Fayetteville Police have cleared an 11-year-old cold case. Nearly two dozen dated rape cases have been cleared by the Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit of the FPD’s Special Victims Bureau, said Lt. John Somerindyke. The department filed charges last week against a double murderer who’s serving a life sentence in state prison. Keith Devon Manuel, 40, is accused of raping the victim at her home near South Reilly and Cliffdale Roads on August 26, 2006. 

“Manuel broke into the residence while the victim was inside,” said police spokesman Lt. Todd Joyce. Additional forensic testing not available at the time of the crime resulted in charges being filed. Manuel is charged with 1st-degree rape, 1st-degree sex offense, 1st-degree kidnapping and 1st-degree burglary. “Manuel was already in custody before these charges were taken out and is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of Jessica Morgan and the murder of Alfreda S. Jones,” added Joyce. The double homicide occurred in the county and was investigated by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

“There are about 200 cases … reported between 1984 and 1999 that are still unresolved,” said  Somerindyke. He made that statement in the fall of 2015 and said they had “taken out warrants in 21 cold rape cases” since then. The unit began operating in early 2015. The department received a $363,000 federal grant two years ago to turn up the heat on accused rapists.           

Fort Bragg will host an Acquisition Forecast Open House Wednesday, March 28, at the Cumberland Hall Auditorium on the campus of Fayetteville Technical Community College. It will be held from 8 a.m. until noon. Fort Bragg contracting officers and staff will present and discuss their anticipated procurement needs and contracts for the remainder of federal fiscal year 2017, which ends Sept. 30. Additionally, the district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration and representatives of the General Services Administration will be on hand to provide program updates for attending business people. 

“Any business that wants to do work for Fort Bragg or other bases should attend this event,” said Scott Dorney, executive director of the North Carolina Military Business Center. “This acquisition forecast provides a unique opportunity for business representatives to speak directly with contracting officials about upcoming projects, as well as the products and services that their businesses can provide to military installations in our state,” Dorney added. The event is free, but pre-registration is required. Because of seating restrictions, admission will be limited to the first 275 registrants to sign up. Two attendees per company may take part. Information and official online registration are available on the business center website: http://www.ncmbc.us/micc-fort-bragg-acquisition-forecast-open-house-march-29 or by phone at 910-678-0190 or 910-678-0049.

The City of Fayetteville is one of the few large cities in North Carolina to restore red-light cameras on city streets to prevent intersection traffic accidents. State law says net proceeds from the fines must go directly to the Cumberland County Board of Education. “Since it was executed in March 2015, the red-light camera program has provided approximately $1.1 million net to Cumberland County,” said Mayor Nat Robertson.

“While the purpose of the red-light camera program is traffic safety, the money generated at these city intersections could go a long way to demonstrably improving both pedestrian safety and recreational facilities,” the mayor said in a letter to Board of Education Chairman Greg West. Currently, the school board puts the money in its general fund. It’s not the first time a member of City Council proposed asking the school system to earmark red-light camera funds for a special project. Mayor Pro Tem Mitch Colvin spoke of dedicating the money for the special needs of young children. City Council never acted on the idea. For that matter, it has never seriously discussed asking the school board to spend the fine funds in ways preferred by city government. Robertson disagrees: “The purpose of the letter to Chairman West was consistent with the thought of some councilmembers as we have previously discussed,” he said. 

Councilman Kirk deViere, who ran against Robertson in the 2013 mayoral race, said Robertson’s letter to West was inappropriate because it did not represent a consensus of City Council. “This letter makes it sound like you have consensus from council when you stated ‘we request’ in the third paragraph of the letter,” said deViere. Robertson specifically asked that the school board “adopt a policy designating all future red-light camera proceeds to further the City’s efforts in the extension of sidewalks and enhancements to shared recreation facilities at schools located inside the city limits of Fayetteville.” His letter concludes, “I make this request on behalf of the entire City Council and look forward to your positive response.” West has not responded as far as we know. Robertson was surprised at deViere’s response to his request. “Honestly, I can’t speak on Kirk’s political motivations, but to me, there is no reason to compromise on doing the right thing for the people I represent,” Robertson said.

Modern red-light camera systems are sophisticated and expensive. American Traffic Solutions contracts with Fayetteville to operate the growing number of covered intersections. Officials said it costs about $100,000 to construct a single video/still camera operation. Violators are fined $100, 30 percent of which goes to the company. The balance is paid directly to the school system. Violators receive letters which say in part. “Based upon images captured by the automated system, your vehicle was determined to have committed a red-light violation. As the vehicle owner, the Notice of Violation is mailed to you.” 

There is an appeal process during which violators are shown still photos and persuasive videotape of the violations.

The director of Fayetteville’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center says a critical performance audit on veteran wait times by the VA inspector general’s office was outdated and inaccurate. “The team reviewed a small sample of appointments from 2014,” said FVAMC Director Elizabeth Goolsby. “Discrepancies identified by the inspector general on patient wait times resulted from the IG’s use of a methodology that was inconsistent with VHA policies at the time of the audit,” she added. Goolsby responded to criticisms raised by U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). The Veterans Health Administration is the component of the Department of Veterans Affairs that implements the medical assistance program of the VA through the administration and operation of VA Medical Centers, Outpatient Clinics, Community Based Outpatient Clinics and VA Community Living Centers.

Burr and Tillis sent a joint letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin last week in response to what they called “a troubling inspector general report (released earlier this month) on veteran wait times.”  The letter said, in part, the senators were concerned that ”across the VA’s Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network actual wait times were drastically different than what had been reported” by VA medical facilities in Asheville, Durham, Fayetteville, Salisbury and in Virginia. In their letter the senators said. “The IG found that facilities did not consistently conduct scheduler audits, and so we ask you to require that an individual … is responsible for ensuring that the required scheduling audits are completed as prescribed.” 

Goolsby replied “All scheduling audits and follow-up training atthe Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center were compliant with VHA requirements.” She stated this in response to an inquiry from Up & Coming Weekly. 

The actual IG report was dated January of this year but contained outdated findings. Goolsby noted that Burr and Tillis relied on the IG audit of a small sample taken three years ago which concluded “Veterans…deserve to be seen more quickly…and Congress, veterans, and the American public must be able to trust that the wait time information being provided by VA is accurate. That we, once again, cannot trust VA data is more than disappointing,” the Senators wrote. The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

Goolsby released current wait times: “We are pleased to say that VA’s most recent wait time data reveals as of Feb. 15, 2017, the average wait time for veterans to receive an appointment at the Fayetteville VAMC is 3.63 days for primary care; 14.88 for specialty care; and 5.45 for mental health; this is down from Dec. 15, 2014 figures of 29.02 days for primary care; 19.07 for specialty care; and 7.35 for mental health,” the director outlined. “Additionally, we offer same day service for primary care and mental health for veterans with urgent needs,” she concluded.  “Fayetteville VA remains committed to providing our Veterans high quality, safe patient care, in a timely manner. This is care these  veterans have justly earned,” Goolsby emphasized.

Computerized Traffic Signal System Coming to Fayetteville 

A computerized traffic signal system is coming to Fayetteville, thanks to a $6.4 million contract awarded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. It will replace the system destroyed by Hurricane Matthew flooding in October. The citywide project will update the signal system at approximately 275 intersections. Division Six Construction Engineer Randy Wise said the new system “will assist the City of Fayetteville and NCDOT to more quickly respond to issues and better coordinate the signal system timing.” Fulcher Electric of Fayetteville was awarded the contract. Work will begin as soon as April 3 and should be complete by Oct. 15, 2019.

Solving Cybercrimes

The Fayetteville Police Department has been awarded a $40,000 grant by the Governor’s Crime Commission in support of the department’s cybercrimes unit. The funds will be used to purchase equipment for forensic investigations involving digital devices. Updated software and hardware are needed to keep up with the ever-changing climate of today’s technology. The Fayetteville Police Department partners with the State Bureau of Investigation’s Computer Crimes Unit and its internet Crimes Against Children Program. “FPD’s Cyber Crimes Unit is a vital resource for … agencies in the local area,” said police spokesman Lt. Todd Joyce.

Citywide Cleanup

The annual Fayetteville Beautiful citywide cleanup is slated for Saturday, April 1, 2017. Volunteers are asked to arrive at the entrance to Cross Creek Park on Green Street between 8 and 9:30 a.m. Supplies will be distributed at that time. They include:  orange trash bags, T-shirts, gloves and bottled water. Residents who want to volunteer can sign up online on the interactive map at www.fayettevillebeautiful.com. 

