http://www.darecountynow.com Sun, 5 Feb 2012 13:16:06 EST http://www.darecountynow.com/post/680/39/happy-mother-s-day-lynn-deatherage-you-re-the-best.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/680/39/happy-mother-s-day-lynn-deatherage-you-re-the-best.html I know there are many wonderful mothers residing in this region, however, my personal best is my wife, Lynn, and for good reason.

She has raised our four children: Brandia, Meredith, Stanhope and Anna from birth, and has selflessly given much of herself to do so.

Our children will grow older and wiser with time on their side, but they will never experience anything again resembling the unconditional love that was showered upon them by both of their parents, but especially by their sweet, lov... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:56:58 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/679/21/an-open-letter-to-our-elected-officials.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/679/21/an-open-letter-to-our-elected-officials.html I recently had two experiences that have taught me a great deal. The first was covering the School Board presentation of its budget request to the County Commissioners and the other was watching the debate this week in the N. C. House on the state budget.

To understand what I'm about to say requires you to either accept that this nation, state and county are in serious financial trouble. If you do not accept that then you can stop reading this. Maybe I'm wrong but I believe most people know thi... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:56:44 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/678/16/ten-days-remain-to-submit-artistic-rebuttal.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/678/16/ten-days-remain-to-submit-artistic-rebuttal.html Artist and arts advocate Amy Scheidegger continues to enjoy overwhelming support for her Artistic Rebuttal Book Project. As of Mar. 25, Scheidegger reported that 357 people have confirmed to contribute from 83 cities across America and Canada. The finished product of the Artistic Rebuttal Book Project will be marketed to galleries, arts councils, tourist departments and libraries across the country. Scheidegger will also now be collaborating with teachers and students across the country on a chi... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:56:28 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/677/32/grandma-is-okay-with-the-tea-party.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/677/32/grandma-is-okay-with-the-tea-party.html I'm writing to address Ms. Winborne's letter, published in Greenville's Daily Reflector on April 29, which accused the Tea Party and the GOP of trying to put grandma in an early grave by seeking budget cuts. Well, that is simply outrageous and ridiculous. The fact is that our government promises too much to too many people but continues to relieve too many of them from contributing. We continue to fund lifestyles that place a huge burden on our fiscal well-being. You eventually run out of other... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:56:20 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/676/2/negative-effects-of-the-government-funding-of-illegal-immigrants.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/676/2/negative-effects-of-the-government-funding-of-illegal-immigrants.html The government funding of illegal immigrants, that don't claim U.S. residency nor pay taxes, is adding to the nation's debt. Millions of U.S. dollars go to help illegal immigrants pay for k-12 and secondary education (some even pay in-state tuition for college) as well as their welfare, Medicaid and other social services due to a lack of verification. Helping to finance illegal immigrants in a time of economic crisis is further putting the country in debt. Some undocumented immigrants do pay ta... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:56:04 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/675/29/beaufort-county-adds-jobs-in-march.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/675/29/beaufort-county-adds-jobs-in-march.html Unemployment figures for March 2011, released today by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, show Beaufort County's unemployment rate improving for the second-consecutive month.

Since Beaufort County's unemployment rate peaked at 11 percent in January 2011, it has started to drop off, from 10.8 percent in February, to 10.2 percent in March.

The significance of this drop is especially poignant, in that Beaufort County is not only reporting less unemployment claims filed for the pa... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:55:55 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/674/0/is-publically-funded-pre-school-worth-more-than-the-alternatives.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/674/0/is-publically-funded-pre-school-worth-more-than-the-alternatives.html I recently wrote a Teacher's Desk piece in which I said that there is little evidence that pre-school programs have much of a lasting effect on the success of students in later years. Click here to read that piece.

The article got quite a bit of feedback, almost all from advocates of government supported daycare or pre-school operations.

In an attempt to foster more productive debate I would offer the following.

Smart Start, More At Four, Headstart and other publically supported daycare/pre-s... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:55:46 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/673/47/the-status-of-religeous-rights-in-the-public-school-system.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/673/47/the-status-of-religeous-rights-in-the-public-school-system.html Young adults often wonder what their rights are in the public school system with respect to religion. On the one hand there is the First Amendment right to religion itself (free exercise and the freedom from being forced to belong to a religion established by Congress), and then are a plurality of Supreme Court decisions which have interpreted the First Amendment, there are the views of religious groups and atheist groups, and then finally there are anti-religion "watch" groups which are ever vi... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:55:24 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/672/20/beaufort-county-democratic-convention-fails-to-inspire.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/672/20/beaufort-county-democratic-convention-fails-to-inspire.html The Democratic Party is in need of a new source of inspiration and hope, after sustaining political losses in 2010; but following Saturday's annual Democratic convention at the Beaufort County Courthouse, the Party walked out divided and weak.

