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Opinion

  • Be an informed citizen; share input...

    Calabash residents and business owners have been fired up lately about the current Unified Development Ordinance being reviewed by Calabash commissioners.

    In several public meetings business owners have claimed regulations set forth in the UDO are unfair. There have been complaints about everything from how the document was produced to the details inside it.

    The UDO, if approved in its current form, would affect everything from eliminating rooftop signs in the town’s commercial district to requiring more uniform design policies throughout.

  • What to do when businesses close...

    In this challenging economy, it’s an unfortunate reality businesses are closing their doors every day.

    To assist residents of North Carolina, state Attorney General Roy Cooper has provided a list of tips to help us deal with companies that are going out of business to keep us from being left high and dry.

    Cooper suggests the following:

  • Self breast exams, mammograms...

    Brunswick Beacon Advertising Director Angie Sutton never imagined she, at age 37, would be diagnosed with breast cancer.

    The active mother and businesswoman didn’t have any “first-degree” relatives who suffered from the disease, and because she was younger than 40, she wasn’t in the age group suggested to receive annual mammograms.

  • Legislature should focus on key...

    With state representatives and senators now convened in Raleigh, it’s imperative elected officials focus on important issues for the constituents they represent.

  • Speak out about bill to outlaw gas...

    Brunswick County Rep. Bonner Stiller has teamed with other legislators in support of a bill that would outlaw the use of gas chambers at animal shelters in North Carolina. The push for this bill has been a grassroots effort as animal lovers throughout the state joined together to fight for this change.

    If the bill is to be successful, supporters in this and other counties will have to be vocal about making it a priority for the state legislature this session.

  • School project helps writer to get...

    As school started Jan. 9, so did the homework. As always, the first week of school would include a lot of introduction assignments. I usually do these assignments as fast as I can to get them completed.

    This year, one of these assignments did a little more than help me get acquainted with my teacher and my classmates—it helped me get re-acquainted with myself.

  • Upset about bobcat kill

    To the editor:

    I was absolutely shocked to see the article you wrote about Mr. Faircloth and his shooting of a beautiful bobcat in Brunswick County. Somehow I thought we had become more educated and tolerant of the beauty of the wildlife we share the land with.

    Can it simply be ignorance that would cause someone to shoot a beautiful creature in its natural habitat for the sake of just shooting it? Can it be fair “sport” when a person armed with a rifle kills an innocent creature that has no chance against such things?

  • Looking for owners of photos

    To the editor:

    I bought a picture recently from Sheltered Treasures in Shallotte. In the frame was, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

    Behind this I found three pictures of a beautiful little girl with dark, curly hair. Now someone wants these back, I know.

    Please call 200-7721 to find out where to pick up these pictures.

    Sandy Benton

    Supply

  • Wants to set insurance deductible

    To the editor:

    Unlike most people, I am not going to present an argument against a 30 percent increase in my homeowner’s policy. My insurance friends have my permission to also add that increase to my auto and health.

    All I would ask of the insurance commissioner and my “like a good neighbor” friends is that in “all” these policies they raise one other thing while raising our rates. That one other thing would earn them a lot more money while costing us potentially more bucks. How about it? Deal or no deal?

  • Rates are based on risk factors

    To the editor:

    The recent comments about increases in insurance rates have prompted this letter.

    Insurance rates are based on risk factors primarily. If the chance you are going to have an accident is great, (see teenage drivers) your rate is higher because the chance of having to make a payment on your behalf is greater.

    The rate is not spread over the entire age spectrum—if you are younger, you pay more.

  • Lack of loss of life in recent...

    If you’ve had the misfortune of sitting right beside me on a plane ride to anywhere, let me apologize. I’m one of those people who hate to fly, but I do it because I understand the value and time-savings the service provides.

  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and...

    During the late 1970s when I lived in Atlanta, I met a lady who was a longtime member of Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta—the childhood church of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She said the style and manner in which King recited his Christmas and Easter speeches when he was 5 years old was an indication he was gifted and talented.

    King enhanced his natural gifts and talents by excelling in the academic world. By all accounts he was a serious student. He graduated from high school at age 15 and from college at 19. He earned a doctorate degree by age 26.

     

  • Historic changing of the guard...

    At this writing, we have one president. As you read this, we have another.

    As I pen these words, we are teetering on the brink of history, and as you read this, history has come to life.

    Millions of Americans have flocked to our great nation’s capital for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, and to experience history.

  • Open the door for all to participate

    To the editor:

    How long is it going to take for our society to stop treating anyone as second class? The historic election certainly is a reminder we can grow. However, there are many in this country that may want public office but will not get it based on race or party label or religion.

    It wasn’t that long ago blacks and women would have no shot at any high office, much less local public office. I am thrilled the son of an immigrant is now our president, which affirms that we are truly a nation of immigrants.

  • Keys program is another creative...

    When it comes to keeping young people motivated and out of trouble, it often calls for those who work with them most often to be creative.

    At Shallotte Middle School it appears administrators have done just that. Somehow, they’ve convinced young people it’s in their best interest to come to school—and to be there early.

  • There are many reasons to love fish...

    Picking on PETA is like shooting fish in a barrel. (Yeah. I said it.) But I can’t let their latest tirade go by without comment.

    I’m convinced the “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” do the bizarre things they do just to get attention and see their names in the paper. It has nothing to do with their love for animals.

    Their latest stunt is asking school officials in Spearfish, S.D., to change the name of Spearfish High School to “Sea Kitten High School.”

  • High taxes, high insurance rates

    To the editor: All property owners on the beaches of Brunswick County are in the same situation concerning ridiculously high property taxes and insurance costs.

    When they revaluated property taxes two years ago, they went up more than 300 percent on the property I owned on Holden Beach and I’m sure everyone else. That is why “For Sale” signs are everywhere, but no “Sold” signs.

  • Thinks speed limit should be reduced

    To the editor: I live off N.C. 179 just before the Regency condominiums facing Sunset Beach. The speed limit is 45 mph.

    After 20 years of watching motorists rev up their engines on this stretch of highway in a tremendous, heart-pounding hurry to get to the water, the speed limit needs to be reduced.

  • Thinks increase is unfair

    To the editor: Once again, property owners in Brunswick and other coastal counties get slammed with another property insurance increase. Whatever happened to the insurance concept of “shared risk?”

  • Thanks for help after wreck

    To the editor: I want to thank some special people in the community.

    On Jan. 3, my husband Jim and my daughter Jaimee Lynn were in a terrible accident at the curve on Thomasboro Road just before U.S. 17. My husband’s car rolled over three times and they landed upside down across the ditch.

    A family named Hoover helped my daughter to safety and applied pressure to her laceration on her head.