Medal of Honor Day Observance

 Fayetteville’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation is honoring three Medal of Honor recipients March 25, 2017, at 10 a.m. in the Yarborough-Bank Theater at the museum. State Rep. John Szoka (R-Cumberland) is the keynote speaker. This year’s highlighted recipients are PFC Charles Neilans DeGlopper, Private Joe Gandara and LTC Robert George Cole. DeGlopper posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions and sacrifice of life during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy in World War II. He was also the only World War II soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division to receive the award for action during the Normandy Campaign. Gandara, a member of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of his heroic actions June 9, 1944, in Amfreville, France. With his unit pinned down, Gandara advanced alone toward the enemy position and destroyed three hostile machine gun positions before he was fatally wounded. Cole received the Medal of Honor for action above and beyond the call of duty June 11, 1944, in France. LTC Cole’s unit was pinned down by withering enemy fire. He charged on and led the remnants of his battalion across open territory to the enemy.

Fayetteville Law Firm Expands

The Richardson Firm, a Fayetteville-based law practice, announces the association of two new lawyers: attorneys Keischa Lovelace and Heather Rattelade. Lovelace comes to Fayetteville from Raleigh where she had her own practice. She focused on representing claimants in civil litigation matters, including workers’ compensation and Social Security disability. Before that Lovelace served as deputy commissioner and claims administration director for the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Lovelace earned her J.D. degree with honors from UNC-Chapel Hill. Before law school, she was a teacher in Wake County after graduating magna cum laude from N.C. State University.

Rattelade earned her law degree at North Carolina Central University in 2008, but her experience began years before. She assisted capital defense teams as a mitigation specialist before and during law school. Rattelade began her career as an attorney with the Law Offices of Bruce T. Cunningham, before founding her own firm in 2010 to focus on fighting for individuals’ civil rights. “I decided to join The Richardson Firm because their philosophy is closely aligned with my mission to protect and promote vital constitutional and civil rights,” Rattelade said. She co-authored articles published in the North Carolina Central Law Review, and has given lectures on post-conviction investigations and flawed forensics at Duke Law School, Campbell Law School and North Carolina Central School of Law. “Keischa and Heather bring a wealth of experience to our firm,” said Attorney Billy Richardson. 

Community Development Action Plan Update

The 2017 Cumberland County Community Development Annual Action Plan is available for public review and comment at 10 locations around the county through April 13. Following the review period, a public hearing will be held at the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners meeting April 18 at 6:45 p.m. in Room 118 of the Courthouse. The action plan can be reviewed at these locations:

·   Community Development Office, 707 Executive Place

·   East Regional Branch Library, 4809 Clinton Road

·   Falcon Town Hall, 7156 Southwest St., Falcon

·   Godwin Town Hall, 4924 Markham St., Godwin

·   Hope Mills Branch Library, 3411 Golfview Rd., Hope Mills

·   Linden Town Hall, 9456 Academy St., Linden

·   North Regional Branch Library, 855 McArthur Rd., Fayetteville

·   Spring Lake Branch Library, 101 Laketree Blvd., Spring Lake

·   Stedman Town Hall, 5110 Front St., Stedman

·   Wade Town Hall, 7128 Main St., U.S. Highway 301 N., Wade

Annual community development action plan updates address the priority needs of affordable, safe, decent housing to low-moderate income residents, the homeless, those at risk of becoming homeless and the special needs population. The draft plan can be seen at www.co.cumberland.nc.us/community_dev.aspx.

The Affordable Care Act, routinely referred to as Obamacare, was signed on March 23, 2010. Referring to the program, “Obamacare Summary” at Obamacare.net says, It was created “to make healthcare more affordable and easily accessible to a wider range of Americans.” Seven years later, Obamacare is failing terribly. Some describe it as imploding. Amazingly, many in America, including politicians and general citizens, are vehemently opposing Republican efforts to repeal and replace this legislation. Protests are raging across the nation. 

One has to wonder how it can be that so many people want to keep in place a program that is not working anywhere near what was promised and is on the verge of total collapse. The possible explanations include, but are not limited to: individuals expecting society to provide health care for every citizen, no matter a person’s failure to act responsibly; citizens not understanding the perilous state of the program; the general entitlement mentality that has taken up residence in our country. Whatever the reason or reasons for this unfathomable demand by some to keep Obamacare in place, somebody needs to tell the whole truth about the danger it poses. 

I contend that politicians do not tell the whole truth regarding Obamacare and what can reasonably be done by way of repealing and replacing it. The critical word in that statement is “reasonably.” This assessment is especially true of Republicans, but also falls at the feet of Democrats and independents. As is the case with so many challenging issues facing our nation, these politicians are so focused on winning re-election and holding onto power that they hesitate to speak any truth that jeopardizes re-election or retention of power. 

Elected politicians and those who benefit from close ties to them speak to the “safe” talking points for repealing and replacing Obamacare. Some of these safe talking points follow:

1. Contrary to President Obama’s promise, participants have not been able to routinely keep their doctor or their plan.

2. Annual premium savings to families are not averaging $2,500, as was promised.

3. Following from “Obamacare’s implosion” by Stephen Moore:

a. “In 2017 about one in five Obamacare enrollees will have only one insurance plan to choose from. One third of counties have only one insurer. That’s a lot of choice and competition. It’s like what Henry Ford said about the Model T, you can have it in any color as long as it’s black. This contraction of the market is going to get worse in a hurry, which is why Hillary Clinton wants a ‘public option,’ which will soon be your only option.”

 b. “The few remaining Obamacare defenders meekly say that most people are not facing 22 percent premium hikes because most Americans are in employer plans. But those employer plans are starting to see the same rising price pressures.”

c. “Instead of 24 million covered as promised, the number is half that, or 11.4 million. The vast majority of Americans who have gotten health insurance under the new law were dumped into Medicaid. This is a welfare program for people with very low incomes. Shouldn’t we define success in America when fewer, not more people are receiving welfare?”

4. Businesses that have more than 50 full-time employees must provide health insurance for them. To avoid this requirement, some businesses are employing more part-time personnel and, thereby, avoiding the coverage requirement. This adversely impacts full-time employment rates and employee income.

Those are some of the talking points that politicians and their surrogates will address because they are palatable to citizens. On the other hand, what follows are some of the not-so-palatable Obamacare considerations that are not addressed directly. Doing so gets to the whole truth:

1. The mandate that every American purchase health insurance or pay a penalty unless they get an exemption is absolutely essential to Obamacare. Premiums from the healthy are needed in order keep premiums reasonable for the sick. 

2. Among far too many, there is the conviction that health care is a right. Reference after reference states that nowhere in the Constitution is health care presented as a right. This “health care as a right” mindset should be factually challenged because allowing it to take even greater hold in the thinking of Americans further complicates successfully addressing the issue. The high hurdle in addressing the “health care as a right” issue is in the courts and legislators repeatedly stretching the Constitution to provide rights not stated therein. Regarding this matter, Gregory Curfman said this in an article titled, “King V. Burwell and a Right to Health Care:” “The Constitution itself does not stipulate a general right to health care, but a patchwork of rights to certain aspects of health care have emerged over time from both constitutional and statutory law.”

3. As harsh as it might sound, open and honest discussion of fairness should be brought into the deliberations. Is it fair to Americans who act responsibly that they are made to financially support others who do not? There are those who, through no fault of their own, fall on hard times. I am not talking about them. Consider the person who, by their choosing, drops out of free public school, pursues no marketable skill, repeatedly makes destructive life choices and shows no effort to turn his or her life in a positive direction. Should taxpayers be required to provide health care for that person? 

4. Governor Roy Cooper, D - North Carolina, is pushing for Medicaid expansion as allowed and promoted under Obamacare. Many states have done the expansion and, politically, doing so probably wins votes. However, I contend Stephen Moore, in the article, “Obamacare’s implosion,” tells the whole truth when he writes: “…Medicaid is such a bad insurance program — with many doctors and treatment centers refusing to take Medicaid enrollees — that the health results of those in the program are barely better than for those with no insurance at all.” 

5. Mainstream media makes every effort to present Obamacare in a positive light by focusing on individuals who benefit from participation and giving full coverage to those who protest in favor of keeping the program. There must be much more visible telling of the stories of those caught in the implosion of Obamacare. An example is the situation of Leslie Kurtz, as told in an article by Tom Murphy and Meghan Hoyer, titled “What if there’s no affordable insurance to buy?”

