April 2005 archives

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Saturday, April 30, 2005

Gen. Eikenberry: Our community’s proud contribution

It was with great pride — and mixed emotions — that our community read of the promotion and new assignment of our own Karl W. Eikenberry. He is now a three-star general. And he has been assigned as commander of...

Friday, April 29, 2005

Righting a wrong: Surprising act makes amends for past misdeeds

The test of a man is what he does when no one is watching and when no one will ever know that the good deed just accomplished was his. This is not a story about a man doing a...

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Information access: N.C. proposals endanger public’s right to know

Protecting freedom of information is a slippery slope. Give a little here, make a concession there, and soon the public’s right to know becomes the public’s right to know most of the story, a few of the facts, the part...

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

OLF alternates: Navy is urged to consider them

Three North Carolina congressmen have asked the Navy to consider alternate sites for locating an outlying landing field to serve F/A-18 Super Hornets at Oceana, Va., and Cherry Point. A federal judge has blocked Navy plans to locate the OLF...

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Fund the future: Education budget not the place to go for short-term gains

When budget cuts are on the minds of legislators, the first place they seem to look is schools, even though around election time, pumping up the education budget is what they all talk about most. Now, there is some...

Monday, April 25, 2005

Trouble brewing: Don’t pop the top on beer alcohol

There is revelry on the campuses over the prospect that North Carolina law may be changed to allow an unlimited amount of alcohol in beer. The proposal has been introduced in the Legislature, and it has gained considerable support. This,...

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Anne Jeffreys, Johnny Grant exemplify true star quality

It is funny what passes for celebrity these days. A flash on MTV, one role on a television show, makes some people brilliant stars of the moment. And, another moment later, they are forgotten again. These people are famous, but...

Friday, April 22, 2005

What record? Disappearing ink leaves no trace

A Wayne County man charged with six violations was fined a total of $500 and taxed with court costs recently. It was a plea-bargain arrangement the District Attorney’s office called “a good resolution of the cases.” District Court Judge Rose...

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Pained memory: National tragedy still felt in Oklahoma and beyond

We forget sometimes that even years after a national tragedy has passed from the front page to memory that there are people who will never forget and never recover, even though they, too, have moved on with their lives. Such...

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Distinguished: Depth of commitment seen in Boy Scouts’ honoree

There were a lot of things said about Lee Borden at this year’s Boy Scout Distinguished Citizen Award banquet. Mostly, they centered around food, eating and various stages of undistinguished behavior certainly not befitting the Boy Scouts’ highest honoree for...

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Task for inmates: Roadside trash suggests way for offenders to give back

And speaking of ways for offenders to pay off their medical costs ... Take a look along North Carolina’s highways and you will see a sign that growth has its price. There are few major highways, and some not-so-major thoroughfares,...

Monday, April 18, 2005

Misplaced blame: Bill is aimed at stopping baseless, dangerous suits

A man roars down the highway on a motorcycle, slams into a car and kills someone. Who is at fault? Is it the rider? Or is it the company that manufactured the motorcycle? The cyclist, of course. It would be...

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Sick in jail: Law enforcement budgets need help with medical costs

It is a drain on thousands of local budgets. Providing medical care to inmates at local jails is a continuous problem, with no easy answer. The care must be provided — it is mandated. It must be paid for...

Friday, April 15, 2005

Interesting: Workers’ benefits getting attention

Some interesting proposals surfaced in Raleigh recently. One, a bill introduced by Sen. David Hoyle, would make substantial changes in the state’s worker’s compensation program. For one thing, it would limit to 10 years an employer’s obligation to pay...

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Dunce vote? Did Ohio Republicans seek to keep them from the polls?

John Kerry says he would have gotten the idiot vote in Ohio if it hadn’t been for the dirty tricks pulled by those mean old Republicans last year. There is no real reason to believe that Ohio has any more...

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Be squeaky now: Citizens can have big impact on base-closing decisions

You might not hear about it in the news every day. After all, there are other, more immediate concerns to talk about right now. But if you think that there is nothing to discuss yet about the soon-to-be-released list of...

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Illegal aliens: In-state tuition would be inducement

Some touching stories have been written about the plight of the children of illegal immigrants. Some are about Latino youngsters who were slipped across the border and are growing up in Eastern North Carolina where their parents are engaged in...

Monday, April 11, 2005

A poor legacy: State House says yes to gambling scheme

“This is big — big, big, big, big,” crowed a deliriously happy Kevin Howell. What tickled him so was the narrow vote in the state House of Representatives in favor of a state lottery in North Carolina. Howell is...

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Meg Scott Phipps: Perhaps it’s time to send her home

Many of North Carolina’s citizens were surprised — but not at all outraged — when former commissioner of agriculture Meg Scott Phipps was sentenced to four years in a federal prison. She had been convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions,...

Friday, April 8, 2005

Providence? Seemingly miraculous events transpired in John Paul II’s papacy

The hand of Providence cannot always been seen in unlikely occurrences, but Karol Wojtyla was involved in so many of them that his whole life seems miraculous. He was born in a small town in Poland in 1920, survived being...

Thursday, April 7, 2005

120 years on: Principles that guided newspaper in 1885 still apply today

Exactly 120 years ago today, The Goldsboro News-Argus printed its first edition. Front-page news was a little different in 1885: One of the lead stories discussed the latest rage, horse and buggy riding. The first reporters and editors also covered...

Wednesday, April 6, 2005

Lost innocence: Society cannot afford to miss indicators of teen violence

It used to be that when a 14-year-old made a statement that sounded like a threat, the adults in charge dismissed his or her ramblings as teenage mischief or an unfortunate slip of the tongue. We gave our young people...

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Sabotage: Senator won't allow BRAC to work as it was intended

Sen. Trent Lott just doesn’t get it. The idea is to keep politics out of the selection of military bases that should be closed. Lott seems unable to go along. He is trying to throw a hammer into the...

Monday, April 4, 2005

Learn from Terri: Her life, circumstances provide lessons for us all

Forget the circumstances of her death. Forget the bitter words, the long court battles. Even, for a moment, forget how you stand on artificial means of sustaining life, and who should decide when enough is enough. Think about the issues...

Saturday, April 2, 2005

Ambitious plan to rebuild theater will reward community

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done when you know that is what is best for your community. And that is exactly how the Paramount Theater Committee is starting its work to...

Friday, April 1, 2005

A personal note: Making way for the future

Renee Carey seems to be a right smart young lady. That is to say, she agrees with me a lot. We always admire the intelligence and excellent judgment of someone who reaches the same conclusions that we do, even if...