Chris Lucas is in his fifth season as head girls tennis coach at Cape Fear High School.

He inherited a program where most of the players hadn’t played the sport until they went out for the Cape Fear team.

But five years of pushing his players to perform their best reached a peak last month when Cape Fear defeated perennial Cumberland County tennis power Terry Sanford 6-3 in the second meeting between the teams this season.
According to retired Terry Sanford tennis coach and local high school tennis historian Gil Bowman, it was the first time since the 2003-2004 tennis season that Cape Fear won a match over the Bulldogs.

Since coming to Cape Fear from Pinecrest High School, Lucas has been trying to change the tennis culture at the school. It’s a slow process, but the win over Terry Sanford shows Lucas is on the right track.

Lucas said his primary goal is to turn each of his players into a true tennis player and not just an athlete with a tennis racquet in hand. That means watching professional players on television, understanding the strategy and mental aspect of the game and playing as much tournament tennis outside the high school season as possible.

“My biggest hope is they will fall in love with every aspect of the game,’’ he said. “I’m very fortunate I’ve had coachable girls and ones that have bought into that.’’

This year’s team has only one player, freshman Brooke Bieniek, who played the sport before she got to Cape Fear.

Bieniek plays No. 1 singles and won at both singles and doubles in the match with Terry Sanford. Her parents are both physical education teachers at nearby Mac Williams Middle School and got her into the sport at the age of seven.
“I love just hitting shots and getting all the emotions out,’’ she said. “Like if you had a bad day at school you just hit and hit a ball. It’s fun. Especially with teammates.’’

She gives all the credit for the team’s success to Lucas. “He’s taught us a lot of stuff and made us what we are today,’’ she said.

Lucas said that’s part of his philosophy, which he sums up in the phrase, "Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn."

“Every single match is a match where you can learn,’’ he said. “We broke down why we won that match, what we did right and what we didn’t do before.’’

Senior Paige Cameron, who plays No. 2 singles, agreed with Bieniek and said Lucas has always encouraged the team, even when they lost a match 9-0.

“Everything he’s done has pushed us to where we were when we finally beat them (Terry Sanford),’’ Cameron said. “Honestly, that was the best night because that’s what we’ve been looking forward to, beating Terry Sanford, and we finally did it.’’

Cameron, who is the team captain, said the energy the team got from newcomers like Bieniek was a big boost to this year’s team.

“The biggest energy is them being positive whether they are playing or not,’’ she said, “showing support for all the girls.’’

Dajia Rucker, a junior, won at fifth court singles and teamed with Bieniek to win in doubles against Terry Sanford. “Everyone just stepped up,’’ she said. “We knew we wanted to beat Terry Sanford, so that’s what we did.’’

But the Colts know they must keep working. “I think the main thing is we don’t take this one for granted,’’ Cameron said. “We need to play with the best we have and do the best that we can no matter who we are playing.’’

Meanwhile, Lucas is looking further down the road, hoping to continue to change the tennis culture not just at the school but in the community.

“Every summer, we hold a clinic for kids, ages 7-13, and every year it’s grown,’’ he said. “The younger we can get them, the better. We want to be a program that turns in good  team after good team and is a revolving door,’’ he said.

Pictured from top to bottom: Brooke Bieniek, Paige Cameron, Dajia Rucker

Cumberland County Schools are charting a course to reduce out-of-school student suspensions. The school system and the Cumberland County Chapter of the NAACP recently held a forum to review strategies and develop new approaches to embrace restorative justice practices and reduce suspensions. Restorative justice is an approach in which the response to an incident is a meeting between the victim and the offender, the goal being to share their experience of what happened and create a consensus for what the offender can do to repair the harm from the offense.

Dozens of community stakeholders met at the Cliffdale Regional Branch Library for a School Discipline Forum, according to a news release provided by Cumberland County Schools. The forum, entitled Alternatives to Suspensions: Rethinking School Discipline, provided information on the effects of suspensions, aims to stop the school-to-prison pipeline and how the community can work together to improve academic and life outcomes for students.

Up & Coming Weekly asked CCS to elaborate on student racial inequities. Associate Superintendent Lindsay Whitley said the most up-to-date information that has been certified and can be released is from the 2017-2018 school year: “Out-of-school suspensions by ethnicity,” involved 6,526 African-American pupils compared to 1,175 whites. Lindsay said 45.09% of the student body was African-American. He did not respond to an inquiry as to what the administration attributed the imbalance, saying that “there are many factors that may contribute to suspension rates in CCS.”

Peggy Nicholson of the Youth Justice Project and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice acknowledged the work is being done to reduce suspensions and racial inequities, while noting that there is still more work to be done. She provided two major strategies to help CCS move forward — increasing institutional equity while decreasing suspensions and court referrals.

School Superintendent Dr. Marvin Connelly, Jr. shared a variety of strategies that school officials currently use to reduce suspensions, including conferences with students and parents, restorative justice practices and positive behavioral interventions. “A suspension is not discipline — it is the consequence of an action,” said Connelly.

The National Center for Education Statistics disagrees saying “suspensions and expulsions are disciplinary actions taken by a school or district in response to a student’s behavior.”

Connelly added that “when students are not in school, they cannot learn. We’re committed to reviewing policies and procedures through an equity lens, with the goal of reducing the number of out-of-school suspensions and expanding alternatives to suspensions.”

The NCES notes that grade retention, suspension and expulsion are all associated with negative outcomes, such as an increased risk of dropping out of school. Retention, however, can be related to both disciplinary and academic issues; a student might be retained because of behavioral issues or because the student is not academically ready to progress to the next grade level.

“The forum was a call to action to create better outcomes for our youth,” said Emily Chapman Grimes, education committee chair for the NAACP. “We’ve talked about racial disparities in school suspensions for far too long. It’s time to do something. School leadership, community members, the NAACP and its coalition partners are ready to collaborate to create better outcomes for the youth in Cumberland County.”

Dozens of community stakeholders met at the Cliffdale Regional Branch Library for a School Discipline Forum, according to a news release provided by Cumberland County Schools.

There’s a calendar day to celebrate just about everyone and everything it seems — even the homeless. But Kenjuana McCray and the people from the Community Awareness Alliance plan to do more with World Homeless Day than recognize the homeless. Their goal is to provide them with tangible help.