“Leslie Kurtz needed three plates, eight screws and a big assist from her insurer after breaking every bone in her ankle while white water rafting. Coverage she purchased through a public insurance exchange established by the federal health care law paid $65,000 toward surgery and the care she needed after the 2015 accident. But that protection may not exist next year because insurers have abandoned the Knoxville, Tennessee resident’s exchange. As of now, Kurtz has no future coverage options, and she is worried.”

6. In the great press for all Americans to have access to health care, I hardly hear any mention of the doctor shortage faced by this nation, even before Obamacare, and now exacerbated by implementation of this program. The result is that we have more people seeking care from a pool of too few doctors. The result has to be doctors spending less time with patients, increased physician burnout and more than usual early retirements among doctors. This condition has to be addressed and made a factor in determining the direction of health care in America.

The point of what is presented above is that Obamacare is “imploding,” while individuals and groups across America protest vociferously to keep the program in place. Congressional Democrats are contributing absolutely nothing to finding a way to put in place health care that works. Instead, they are fighting “tooth and nail” against Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. All of this opposition is given credibility in the thinking of many Americans because it is treated empathetically by mainstream media. This is a formula for creating a mess — and a mess is what we have in Obamacare.

Correcting or cleaning up a mess requires confronting and responding to the whole truth of the situation. The call here is for people in positions of leadership to put aside boundless pursuit of political position and power … then tell the American people the whole truth about what is possible, reasonable and financially affordable by way of health care in this country. Some call for citizens to “speak truth to power.” This is one of many instances where people in positions of power need to speak the whole truth to citizens. 

To annex, or not to annex. 

That is the question.

With a respectful nod to William Shakespeare and his angst-ridden creation, Hamlet, to annex Shaw Heights or not is indeed the question staring Fayetteville City Council members in the face. We can only hope they will be less tortured about their issue than poor Hamletwas about his.

The situation is this. Shaw Heights is an unincorporated neighborhood totally surrounded by the city of Fayetteville, running between Murchison Road and Bragg Boulevard.  It is poverty stricken, with only about 14 percent of the residences occupied by their owners and fully one-third of residences vacant, many in significant disrepair. In other words, Shaw Heights is an area that has tipped from residential and is ripe to become something else. 

But what?

That answer is unlikely to be anything positive unless Shaw Heights becomes part of the city of Fayetteville, receiving city services and the attentions of a professional city staff, both of which could promote development of a long-neglected area of greater Fayetteville. Shaw Heights has tremendous potential. It is on the border of a major new road system, paid for not by Fayetteville but by the state and federal governments. About 40,000 vehicles travel this roadway every day, moving easily between Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. This makes the area ripe for economic development, and, indeed, professional developers are already circling. Private sector investment in Shaw Heights could turn a down-on-its-heels ugly duckling into an economic swan.

In addition, as residents moved away from Shaw Heights and nothing much replaced them, the area has become largely a blank canvas awaiting the next good — or bad — thing. Controlled development of the area will build both Fayetteville and Cumberland County’s tax bases and provide meaningful commercial and residential development as well as green space.

Fayetteville’s City Council members continue to hem and haw about this annexation, citing concerns about North Carolina’s involuntary annexation provisions. Partisan politics may well be at play as well. Shaw Heights’ annexation is a major issue, but how it is playing out brings up a larger issue that Fayetteville residents talk about in private but one which is rarely raised publicly.

Let’s call it the vision thing.

Observers of government at all levels see this all the time. Some of those we elect to represent us have a clear picture of where they want our community/state/nation to go, and they pursue plans and policies to achieve their goals. Other elected officials are literally clueless. They have few pictures or plans to advance their communities. In many cases, their decision-making depends not on the merits of an issue but on other factors, first among them whether their decision would keep them in the good graces of their constituents. These elected officials may be very nice people. Most are, in fact, but they are not leaders.

Without naming names, our community has a history of electing such folks, in part, because few others step up to the plate. Offering oneself for elective service, or any service that opens one up to public judgment and potential criticism, can be a scary prospect. Running for and serving in public office affects not just the person whose name is on the ballot or who prevails in an elective contest, but his or her family and friends as well. 

Even so, I have wondered many times why so and so did not run for public office, and I have asked a number of people to do so. I have been turned down far more often than not for all sorts of reasons, including, “Why would I want to work with ‘those people?’” Many have expressed that they are too busy or already over-committed. My answer to that is if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.

Fayetteville City Council has the Shaw Heights annexation issue squarely on its plate with a vote looming. City residents — indeed the entire metropolitan area — can only hope they will put partisan and philosophical concerns aside. Allowing Shaw Heights to remain an island of blight surrounded by a city striving to move forward would be a disappointment to those who work for Fayetteville’s advancement and prosperity. It would be a decision that would hold back our city.

Let’s encourage Fayetteville City Council members to be leaders with a vision and annex Shaw Heights for the good of our community.

I get tickled when someone makes the statement that newspapers (and print) are dead. Are you kidding me? Not only are newspapers alive, but in a community like Cumberland County where we now lack both a local TV station and daily newspaper, a local weekly community newspaper like Up & Coming Weekly shoulders the responsibility of reporting, promoting, branding and showcasing the Fayetteville community: A task I was born to do. Confucius once said: “…one who finds a job he loves will never work another day in their life.” I truly believe this. So, not only will we never deal in “fake news,” I can also assure you our media demise is not eminent. Community newspapers are not going anywhere any time soon. Local weekly newspapers like ours are doing exceptionally well nationally. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that everyone predicted that VCRs would kill movie theaters and that TV would make radio obsolete and the telephone would put the telegraph out of business. Well, the last time I looked we have yet to lose any of these forms of communication. I know what you’re thinking. Telegraph? Where is a telegraph? Hint: Western Union! I assure you, the printed word will be around for a long, long time. And with it, newspapers. 

“Fake News” is still a serious problem, and the biggest, most notorious sources of fake news are brought to us courtesy of the internet. No doubt, the internet and social media are the poster children for fake news. No rules, no conscience. Just say anything at any time regardless of whether it has any validity or truth. Cell phones make it too easy to record audio or live stream video to communicate and educate, to make us happy and joyful and stir our national patriotic pride. Or, the same vehicles can be used to destroy innocent reputations, wreck someone’s businesses or perhaps start a senseless riot that costs American lives and tens of millions of dollars. Today, social media and the internet are like the wild, wild west and like so many things, they started out being benevolent and beneficial for mankind and then ended up inflicting harmful and toxic unintended consequences.

Here’s the good news: Print media, and specifically newspapers, are going to experience a boon industry once people realize the only trustworthy news and information sources will come from locally-owned newspapers produced by people they know and trust. This is trending across the country and is precipitated by the large conglomerate newspaper holding companies buying up every daily and community newspaper they can find. This has created a hybrid of detached “cookie cutter” newspaper products void of compassion, ethics and journalistic integrity. 

Successful community newspapers have reinvented themselves probably three or four times in the last eight years. They are owned by dedicated businessmen embracing and utilizing the internet and digital technology to keep their products effective and relevant. Trust. It’s all about trust. And that is the one thing community newspapers are delivering. However, if people want to know the truth, they must seek it out. This means they must make an exerted effort to find out what is going on in their communities and the world. People are turning away from the media because they do not trust it. When they turn away from the news, they are also turning away from their communities. They become oblivious to what is going on around them. That is, unless something becomes a major controversy, and even then, there is little evidence the truth will be sought out. Currently, we need to try to find real news and real truth and not allow someone else to speak on our behalf. We need to speak out boldly. Community newspapers are becoming the most effective way to do that. I have people every week email and call me saying, “Hey, Bill, you should write about this,” or “you should write about that.” My response is, “Hey, why don’t you write about it?” And there, my friend, is where community newspapers are making great headway in restoring readers’ confidence.  

Up & Coming Weekly community newspaper is leading the charge. For 21 years, our news, views and opinions have been written by residents who feel strongly about the news and events taking place in our community. In addition to our “first-person” commentary, our writers’ names, photos and bios are attached to every article. This makes it personal. So, if you don’t agree with one of our local newspaper topics or writers, you have direct unabridged access to the source. Truth, honesty and credibility make community newspapers valuable to our society. They make readers want to know what’s going on in our community. After 21 years of publishing in Cumberland County, I know what makes our newspaper work – and it’s not how many papers we print. It’s who reads it! 

