Say what you will about Beaufort County government, but the numbers are in, and Beaufort County has secured its distinction as one of the most efficient counties in the entire state, according to the Civitas Institute Report Card on County Government Growth.

This distinction is especially notable, in that only 12 of North Carolina’s 100 counties managed to earn an ‘A’ in government growth for the first decade of the 21st Century, by lowering the number of county employees at a time when their populations increased. In the case of Beaufort County, even though its population increased 5.4 percent from 2000 to 2009, Beaufort County trimmed its workforce by 22.4 percent during the same time period. Most of the other North Carolina counties ex... Read More

Beaufort Regional Health System employees had the most well represented voice at last night’s state-mandated public hearing on the health system’s intention to lease or sell the local hospital to a foreign entity. Of the 17 who spoke at the hearing, 6 were hospital employees; with one employee claiming to represent all BRHS nurses, another claiming to represent all BRHS doctors, and another claiming to represent the entire Cardio-Pulmonary Unit at the hospital. The other three spoke as individuals.

All six BRHS employees who spoke were vehemently in favor of merging the small community hospital with another larger institution. At this point, it’s safe to conclude that, unless a dissenter is brave enough to speak out, it ... Read More

Thanks to the incredibly successful third-annual Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Olympic and Sprint Triathlons, which was held last Saturday, over 300 triathletes from across nine states now have our own Washington, North Carolina, circled on their events-destination maps.

In 2007, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Catherine Glover tapped into her youthful creativity and connections to reach this unique demographic of competitive athletes, and three years later, 350 triathlon participants (triple the number of the previous two years) came to eat at Washington restaurants, stay at Washington hotels, swim, bike and run across the county, and shop at Washington businesses.

Above: The triathletes have their bikes ready t... Read More

Batten down the hatches Beaufort County residents—the wind and rain from Hurricane Earl is expected to begin lashing the area by 8 p.m. this evening. Stormy weather is projected to persist from then until around 6 a.m. tomorrow. Beaufort County is under a limited State of Emergency until the hurricane passes and things return back to normal.

Hurricane Earl is the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season; and, also, the first hurricane to hit North Carolina since Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

As of 5 p.m., the National Weather Service reports that Beaufort County will not see the 115 mph eye wall of the hurricane, and the chance for the county to see hurricane conditions is less than 13 percent. Instead, Beaufort County wil... Read More

Publisher's Note: Submitted as a press release from the Ashley Woolard Campaign.

GOP First District Congressional candidate Ashley Woolard will call on Congressman G.K. Butterfield to resign from the House Ethics Committee or face investigation, in a series of press conferences Tuesday.

Woolard will appear at the NCGOP Headquarters in Raleigh at 10:00 a.m.; the train station in Rocky Mount at 12:30 p.m.; and the Craven County GOP Headquarters in New Bern, NC at 3:00 p.m.

Butterfield is a member of the House Ethics Committee judging embattled Congressman Charlie Rangel on charges of tax evasion and corruption in a September House trial. The House Ethics Committee met last Thursday and charged Rangel with 13 counts of violating House rules... Read More

Today, I recieved this communiqué from the Ashley Woolard for Congress Committee explaining his rationalization of what should be his opponent, G.K. Butterfield's, next move in respect to his entaglement with the Charlie Rangel situation, and the "pocketing unspent cash advances from his congressional junkets and now is the subject of a federal investigation," as was stated by the congressional candidate, Ashley Woolard. These are damning accusations, and if they are substantiated, it would be most important and wise for the Congressman to refute these accusations.

In respect to the Congressman's honorable integrity, I would expect he would want to clear his name in this, or any other eastern North Carolina publication.... Read More

Dr. Edward Birdsong and the staff of Birdsong Orthopedic Group are pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Jeff Barwick to their practice. Dr. Barwick will begin employment with the practice today.

Barwick received his medical degree from the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in 2004 and his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996. He completed his residency training at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, where he served as chief resident. Recently, he was a Trauma Fellow at the University of Tennessee/Erlanger Health Systems.

Barwick participated in a yearlong Medical Mission Project in Guatemala and was the co-founder and organizer of Rotaract (a Rotary sponsored club... Read More

The big story in August is that the national market is, in fact, stabilizing; but is doing so at historical lows (or either the short-lived, artificial recovery is petering out, but, at least for now, my fingers are crossed). Both the jobs and housing markets have rebounded, somewhat, from where they bottomed out in early 2009, but are still a long way down from the peak of prosperity--and perhaps that's a good thing. Our economy will have much more integrity if it finds success through hard work, rather than by winning the lottery.

The worst thing that could happen to the economy would be to create another housing market bubble created by feelings of entitlement, rabid Realtors, absentee government regulators and lax lending practices. ... Read More

Now an official downtown-Washington success, Lone Leaf Gallery & Custom Framing, celebrated its one-year anniversary yesterday evening with hors d’oeuvres, drinks and a new art exhibit, ‘Interruptions’ by Ben Isburg. From 5 to 8 p.m., dozens of loyal patrons and supporters stopped by the gallery to congratulate the Loughlins and see the show.

After a shaky, but well intentioned, version of 'Happy Birthday', Neil and Meredith Loughlin, owners of Lone Leaf Gallery & Custom Framing, extinguished the candle on their one-year anniversary cake--a delicious homemade mocha cake donated by Meredith's mom, Lynn Deatherage.

Since it opened a year ago, Lone Leaf Gallery has carved out its niche in the Eastern North Carolina ar... Read More

Man’s Appetite for Evil is Fortunately Exceeded by his Capacity for Courage

It’s the reason we continue to exist after so many horrendous bouts of self-mutilation of the species. Cormac McCarthy wrote this titular Pulitzer Prize winning novel about our Earth in a post apocalyptic state, which was brought on by Man’s and nature’s complicit resolve to make the planet die, with host killing it parasite - Mankind. Joe Penhall adapted the screenplay of the McCarthy’s classic, and John Hillcoat directed the film that well expresses this journal of doom cast against the bleak landscape of a dying North America.