The ALMS HOUSE in Hope Mills will host a feeding and food drive on Friday, Oct. 11, which is actually the day after the official observance of World Homeless Day on Oct. 10.

The Community Awareness Alliance is a Cumberland County organization that helps promote concern for the homeless locally, according to McCray, who was asked to help bring an event for the homeless to Hope Mills.

“This is the first time World Homeless Day has ever been recognized countywide in Cumberland County,’’ McCray said. “It is something done all over the United States.’’

She chose Oct. 11, the day after World Homeless Day, for the observance in Hope Mills because it worked better for the schedules of those she wanted to involve in the event.

“It was supposed to be something where it’s not just a Fayetteville thing,’’ she said. “They wanted all the municipalities represented, to do something to bring awareness to the homeless.’’

McCray said she also involved Grilley Mitchell of the Hope Mills Festival Committee in the planning for the World Homeless Day observance.

The Hope Mills observance of World Homeless Day will take place at the ALMS HOUSE on Ellison Street. The event has been in the planning since last November, McCray said. The ALMS HOUSE was chosen as the site because it is already involved in helping to feed the homeless in the Hope Mills community.

McCray said representatives of the culinary department from Fayetteville Technical Community College, where she works, will be on hand to provide a free meal of hot soup and bread for any homeless and low income families who would like to eat.

The free meal is also available to anyone who comes to the event to donate nonperishable food items or toiletries to give to those in need.

The food items and toiletries will be shared between the ALMS HOUSE and the FTCC Food Pantry.

As far as toiletries are concerned items like soap, toothpaste and deodorant are always welcome. “Those are sometimes forgotten items,’’ McCray said. “They are things low income and homeless people could really use and need.’’
The time for the free soup is listed from noon until 1 p.m. but McCray said they will most likely continue to serve those who attend until the supply runs out.

In addition to the food and donations, there will be information available to those attending regarding services for the homeless and low income families.

Lindsey Wofford will represent an organization called Seth’s Wish, which supports low-income and homeless people in the county. “They do clothing drives, food drives and all kinds of things,’’ McCray said of Seth’s Wish.

McCray said Wofford would share information about the various services provided by Seth’s Wish.

Also present will be Christine Sheets of the Hope Mills office of the State Employees Credit Union.

Sheets will have an informational table set up to share services that the SECU offers for low income families like low-cost life insurance and nominally-priced income tax preparation.

“I know a homeless person is not necessarily looking for that, but a low-income family might use some of the advantages the SECU provides,’’ McCray said. “It’s not only feeding the homeless and people that are low-income. It’s showing them other resources that are in the community and that can assist them.’’

The Students for Social Justice at FTCC will be on hand to help with the collection of the items people bring to donate.

For any questions about the event, contact McCray at kenjuanamccray09@gmail.com or contact her during office hours at FTCC, 910-494-1352.

It’s a Spooktacular time of the year for visiting the historic downtown district according to Hank Parfitt, who is on the program committee for the Cool Spring Downtown District. Parfitt would tell potential visitors that any time of the year is a good time to get downtown. There is so much to see and do that it’s hard to know where to start. One option is a carriage ride called Carriage Tours of Old Fayetteville that will take you and some of your friends on a 45-minute to one-hour tour with a professional tour guide through the historic district. Connecting guests with the past as they are pulled by two draft horses in a limousine wagon, this carriage tour engages you in the 250-year-old history of the city of Fayetteville in a fun and entertaining way. The carriage holds up to eight people and has a canopy for protection from the sun and light rain. The carriage rides take once a month. The next one is Oct. 19, and the next one is Nov. 16. Both rides are from 1-6 p.m. and the cost is $25 an hour, or $20 with military ID and children 12 and under are $15. Parfitt recommends that you call in advance, but it’s not required.

On Oct. 31, get to downtown for a  special carriage ride. Not only do the owners of S&S Carriage Rides, Tina and Gary, provide the historic carriage tour, but they also go all-out during the different holidays. Count Dracula will be steering the carriage this particular evening, and the carriage will be in a Halloween costume, as well. Rides begin at 3 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. These rides last 15 minutes and are a great break from the trick-or-treating many will be participating in downtown already. The cost for this evening is $10 for adults, $5 for children 10 and under. However, if you’re an adult, and you arrive during that first hour, 3-4 p.m., it costs $5.

All carriage rides begin and end at 222 Hay St. Pay using cash or debit/credit cards.

For something that is a little more frightful this month, The Dogwood Festival is prepared to deliver. On Oct. 19, enjoy an eerie evening as historians guide you through Cross Creek Cemetery for a stroll among the tombstones. Tickets are $10. Call in advance to reserve a spot for your Historic Haunting: A History Cemetery Tour experience, as the spots do tend to fill up quickly. Visit the Dogwood Festival’s website https://www.thedogwoodfestival.com/fall-festival for more information.

There is a lot going on in downtown Fayetteville this month, including spooky carriage rides. Photo Credit: VisitFayettevilleNC.com

Sierra Gosselin

Jay Benefield

South View•Cross country•Sophomore

Benefield has a weighted grade point average of 4.31. In addition to running cross country for the Tigers, he’s enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Academy at South View.

Pictured from top to bottom: Sierra Gosselin, Jay Benefield

The recently rebranded Cumberland Choral Arts, formerly known as Cumberland Oratorio Singers, is set to debut its 2019-2020 concert season with “A Night at the Opera” Friday, Oct. 18, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, located at 1601 Raeford Road. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

 “A Night at the Opera,” featuring opera choruses both familiar and obscure, will be the latest of CCA’s more diversified musical programming. Among the more familiar pieces will be a “Porgy and Bess” medley performed by guest soloist, Dr. Denise Payton of Fayetteville State University. Selections from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and the chorus popularly known as the “Can-Can” from Offenbach’s operetta will also be among the featured performances of the evening. Less familiar choruses scheduled to be performed are “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from the Verdi opera “Nabucco” and “Chorus of the Servants” from “Don Pasquale” by Donizetti.