I’ll conclude by saying there is a lot to be gained and enjoyed from reading local newspapers and engaging in the community. Don’t let the internet and social media “fake” you out.

PWC will host its third Annual Power and Water Conservation Expo Friday, March 24, from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Saturday, March 25, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at SkyView on Hay Street in Downtown Fayetteville. 

“This event does focus on conservation, and we have employees and conservation specialists that will be there,” said Carolyn Justice-Hinson, communications and community relations officer at PWC. “We have information about our incentive programs, conservation tools and basic information to help people understand their utility services.” Justice-Hinson added that they will be handing out items and helping people understand how to use them.   

The educational mascots, Willy Water Drop and Wally Watt Watcher, will be on site for the expo. “Willy Water Drop is a water drop, and Wally Watt Watcher is a plug, and sometimes people confuse him with an old-timey cell phone,” said Justice-Hinson. “The kids and adults like them and everybody likes to take a selfie with them.” 

Participants will learn ways to save on their energy and water bills, meet PWC linemen and receive a complimentary reusable tote bag with items like LED bulbs and tree seedlings. “Our linemen will have a miniature utility pole, and they will show you how they restore power,” said Justice-Hinson. “You can touch it, and they will let you help them so you can see what their job is all about.” Justice-Hinson added that there will also be information about PWC’s major projects such as the switch to LED streetlights and the advanced meters they started putting in three years ago. It gives people an opportunity to see this stuff up close and to ask questions from the employees that do this every day.               

Another educational tool that will be distributed and discussed is the fat trapper. “The fat trappers are one of our most popular items,” said Justice-Hinson. “We run regular campaigns trying to make people aware that they should not pour grease and oil down the sewer system because once it gets there, it clogs up and causes backups which are bad for everybody.” 

PWC is the largest electric municipal utility in the state of North Carolina. “While people sometimes do not always believe this, our rates are among the lowest in the area,” said Justice-Hinson. “We can show you some information on rates and how we compare to other local and regional providers.”      

The expo is free and open to the public. Participants are encouraged to pay it forward and consider bringing nonperishable food items to donate to Second Harvest Food Bank. For more information visit www.faypwc.com or call 223-4009.                                

Blake Maxwell is one of those fortunate people who’s had the chance to chase the dream of being a professional athlete. But in the back of his mind while he was doing it was the hope that one day he’d be able to give back to the community where he got his start.

Now he’s on the second leg of his athletic journey. Maxwell, who spent seven years in the minor league system of the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher, is back in Cumberland County and working as head baseball coach at Douglas Byrd High School.

A 2002 graduate of South View, Maxwell played under two of the greatest baseball figures in Cumberland County, the late Randy Ledford at South View and Tom Austin at Methodist University.

Maxwell spent three years at Methodist before the Red Sox drafted him. He had stints with a number of Boston farm teams, the last two with Pawtucket in AAA, the last stop before the majors.

When Maxwell finally realized a Major League career wasn’t going to happen, he returned to Methodist and finished work on a degree in physical education and health education. He coached briefly at UNC-Pembroke while getting an online masters in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia-Irvine.

His first teaching job carried him all the way to Columbia, N.C., down east near the Outer Banks, but he soon found himself wanting to get back home. He reached out to former South View athletic director Ronnie Luck, who helped him land the baseball job at Byrd.

Maxwell said baseball is baseball, no matter what level, and he’s applying one lesson he learned in the minor leagues to his practices here.

“Giving 100 percent effort every day is the biggest thing,’’ he said. “Even when a guy isn’t a big-time prospect. If he busted his butt and worked hard every day, they found a way to get him on the field.’’

Maxwell knows as a high school coach he’s not going to be blessed with super talent at every position. That’s why he’s convinced everyone has to work hard to improve. “It’s important to teach the fundamental side of the game,’’ he said. “Baserunning, bunting, running. It can help you win a game whether you are a superstar or a bunch of guys just out there playing.’’

Jesse Dailey, a Byrd senior who pitches as well as plays shortstop and first base, said the team has responded well to Maxwell’s coaching. “We’re confident and we’ve got teamwork,’’ he said. “He’s indepth and detailed. It’s the little things. Throwing the ball and catching the ball.’’

“I think we have a good team and I’m excited to see what we’re going to put out there,’’ Maxwell said. “We’ll show up to the park, no matter who we are playing.’’ 

The City of Fayetteville has been dealt a setback on its plan to finance its $33 million minor league baseball stadium over 30 years. The North Carolina Local Government Commission told a city staff delegation in Raleigh that the city should limit its amortization schedule to 20 years. The commission is an agency of the State Treasurer’s office that approves cities’ and counties’ long-term debt service. “We were mildly surprised the staff was not amenable to it,” said City Manager Doug Hewett at a city council stadium committee meeting. Stadium Finance Chairman Kirk deViere said the upside of the commission’s decision is that the city will save more than $11 million in interest by retiring the debt in 20 years.  Adjustments to the financing plan should not be a problem, deViere added.

Stadium committee member Jim Arp emphasized the financial arrangements have no effect on the city’s 30-year agreement with the Houston Astros to provide the community with a minor league baseball team. That process is moving along at a pace envisioned by city council last fall.  Groundbreaking on the city center ballpark is scheduled to take place in July. That’s about the same time Prince Charles Holdings will begin renovations to the former Hay Street hotel. The Durham urban development firm has been negotiating a land swap deal with city council for many weeks. “We should have a deal by the end of the month,” said PCH Project Manager Jordan Jones. Committee Chairman Mitch Colvin isn’t as optimistic, saying that he can’t put an end date on the negotiations but believes it will be soon. 

The stadium and surrounding amenities will be built on a nine-acre triangular tract bordered by two sets of railroad tracks and Hay Street. The city owns much of the property and PCH, owners of the old hotel, owns the rest. The city can’t build the stadium without acquiring some of the PCH property. And PCH wants some of what the city owns to construct a four-story, 350-car parking deck with a four-story hotel on top of it. PCH expects to invest $23 million to refurbish the eight-story hotel into 62 apartments and a luxury penthouse and build the parking deck and hotel, subject to ongoing negotiations. Details of the land swap and possible shared cost of those projects have been discussed for weeks by the council stadium committee behind closed doors. 

Hewett points out that coming to a final agreement on the master development plan, a separate contract with the city’s stadium construction manager, Barton Malow, must be completed before the project can proceed. He will ask the full council
to consider voting on the contracts at its last meeting of
this month.                                         

Fayetteville’s next 4th Friday comes March 24, amidst (hopefully) warm weather and beautiful new signs of spring. This month’s free buffet of art-related events is themed “All-American Weekend Downtown.” 

The Arts Council at 301 Hay St. will host the Ellington White Community Development Corporation’s third annual Art and Flowersexhibition from 7-9 p.m. The show will feature 2-D submissions that were selected from a national call for submissions, as well as live floral arrangements created in dialog with the 2-D art. The floral designers who created the arrangements come from Fayetteville, the Chapel Hill/Raleigh area and Wilmington. The evening will also feature live music by The 82d Airborne Division Band Woodwind Quintet. 

Calvin Mims, executive director of Ellington White CDC, explained what he loves most about Art and Flowers. “It’s really exciting to see someone look at a work of visual art and then … use that as an interpretation for a live floral arrangement. We consider floral design a very unique art form, and of course paintings of botanical forms is something we’ve always appreciated. But bringing the two together at the start of spring is … absolutely wonderful.”

The Arts Council also just released their annual Public Works call for submissions. Visit www.theartscouncil.com/ and click “Artist Opportunities” to learn more. 

The Arts Council provides just one exciting piece of all that 4th Fridayhas to offer. Check out these other events!

Gallery 116th at 116 Anderson St. is proud to present NightLife,the gallery’s first solo exhibition with Jonathon Lee Shannon. His work will be on display from 6 p.m. until midnight. The show consists of works Shannon created all over the U.S., with a focus on capturing night life. He has painted plein-air within bars, challenging himself to capture the light and movement of people even as he creatively reverses forms, swapping geometric forms into organic ones and vice versa. 

Cape Fear Studios at 148 Maxwell St. presents the opening of Cats, Dogs & Ewe from 6-9 p.m. The show will feature pet-themed art.