Though Surry Everett did not have any trouble getting elected as Chairman of the Beaufort County Democratic Party, he did have some difficulty finding the words for a post-election speech to the party and remarks to the press.

Everett--the nominating ... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:57 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/671/9/state-to-conduct-public-hearing-in-beaufort-county-on-redistricting.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/671/9/state-to-conduct-public-hearing-in-beaufort-county-on-redistricting.html The North Carolina General Assembly will conduct a public hearing on the redistricting process for the State House, State Senate and U.S. Congressional districts in Beaufort County on May 7 at 9:30 a.m. at Beaufort County Community College, Building 9, Room 935.

Similar public hearings are planned at sites across the State. To see a list of all county hearings, with date, time and place, click here.

Members of the public may comment on the current district plans, communities of interest, votin... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:44 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/670/9/representative-cook-to-hold-town-hall-meeting-in-his-district.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/670/9/representative-cook-to-hold-town-hall-meeting-in-his-district.html Any North Carolina District 6 resident, with a social or political concern, can rest assured that they will be granted some face time with their representative to the N.C. General Assembly this Thursday. District 6 is comprised of Beaufort County and northeastern Pitt County.

Newly elected N.C. Representative Bill Cook will be visiting his home county of Beaufort, to hold a Town Hall meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Superior Courtroom of the Beaufort County Courthouse, located at 121 W. 3r... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:35 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/669/16/artistic-rebuttals-still-trickling-in.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/669/16/artistic-rebuttals-still-trickling-in.html Artist and arts advocate Amy Scheidegger continues to enjoy overwhelming support for her Artistic Rebuttal Book Project. As of Mar. 25, Scheidegger reported that 357 people have confirmed to contribute from 83 cities across America and Canada. She plans to present an abridged version of the book on Apr. 21 at a Philadelphia salon called AnjuThreads. The finished product of the Artistic Rebuttal Book Project will be marketed to galleries, arts councils, tourist departments and libraries across th... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:27 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/668/0/fix-school-boards-before-taking-tenure-away-from-teachers.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/668/0/fix-school-boards-before-taking-tenure-away-from-teachers.html I had the opportunity recently to observe the NC Senate Education Committee debate S 423 which, if it passes, will create a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee to study "teacher tenure" in North Carolina and report back its recommendations to the 2012 General Assembly. S 423 is being supported by the new Republican leadership and is likely to pass both houses. In the past, every time the subject has been brought up the Teachers' Union in North Carolina has been successful in killing it. They m... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:19 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/667/21/what-it-will-take-to-save-this-nation.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/667/21/what-it-will-take-to-save-this-nation.html Publisher's Note: This editorial from our friends at the Beaufort Observer makes enough sense that it rings true like a bell. I recommend you read this one if you are concerned about the future of our nation.

We either fix this problem or a dictator will

This, we believe, is the most significant article we have ever posted, not because we harbor any illusion about its impact, but rather because of the topic of content.

The reason this is so is simply because this nation is faced with the mo... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:54:06 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/666/8/bath-resident-john-lacava-responds-to-former-bc-republican-party-chairman-larry-britt.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/666/8/bath-resident-john-lacava-responds-to-former-bc-republican-party-chairman-larry-britt.html Publisher's Note: This article appeared in the Beaufort Observer, and is a response to a Letter to the Editor, by former Beaufort County Republican Party Chairman Larry Britt, which was published in the WDN.

When I moved to Bath, North Carolina, ten months ago I discovered that there were two Republican parties in Beaufort County and three Republican parties in Pitt County. As a lifelong Republican (until 2006), who grew up in Taxachusetts and resided in Virginia for 45 years, I found this a li... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:53:22 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/665/21/obama-administration-is-presiding-over-the-biggest-corruption-scandal-in-american-history.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/665/21/obama-administration-is-presiding-over-the-biggest-corruption-scandal-in-american-history.html Publisher's note: When it was cool to hate British Petroleum last Summer, I thought something was amiss in the Obama Administration, completely outside of their obvious incompetence in dealing with the crisis. This opinion piece from the Beaufort Observer shows another side of this bad governing.