Director Hillcoat’s choice of concentrating on the relationship of a nameless father, played b... Read More

Publisher's Note: Diane Rufino journeyed, with her family, to our nation's capital to experience first hand the Restoring Honor Rally on the Mall. We do appreciate her finely crafted journal as it is a record, for us remaining here Downeast, of this historic and momentous event.

Glenn Beck had a dream. He thought that if Americans can unite in order to restore honor to our nation, it would be the first step in taking our country back and taking it back for all the right reasons. It was perhaps fitting then that he held his “Restoring Honor” rally on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington, when the civil rights leader talked about his own dream to bring honor to our nation.

The "Restoring Honor" ral... Read More

Today I read some very disturbing news. On Monday, Aug. 30, the Huffington Post posted a vile piece offering $100,000 for a sex tape or other incriminating information on Glenn Beck so they can permanently remove him from the airwaves.

The post went something like this (and I'm interjecting my thoughts as well) --

Beau Friedlander, a Huffington Post contributor and former editor of the failed liberal radio network Air America offered $100,000 for a sex tape or compromising phone conversation, etc, featuring Glenn Beck. "Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers are happy to throw money at the rising tide of right wing lunacy," wrote Friedlander.

Glenn Beck is the most widely-watched news show on TV. Viewers trust they will g... Read More

The Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center, located at 1209 Brown St. in Washington, provides a variety of special programs and activities to help cancer patients, survivors as well as their primary caregivers deal with the emotional and physical challenges associated with having cancer. The Cancer Center’s vision is to provide integrative therapies that complement traditional care at no cost to the participant. The programs are not limited to patients of the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center; any survivor or caregiver is welcome!

Medicare Prescription Drug Insurance and tips to help patients pick a plan

The Cancer Center is holding a free class to help cancer patients choose the right prescription drug plan and locate financial help for which the... Read More

Christina Hendricks Heidi KlumIn honor of the ebullient Emmys, my best friend (and future celebrity gossip columnist), Meghan Hylton, and I got together to make Gay Gazpacho, complete with Sexy Shrimp and Pita Points. The confidence boost provided by this light meal and our Firefly Tea cocktails gave us some swagger as we critiqued the celebrities on the red carpet. I think we learned, during the Oscar pre-show, that it's hard to sound like an authority on couture while licking grease from your fingers after thoroughly enjoying a Bojangles boxed family dinner.

We were so confident after perfecting our 'award winning' recipe, that we devised a short list of best and worst dressed celebrities that ended up, in some cases, Kim Kardashian co... Read More

I have always loved theme parks. It is an incurable urge that draws me to these monstrous ribbons of steel that allow roaring, rolling collective groups of stangers strapped into a transitory thrill box to be shot up and down and all around, until the itch to be thrilled is surely satisfied. They're called roller coasters, and you either love them or hate them; never just tolerate them. Busch Gardens placates that itch for me, as well as it does for most of the members of my family. Does it do it for you?

This following segment of "Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" On the Road is dedicated to all you folks who just need to get away for that cheap thrill that usually never kills, and you won't catch anything that you wouldn't w... Read More

This is the second edition of lawyer jokes from our favorite lawyer, Diane Rufino. They sure make me laugh.

Lawyer joke #1
Where can you find a good lawyer?

In the cemetery.

Lawyer joke #2
What do you do if you run over a lawyer?

Back over him to make sure. Then, make another notch on the steering wheel.

Lawyer joke #3
What do lawyers and sperm have in common?

One in 50,000,000 has a chance of becoming a human being.

Lawyer joke #4
What's the difference between a porcupine and two lawyers in a BMW?

A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.

Lawyer joke #5
Why does the American Bar Association prohibit sex between attorneys and their clients?

To prevent the client for being billed twice for what is essentially ... Read More

I found that in general, as children get older there is less parent-child physical contact. When children are between infancy and preschool the parent will hold the child’s hand, carry them, or at least keep a hand on the child and will guide/ lead them. I came across a few specific examples of child-parent interaction between different age groups as well as different parenting styles. The cases involved a pre-school child and an adolescent who both had authoritative parents; and elementary children one with a permissive parent and another with an authoritarian parent. The interactions between child and parent in each case were quite different and the child’s behavior reflected greatly on the style of parenting they were subjec... Read More

I'm angry and the voters in the First Congressional District are angry and rightfully so. We see the arrogance and corruption in Washington, and we don’t like it. We are especially upset that Rep. G. K. Butterfield, has violated the spirit of the Congressional Ethics Committee while he is a serving member of that body.

Charlie Rangel, who has served in Congress for 40 years, was charged with numerous ethics violations. It has taken the Ethics Committee two years of investigation to even admit that there might be sufficient evidence to bring charges against Rep. Rangel.

Rep. G. K. Butterfield , a member of the Ethics Committee, has received $4,000 in campaign donations from Rep. Rangel. By any standard, receiving a donation from so... Read More

George Will, writing in Sunday's (8-29-10) Washington Post highlights one of the most vexing problems our nation faces…the waste of human capital. Put another way, the ruin of human lives that causes other human lives to be wasted. Will's column has all the numbers. We've all heard some version of this before, many times over. The label most frequently put on it is "The Achievement Gap."

While that term is a real misnomer, it does suffice to focus attention on the problem. The problem is the lack of achievement by a tremendous segment of our population. The "gap" being referred to is the difference in performance of the average black child and the average white child. More specifically in Beaufort County Schools (... Read More