The Cumberland County Library at 300 Maiden Ln. will host Musician Roger Day from 7-8 p.m. as he opens the library’s Storytelling Festival with his newest show, Invincible. The show “encourages and empowers young super heroes everywhere to solve the problem and save the day by using the greatest super power of all: Imagination!” 

Visit the Ellington-White Gallery at 113 Gillespie St. to view the continuing Cumberland County Art Educators exhibition from 7-9 p.m.

Fascinate-U Children’s Museum at 116 Green St. wants to help you and your kids celebrate National Nutrition Month! Play at the museum for free from 7-9 p.m.

Walk over to The Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum at 325 Franklin St. to view its ongoing Cumberland County Goes to War exhibit, which highlights our area’s civil war history at home and on the battlefield. Open 6-8:30 p.m.

The Market House at 106 Hay St. will feature an educational exhibit upstairs, in addition to its permanent exhibit, A View from the Square: A History of Downtown Fayetteville. Visit from 6-10 p.m.

Payton Aldridge

South View

Softball

Senior

Aldridge plays volleyball and softball for the Tigers. She was all-conference in volleyball twice and once in softball entering her final season. She has a grade point average of 4.5.

 

 

 

 

 Rithik Penmatcha

Jack Birtt

Tennis

Sophomore

Penmatcha is currently ranked second in his class at Jack Britt, with a 4.21 grade point average. In addition to playing tennis, he is also active in the Jack Britt Key Club.

Early returns from the recent N.C. High School Athletic Association Eastern Regional basketball tournament held at Fayetteville State’s Capel Arena and Methodist University’s Riddle Center, appear to be generally positive.

Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for Cumberland County Schools, traveled back and forth between the two venues on championship Saturday and came away with a good impression.

“The smaller gyms gave a bit more of an energetic atmosphere,’’ he said. “The only issue we had was at the Clinton game.’’

Clinton’s powerful girls’ team, which won the 2-A regional title, drew a crowd that packed one side of the Methodist gym and actually had people seated on the floor. But there were apparently no major complaints despite the size of the crowd.

Aldridge said the biggest crowd of the day came from Greene Central in the 2-A boys’ final. “They came with four or five busses,’’ Aldridge said. “Every seat was taken for that first game.’’

Aside from the change of venues for the regional this year, the NCHSAA also made a change in tournament operations. In past years, retired county athletic directors Fred McDaniel from Cumberland County and Ronnie Chavis of Robeson County had served as the two site supervisors.

This year, members of the NCHSAA central office staff, Tra Waters and Mark Dreibilbis, took over those responsibilities. Aldridge said the county mainly provided the NCHSAA with county personnel to work at the two venues.

The county didn’t sign a long-term contract with the NCHSAA, and Aldridge said it will be up to the folks in Chapel Hill to decide whether the tournament will return to Fayetteville next year or move somewhere else.

• Belated congratulations to veteran Pine Forest coach Jim Farthing, who was recognized in February with the naming of the gym at Pine Forest Middle School in his honor.

Farthing coached there when it was still Pine Forest High School, before the current school building was constructed on Andrews Road.

A number of his coaching peers and former players attended the ceremony in the middle school gym.

• We reported a couple of issues ago that a controversial bill was working its way through the N.C. legislature that would give parents in North Carolina the power to overrule a doctor and allow their child to return to athletic competition in spite of a doctor’s diagnosis of a concussion.

My friend Joe Sirera of the Greensboro News and Record recently reported that wiser heads have prevailed and that provision has been removed from the bill.

Like It Followsand The Witch, Get Out(103 minutes) is a thinking person’s horror film. More a psychological thriller than a straight up scarefest, it represents a welcome new peak in a genre characterized by some pretty trashy lows. It might seem odd for me, proud of the fact that I’ve been fed on a steady diet of sleaze, exploitation and video nasties since an early age, to notice that there have been some outstanding horror films released in the past year or two. But I didn’t just watch the trashy stuff, and, by the way, the best trashy stuff will have moments of brilliance. Go check out Turkey Shootaka Escape 2000if you don’t believe me. Heck, go check out a couple of Roger Corman films. 

But I digress. Get Outis about more than just how scary rich, white people are. It is about identifying with an ordinary guy trapped into an uncomfortable weekend meeting his girlfriend’s parents. Of course the atmosphere is weird — it is always weird to meet the partner’s parents. The question is, how much weird behavior justifies calling it quits, when your special new girlfriend is in your corner, suffering with you? And at what point does weird become a red flag for the Texas Chain Saw family reunion? 

The movie is hard to sum up without giving away crucial plot points. Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) leaves the city with his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams) to visit her parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener) on Wealthy Street in Superrich Town, USA. They don’t know he is black, but Rose assures him that her dad voted for Obama, so it’s all good. Chris has his doubts, and I wonder why Rose’s parents aren’t cyberstalking her social media enough to know who she was dating, as any reasonable parent would the minute their child leaves the house. Shoot, I had mine implanted with a miniature tracking device and small camera before we even left the hospital.

The first meeting is every bit as awkward as expected. The perfect suburban house is maintained by two live-in black servants, Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabriel), who have smiles like the family in that classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.” Rose’s brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) is borderline ridiculous, and I wish he had been written with a little more subtlety. Over time, it becomes clear that, however the Armitage’s feel about Chris, they are friends with a bunch of racists who were raised in a barn. Remembering that Jordan Peele wrote this script, and probably drew on encounters he had in real life while dating and then marrying Chelsea Peretti, I wonder how much of the party scene was a word-for-word account of questions he had been asked at one time or another. 

By the halfway point, it is clear that Chris is ready to cut the weekend short and head for the hills, which is when events go from bad to worse. You see, the entire time (spoiler) was (spoiler) and (spoiler)!  The characters keep the audience guessing right up until the final denouement, and if the big reveal wasn’t a surprise by then, at least it was satisfying.       

Overall, after I suffered through Keanu, the Key and Peele film I really, truly wanted to like, I wasn’t looking forward to Get Out. Keanu was about a kitty and drug dealers and wacky misunderstandings and was horrifyingly bad; Get Outseemed poised for an equally catastrophic misfire. Then somebody in the PR department got their head on straight and delivered a second set of trailers that made me salivate with anticipation. For once, my high expectations were not disappointed. As I went into the theater, someone said, “Tell me how it is after you see it. I’ve heard it’s pretty good.” I replied, “I don’t need to see it. I already know it’s going to be awesome.” And I was right.

Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX.

Since 2000 North Carolina has grown from about 9.5 million people to well over 10 million, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 

Most of that growth is in our urban areas while many rural areas and small towns are losing people.

These facts would not please the late Reynolds Price, the great writer and Duke professor, who died in 2010.

He loved our small towns.

Shortly before he died, he explained in Ardent Spirits that when he was a Rhodes Scholar in England and in his early teaching years at Duke, he reached back to his growing-up years in Macon, a town in rural Warren County. His experiences there helped him define who he was and gave him the setting for his first and best-known novel, A Long and Happy Life, published in 1962.

Price got me thinking about the importance of small towns back in 1989 when he gave a talk about the importance of memories to good writing. Memories, he said, develop alongside the connections of extended families and stable surrounding communities.

He brought home his point by saying, “That couldn’t happen if you moved every three years.”

Here is what I write in response:

Our memories are our treasures. They are who we are. Looking backwards, some of us see our parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, cousins, longtime friends, teachers, preachers and the places we knew them — home, church, school, stores and fields. Those people and places of growing up define us. They are our anchors, our foundations, our roots. At least they are, if we have those memories — if we remember where we grew up.

But fewer and fewer of us know where we are from. The average American moves every three years. You can’t let your roots grow too deep if you move that often.

If you move every three years and live in a new neighborhood where everyone else is new, Price said, you are not going to have the same kind of memories as those who grew up in one place.

Does it make a difference? I think it does. I can’t prove it, but look around at the people who are making a difference in North Carolina — the best business leaders, our best political leaders, our best teachers and writers.

Don’t a disproportionate number of them come from small towns and farms?

What explains their success in the development of leaders for the rest of us?

Some big city snobs would say that these leaders have had to overcome their culturally deprived backgrounds. Look at the small towns, they say, and see nothing happening, backward schools, no theaters, no big libraries, no big-time sports.

Nothing there? Nothing but the stable nurturing that creates the self-defining memories that Reynolds Price talked about.

North Carolina’s small towns and rural communities are the state’s “people estuaries.”