 Since CCA Director, Jason Britt, took a leave of absence during this season’s first quarter due to health reasons, Ryan Pagels, director of music at St. John’s Episcopal Church, is filling in as interim artistic director. “I am very humbled to be conducting this concert, especially one programmed with such special music,” said Pagels. “It is no secret that some of the most iconic and memorable melodies in opera come from the choruses. This program is very much a celebration of the art form, and full of melodies that will stick with you as you leave the concert. I am especially excited to feature Dr. Denise Payton from FSU as a guest soloist, as well as some of the members of the CCA.”

 In addition to the CCA choir, there will be performances by the Cross Creek Chorale and the Campbellton Youth Chorus. A pianist will provide the only instrumental accompaniment of the evening.

 Sponsors for “A Night at the Opera” include Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Cumberland Community Foundation, Cumulus Media, Up & Coming Weekly and many others who will be listed in the program.

 “I cannot speak highly enough of this ensemble’s dedication to creating beautiful, moving music, said Pagels. “They are a delightful group of people, and you will not be disappointed.”

 Tickets for this concert may be purchased at the door for $15. Also available for purchase at the door will be $45 season tickets, which will cover the four regular-season concerts. Visit www.facebook.com/CumberlandChoralArts for additional information. 

 In addition to the CCA choir, there will be performances by the Cross Creek Chorale and the Campbellton Youth Chorus.

Pictures and videos of 7-year-old Creed Kolasa don’t show anything unusual except a youngster with an effervescent smile who quickly charms his way into the hearts of anyone he comes in contact with.

“He is so funny,’’ said his mother, Jessica Kolasa. “He comes up with the most off-the-wall comments. And he has no filter. He loves people and his smile just melts you.’’

He is a huge fan of dinosaurs, with Tyrannosaurus Rex his clear favorite. His mom isn’t sure why, but she thinks possibly it’s because of the dinosaur’s ferocious roar.

With his cherubic face and small stature, Creed doesn’t look like a formidable adversary, but he, his family and all the available tools of modern medicine are fighting back with everything they have against a potentially fatal disease that has beset him since birth.

Creed is among an estimated 200,000 people worldwide suffering from a rare disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Creed’s body is unable to produce a protein called dystrophin that helps with normal muscle function.

He was born four weeks premature and suffered issues with breathing and jaundice. At one time, it was thought he would need a liver transplant.

Creed’s father, Doren Kolasa, was transferred to Fort Bragg not long after his Creed’s birth. Although the family lives in Eastover, Doren is a successful coach in the Hope Mills Dixie Youth program.

He led his Hope Mills Angels 10U team to the Dixie Youth state title last summer and a berth in the Dixie Youth World Series in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Creed plays youth sports in Hope Mills, currently competing in the 8U fall baseball league.

Jessica eventually took the infant Creed to the emergency room at the University of North Carolina after being unable to find a doctor in Fayetteville who would treat a patient as young as Creed.

It was at UNC Hospitals that a resident who had studied Duchenne made the diagnosis when Creed was six months old.

She said the family was told at the time there were no treatments for someone as young as Creed. So Jessica Kolasa began her own quest to find a doctor somewhere who would give Creed the weapons he needed to fight Duchenne.
“I started reading what kind of therapies have helped slow the progression of the disease and the natural history of it,’’ she said.

Eventually, they turned to Duke University and found Dr. Edward Smith. Smith is an associate professor of pediatrics at Duke in the division of neurology.

“I’m the doctor here who sees all the kids with suspected or known muscle and nerve diseases,’’ Smith said. “We follow about 140 Duchenne patients now, kids and adults.’’

Duchenne is unique to boys, Smith said, and in most cases you don’t see outward signs of the disease until two or three years of age. He said they look essentially normal by the age of three or four and then signs appear like not being able to keep up with children their age or having difficulty standing or going up and down stairs.

Over time, things get worse. They lose the ability to walk by age 10 or 12, then eventually lose arm function. Since the heart is a muscle, it is also affected over time. By the time the patient reaches the age of 30, they are in a wheelchair and can barely move.

Standard care of Duchenne includes administering steroids, which basically help the patient to walk a little longer. The Kolasas went to Duke to try an experimental therapy that it offers.

Creed was originally taking a drug called Vamorolone, a newly synthesized steroid molecule. It basically does the same thing the other steroids do, with hopefully fewer side effects.

Currently, he’s switched to another drug that helps his body with a process called Exon skipping. In layman’s terms, this drug is sort of a molecular patch. The faulty gene in Creed’s body is tricked into producing the dystrophin protein that helps his muscles do their job.

Smith said it’s not the normal level of dystrophin that the body produces, but any dystrophin that can be created will slow the advance of the disease and help Creed to live as normally as possible for a longer time.

Research is ongoing into even better ways to get the body to produce the needed dystrophin Smith said. Advanced gene therapy is looking at a way to deliver a micro dystrophin gene through a virus that would carry the gene to the muscles and turn on dystrophin production. “There are currently three trials going on in the United States with three different companies,’’ Smith said. “It looks promising.’’

Life goes on at a hectic pace for Creed and family. He has regular occupational and physical therapy sessions, along with speech therapy, to help him battle what the lack of dystrophin does to his muscles.

He makes weekly visits to Duke for an infusion of the Exon, skipping medication he’s currently using. He’s had 115 visits to date. In each one, he undergoes an hour-long infusion of the drug, then has to wait an additional hour to be observed for a reaction.

Not surprisingly, he’s no stranger to all the folks at Duke. “He is on a first-name basis with half the hospital,’’ Smith said.

That is likely one of the reasons Creed was front and center at the recent Duke Children’s Gala, an annual benefit held to raise money for Duke Children’s.

Blue Devil basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and his family were honored for their support of Duke Children’s. Creed was called to the stage to share his story, and to receive an autographed basketball from Krzyzewski.

I just loved Creed being able to go up on stage and tell his story, lighten up the room,’’ Jessica said, “being able to bring awareness to Duchenne and raise some money for the hospital.’’

But while the moment in the spotlight was special, Jessica and her family face the reality of daily challenges seeking the best care for Creed while raising a family of three other children ages ranging in age from 12 to three.

“It’s a tough balance,’’ she said. “There have been a lot of tears shed by my other kids when they wanted to do something and know they can’t because I can’t pick them up at that time.

“It really pulls on my heart because I’ve had to see them mature faster, but the love they have for him (Creed) overshadows all of that.’’

Meanwhile, Jessica says she and her family pray daily for a miracle that will deliver Creed from the grip of Duchenne and allow him to lead a normal life.

