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Today's Opinions

  • Keeping the light on open government

    This week is Sunshine Week, a week where media outlets throughout the country join together with organizations and private citizens to shine the light on fair and open government.
    Here at The Brunswick Beacon, we frequently rely upon open records and public meetings laws to keep you, our readers, informed of things happening in your community.
    In 2008, 2010 and 2011, the North Carolina Press Association named the Beacon the Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information award winner for all newspapers in North Carolina with a circulation of 20,000 or less.

    Click here to read more...
  • You don’t know what you’re missing at the county complex

    Brunswick County commissioners discussed adding video streaming and recording of their meetings during last week’s budget workshop.

    It’s an idea I wholeheartedly endorse.

    I’m not from here, but I’ve been covering local governments in North Carolina for years.   

    So I was surprised to find when I got here that video coverage of meetings had not made it to the coast. But I come here to praise Brunswick County officials, not to bury them for the delay.

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  • Don’t help puppy mills

    To the editor:
    The most recent puppy mill bust in Sampson County last week was the 13th puppy mill bust in North Carolina since June 2010.
    There were 60 dogs in this mill the day of the bust. Three days earlier, an HSUS inspector found more than 250 dogs there in deplorable conditions.
    What happened to the nearly 200 dogs that disappeared from this puppy mill in three days?
    You can be sure they will be for sale somewhere soon. Internet, Facebook, Craigslist—the avenues to sell a dog are endless with this inhumane, disgusting trade.

    Click here to read more...
  • Celebration is too pricey

    To the editor:
    Sunset Beach is spending up to $35,000 of taxpayers’ money to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is a lot of money.
    Many of the projects residents request are turned down because they cost taxpayer dollars. However, spending $35,000 seems insignificant to council members who want to host, during an election year, the best celebration they can come up with, with our dollars. It’s nice to have a piggy bank.
    The most egregious of these expenditures is about $18,000 being spent on the “free dinner” for 600 people.

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  • Thank you for stirring patriotism

    To the editor:
    When driving east toward Wilmington, crossing the Brunswick River Bridge, one cannot help noticing “Old Glory,” moored deeply in the river’s edge, standing proudly and flying in the breeze.
    Kudos and a great big “thank you” to whomever took the time and made the effort. What a great reminder of our freedoms and the lives lost since our flag’s inception in 1775. God bless the people who undertook this, and God bless America.
    The Yadah, Yadah
    Prayer and Bible Group
    Winnabow
     

    Click here to read more...
  • Salary review study creates complicated positions for commissioners

    Brunswick County commissioners, we don’t envy your positions right now.
    Like many government entities, you’re being pulled in several directions, and the funding requests just keep coming.
    To make those matters worse, most often the solutions that must be found meet with public ire—cutting programs or positions or raising taxes.
    Ouch. To many taxes is a dirty, dirty word.

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  • Getting ready for goodbye: Time at the Beacon winding down

    Seven years into my journalism career, I needed a change.

    The late nights and weekends and stress of deadlines had worn me down.

    I had covered so many deaths, murders, wrecks, accidents, fires and more in my hometown I could rarely drive down a road and not recall a tragedy.

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  • The fall of American society

    To the editor:
    This nation is mired in political deadlock where confidence has given way to contentious discourse.
    Views emerge as to where fault lies. Some feel we are victim to a demographic transformation with so many views that do not allow a consensus. Others feel the problem is differences between youngsters and elders.
    The issue relating to gun control is so divisive that seemingly no consensus can emerge.

    Click here to read more...

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The Brunswick Beacon is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Brunswick County, North Carolina and surrounding areas.