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Tuesday, 04 November 2025
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Written by Bill McMillan
Publisher's Note:
Wow!
The 2026 Fayetteville Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Segra Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25, was a fun, joyful, and resounding success. Over a thousand people gathered in colorful and creative T-shirts to honor loved ones, support those affected by this heartbreaking disease, and advocate for a cure for Alzheimer’s.
Up & Coming Weekly newspaper has proudly supported the Walk for well over a decade. Thanks to the dedication of many local businesses and community members, this advocacy continues to grow and thrive. With an annual fundraising goal of $200,000, this year’s campaign and Walk have already raised $167,000 toward that objective. Dozens of hardworking volunteers rallied to make this event a triumph, led by the inspiring Victoria Huggins—Fayetteville’s adopted native daughter and Senior Manager, Walk to End Alzheimer's at Alzheimer's Association (Eastern NC & Western NC Chapters).
Her tireless work ethic, boundless enthusiasm, and deep faith make her a true blessing to our community. Paired with volunteer extraordinaire and businessman Bill McMillan—Director of Fayetteville’s Restore Warehouse and Alzheimer’s District Seven Ambassador—this dynamic duo creates a tour de force whose leadership practically guarantees success. We extend heartfelt congratulations to everyone involved for their incredible efforts in making this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s such a meaningful and successful event. But the fight is far from over. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is critical. It offers invaluable benefits.
This is the message behind the Letter to the Editor below: to raise awareness and support for the AADAPT Act (Advanced Dementia and Alzheimer’s Provider Training). This legislation is a vital step toward equipping healthcare providers with the tools they need to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s effectively.
Get involved. Answer the call to action. We have nothing to lose—and everything to gain.
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly community newspaper.
—Bill Bowman, Publisher
Dear Editor,
Time is critical in the Alzheimer’s world. Early detection of this disease improves proper diagnosis and, therefore, care and planning. This is why support in Congress for the Advanced Dementia and Alzheimer’s Provider Training (AADAPT Act) is so vitally important. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease offers critical benefits, including access to treatment, participation in clinical trials, better planning for the future, and emotional relief for patients and families.
1. Early diagnosis allows individuals to begin treatment sooner, which may help slow cognitive decline and manage symptoms like memory loss and confusion.
2. Eligibility for clinical trials gives those diagnosed early access to cutting-edge therapies that could benefit future patients.
3. Early detection gives patients and families more time to make legal, financial, and care arrangements.
4. It also allows for discussions about safety concerns like driving and wandering, helping prevent crises later.
5. Families that recognize symptoms early can seek relief sooner and reduce anxiety, helping them better understand and support their loved ones.
Primary care physicians receive extensive training, yet very little time is dedicated to detecting and diagnosing Alzheimer’s and dementia. As a result, many are hesitant to render a diagnosis, losing precious time that could improve patient care.
The AADAPT Act will provide essential training for primary care physicians in early diagnosis, leading to more effective care plans, reduced crisis care, and better outcomes for families. Doctors need the knowledge and confidence to make proper diagnoses. Currently, 33 members of Congress have agreed to co-sponsor the AADAPT Act.
We need bipartisan support for this critical bill. Care for Alzheimer’s and related dementias could cost upwards of $1 trillion by 2050. Representative Rouzer, thank you for your leadership in representing North Carolina’s Seventh District. We respectfully ask that you encourage support for the AADAPT Act within your congressional delegation.
Together, we can work toward a world without Alzheimer’s.
Respectfully,
Bill McMillan
Alzheimer’s 7th District
Ambassador
910-978-2455
director@therestorewarehouse.org
Whitney Dawson
Alzheimer's Association Advocacy Manager – North Carolina
980-498-7736 ext. 2176
whdawson@alz.org
alz.org/northcarolina
For help regarding a loved one with Alzheimer's, call the 24-Hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
(Photo: Participants in the Walk to End Alzheimer's depart Segra Stadium. Photo courtesy of the Alzheimer's Association, North Carolina)
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Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Written by John Hood
Most North Carolinians think our country is on the wrong track. That’s what 55% of respondents said in the latest High Point University survey, with 54% of likely voters offering the same critique in the latest Carolina Journal Poll.
I count myself in that majority. America has faced worse times, to be sure, including in my lifetime. What I find most disconcerting at the moment, though, is how little public dialogue is devoted to what I perceive to be the biggest problems facing our state and nation. Transfixed by devices and bamboozled by clickbait, we seem incapable of focusing on high-priority issues.
Consider these five challenges, defined by five troubling statistics:
• The first is $1.8 trillion. That’s how much the federal government borrowed over the fiscal year that ended September 30. Federal debt held by the public — that is, not counting money “borrowed” from federal trust funds — now stands at $30.3 trillion, or 98% of America’s gross domestic product.
If present trends continue, the debt will soon surpass annual economic output and reach 111% of GDP by 2030. Our federal government now spends more on debt service each year than it does on national defense. I wish I could blame Washington’s recklessness entirely on the politicians who serve there. But voters keep reelecting them! Unless we boot out irresponsible panderers and reward those willing to make tough decisions, American greatness will inevitably fade.
• The second number is 38%. That’s the share of annual health care spending financed by federal dollars — which, as I’ve just indicated, includes a vast amount of borrowed dollars. Adding in state dollars spent on Medicaid and other health plans pushes the government share of medical expenditures up close to half. Unless Congress and state legislatures accept the need to reform these programs, rather than expand them or shift their costs around, balanced budgets will remain forever out of reach.
• The third number is also 38%. According to independent tests, that’s the share of North Carolina eighth-graders who lacked basic math skills in 2024. The same assessment found 35% of eighth-graders lacked basic reading skills.
In 2019, before the COVID lockdowns, those figures were 29% and 28%, respectively. They were too high back then. Too many of our students were unprepared to work, go to college, or shoulder other responsibilities of adulthood. Still, in value-added terms, our schools in 2019 were more effective than those of all but a handful of states across the country. Now we’re far down the list.
• The fourth number is 1.6. That’s the average number of children born per American woman in 2024. It’s the lowest fertility rate yet recorded. The causes of this trend may be hotly debated, as are the effectiveness of potential policy responses, but the effects of slowing population growth are hard to dispute. Economic vitality and innovation will decline, as will the ratio of workers to retirees. A higher savings rate won’t be enough to compensate. Nor will advances in robotics. Human flourishing requires plenty of humans!
• The final number is 35%. That’s the share of North Carolina children living in single-parent households in 2023.
Unlike the figures discussed earlier, this one hasn’t gotten worse over time. The comparable figure a decade ago was 37%. Nevertheless, to have more than a third of our kids living with only one parent or guardian is a tragedy. Parenthood is a hard-enough job when performed in pairs, with plenty of support from extending family. Growing up in a single-parent household is a well-established risk factor for living in poverty, struggling in school, chronic unemployment, substance abuse, and other adverse outcomes.
These five problems aren’t the only ones worth worrying about, I grant you. But it’s hard for me to imagine a thriving nation in the absence of real progress on each of these fronts. Future generations of North Carolinians and Americans will thank us if we tackle these problems — and condemn us if we fail to do so.
Editor’s Note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).
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