Latest Articles

There is a vociferous debate going on in North Carolina right now between commercial fishermen and sports fishermen. Due to a highly funded lobbying campaign the sports fishermen are winning.
Those who are students of the law (a.k.a legal scholars—as opposed to practitioners) know full well that the law lags behind society and culture.
Eight hospitals in eastern Carolina marked the "birthday" of Vidant Health by unveiling new signs today.
I have been asked recently to sign a petition requesting that all those military men and women who were murdered or wounded in the Fort Hood massacre be allowed to be awarded a Purple Heart.
Those were different times in a desperate South, and a story that ached to be told.
Gov. Bev Perdue today announced key leadership changes and consolidation at the Department of Health and Human Services as part of her continued focus to provide the best service for the people of the state.
The Barack Obama State of the Union address Tuesday (1-24-12) night was, if nothing else, two things: Rehashed proposals that have no chance of passing, many of which have already been rejected by the Democrats in Congress and outright lies or distortions of fact.
The Federal government (i.e. Barack Obama) has spent over four trillion dollars attempting to stimulate the economy.
The N. C. Utilities Commission is giving a green light for the construction of the Pantego Wind Energy project.
It perfectly illustrates how absolutely rotten our State Government has become and if the good people of North Carolina don't do something about it they have no one to blame but themselves.
We fully realize that there are many people who just don't like to hear someone called a liar. We don't either. But when it is the truth it is a lie not to call it what it is.

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Government

Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

If you think so, think again. They are years behind the times.

Those who are students of the law (a.k.a legal scholars—as opposed to practitioners) know full well that the law lags behind society and culture. That is not to say such is a bad thing. But what teachers of the law try to instill in their students is that to really understanding the meaning of a major legal ruling, such as we saw last week on the Fourth Amendment, you have to look at what the court said, what the facts and circumstances were and the trail of precedents leading up to and relied upon by the court in rendering the decision. That's the easy part. But there is another facet of understanding the law that many, even very competent practitioners, do not usually give adequate consider of. And that is what the future is likely to hold.

... (read more)

Op-Ed & Politics

Are the numbers sufficient to decide whether certain fish species are endangered?

There is a vociferous debate going on in North Carolina right now between commercial fishermen and sports fishermen. Due to a highly funded lobbying campaign the sports fishermen are winning. They are the ones who fish as a hobby. Commercial fishermen are the traditional mainstay of the industry that provides seafood for fish markets. The current issue is explained in a recent article posted here on House Bill 353.

At the heart of HB 353 is an argument that certain species of fish are becoming endangered. That argument is based on data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That the same bunch that each year issues hurricane projections which are notoriously inaccurate.

But the NOAA just acknowledged that the numbers that have been used are not valid or reliable but t... (read more)
For Immediate Release

Like the rest of the nation, North Carolina has been facing difficult economic times - demanding many difficult decisions. I have had to make painful budget cuts in important areas of government. But I believe I have approached this challenge in a way that is consistent with my values and the values that have made our state a wonderful place to live and raise a family. I have spent my tenure in office - and, in fact, my adult lifetime - fighting for things that I care deeply about. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I do not back down from tough fights.

But I understand this: We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces. And it is clear to me that my race for re-election will only further politicize the fight to adequately fund ... (read more)

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Community

Press release

On January 18, 2012, Harley Ray Alligoodthe Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a breaking and entering which occurred at a home on Molly Lane in Washington, NC. The victim reported several items were removed from his home. Patrol Deputies responded to the scene and collected information on a possible suspect. While attempting to make contact with the suspect at his residence, Deputies observed the stolen items inside the home.

During the follow-up investigation, Investigators identified the suspect as a registered sex offender and discovered he was not living at his registered address. Investigators also discovered the home where the suspect was living was less than one thousand feet from an elementary school in Chocowinity. A search warrant was obtained and executed at the residence. Stolen property and other evidence were recovered.

As a resul... (read more)

Business

Everybody needs a Ferris Bueller day off - even Wikipedia. Unlike Ferris, who could make the most of any moment, the management of Wikipedia just has something to say, and it is a most narrow message. Like Ferris's best friend, the lonesome Cameron, Google is reluctantly going along for the ride.

