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Columns

  • The signage, like the Jurassic age, should die off

    Signage.

    When I hear that word, I know somebody is making plans. There’s a conceptual plan or a master plan in the works. Or it’s a budget planning season.

    And when those plans are made, way down the list of priorities is the need for signs to let everyone know the plan is complete and if you follow the signs you can see the result.

    I get that. There will always be a need for a sign, or signs, to help us find our way.

    But how in the world did that translate into “signage?”

    Oh, how I hate that word.

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  • Brunswick County’s pets deserve to have safe homes, too

    After more than four years of putting it off, I finally visited Cat Tails, a feline-only rescue and shelter in Ocean Isle Beach on Sunday. I’d avoided it for so long because when it comes to kitties who need a home, I want to offer mine to them — all of them. That’s how all six of my cats made me their mom.

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  • District 17 House update

    By Rep. Frank Iler

    Guest Columnist

    Last week in the North Carolina General Assembly, we had a one-day session with committee meetings and votes on the class size bill, we had movement in the Senate on the GenX/Emerging contaminants bill, and I was able to attend some meetings in the district.

    On Feb. 5 we were informed we would be in Raleigh the night of Feb. 7 through Feb. 9 for voting sessions. This changed several times, but I still went to Raleigh on Wednesday afternoon, although no votes were actually held that night.

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  • On Campus with BCC: Why choose online learning?

    By Dr. Susanne Adams

    Guest Columnist

    Brunswick Community College deans, directors and program chairs use valuable advice from program advisory committees — made up of individuals from businesses, industries and transfer institutions — to make applicable changes to curriculum course offerings and/or in course delivery methods.

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  • Thank our firefighters and first responders for service

    By Mike Causey

    Guest Columnist

    While attending the N.C. Association of Fire Chiefs mid-winter conference, I had the opportunity to talk with fire chiefs from all areas of North Carolina. They told me about the stress many firefighters have been under during the first few weeks of 2018.

    The reason: The cold weather we experienced during the first month of the year — the frigid weather in many parts of the state — triggered an extraordinary number of fires and fire calls.

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  • You decide: Will the new tax law’s inflation measure cost you?

    By Dr. Mike Walden

    Guest Columnist

    The new federal income tax law is chock full of changes, alterations and adjustments that are keeping taxpayers, accountants and economists spending hours trying to understand it. It appears almost nothing has remained the same.

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  • Words make a difference — and so do blueberry biscuits

    By Les Weintraub

    Guest Columnist

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  • Saturday events convey hometown connections

    I’m pleased to report the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce’s Brunsco Has It Business Expo at Sea Trail in Sunset Beach and the GFWC-South Brunswick Islands Woman’s Club’s ninth annual SOUPer Bowl at Shallotte Presbyterian Church were each a rousing success this past Saturday.

    I didn’t make it to the latter event because I was working at the former with my friend, colleague and occasional stylist Nancy Nalewajek, the Beacon’s bookkeeper, but my friend, colleague and Beacon staff writer Laura Lewis did.

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  • Thank you to Streetreach’s adopt-a-room sponsors

    By The Rev. Donna Phelps

    Guest Columnist

    The vision of Brunswick County Streetreach is to see the homeless receive the best assistance available to fit their personal circumstances. As you are aware, we had several weeks during the month when temperatures dropped down into the teens, leaving our most vulnerable citizens facing life-threatening situations.

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  • Support your community while having fun

    If you didn’t make it to the Shallotte Rotary Club’s 13th annual Law Vegas Night this past Saturday night, you missed an entertaining evening.

    I’m not much for gambling, but I’m all for seeing lots of friendly faces and putting faces to the names of people I hadn’t met yet — like Perita Price of the Cedar Grove Improvement Association, with whom I’ve been exchanging emails since I’ve been at the Beacon — while helping a great cause.

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