Estuaries are those protected brackish waters along our coast, which, with the marshes, swamps, and backwaters, are the most efficient producers of food in the state. They are a critical link in our food chain. We often think of those areas as underdeveloped swampland. But they are irreplaceable treasures where the richness and stability of life makes for one of Earth’s most productive ecosystems.

Reynolds Price was right. Those nurturing memories that small towns make possible give people a sense of who they are. People who have a sense of who they are become better equipped to lead, which may explain why small towns are so successful in producing so many North Carolina leaders.ese small towns are our “people estuaries.”

Roy Cooper has just submitted his first budget proposal as governor of North Carolina. It is a political document — and I don’t mean that as an insult. Cooper is a Democrat facing Republican supermajorities in a state legislature that has more power than he does. So his budget plan is more about communicating his own policy priorities to the voters of North Carolina than it is about convincing GOP lawmakers to adopt his agenda.

It is telling, then, that Cooper’s plan contains no tax hikes. In fact, he proposes a modest tax cut.

Politically, this constitutes a crushing defeat for the left-wing politicians, activists, and interest groups who have spent the last six years attacking Republicans and conservatives for cutting state taxes too much.

Put another way, progressives think North Carolina’s current taxes are too low — hundreds of millions of dollars a year too low, at least — to provide adequate funding for the state’s core public services. If Roy Cooper thought the Left’s position on this issue to be correct and wise, he could have proposed to roll back recent cuts in personal or corporate income taxes.

Of course Republicans wouldn’t have complied. They believe, properly, that the state’s recent tax reductions and reforms have restored more power to North Carolinians to spend their own money as they see fit, while also making North Carolina a more attractive place to live, work, invest, and create new jobs. Before reform, our state ranked 41st in business tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation. Now, we rank 11th.

Still, if he had wanted to, Cooper could have proposed to roll back some of these tax cuts, and used the additional revenue to fund a larger budget. He could have dared the Republican legislature to say no to his plan — to refuse to “invest” in education, infrastructure, and other programs, all because they wanted to preserve “tax cuts for the wealthy.”

If the Left is to be believed, Cooper would not only have been correct on the merits but also greeted as a leader of the popular resistance to a GOP plutocracy. But, of course, the Left is not to be believed on this subject. With regard to the merits of the policy, progressives believe passionately that state tax burdens don’t hamper economic growth and that state spending boosts growth. But their belief is contrary to most empirical evidence and to common sense. Even if most North Carolinians don’t read economics journals or manage companies, they know intuitively that increasing the cost of doing business is unlikely to create jobs, and that taxpayers don’t get a good return on many of the dollars they already surrender to the government.

As a political matter, Cooper knows that he doesn’t owe his narrow victory last November to voters who think North Carolina’s taxes are too low. He isn’t going to score policy wins in the coming months, or Democratic wins in the 2018 midterms, or reelection in 2020 by lurching leftward.

Rejecting the Left’s advice on tax hikes wasn’t the governor’s only nod to fiscal reality. Although Cooper said on the campaign trail last fall that North Carolina had been saving too much, his budget would add $463 billion dollars to state savings accounts next year — $313 million to the rainy-day fund and $150 million to reduce the state’s unfunded liability for retiree health benefits.

By making these observations, I don’t mean to suggest that the budget plan Cooper actually opted to send to the General Assembly deserves passage. It would spend too much — about $1 billion more next year in General Fund programs alone, and billions more if other funds are included in the calculation.

Nevertheless, even most of Cooper’s imprudent spending increases in FY 2017-18 are for one-time expenses, not for ongoing obligations. As a political document, his budget signifies that there is a robust debate among North Carolina leaders about how much and where to cut taxes. Meanwhile, the Left is on the outside looking in, again.

Every year the Givens Performing Arts Center brings a wide variety of world-renowned performances to North Carolina. Each season embraces artistic expression of every style. On March 21, the theater will host the unconventional percussion group STOMP. Then March 27, GPAC hosts the Russian National Ballet Theatre as they present Swan Lake. These are two widely respected and incredibly popular groups displaying talents that take years to cultivate. The styles, however, are drastically different. 

STOMP started as a street performance created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in the United Kingdom and has grown into an international sensation. Since their humble beginnings over 20 years ago, they have performed in more than 50 countries for over 24 million people. There are now four different productions across the globe. There is a permanent company in London, a production at the Orpheum Theatre in New York, a North American tour and a European tour. 

The focus of STOMP is on percussion. However, the style of percussion is unique. The performers employ things like paint cans, hubcaps, plumbing fixtures and even kitchen sinks to create their energizing and complex beats. In addition to the aural intrigue of the performance, STOMP performers also use their unconventional household or industrial instruments to make visually exciting performances. They may employ synchronized Zippo lighters, brooms or tea cups to create an incredible show for the entire family.

STOMP performances have received rave reviews. Despite the overall success they have already achieved, they are still learning and growing. For example, in this tour they will include two entirely new pieces. This constant innovation makes every performance as new and exciting as when the show first premiered. STOMP will be at the GPAC March 21 at 7:30 p.m. 

The Russian National Ballet Company was founded in 1989 by Sergi Radchenko, who was a ballet star in the “Bolshoi Ballet.” The company very quickly made a name for itself at home and abroad because of the high quality of every aspect of the performance. The dancers are some of the best in the world. Additionally, the stunning scenery and costumes are designed with attention to detail. The company divides into smaller touring groups when they travel and often performs classic ballet masterpieces in communities that would not otherwise have such an opportunity to enjoy Russian classical ballet. 

Swan Lake is one of the classical ballet masterpieces that the company performs. Swan Lake first debuted in 1877 and was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is considered the “national ballet of Russia” by many. The story revolves around princess Odette who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer. The story has been adapted numerous times, but the Russian National Ballet Company will perform a more traditional version that the entire family can enjoy. It is a presentation of Russian culture and talent brought to North Carolina March 27 at 7:30 p.m. 

Both performances bring critically acclaimed international culture and talent to North Carolina. The GPAC is providing a unique opportunity for the entire family to experience two very different artistic interpretations of music all within the month of March. Tickets for both shows can be purchased at http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=44991&schedule=list. 

Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County presents “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” on Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Building on Hay Street. RCVCC offers free, confidential services to any person whose life has been affected by sexual violence. Services include a 24-hour Crisis Hotline; 24-hour emergency room responders; counseling; support groups; courtroom advocacy; community awareness; and an address confidentiality program.

“The purpose of the walk is to have public awareness of sexual violence and how we can all come together and help prevent it,” said Ze Surratt II, certified victim practitioner and military liaison. 

“We do it through men walking in red high-heeled shoes to get a feel for what it is like as a female for five minutes when we wear them for hours a day and be able to feel like they can contribute to conquering sexual violence by putting on these red high-heeled shoes.” Suratt added that they have been doing this event since 2010 and last year’s walk had the highest number of walkers, which consisted of over 300 men. 

The walk is from the Market House to the AIT building. “We have had Chiefs of the Fire Department, Chiefs of Police, directors of Cape Fear, military men, district attorneys and other high influential people walking in heels to show their support to end sexual violence,” said Surratt. “Our reported number of sexual violence victims are over 400 per year.” Surratt added that the victims that come to them may not necessarily be the individuals that report to law enforcement and vice-versa. 

“This event is so important for many reasons, first for the victims. Men from our community come out and take a stand against sexual violence – policemen, firemen, soldiers, politicians, community leaders, our neighbors and our friends are all out walking,” said RCVCC Executive Director Deanne Gerdes. “For a victim... that is priceless. They are in the crowd watching and cheering on the walkers! For my staff and advocates, we know we are not alone in preventing (sexual violence) and acknowledging and advocating for victims. Rape is such an ugly word, ugly thought. Raising money for the agency is hard. But this event is for the community to help us financially and to let victims know that we are here and we care.” 

The victims are mainly females between the ages of 14-24. There are also a small number of male victims. “Our youngest victim was four months old and our oldest victim was 96 years old,” said Surratt. “We see a full range of individuals in Cumberland County and other counties.” Surratt added that most the time a rape is committed by someone that is known – even if it is the slightest acquaintance – and it is more likely to be someone the victim has encountered at least once in their life. It is usually someone the victim thought they knew well and felt comfortable with. 

Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. “Think about the shame that goes along with this crime,” said Surratt. “The victim feels like that maybe they should have known better, they could’ve done better or somehow they could have prevented what happened to them.” Surratt added that because they take on that blame of what happened to them, a lot of victims will not come forward to report it. 