“We also have learned life isn’t about things, it’s about memories,’’ she said. “We try to soak in everything we can, possibly soak in with him and all four kids.

“That’s what life’s about. Making memories.’’

And keeping them alive as long as possible.

Pictured:Creed Kolasa gets autographed basketball from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Photo credit: Les Todd for Duke Children’s

Military commissary officials have stepped up their efforts to beef up savings, convenience and overall shopping experiences for customers. When are beer and wine coming to your commissary? No answer yet, according to DoD officials. Right now there is a limited test selling beer and wine in 12 military commissaries. Fort Bragg is not one of them. Commissary and exchange officials are “gathering and analyzing all factors related to beer and wine sales,” said DoD spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell.

The 12 test stores have limited selections and restricted floor space for beer and wine, typically a four-foot shelf space each for beer and for wine. The selections have been purposely kept small at the 12 stores, and are being culled and changed, said one industry source. Beer and wine sales are expected to be rolled out slowly to other stores, he said, as officials evaluate the initial sales and remain sensitive to the needs of customers and the military services’ desires to deglamorize alcohol.

One industry source said the Fort Myer, Virginia, commissary — the store closest to the Pentagon — has the best sales of all 12 stores. Although its selection is the smallest, its placement near the meat section is key, a local official said. “It’s all about where you put it, and how you stage it.”

Even with just four-feet of shelf space devoted to each of their beer and wine offerings, that store sold $165,596 worth of libations. Its wine sales brought it over the top: 66% of the sales were wine, which far surpassed the other 11 stores.
Following a 90-day pilot program in the last half of 2018, DoD decided to continue sales of beer and wine at the 12 test stores while it evaluated whether to expand sales to the rest of the system’s 226 commissaries in the U.S. and abroad. As of December 8, 2018, some $394,315 worth of beer and wine were sold in the 12 commissaries — $190,574 in beer, and $203,741 in wine, according to Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The spirits industry had been hoping that a test of spirits sales at the commissaries might follow. But the DoD decided it will not move ahead with a pilot test for spirits. “The department has evaluated the sale of alcoholic beverages in commissaries,” Gleason said, “and stands by its original decision to limit sales to a small selection of beers and wines.”

“Spirits, wine and beer all compete for the same drinking occasions,” said David Ozgo, senior vice president for economic and strategic analysis for the Distilled Spirits Council. “By discriminating against spirits, the DoD is picking marketplace winners and losers and trying to dictate consumer preferences … excluding spirits puts us at a competitive disadvantage.”

Following a 90-day pilot program in the last half of 2018, DoD decided to continue sales of beer and wine at the 12 test stores while it evaluated whether to expand sales to the rest of the system’s 226 commissaries in the U.S. and abroad.

In Munich, Germany, Oct. 6 marked the end of one of their oldest and most celebrated traditions, Oktoberfest. However, at St. Patrick Catholic Church on Village Drive, last Sunday’s celebration of Oktoberfest marked over four decades of food, fun, frolic, music and beer — lots of beer, sauerkraut, potato salad and sausages. All Bavarian-style. This annual event, hosted by the St. Pat’s Knights of Columbus organization, is a major fundraiser for the church. Traditionally, Up & Coming Weekly rarely writes about programs and events that have already taken place; however, this event was special and so impressive I felt impelled to make an exception and advise our readers to put it on their calendars for the first Sunday in October 2020.

I guess with this event coming on the heels of the Fayetteville Greek Festival and the International Folk Festival, it made me cognizant and appreciative of our incredibly diverse community.

Knight Fred Cutter was the chairman of this year’s festivities, and he and his committee went to the far extreme to capture the authentic ambiance and culture of a true Bavarian festival, right down to the decorations, food, music and costumes. Surprisingly, many in attendance dressed in traditional Bavarian attire; the men wore lederhosen, and the ladies wore colorful dirndls — pronounced dern-DULL — which is an ensemble that includes a blouse, skirt and apron. The music was exceptional. Throughout the evening, attendees marched, sang and danced to the Little German Band and Dancers out of Raleigh. They were quite talented, performing songs, waltzes and polkas from the Bavaria region of Germany that energized and electrified the audience. The German word “Gemütlichkeit” describes a state of belonging when being surrounded by good friends, with good music and good times.

So, nothing to do in Fayetteville? What nonsense. There’s plenty to do here. And, the best common denominator all these community events and venues have is the people themselves. We encourage everyone to get involved and get to know our residents and our community. St. Patrick’s Oktoberfest is only one example of the excellent events that define our unique community.

Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on Village Drive celebrated Oktoberfest this past Sunday with a fun family affair.
Picture 1, L-R: Lia, Lexie and Yiotta Hasapis

In this time of political rancor and hate, it is nice to find something that old time politicos agree on regardless of political affiliation, when they answer this question: Who is North Carolina’s most colorful political figure?

The answer today is clear: It is Rufus Edmisten, Democratic nominee for governor in 1984, attorney general, secretary of state and author of a recent book, “That’s Rufus: A Memoir of Tar Heel Politics, Watergate and Public Life.”

Edmisten begins his book not with his birth and growing up on a farm just outside the mountain town of Boone but with his favorite story. In 1973, he served the president of the United States with a subpoena on behalf of the Senate Watergate Committee, which was led by another North Carolinian, Sen. Sam Ervin. Serving the president with this demand for the records ultimately led to President Nixon’s resignation. Edmisten’s position as Ervin’s right-hand man made him a nationally known personality that he leveraged into political stardom.

Edmisten makes the story a good one. He describes the frantic rush to prepare the subpoena document, including a heated discussion about using correction fluid to cover a mistake and a ride to the Executive Office Building where the president’s lawyers respectfully accepted the subpoena. Then the cheeky Rufus reached in his pocket, pulled out his copy of the Constitution and gave it to the president’s lawyers in a pointed message that they should study it.

This incident and Edmisten’s work with Sen. Ervin were the launch pad for his political career.

Edmisten’s prelaunch story is set in the North Carolina mountains on a farm near Boone, where he grew up tending cows and pigs and working fields of cabbages and tobacco. He made extra money plowing garden plots for his neighbors and used a tractor to visit his kinfolks around the mountains.

