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Opinion

  • 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.

  • Thanks for wagon

    To the editor: This is one of the few letters that is not registering a complaint.

    I live with my little four-legged companion in a modest old house on Ocean Isle Beach, and I’m so content I plan to live out my days here if insurance and/or taxes don’t force me to move off the island.

    When I crest the bridge, I feel like I’ve entered a little corner of heaven. I’m a happy lady. I have five children with families in and around North Carolina whom I adore, lots of friends I appreciate and love, which leads to the reason for this letter.

  • Speak out about proposed insurance...

    Recently, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners decided it would join other coastal county officials in a fight against newly approved homeowners’ insurance rates.

  • The Windy City has nothing on the...

    There are things I am just not good at keeping.

    In the past year and a half, I have gone through eight cell phones. Don’t ask me how; let’s just say that the extra $3.99 a month for the insurance is well worth it.

    I have to buy a new Chapstick at least once every two weeks. For some reason, my dog has an internal Chapstick detector and can fish it out of my purse, even when it’s zipped in an inside pocket.

    But most recently, I have had a battle with any and every umbrella that has come my way.

  • Lack of interest in television...

    As a newspaper person with more than 10 years of writing under my belt—and a lifetime of passion for writing before that—it would be easy to assume I’m quite a reader. Toss in the fact my mother was rarely spotted anywhere without a book in hand, and it would be simple to peg me as a bookworm.

    But somehow, unlike other writers I know, the bug to read, the obsession to peruse everything literary, somehow escaped me. I’ll blame it partly on rebellion—mom always had a book in tow, so I never wanted one.

  • Ways to give back, even in tough...

    “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

    —Winston Churchill

    Even in tough times, people find ways to give back. Dealing with difficult times makes us realize the importance of helping others.

    During the holiday season, many charities saw more people pulling together to donate what they could to make things better for those in need. But the need doesn’t stop once the holidays are over.

  • Now is prime time to paint that...

    With a $32 million high-rise bridge rising taller in the west, in less than two years the Sunset Beach pontoon bridge will finally get to do something it’s been trying to do for decades—retire and die with dignity.

    We’ll no longer take for granted the photographs and renderings of the half-century-old span lining local walls—scenic in art-show paintings, snow-covered in a fluke weather-year picture at Sunset Beach Town Hall, hot with beach traffic in summer and quiet at Christmastime.

  • Upset about bobcat

    To the editor: I was so dismayed to see the picture of the beautiful bobcat killed by Mr. Faircloth. I don’t see the point of killing that animal. They are rare in these parts.

    I hope you are proud of yourself, Mr. Faircloth, because I certainly am not. I would love to see such a beautiful animal out in the wild, and I would have shot it too, with a camera.

     

  • A tribute to Mildred Mercer

    To the editor: On Dec. 27, I attended a celebration of life for my dear friend Mildred Mercer, a cornerstone of the history of Bolivia. I thought about how she had influenced my life since I was a child and the lives of so many who knew her.

    If you needed to know anything about Brunswick County history, you could go to Mildred or Ernestine Mercer in the heart of Bolivia.

    They were always the caretakers of so many wonderful stories about the people, the history of Bolivia and the surrounding area.

  • Power corrupts politicians

    To the editor: To the Washington bureaucrats: 1) If you really want to jump-start the economy, give that remaining money back to the taxpayers, the ones who put it there to begin with. If you politicians really want to give money to jump-start the economy, do this math equation: $350 billion divided by 250 million taxpaying Americans and you get $1,400 per taxpayer, more if there are fewer taxpayers.

  • Socialized society?

    To the editor: I would like to thank Mr. Norvell B. DeAtkine for writing and The Brunswick Beacon editor for publishing the amazingly factual and informative letter in the Jan. 1 edition of the Beacon regarding our society being socialized.

     

  • Why did increase get approved?

    To the editor: I have noticed that Mr. Stocker, who lives in Gastonia, has a lot of time to write about problems down at the coast. Evidently he does not have time to properly assess a situation before he writes his letters.

    Who should pay for the billions of dollars in damages tornadoes create that could happen, even in Gastonia? It seems we all pay for them, as this is the way insurance should work.

  • Family asks for support

    To the editor: June Simpson is fighting for her life. This devoted wife, mother and grandmother began experiencing severe asthma attacks 15 years ago. She was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary fibrosis in 2006. June’s health has steadily declined since her diagnosis. Doctors say her only hope for a second chance at life is a double-lung transplant.

  • Improving health services important...

    As Brunswick County continues to grow and its population continues to increase, so does its need for more quality, affordable health services.

    Many residents are anxiously awaiting the completion of Brunswick County’s newest hospital—the facility that will replace the current Brunswick Community Hospital. Slated to be completed in 2010, the new hospital will encompass 252,604 square feet, with an additional 75,000 square feet of future medical office space. The $107 million hospital will have 74 acute-care beds, four observation beds and five operating rooms.

  • Upset about unfair increases

    To the editor: This letter is to inform people what is happening to homeowners on Ocean Isle Beach.

    I purchased a home in 2001 on Ocean Isle Beach that is 1,500 square feet. The estimated cost to replace my home is $150,000.

    My taxes are now $2,392 per year. The insurance on my home is $6,908 per year. This is $775 per month for taxes and insurance on this $150,000 home. I will pay more $150,000 in insurance in 21 years, more than enough to completely replace my home.

    Something is not right here!

  • Warm-weather spoiled Coastal...

    Growing up in central Kentucky, I’m used to winter’s cold temperatures, snow, wind, rain and ice. Although it’s nothing compared to many northern states, Kentucky has plenty of below-freezing days during winter months.