Larry Wright for the District 7 seat on the City Council. He said he voted Thursday morning.

“You always prepare for a storm,” he said. “Anything in life — you prepare for. You don’t want to wait until the last minute.”

McIntyre said he wasn’t surprised that turnout was slow on the first day of early voting.

“It’s a polarized climate,” he said. “There’s no love in the air.”

Several candidates — including Mayor Mitch Colvin and his mayoral opponent Freddie Delacruz — were mostly trying to brave the stifling heat and humidity by sitting under tents and standing in the shade of a tree.
Maria Cantu, 28, was working for candidate Mario Benavente, who is campaigning for the right to represent District 3. District 3 Councilman Antonio Jones, who was appointed to the seat and is running to keep it, was also among the candidates outside the Board of Elections Office. Cantu said she cast her vote earlier in the day.

“I feel that not enough young people are engaged. Both parties want to engage the millennial voter and the GenZer voters," she said of the Republicans and Democrats. “Basically, everyone wants to see young voters.

“It’s important to vote and make my voice heard,” Cantu said. “Even one vote can make a difference.”

On the ballot
In Fayetteville, voters will choose between the following candidates in 10 contests.

Mayor:
Mitch Colvin, Freddie Delacruz
City Council District 1:
Kathy Keefe Jensen, Alex Rodriguez
City Council District 2:
Shakeyla Ingram, Tyrone A. Williams
City Council District 3:
Mario Benavente, Antonio Jones
City Council District 4:
Thomas Greene, D.J. Haire
City Council District 5:
Johnny Dawkins, Fred Lachance
City Council District 6:
Peter Pappas, Derrick Thompson
City Council District 7:
Brenda McNair, Larry Wright
City Council District 8:
Courtney Banks-McLaughlin, Michael Pinkston
City Council District 9:
Deno Hondros, Yvonne Kinston