After success in athletics, Future Farmers of America, student politics and academics in high school, and almost winning a Morehead Scholarship, he landed at UNC-Chapel Hill. From there, he made his way to Washington, D.C., teaching at a Catholic high school, attending law school at George Washington and securing a low-level job on Sen. Ervin’s staff. Edmisten soon became one of the senator’s full-time trusted assistants in the Watergate-Nixon impeachment matter.

The “That’s Rufus” chapter on Watergate is good background for those following the current battle between Congress and another president.

He returned to North Carolina in 1974 and mounted a successful campaign for attorney general. His triumph over a host of prominent Democrats gave notice he would run for governor someday.

That day came in 1984 when Gov. Jim Hunt ran for the U.S. Senate and a host of Democrats lined up to run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Edmisten won in a brutal primary runoff against Eddie Knox and then lost the general election to Jim Martin.

Some believe he lost because he made disparaging remarks about barbecue. His version of that incident is, by itself, worth the price of the book. But Edmisten says it was Ronald Reagan’s “sticky coattails” that “swept both me and Jim Hunt away from our dreams. We were not alone, either. The sweep was broad and far reaching.”

Edmisten felt crestfallen and abandoned. “The ache in the bottom of my stomach was so great nothing appealed to me except finding some dark place to crawl away and hide,” he writes. “I swear I saw people cross the street so they wouldn’t have to talk to me.”

“That’s Rufus” describes how Edmisten came back from that defeat, won election as secretary of state, lost that position in disgrace, came back as a successful lawyer and lobbyist and learned lessons that will be important for every citizen.

In a future column I will share some of that wisdom.

The Fourth Annual North Carolina Fall Festival takes place Thursday, Oct. 17, through Saturday,  Oct. 19, on Main Street in downtown Raeford.

 “This is the fourth year of the Fall Festival, but it is the 35th year of our festival in Hoke County,” said Melissa Pittman, executive director of the North Carolina Fall Festival. “The name was changed five years ago from the North Carolina Turkey Festival to the North Carolina Fall Festival.”

 Pittman added the name was changed because at the time the festival was organized the largest employer and commodity of Hoke County was turkeys. “We changed the name to make it more inclusive of all of the businesses in Raeford,” she said.

 The celebration kicked off Saturday, Oct. 5 with the Second Annual Golf Tournament. Card Tournament Tuesday will be Oct. 15. Senior Day is Wednesday, Oct. 16, with bingo, lunch, health screenings and a guest speaker.

 The parade takes place Thursday, Oct. 17, at 5:30 p.m. “We do the parade every year, and that allows students to show off their band, their cheerleaders, their sports team. Each of our schools and several businesses in town will get a float,” said Pittman. “It’s a huge event that only happens once a year in Hoke County.”

 A “Stuffin’ and Stompin” dinner takes place from 5-7 p.m. at West Hoke Middle School Friday, Oct. 18. The cost is $8. The Turkey Bowl follows at 7 p.m. at Hoke High School in Raz Autry Stadium.

 The last day of the festival is Saturday, Oct. 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live music will be provided by The Dowdy Boys, Dv8er, Donnie Henderson and Winslow Ratliff. The featured band is Soul DeCree, who will perform at noon.  “Our festival sets out each year to bring artists, different cultural events and craftsmen to (the) community,” said Pittman. “Many of our children have seen storytellers that they would have never seen if it had not been for the festival.”

 There will be a Children’s Corner at the festival that features a climbing wall, double slides, obstacle courses, a trackless train ride and games. “They get to come and participate in our Children’s Corner, which is entirely free this year with our county and city governments paying for that area so our local children and any child that comes will not have to pay,” said Pittman. “We will have craftsmen that do their work on the street, cultural dancers and a dance troupe that will perform, the Lumbee Tribe who will perform, step teams and bands.” There will also be a food court and a wine and beer court.

 Also, there will be an art contest between all of the students in Hoke County.  Cash prizes will be awarded, and their art will be displayed from Oct. 18 – Nov. 11. The school that wins the overall display receives a donation from the festival to go toward  the school’s art program.

 The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 910-904-2424 or visit www.NCFallFestival.com.

You are probably asking yourself the musical question, “How did Up & Coming Weekly’s copy editor let such a stupid mistake creep into the title of this stain on world literature?” Or you may even be asking a more profound question, “Why are these annoying columns impinging on my eyeballs before they get turned into fish wrap?” Alas, some questions don’t have answers. But as to the spelling of lyre, it is correct. Today’s visit into the swamp of free media is going to consist of a visit to our old Greek friend, the lyre-playing Orpheus. For those of you who may have missed the class on Ancient Greek Music Appreciation 101, a lyre is a small U-shaped harp.

We are exploring the story of Orpheus because the talking heads on the news are reporting on everyone calling everyone else liars. You have probably heard enough about Ukraine this week and who is lying about whom. So today, take a break from political liars and ponder musical lyres.

Orpheus was the Elvis of his day. He could pluck his lyre till the cows came home. When Orpheus sang and played the lyre, trees and rocks would dance, rivers would change course and lions would lie down with lambs. After listening to Orpheus, cannibals gave up human protein and became vegans. Orpheus was that good. Naturally being a Greek god helped as Orpheus had a supernatural musical talent that would have made John Lennon jealous. Like all Greek mythology, there are many versions of Orpheus’ story. Today you will get the version I like best.

Orpheus’ baby daddy was probably Apollo. The ancient Greeks didn’t have 23 & Me to test their DNA, so the paternity of most gods is a guess at best. As a lad, Orpheus had the old wanderlust. He scratched that itch by sailing with Jason and the Argonauts. On their course on the Love Boat, Orpheus and the Argonauts had to sail by an island populated by the Sirens. The Sirens were a bunch of bodaciously beautiful babes who were singers themselves. The Sirens made Jennifer Lopez look like a boy — if you know what I mean, and I think you do. Sailors would hear the Sirens singing and it was Katy, bar the door. To hook up with the Sirens, sailors would jump into the water and drown or crash their ships into the rocks, ending up in a watery grave. When the Sirens began belting out their songs for the Argonauts, Orpheus whipped out his lyre and played “Fire on the Mountain.” His music drowned out the Siren songs, letting the sailors keep sailing safely onward.

