The debate over the hispanicization of America continued at yesterday’s Beaufort County Board of Commissioners meeting.

The new Beaufort County Board of Education Superintendent Don Phipps appeared before the commissioners to discuss concerns related to the Spanish translation of the Beaufort County Schools’ Code of Conduct, which can be found on their Web site.

The Code of Conduct is, currently, the only material on the site available in Spanish.

Phipps defended the necessity of a Spanish version of the Code of Conduct citing safety concerns.

“It’s essential if you’re dealing with disciplinary actions,” said Phipps. “We want to have collaborative work between the student, the school and the parents.”

At last month’s commissioner... Read More

It is a rarity indeed when we get a four plus inch snow in eastern North Carolina. On this February 12, Friday, at 10 pm, the moderate snow started falling and continued in light flurries until about 11:00 am.

With the bread all but gone on the grocery shelves, and the uncommon fluffy snow transforming our mundane winter's day into a winter wonderland, I made a few pictures which I will share with you here below as my testimony that rare beauty of my world bathed in snow.

In the flurries on the following morning, I look down the low hill, in this very low land, toward the duck pond in my front yard: Above. The fluffy snow adorning the young magnolia tree, and azelea bushes, and the many cypress trees leading down to the pond: Below... Read More

Going green is likely the last thing on the minds of those living in lower-income households. A family with an income at 200 percent below the federal poverty guidelines is understandably more concerned with paying the bills, than reducing their carbon footprint.

Thanks to the expansion of the Weatherization Assistance Program, administered through North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services Office of Economic Opportunity, lower-income households can go green and save green simultaneously.

Through this program, the homes of qualifying families are upgraded with better sealing and insulation, a water-heater tank wrap and/or other general weatherization measures to become more energy efficient. Each home is audited and diagnos... Read More

Incumbent Senator Marc Basnight has a challenger for the seat he has held since 1984. Enter 4 term Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson, who has long given voice to the unwavering conservative Resistance in eastern North Carolina for nearly 14 years, as his deceptively energetic Republican challenger. Commissioner Richardson is scheduled to meet with the State's leading Republicans in Raleigh on Wednesday, February 17, 2010, to engage their support.

Senator Marc Basnight has long been regarded as eastern North Carolina’s greatest advocate for bringing taxpayer’s money back to eastern North Carolina to fund his pet projects, and the pet projects of his political supporters as well. The Senator’s political revo... Read More

Downtown Washington, North Carolina is a Regional Mecca for Art

This article is born out of two purposes: To give a short expose of some of the new art that was on display in the Washington, NC area and to finally give some exposure through our publication of some shows I attended since the first of the year, 2010. I intended to do 3 separate articles but time did not permit anything other than what I can offer at this juncture … and since this is art, and pretty fine art at that … I’ll do it mostly in pictures.

I begin with the first show at the Beaufort County Arts Council: Carolina Connections; featuring Bettie Bonner Bradshaw - watercolors, Jean Dexter - watercolors, Diane Lee -ceramics, John Lee Scott - photograp... Read More

The Return of Adam Sandler

If you like really good, side splitting comedies, and you have considered that Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen were dependable comedy staples, you’ve been sadly disappointed of late. However, you may believe that formula comedies, safe but vulgar, are great and funny art. If you have followed any of my previous recent reviews of these two actors, you would know, I don’t.

Funny People is a return of sorts to a better written, better conceived comedy that, like any good comedy, has its comedy foundation planted in the concrete footers of realty. Oddly, the realty of this film is somewhat eclectic, but more believable in concept than any of either actors most recent vehicles.

That Concept: Cast Adam Sa... Read More

Walt Disney Adventures: Part I, Animal Kingdom

Whether one loads up the family into the minivan and heads down Interstate 95, or they pile into the SUV and head down Interstate 75 to the sunshine state of Florida, what they have in common is that they're heading south ... deep south: where the air is hot, the men well fed and the women are better looking. Where the hordes often congregate is Central Florida, and there are advantages. Advantages such as: Interstate 75 and Interstate 95 converge at Orlando, the accommodations are plentiful, and there is much to do for energetic folks.