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder and CEO, took the ever popular Wikipedia down for a 24 hour period to protest the proposed anti-piracy bill, currently under consideration, in the United States Congress. Google is taking a more reserved position of protest by using the redacting black mark of censorship over their logo, in that same 24 hour time frame, as their measure of protest. Regardless, this narrow message is making its narrow point.

That narrow point is that we must be vigilant over the possibility of censorship, which is the hallmark of fascism. Currently, we see this in what few C... (read more)

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The Region

Publisher's note: When my county manager, Randell Woodruff, forwards me information that is proper to publish, I will do so. This article concerns the proposed PCS smelter sulfur plant for the Portsmouth marine Terminal. To date, it is not well received in the Tidewater region.

This article, by Dave Forster was originally published in the Virginia Pilot online edition.

Something with cars or ships. Paper, maybe ...

Those were the industries turning in Mayor Kenny Wright's mind when he was invited to hear about a prospect for one of the city's state-owned port terminals.

His 30-minute briefing was the first of three that day for City Council members, their time slots divided to avoid a law that otherwise would have required a publicly called meeting.

In the conference room at City Hall, Wright saw a port official he knew, several men in suits he didn't, and a small bottle holdin... (read more)

The Arts


Irreverent Stereotype or True in Composite?

Or does it really matter? Those were different times in a desperate South, and a story that ached to be told. My first hand perspective of my times in a Southern life, in those transformative days in the early 1960's, is that there was enough truth in Director / Screenwriter Tate Taylor's treatment of the Kathryn Stockett titular Novel to tell this story just as she told it, and it was a compelling account of bad behavior.

I grew up as a child with a number of Black women maids, also known as the "Colored Help," but there was a difference in our household with that of the composite of "the help," in "The Help," and their respective boss ladies: My mother worked a full time job, was kind, caring - a Christian woman. Her maids - one was white - were treated with respect, as equals; however, as employees. As someone who was quite young... (read more)
Sic Semper Tyrannis: Mary Surratt Must Die

Mary Surratt may have been a loving mother, but it would eventually kill her. Regardless, President Lincoln was murdered and retribution must be exacted, irrespective of the accused's culpability. Mary Surratt's son, John, was culpable to conspiracy to kidnap President Lincoln, but he was far away, hidden by sympathetic priests, therefore someone had to die. Might as well be the mother.

John Wilkes Booth wanted to save the South, so he killed the president, while conspiring with co-conspirators: Lewis Payne, George Atzerodt, and David Herold to kill Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. History is written that the popular stage actor, John Wilkes Booth, was successful. Aside from Secretary Seward being gravely wounded by Co-conspirator Lewis Payne, Booth's accomplices were not as successful, and their plan fell... (read more)

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Living

For Immediate Release

GREENVILLE, NC - Eight hospitals in eastern Carolina marked the "birthday" of Vidant Health by unveiling new signs today.

In late 2011, University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina announced plans to launch a new brand for the health system.

"The new brand identity pulls together all the important services and facilities that make up our organization that is uniquely ours. It is legally protectable and reflects who we are," said Dave McRae, chief executive officer of Vidant Health.

During the last decade, the system has grown from one hospital to a network of interconnected physician practices, more than 11,000 employees, 10 hospitals, home health and hospice programs and wellness facilities.

"As our health system continued to grow, we found that many of our patients didn't realize all that we offered," said McRae. "By uniting all of our hospitals, pro... (read more)
If you ever get the chance to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, you will be forever affected by what you see and learn there, and you will be moved by a quote you see hanging near one of the exhibits. It is a quote by Martin Niemoller which reads:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me.

The reason it will touch you is because these short five sentences explain how a people could so effectively detach themselves from the policies of their government so that it could ultimate... (read more)

Announcements

Cindy Allen Ertle, age 62, a resident of Belhaven, died Monday evening, Jan. 23, 2012, in Ahoskie, of natural causes.

Cindy was born Jan. 14, 1950, in Cortland, N.Y., the daughter of the late Frances Rowe Allen and the late John T. Allen Jr. Cindy married Dr. Thomas F. Ertle April 15, 1978, in Fayetteville. Cindy and Tom lived in the Johnstown, Pa. area for almost 20 years. Cindy and Tom later moved to Belhaven. Cindy was the proud parent of Thomas M. (Matt) Ertle, born 1980, and Luke Ertle, ... (read more)

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