Like all Greek gods, Orpheus had a troubled love life, sort of like yours. But I digress. Orpheus fell in love with the elegant Eurydice. He proposed to her, and she accepted. Alas, the course of true love never runs smooth. At her wedding, Eurydice was walking around in the tall grass when she was set upon by a satyr. Satyrs have horns on their heads as befits a half goat and half man. Satyrs liked to drink and make whoopee. Eurydice knew all this. She ran to try to escape the satyr. Unfortunately, in her haste, she stepped into a nest of vipers. She sustained a viper bite to her heel, which caused her to expire. Sad.

Eurydice, being dead, had no choice but to descend into the Underworld, where the dead folks hung out under the watchful eyes of the Underworld’s rulers, Hades and Persephone. Orpheus, being love struck, went down into the Underworld looking for his beloved. Normally, when you go into the Underworld, you don’t get to come back. However, Orpheus rosined up his bow and started playing that lyre to beat the band. The bosses of the Underworld were so taken with his music that they agreed to let Orpheus take Eurydice back to the land of the living. There was one condition. Orpheus had to walk in front of Eurydice without looking back at her until they both got out of the Underworld. Naturally, Orpheus messed up this simple task. Like most men, he couldn’t follow directions. When Orpheus got back topside, he turned around to look at Eurydice, who was still in the Underworld. Yuge mistake! He got one good look at Eurydice, and then she disappeared forever.

Orpheus wandered lonely as a cloud while weeping piteously after he realized what he had done. He had some more adventures until he finally went to see the Oracle of Dionysus. A funny thing happened to him on his way to the Oracle. The Oracle had a cult following of women called Maenads. These ladies were wild dancers who did all sorts of things about which we cannot speak in a family newspaper. The Maenads were plenty riled up when Orpheus came into view. Unhappy with being interrupted, the Maenads tore Orpheus into shreds — even breaking his lyre.

What, if anything, have we learned today? To quote Winston Churchill: “If you are walking through Hell, keep going.”

Gentlemen, if you are lost, ask directions and follow them. If you come upon a crowd of ladies wilding in the woods, turn around. And as Andy Griffith once said, “Don’t ever, ever, mess with the ladies of the Altar Guild.”

Orpheus was the Elvis of his day. He could pluck his lyre till the cows came home.

Who knew tragedy could be so funny? The theater company of Sweet Tea Shakespeare did. Imagine if Shakespeare and Monty Python had a child, who was now a teenager; now you have a glimpse into the hilarious, interactive performance of “HamLIT.” You definitely don’t want to be caught taking a drink while you’re enjoying the show, or do you? You may be “voluntold” if you don’t volunteer to be a part of the drinking games in the first and the second act. “HamLIT” premiered at the Fayetteville Dinner Theatre Sept. 27 and 28 and will play at different venues through Nov. 9.

The evening began with musician Dean Dibling leading the cast members in a few modern tunes to help get the audience in the right mood. Brandon Bryan, who plays Polonius, asked for the audience’s input for his monologue that he would perform later. It’s a sort of vocal Mad Libs group project. This led to an interesting, adult humor monologue that had the audience literally laughing out loud.

Mary Gainer Mariyampillai is Ophelia and has incredible chemistry with Jacqueline Nunweiler, who plays Ophelia’s brother, Laertes. The blocking of their scenes and the dynamic in their relationship shows the audience the depths of each character’s personal struggles. At the same time, the two expose the comedy within the tragedy of their roles.

Codirector Traycie Zapata plays Gertrude. Let’s just say if there was a “Real Housewives of HamLIT,” she would be running the show. Traycie engages the audience members in a way that makes you feel as though you alone are meant to be a part of the show. While at the same time, you are there to be entertained. However, her role is not complete without Claudius.

Nathan Pearce, also a codirector, plays the roles of Claudius and The Ghost, who is Hamlet’s dead father. Nathan brings The Ghost to life with charm and wit. In his role as Claudius, he comes right to you. Really. He’ll sit right at your table, eat your cake, or your popcorn, or even hide behind you. He almost flutters about the audience while still weaving ideas of destruction to Hamlet and Laertes. The audience was so busy laughing at his ability to do this that we wanted to have disdain for him, but couldn’t.

Nelson Soliva plays the role of Horatio, Hamlet’s Fortnite buddy and best friend. He’s also the friend who isn’t always down for the bad ideas but loves the latest royalty gossip — mostly because he delivers an occasional news broadcast of the recent gossip to the audience.

And finally, Taj Allen, codirector and Hamlet himself. Taj makes the role of Hamlet appear not only natural but eloquent and hilarious. If both can exist as one, they definitely do with him. The audience feels Hamlet’s pain of losing his father but also sees how dimwitted Hamlet’s choices and behavior are, leading him down a path of self-destruction.

Sweet Tea Shakespeare takes a classic story, adds impeccable improv, drinking games and audience interaction, for a night of memorable entertainment. Visit www.sweeteashakespear.com for tickets and information.

More than 40 years ago, Miki Phillips’ doctor told Miki she had just five years to live. She was 23 at the time and in her senior year at Duke University when the diagnosis of systemic lupus was doled out to her. “I was scared,” Phillips said. “I was put on steroids that utterly destroyed my health.”

She didn’t let that stop her though. Phillips has Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Chemistry and Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree in Medical Technology from Duke University Medical Center. Today, the mom of two and grandmother of four has had her share of adventures and career successes and conquered enough challenges to last several lifetimes, including six pulmonary emboli, diabetes, fibromyalgia and liver, kidney and stage-four thyroid cancer.

When it came to her health, Phillips played by the rules and followed her doctors’ orders — for 20 years.  She worked at the VA and later ran clinical drug studies for 25 years. “I loved what I did, but six pulmonary emboli grounded me from flying, and traveled a lot for work,” she said. “After 20 years of steroids, my doctors told me, ‘we can’t do anything else to help you.’”

With no other options, “I took matters into my own hands,” Phillips said, “I stepped up and took responsibility for my health.”

That meant being open to a more holistic approach and alternative therapies. During her research, Phillips found the quantum biofeedback machine. After more research, she bought one. “In 10 months, I went from sleeping 14 hours a day and working one job to working two jobs and playing tennis five days a week,” she said. “My doctor has been blown away.”