The agency’s services are not contingent on a police report. You can call or walk into the agency and get help immediately free of charge. If you are a victim of rape or know someone who is, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE. Sponsors are needed for the event. Registration begins at 6 p.m. The fee is $20 to register for the walk and $5 to rent a pair of red high-heeled shoes. For more information, call 485-7273.

 

An average 233,986 Americans age 12 and older are sexually assaulted each year.

Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

Who Are the Victims?

1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.  Among all victims, about nine out of ten are female.

1 out of every 33 American men has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in his lifetime.  About 10 percent of all victims are male.

Age

Age of sexual assault victims: 

15 percent are under age 12.

29 percent are age 12-17

44 percent are under age 18

80 percent are under age 30

Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years 

Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault. 

Gender & Race

Estimated persons raped in lifetime by gender and race: 

Women

17.7 percent of white women

18.8 percent of African-American women

6.8 percent of Asian / Pacific Islander women

34.1 percent of American Indian / Alaskan Native women

24.4 percent mixed race women

14.6 percent of Hispanic women

Men

2.8 percent of white men

3.3 percent of African-American men

4.4 percent of mixed race men

The sample size was too small to estimate for Asian/ Pacific Islander and American Indian / Alaskan Native men

The Offenders

Almost 2/3 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim.

23 percent of rapists are an intimate

3 percent are another relative

38 percent are a friend or acquaintance

31 percent are a stranger

6 percent are unknown

Only about 6 percent of rapists ever serve a day in jail. 

The average age of an arrested rapist is 31 years old.

0.6 percent are 17 years old or younger

54.6 percent are 18 to 29 years old

28.6 percent are 30 to 39 years old

8.9 percent are 40 to 49 years old

7.3 percent are 50 years old or older

Marital status of arrested rapists

22.1 percent are married

1.2 percent are widowed

28.5 percent are divorced

6.2 percent are separated

42 percent are never married

 

In 1973, local pastor Dr. Bill Owens saw a need in the Christian community and acted on it. He opened the Cape Fear School of Theology because he wanted to make a difference, to find a way to give fellow Christians of all denominations the skills and understanding they needed to answer the call to service put forth in the Bible. Forty-three years later, the institution continues with this mission. It has undergone some name changes and recently expanded its facilities. On March 17, at 2 p.m. there will be a dedication service recognizing the new upgrades across the campus.

From a single classroom with a handful of students to a state-of-the-art facility with accredited programs of study, Carolina College of Biblical Studies continues to touch lives and equip people to go out and fulfill their calling. “We are not just for pastors,” said CCBS Dean of Online Studies Dr. Chris Dickerson. “A lot of our students are lay leaders. They teach Sunday school. They have ministries that they develop and grow, or some just want a degree. Most of our students are lifelong learners. Students still take English, writing, math and other basic courses, but our focus is on the Bible. We teach the Old and New Testament and the history of the Bible as well as how to read and make sense of it. We also do book studies.”

Dickerson went on the say that if someone believes the Bible is sacred, there is a greater degree of appreciation for it.  When people read the Bible, often it is from a modern American perspective. “But it was written 2,000 years ago in an eastern culture,” he said. “Part of what we do is try to teach it with those understandings. How would a Jew understand that same text 2,000 years ago? What were the current events of the time?  What were the manners? The customs? How did the culture work? The Bible means what it meant originally, and helping people understand that is what we do.” 

It is especially rewarding to learn later how the college has impacted students’ lives and communities. CCBS students have gone on to build ministries all over the world, including Africa, Cambodia, Mexico and Columbia. “We don’t necessarily want numbers. We want impact,” said Dickerson.

The dedication service on March 17 represents an exciting time for the college. It marks the completion of a $2 million renovation that has tripled the usable space on the campus. And it has been paid for in full. 

“Our library tripled in space. Now we can expand it, too.  We have a legitimate first-class library. It will hold 18,000 volumes, and we are working to fill it up,” said Dickerson.  The new space hIt has small group meeting rooms and terminals.  It has fixed classrooms. “We have classes four times a day. With those times, plus added space, we can triple our enrollment and still have space. Our vision is to train men and women to be leaders and servants, and now we can help more people do that. Now, it looks like a college. It raises the bar a little bit and makes us look more reputable. We are not a fly by night place. We are an accredited college.”

On-campus degrees include an Associate of Arts in Biblical Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. Classes run for 11 weeks and are offered four times a year. Online courses include an Associate of Arts in Leadership and Ministry, a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Ministry, an Associate of Arts in Biblical Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. Online courses start every five weeks.

CCBS also offers a tuition-free class to the community on how to study the Bible. The only cost to take the class is a $60 book fee. The tuition for this course is waived, although there is a book fee of $60. “We offer it on campus and online,” said Dickerson. “If we can train people to study the Bible and understand it, chances are it will make an impact on them and how they live their lives. That is our gift to the community. Now they understand how to read and appreciate and apply the Bible. “

Prospective students are invited to reach out to CCBS at ccbs.edu, or by calling (910) 323-5614.  The college does host about eight “Preview Days” a year. People RSVP to come. It starts at 6 p.m. “We feed them dinner, there is a Q&A session and a presentation. We have a campus tour and sit in on half of a class,” said Dickerson. “Then the admissions team is there if they want to ask further questions. That is a neat way to learn about the college.”

Students and teachers often have a unique relationship. When it’s good it can be magical. When it’s not, well… On March 24, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers in conjunction with the Campbellton Youth Chorus present The Student and the Teacher at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

The concert features the works of Vaugh, Williams, a teacher at the Royal College of Music and his not so admiring student Benjamin Britten. While it is not unusual for composers to disparage one another, Britten never held back when he had an opportunity to criticize Williams. Williams was equally uncharitable regarding his student.

While the two men were hard pressed to say a kind word about each other, in this concert, their works complement each other. “They complement each other thematically as British composers,” said Cumberland Oratorio Singers Director Michael Martin. “Past that, they have very different styles. That in itself, is refreshing and wonderful.” 

The performance features well-known works from each composer, including Williams’ “Serenade to Music” and Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb.”

Martin noted that the men lived very different lives and had different influences regarding why they wrote the music they did. “Vaughn Williams came into his being later in his life and tended to look to English folk songs for his inspiration. Britten showed musical brilliance at a much younger age and tended to write for the people that were performing the work. They are both incredibly important British composers and their intersection occurred at the Royal College of Music. Vaughn Williams was on the faculty; Britten was a student. Past that, they held strong opinions of each other, and not always positive.”
As an organization, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers have three choirs under their umbrella: the COS, the Cross Creek Chorale, and the Campbellton Youth Chorus. Sometimes, they come together as a complete organization to present different material, and this is one of those moments. “In terms of the CYC being in this concert, I would like to believe that they, and the audience, will see that singing is truly a lifelong commodity,” said Martin. “Our mission includes that inference and we are thrilled to put it all in context in this performance.”

Founded in the 2015/16 season, the Campbellton Youth Chorus is a relatively new component of the group Cumberland Oratorio Singers. It is made up of youth ages 9-14 regardless of school affiliation, ethnicity, socio-economic background or religion. The goal of the organization is to help participants and audience members develop a lifelong appreciation of and participation in great choral music. Members of the youth chorus get to work with a range of choral music, both sacred and secular. The group accepts members regardless of school affiliation, ethnicity, socio-economic background or religion. “Since we do not have the youth in every concert, it’s nice to have them do a part of the concert. This concert will actually feature each part of the organization equally, which is what is both special and great about this COS concert,” said Martin. “The COS represents our Fayetteville community. We have singers from all ages and all walks of life in this group. What drives their passion is choral music and they do it quite well. This has earned them the honor of being in the 2017 class of inductees into the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame.”

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Visit http://singwithcos.org for more details.

The Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery is a new destination resort. It opened in the spring of 2016 in Elizabethtown. It combines all of the elegance and amenities of a beautiful resort with an element of refined agro-tourism from the winding grapevines that support the winery. The beautiful manicured gardens, lakeside amphitheater and pavilion make the area particularly suited to host stunning events of all kinds and weddings. March 19 is the perfect opportunity for the community to explore the Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery and enjoy the Champagne Bridal Showcase, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “We are here to inform, enlighten and let the guests discover the ambiance of this extraordinary venue and its amazing diversity,” Executive Director Corky Chaple explained. 