In and around the Orlando area, there is a plethora of theme parks; most notable among them are Sea World, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, and D... Read More

I have a primary for Beaufort County Commissioner. I did not want a primary, but I welcome one nonetheless. On the negative side, a primary diverts some of my attention from my personal business. That, obviously, will not be avoided, because there are now 5 aspiring politicians running for the three Republican nominations vying for the three open commissioner seats in the November 2nd, General Election.

On the other hand, a primary in early May offers me an opportunity to campaign, and, in what ever means offered, meet the public and gauge the overall sentiment and see how it fits it my political agenda - if at all. That's right, I do listen to the people, but I have always done so, and I have not forgotten that voice from 16 years ... Read More

The Democratic "leaders" in Congress and the General Assembly assure them things are fine. "The recession is over," they crow. "The president's plan has brought hundreds of thousands of new jobs," etc, etc, etc. Each statement a bigger lie than the one before. Meanwhile citizens of North Carolina can't find work and are struggling to survive. Increasingly it becomes more difficult to pay for food, utilities, the mortgage and needs for the kids.

The debt bubble is strangling each of us in a tightening economic noose that drives free men and women to their knees. Our jobs have been sacrificed on an altar of globalization created and sustained by men like Price, Watt, Butterfield, and Kissell. Their answer alway... Read More

There is always a danger when one frames a complex issue that oversimplifies the issue that much will be lost. But such is often essential in order to foster a useful debate of that complex issue. Bilingualism is such a case. Having said that we will attempt here to frame that issue in a simple manner in the hopes of contributing to a significant debate here in Beaufort County that seems to only grow as the years go by.

Simply stated the issue is: To what extent must and should we accommodate those who do not speak English?

On one side there are those who believe in accommodation. They believe being able to communicate is the basic ultimate goal and anything that facilitates communication is desirable. This leads, in schools, to progra... Read More

I’ve never cared much for perfectly straight teeth, but clean teeth and fresh breath are essential. I mean, who could really stand wearing a clear, plastic retainer every night for the rest of their life? I’d just loose it in the cafeteria trashcan anyway.

My orthodontist tried so hard to get my teeth in line, but my chompers have always had a mind of their own. As soon as my braces came off and the belt sander was moved a safe distance from my mouth, it was as if my large teeth removed their girdle and let out a sigh of relief. Their undisciplined appearance may offend some, including my father who paid for my braces --but they are MY teeth, and I love them just the way they are.

In fact, I think they are beautiful. They are big, whi... Read More

There's absolutely nothing wrong with not being able to buy a house. I am a Realtor and an advocate of home ownership, who is currently renting a home. Of course, I would love to build equity, feel the security of having title to my own piece of earth, or simply have a real interest in remodeling my kitchen, but I am financially unprepared for such a responsibility.

Instead I'm happily setting myself up to take on this responsibility by working hard, paying off debt, saving money and getting my files in order. One day I will have everything in place so that when I enter into the home-buying process, I will have all the right bargaining chips.

I've seen firsthand, through the experiences of my clients, how not having one?s affairs in order... Read More

I had just made my way topside onto the weather deck of a sixty-five foot harbor tug. It was a blustery, chilly, late-March day. My shipmates and I rigged the ship for sea as my Commanding Officer stormed fore to aft, barking orders and cursing at us. I could feel the deck vibrating beneath my boots as the ship’s diesel engine began to rumble. I grabbed hold of the vessel’s forward mooring line, called out to the pier to disconnect all lines and heaved around as ordered. The ship’s whistle let out a booming, prolonged blast, reverberating throughout the harbor as it steamed away from its berth. I was underway on my maiden voyage aboard my first assigned unit, United States Coast Guard Cutter Chock. Our mission: Trav... Read More