She knew she had to share what she’d discovered. Today, Phillips owns Mind Body Seimei and works as a natural health coach, working in conjunction with her patients and their doctors to bring balance to lives and bodies. “Traditional medicine is great, especially for diagnosis and trauma,” said Phillips. “Definitely listen to your doctor. But there is more information and there are other treatments out there for many of the conditions people suffer from.”

Mind, Body, Seimei offers biofeedback treatments. A frequency-based modality, biofeedback includes a three-minute scan measuring how patient’s body responds to  10,000 frequencies. “It’s not diagnostic,” said Phillips. “It identifies what is out of balance. Then I can help you start addressing them.”

Seimei is another component of Phillips’ work. Seimei is a Japanese, hands-free pain relief technique that can change/resolve the expression of a person’s pain, for example,  sharp, shooting, burning, tightness, as well as the intensity of their pain.

She also offers customized Healthy living programs and sells Nature’s Sunshine Products health supplements as well as embracing the benefits CBD oils and other natural products.
Find out more at http://www.mindbodyseimei.com/.
 

It’s October, so that means it is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The Department of Homeland Security uses this month to remind everyone of the importance of cybersecurity. This year’s campaign — "Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT." — is designed to encourage everyone to be proactive about their cybersecurity and to take responsibility for their online behavior. As part of that effort, there are several methods that can be used to create strong passwords to protect accounts.

Creating an online account starts with a username and a password. Most websites require users to use email addresses as usernames, which is easier to find online than most of us would like. All that is left for a hacker to figure out is your password — the same one many people use on many websites. In one survey, 83% of respondents used the same password for multiple sites. If you use your one good password on a website that gets hacked, you are at risk of losing something valuable from an account with that same password, such as your bank account information.

 Below are some steps to consider taking regarding passwords.

1. Use a password manager. With so many accounts requiring a unique password, it is hard to remember them all. Password managers can be used on a desktop and/or a mobile phone via an app.
2. Create unique, hard-to-guess passwords for every account.
a. Shorter passwords, no matter how complex, are easier to crack. Allow the password manager to create 20-character or longer passwords or use passphrases (i.e. Joe=Rides=2Yam$=Back2Back).
b. Do not use common words or easily determined passwords. Is your password one that many use, such as P@$$word1? Can a hacker guess your password by your online information, such as your child’s name, birthdays or hobbies? Many password-cracking tools can quickly crack passwords from a dictionary, a famous quote, or line in a book.
c. Do not use patterns. When you create or change your passwords, do not use a pattern that makes it easy to guess other or future passwords. For example, many users change the end of their passwords to the current year or go from a single "!" to two "!!" or add a "1,""2" or "3" for three passwords for three different sites, for instance. With the many breaches that have occurred, there is a good chance an old password or two of yours is online.

3. Add login protection to your accounts. Enable multifactor or two-factor authentication, also called an MFA or 2FA, if available. When logging in to an MFA-enabled account, you enter a username, password, and something that you can only get from your MFA device or that you can provide because it is unique to you, like a fingerprint. If you use your mobile phone as an MFA device, then you might have an app to open and get your code or receive a text message with a code you must also enter. If given a choice, the app is more secure than text.

4. Do not enter login credentials via an unsolicited email or website. No legitimate organization will send you an email that asks you to click on a link and enter your username and password, unless you just requested a password reset or just created an account and this is the account verification email.

Visit the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month website at https://niccs.us-cert.gov/national-cybersecurity-awareness-month-2019 for more information. To learn about FTCC’s Systems Security Analysis program of study visit www.faytechcc.edu or call 910-678-8400.

North Carolina has long prided herself on the wild horses along our Outer Banks coast. Bankers, as they are known, are descendants of Spanish horses brought to the New World in the 16th century. They are compact animals, resourceful enough to have survived for centuries along the Outer Banks in what can be a harsh and unforgiving environment. The few hundred feral horses remaining in North Carolina are a major tourist attraction, the subjects of countless vacation photographs.

A state championship event headed to Fayetteville and an update on the complicated process of realigning the state’s high school conferences were the major topics of discussion at last week’s Region 4 meeting of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association held at the Cumberland County Schools Educational Resource Center.

NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker and members of her staff spent the morning discussing the business of the association and shared a variety of information with the athletic directors, coaches and superintendents in attendance. The region includes high schools in 11 counties in the Fayetteville area as far west as Richmond and Montgomery, north to Harnett and Lee and south to Robeson, Bladen and Columbus.

The biggest surprise of the day came when Tucker announced that this year’s NCHSAA volleyball state championships will be temporarily moving from their home at North Carolina State’s Reynolds Coliseum and coming to Fayetteville State University’s Capel Arena.

The Wolfpack has a women’s basketball home game scheduled Sunday, Nov. 10, against UNC-Wilmington that would have cut into the time needed to get Reynolds Coliseum ready for basketball the day after the volleyball championships.

The volleyball championships are scheduled Saturday, Nov. 9.

Tucker said the NCHSAA explored a variety of other places where they had previously held state championship events, but none of them were either suitable or available for the volleyball championships.

When the NCHSAA contacted Fayetteville State, the school expressed interest. Tucker said Fayetteville State has an away football game that day, at Winston-Salem State, and there were no other on-campus conflicts that would prevent hosting the volleyball.

“You go where you’re wanted and we are excited about the possibility,’’ Tucker said. “Capel Arena is a wonderful facility and we look forward to it.’’

Vernon Aldridge, student activities director of the Cumberland County Schools, said the school system has an excellent working relationship with Fayetteville State. Capel Arena is a regular home for the county’s high school swimmers and has also hosted both the NCHSAA Eastern Regional basketball tournament and the finals of the annual Cumberland County Holiday Classic basketball tournament.

“Anytime you get to host a state championship event it’s great for the local area,’’ Aldridge said. “We have a great working relationship with Mike King (assistant athletic director at Fayetteville State) that will allow us to put this on short notice.’’

Realignment

The headache that is realignment of the NCHSAA’s conferences is about to begin anew after the association’s Board of Directors decided to put it on hold at its meeting last spring.

The NCHSAA got into the business of deciding what schools play in which league back in 1985-86 Tucker said when schools drew up their own leagues and left some member schools with no place to play.
Now, realignment is ordered by the NCHSAA bylaws every four years.