The Bridal Showcase is the perfect way to explore both vineyard and winery. It is designed to allow brides to explore everything the venue has to offer in the form of a fun and adventurous afternoon. There will be complimentary mimosas and horse-drawn carriage rides to show off the beautiful landscape, including one of the largest camellia exhibits in the state. Chaple invited attendees to “…explore the immaculately landscaped grounds with unique water features — discover the wonders of our private art collection — and meet our ‘critters’: mini ponies & llamas, majestic white swans and dazzling peacocks!” 

Wedding-oriented vendors who are specifically invited to participate comprise another important aspect of the showcase. Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery carefully selected each vendor based on their exceptional work and impeccable reputations. Chaple said that interacting with vendors is one of the most valuable opportunities that the showcase has to offer. “Interview all of the vendors and learn from them” Chaple advised. “Let their long experience work for you — then compare and choose the one with whom you are most comfortable. Remember — they work for you!”

Admission to the Champagne Bridal Showcase is free for everyone and includes complimentary gift bags. “The complimentary bags are a muted burlap reusable monogrammed tote filled with goodies provided by each vendor. The vendors are also donating prizes, which will be raffled off throughout the show,” Chaple said.

There will also be a complimentary tasting of the estate wines. There is an idea in the culinary world that products reflect the soil and the environment in which they were cultivated. There is something truly incredible about enjoying a product while admiring the very landscape that nurtured it. The Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery embraces this idea. Guests are encouraged to enjoy estate wines while relaxing on the private lakefront cottage decks just a short walk from the vineyards. 

The landscape, while stunning, is not all that this venue has to offer. There are also incredible amenities like the full-service restaurant. There is also the Gallery Ballroom that is uniquely decorated. It has, “Sparkling chandeliers made from wine barrels and hand-laid Tuscan stone walls infused with rich burnt pine logs that display an unparalleled eclectic collection of private artwork; artwork by masters like Dali and Picasso, as well as celebrities like Sir Paul McCartney and Janice Joplin. There’s also a multitude of memorabilia from stars including Elvis!” Chaple said. Visit www.capefearwinery.com for more information.

When applying to be a Guest Conductor for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Dina Gilbert knew she wanted to honor those who serve. She wanted to center Fayetteville’s military community and dedicate the concert to Fort Bragg and all civil service members. The concert she will conduct on March 25, closing out FSO’s 2016-2017 season, is appropriately titled Heroes Among Us.

The early stages of Gilbert’s journey towards conducting involved the military. At age 12, she started playing clarinet and joined the Cadet Program in her hometown of Saint-Georges de Beauce, Canada. In this program, she had her first chance to conduct marching bands and to participate in the International Festival of Quebec Military Music — through which she met military musicians from around the world. At age 18, she joined the Reserve in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Cadet Instructor Cadre Officer, working to give youth the same opportunities she had, and having more opportunities to conduct throughout. 

But she didn’t yet realize that conducting could be her full-time profession. She enrolled in an optional conducting class as she later pursued an Undergraduate degree in clarinet. It was there she met a professional orchestra conductor for the first time, Paolo Bellomia. “After a few classes, he said to me that I had an intuitive way of communicating music through gesture and he offered to give me private lessons. From that point on, I realized that I wanted to become a conductor... and that passion never left me since,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert has now founded her own chamber orchestra, Ensemble Arkea; served for three seasons as assistant conductor of the Symphonic Orchestra of Montreal; and served as a guest conductor for orchestras throughout Canada, Europe and China. She made her US debut last year at the Eugene Symphony in Oregon. 

The 2016-2017 season has been unique for the FSO, as they are in the process of finding a new permanent music conductor. To find this person, the FSO board has introduced a new guest conductor for each concert this season; Gilbert will be the 5th and last auditioning candidate. Fouad Fakhouri served in the position for 11 years and stepped down almost one year ago. “He took it from being a community orchestra to a professional orchestra,” Director of Artistic Operations and Marketing Julia Atkins said. So they want to make sure his replacement is truly excellent. “The board chose their favorite candidates and built a season around their unique talents and interests,” Atkins said. FSO President Christine Kastner spoke of her excitement about Gilbert’s approach: “We were so pleased that she had researched our area well enough to understand the significance of the military in our community and that she decided to program a concert that demonstrated that understanding,” she said.

In preparing for Heroes Among Us, Gilbert combined many lenses of interpretation. She included Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3,” often subtitled “Eroica,” which means “Heroic.” “The symphony is quite romantic in sound … there are so many ideals in it. You can feel that Beethoven wanted to write a piece about the kind of man who would contribute to history changing.” she said. Joshua Busman, PhD in musicology, professor at UNC Pembroke and “FSO Music Nerd,” agrees: “One of the primary things that I love about orchestral music is the way that it connects us to the past. Reading about the [French Revolution] might give you some idea of what was going on at the time, but listening to Beethoven’s Eroica … connects you to those moments in history in a profound and visceral way.” 

But this isn’t just a concert of classical odes to heroism, timeless as they may be. Gilbert also asked her colleague Simon Leclerc, who is well known for composing music for films and pop artists, to arrange Ramin Djawadi’s Game of Thronestheme. “I wanted people who are less acquainted to classical music to realize that maybe they already do know and like classical music,” Gilbert said. Gilbert also asked Leclerc to compose a new piece in tribute to military members and the experiences they go through. “You can feel from the music (Leclerc created) the aspiration of the soldier and also the sad and the fearful moments … and how it is to come back and what you’re so blessed with after all the experiences.” 

Gilbert has included other musical delights that you’ll have to attend to find out about! Tickets can be purchased at https://squareup.com/market/fayetteville-symphony-orchestra. They cost $10.28 for children and students, $22.43 for military members and senior citizens and $25.23 for adults. The show will be held at Huff Concert Hall of Methodist University on March 25, starting at 7:30 p.m. 

Fayetteville’s historic Prince Charles Hotel may one day be brought back to life as a dynamic downtown centerpiece. For many years, the once-prosperous hospitality property has been anything but. Several attempts at repurposing the eight-story building have failed. A Durham developer, Prince Charles Holdings, believes it can breathe new life into the 90-year-old structure. It purchased the building and adjoining parking lot at auction in 2014 for $200,000. Michael Cohen, an advocate of historic preservation, is the lead investor for the project. 

“I’m excited about the opportunity to bring one of Fayetteville’s most iconic buildings back to life and contribute to the revitalization process already underway in downtown Fayetteville,” Cohen said. He’s awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a low interest loan to begin the work of refurbishing the once proud hotel. The firm hopes to begin reconstruction this summer. 

Fayetteville City Council believes the repurposed hotel building, along with an adjacent $33 million minor league baseball stadium, will be the economic catalyst for $100 million in economic investments on only nine acres of inner-city property. “That whole area around the hotel is going to be developed into retail and commercial space,” said Mayor Nat Robertson. “It will also include additional apartments and a hotel,” he added. Planning is nearing completion for construction of the stadium and the property around it.

Almost unnoticed has been the redevelopment of a couple dozen heretofore vacant buildings in the downtown area. The first block of Person Street has come to life with historic updating. Along the south side of West Russell Street, smaller buildings have been repurposed into offices. Larger commercial buildings left vacant for decades have been restored, cleaned up and reoccupied. The Moore Building at 215 Williams Street has spawned investor interest in a once-impoverished section of town. It houses two or three small businesses and a large, open social hall. Down the street, at 159 Maxwell Street, the Greater Fayetteville Chamber occupies a building built as a warehouse more than a century ago. “It was put to many uses over the years, and before being occupied by the Chamber, it was Zimmerman Millwork and Cabinetry,” said City Historian Bruce Daws. 

At 112-114 Gillespie, Street, Sherefe Mediterranean Restaurant used to be Fayetteville Drug Company before it closed many years ago. It was built in 1891, according to Daws. Historic tax credits assisted property owners in making financial investment that made these facilities useable once again. The investments were good for local government, too, since they enhanced the tax value of the properties. 

Of particular interest, on Bragg Boulevard near W. Rowan Street just outside downtown, is a former gas station, which is now a used car lot. “It was built as a service station by the Rankin Family after World War II,” said Daws. Because of its historic significance, the N.C. Department of Transportation spared the building while demolishing everything around it to build the new Rowan Street bridges and realign Bragg Boulevard, Murchison Road and Rowan Street. “We hope to acquire the building and restore its historic significance,” said City Manager Doug Hewett.