Once again, we have proof of the absolute incompetence of the Obama Administration to get anything right.

We all know how it took the Obama Administration weeks to respond to the April 20, 2010, Dee... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:53:04 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/664/27/the-meeting-place-quiche-knockoff-recipe.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/664/27/the-meeting-place-quiche-knockoff-recipe.html A traveler passing through downtown Washington during its cool season might presume they had fallen upon a ghost town. When skies are gray, shop windows are dim and pedestrians scarce.

From November to March, most Beaufort County citizens enter a sort of hibernation phase, causing downtown businesses to keep even more limited hours than usual and downtown organizations to stop hosting their many attractive festivals.

When spring arrives and the stir-crazy people of Beaufort County emerge fro... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:52 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/663/32/good-government-requires-sunshine.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/663/32/good-government-requires-sunshine.html What is the Sunshine Law? Every State has a Sunshine Law that provides public access to public records, public meeting minutes, and open meetings. The law allows for transparency in government and non-profit organizations. By "transparency" we mean that, like looking through a window at what is going on inside, the actions of a public entity should be clearly visible. That means not only the decisions, but also how those decisions were arrived at.

Requests for information are sometimes viewed ... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:42 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/662/37/cut-spending-or-shut-it-down.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/662/37/cut-spending-or-shut-it-down.html Publisher's Note: Undeniably, the news of the week was the looming federal government shutdown. Rather than report on it, I decided to get the "extreme" point of view of someone, who was there as a representative of the eastern North Carolina Tea Party. Keep reading if you want to discover these "extremists' " motivations.

On Wednesday, April 6, about 800-1000 Tea Party members and other conservative groups stood on the Capitol lawn in Washington, DC, to tell the government to "Cut Spending... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:33 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/661/9/property-owners-protection-act-introdued-in-the-general-assembly.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/661/9/property-owners-protection-act-introdued-in-the-general-assembly.html Publisher's Note: This excellent article, from the Beaufort Observer, on the practice of some local governments taking what should not be theirs is a must-read. Property rights equate to freedom. Once one gets used to giving up their property rights, they begin to get used to giving away their freedom.

"It is sufficiently obvious, that persons and property are the two great subjects on which Governments are to act; and that the rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, f... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:24 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/660/13/can-brhs-legally-agree-to-merge-with-uhs-secretary-of-state-suspended-the-corporate-charter.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/660/13/can-brhs-legally-agree-to-merge-with-uhs-secretary-of-state-suspended-the-corporate-charter.html Publisher's Note: We do very much appreciate this fine article on the BRHS debacle from our friends at the Beaufort Observer. It is the opinion of this publisher that their continued, complete reporting and analysis of this controversial issue is unparalleled in scope.

The Beaufort Regional Health System may have more problems on its hands than we have yet been told. The corporate entity that is negotiating with University Health System of Eastern Carolina (UHS) may not be legally capable ... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:07 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/659/13/commissioners-vote-to-support-increasing-the-number-of-charter-schools-in-the-state.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/659/13/commissioners-vote-to-support-increasing-the-number-of-charter-schools-in-the-state.html Publishers Note: We have already covered this issue, but it is nice to get the Beaufort Observer's take.

It was a 5-2 vote again, but not the usual 5-2 vote. That is, it was a vote to support more charter schools in North Carolina. Stan Deatherage introduced a resolution at Monday's (4-4-11) Beaufort County Board of Commissioners meeting calling for the General Assembly to increase the number of charter schools, which is now capped at 100. The bill has passed the Senate and is now being consid... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:51:55 EDT http://www.darecountynow.com/post/658/29/beaufort-county-s-feb-employment-figures-signal-slight-growth.html http://www.darecountynow.com/post/658/29/beaufort-county-s-feb-employment-figures-signal-slight-growth.html According to figures released yesterday by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, Beaufort County's unemployment rate improved just slightly in the second month of 2011.

In February 2011, according to the NCESC, the percentage of Beaufort County residents, over the age of 15, who reported being unsuccessful in procuring employment for pay was 10.7 percent; a 0.3-percent decrease from the January 2011 jobless rate of 11 percent, up from 10.4 percent in December 2010.

Unemployment ra... Read More]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 13:51:47 EDT