Because there was some potential for major changes in how realignment works, last spring’s board decided to delay the process to allow additional information about realignment to be gathered.

The initial step will be to create a special realignment committee which will number about 25 people from across the state who will come up with the official plan for realignment that will be presented to the full board of directors near the end of the process.

Schools had until the end of last week’s series of eight regional meetings around the state to submit potential names to serve on the committee from each region.

Region 4 has two representatives on the NCHSAA Board of Directors for 2019-20, Gray’s Creek athletic director Troy Lindsey and Cape Fear High School principal Brian Edkins.

They will work with the president and vice-president of the NCHSAA to narrow the list of nominees for the realignment committee from Region 4. When the committee is picked, each region only gets two members. Additional members on the realignment committee will come from the state coaches and athletic director’s associations and the state department of public instruction.

Tucker said a special meeting of the board of directors will likely have to convene in late February or early March of 2021 to hear the final report from the committee.

One of the major questions that the committee will likely have to wrestle with is whether to change the number of classifications the state has. For years the NCHSAA has operated with four classifications based on school enrollment: 4-A, 3-A, 2-A and 1-A.

The idea of adding a fifth classification for the largest schools, 5-A, has been discussed but never implemented.

Even if the committee thinks 5-A is an good idea, it can only suggest it to Tucker and the NCHSAA board. A change would require a call for a vote of the membership to decide if a fifth classification can be added, or if any change can be made in the number of classifications.

One important note Tucker added regarding the average daily membership figures is the numbers the NCHSAA gets from the State Department of Public Instruction that are the enrollment of each school in the state.
Tucker said the NCHSAA is guided, but not bound by, the ADMs in determining conference membership.

Other notes

Here are some other items of interest from Monday’s regional meeting:

• The sites have been determined for this fall’s NCHSAA football championship games. The 4-A and 4-AA will play at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium. The 3-A and 3-AA will play at North Carolina State’s Carter-Finley Stadium. The 2-A and 2-AA will be at Wake Forest’s Groves Stadium and the 1-A and 1-AA at Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium.
• For the 2018-19 school year, the NCHSAA assessed 154 penalties resulting in $63,950 fines with 11 teams winding up ineligible for the state playoffs. The list included seven football teams, three boys’ basketball teams and one girls basketball team.
To date in 2019, there have been 39 penalties with $16,150 in fines and one team ineligible for the playoffs.
• The NCHSAA is joining the number of state associations who are beginning to feel the squeeze on the availability of high school officials to call games. The average age of officials in the state is from 59 to 60. The NCHSAA noted that some states like Tennessee have resorted to playing high school football on multiple nights each week to spread games out because of the officiating shortage.
• Tina Bratcher, administrative assistant to Vernon Aldridge, was named the 2018 winner of the NCHSAA Region 4 Special Person award. The presentation was delayed a year because year’s meeting was canceled due to the hurricane.
• The NCHSAA has established an education-based athletics grant program for its member schools. Any person on the staff of an NCHSAA member school may submit an application for the grant.
The only criteria is that the money must be used for unmet needs facing the student athletes at a particular school.
The application is available at the NCHSAA website, NCHSAA.org, and can be found under “Fundraising and Grant Opportunities” in the School Central section of the website.
The deadline to apply this year is Nov. 30.

There will be a vacancy on Fayetteville City Council come the first of the year. Longtime councilmember Bill Crisp won’t be there. Crisp, 79, has served for 12 years. He was first elected as a result of the so-called Big Bang annexation of western Cumberland County in 2005 when more than 40,000 people were involuntarily annexed into Fayetteville. The controversial move was a major reason that the state legislature did away with unsolicited annexations.

Crisp became an influential and respected member of City Council. He served in the U.S. Army for 27 years, retiring with the rank of Command Sgt. Maj. in 1987. When asked about his greatest satisfaction of serving on council, Crisp said “I love people and appreciated being able to serve them.”

The area Crisp serves is one of nine political districts, each representing approximately the same number of people. District 6 is on the southwestern side of the city. To this day, Crisp says the big bang annexation “was a disaster” calling it “a land grab for tax dollars.”

The result made the city of Fayetteville the second largest in the state geographically, encompassing 148-square-miles. Only Charlotte has more land area. Crisp is among those who believe that bigger isn’t better, that the government lacks the capacity to serve its 210,000 residents. He takes pride in significant accomplishments he contributed to in his dozen years, including development of the multimillion-dollar Hope VI residential community off Old Wilmington Road. Modern apartment buildings replaced a post-World War II housing project.

Crisp is especially proud of Fayetteville’s designation as home of North Carolina’s Veterans Park, the nation’s first state park dedicated to military veterans from all branches of the Armed Services. Then-Gov. Beverly Perdue was on hand for the ground-breaking in February 2010. Crisp was a major supporter of the city’s $40 million commitment to build Segra Stadium on Hay Street. Officials say it will be the impetus of more than $100 million of private development.

City council colleagues have come and gone during Bill Crisp’s dozen years. He did not hesitate when asked who he most enjoyed working with on the governing body. District 1 councilwoman Kathy Jensen is his favorite. “She isn’t as experienced as most, but is one smart lady,” he said.

Crisp noted he developed a partnership with District 8 member Ted Mohn, who was also elected as the result of the 2005 big bang annexation.

Crisp’s decision this year to not run for another term was based on his poor health. “It’s an ordeal for me,” he said. Crisp has had prostate cancer surgery, spinal infusion and has had three tumors removed from his lungs. Diminished lung capacity and a weakened heart required that the people of District 6 elect a new member of council. Suffice it to say Councilman Bill Crisp will be missed.

Pictured: Fayetteville City Councilman Bill Crisp

I don’t think North Carolina should expand Medicaid under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. It’s the wrong response to the wrong problem, paid for in the wrong way — with massive federal borrowing.

When a Republican-led Congress and Democratic President Bill Clinton reformed the nation’s cash-welfare programs in the mid-1990s, work requirements were a centerpiece of the strategy. Following the lead of successful welfare-reform initiatives at the state level, the federal legislation truly was a bipartisan accomplishment. But it had its progressive critics. They asserted that requiring recipients of the former program Aid to Families with Dependent Children to work would be both ineffectual and heartless.

Conservatives and progressives have been arguing about the proper size and scope of the welfare state for decades.