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Opinion

  • Help keep officials on their toes

    It’s Sunshine Week and for the fifth year in a row, The Brunswick Beacon is taking a close look at government transparency in Brunswick County.
    This week, we join other news outlets across the nation in shining the light on open government.
    What we’ve found in the five years of looking at, challenging, chastising and praising agencies in our community is although some groups know North Carolina’s public records and open meetings laws well, there are still far too many agencies who flub the law altogether.

  • School board did right by not...

    Brunswick County School Board members did the right thing Tuesday night when they voted to approve the calendar for the 2012-2013 school year.
    There were three draft calendars before the board for consideration. Two of those got a nod Tuesday night.
    Both of the approved drafts are viable under current state legislation. One has 185 days of student instruction included. The other, which needs a waiver from the state’s department of public instruction, has 180 student instruction days.
    Both would have students going back to school on Aug. 27.

  • Educate yourself, speak up about...

    A megaport in Brunswick County. You’ve heard about it, but how much do you know?
    Is it good for Brunswick County?
    Is it bad?
    Are you unsure?
    For years the North Carolina Department of Transportation has been talking about building a new, large-scale port here. While the site in Southport—near Progress Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant and Sunny Point Military Terminal—is getting the most attention, there is also another proposed site under consideration in the Leland area.

  • ‘Just cause’ list to remove Warren...

    Finally.
    And as far as we’re concerned, it wasn’t soon enough.
    Monday night the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners had a hearing to determine if there was just cause to remove fellow commissioner Charles Warren from the DSS board where he has been causing havoc as its chairman.
    Warren refused to leave the DSS board even after commissioners passed a code of ethics calling for commissioners to step down from such posts.
    He didn’t think that was “just cause” to remove him.

  • Now is the time to volunteer for...

    Brunswick County candidate filing is under way. Monday morning there was a line of candidates at the board of elections office in Bolivia eagerly waiting to sign up for office.
    Many of those who will file between then and closing at noon, Wednesday, Feb. 29, will be incumbents.
    Many of these people have proven, consistently, they are tireless, dedicated public servants who are willing to put the community’s needs and well-being at the forefront of their decision-making processes.

  • Brunswick Community College makes a...

    We’ve said before how much we love our very own Brunswick Community College—and now people around the globe are finding out why.
    The college’s Center for Aquaculture & Biotechnology is drawing attention from students right here at home and across the world. This semester a continuing education course about fish farming has students enrolled from North Carolina as well as Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Nigeria.
    How’s that for making a splash on an international scale?

  • DSS board leadership continues to...

    If the North Carolina Department of Social Services wants to write a handbook on what not to do as a county board, all it has to do is record the goings-on of Brunswick County DSS.
    If there weren’t lives and significant taxpayer dollars associated with this debacle, it would be humorous.
    But there’s nothing funny about providing quality-of-life services, especially for children and the elderly.

  • It’s good to see economic growth...

    Who would have believed when it first opened a small, rural community’s airport would grow as fast as Oak Island’s Cape Fear Regional Jetport has?
    Who would have believed  it would be one of the few area businesses robustly growing during an economic time when others are closing or struggling to stay afloat?
    Who would have believed that not only are locals and visitors using its services today but also international residents and businesspeople have grown to appreciate the quality of services provided there.

  • Voter ID law is a no-brainer

     We support the county commissioners’ resolution asking the General Assembly to overturn the governor’s veto of the voter identification bill. If that doesn’t happen, legislators should move forward with allowing county governments the authority to mandate voter IDs.

    The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners, in a majority vote of 4-1, supports a measure that calls for members of the North Carolina General Assembly to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of the voter identification bill.

  • Area small businesses are key to...

    Local entrepreneur Lloyd Milliken is looking at ways to create some new jobs here in Brunswick County.
    If all goes as planned, 25 new jobs could be created as Milliken makes changes to business operations at his oyster house on Village Point Road. Milliken hopes to successfully rework his oyster house into a new scallops-processing business.
    In an area where new jobs are desperately needed, and after feeling the effects of the dwindling seafood and related markets over the past several years, it’s good to see a new approach getting under way.

  • New mayor, board get off on the...

    It doesn’t matter what side of the dais you’re on, one thing remains true—enough Sunset Beach voters supported Rich Cerrato to secure him a seat as the town mayor.
    And clearly, it’s going to be an interesting term.

  • Time’s up, Mr. Warren

    Time’s up, commissioner Charles Warren.
    You’ve had ample time to prove you can handle your role on the county’s Department of Social Services board—a role you’ve so desperately clung to you’ve even violated the county’s code of ethics in doing so.
    You so badly wanted to prove you could helm the board as chairman you were even censured by your fellow commissioners. In fact, you couldn’t even be bothered to show up for your own censure hearing.

  • Judith Coufal

    Judith Ann Wanser Coufal, 72, of Calabash, died Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, at Emeritus of Westminster.
    Born on Dec. 10, 1939, in O’Neill, Neb., she was a daughter of the late Max and Ceceila Carr Wanser.
    She was the wife of Robert F. Coufal, her husband of 51 years.
    She was a homemaker and later was an information specialist with General Electric. She was of Catholic faith and enjoyed playing bridge, bowling, attending football games, spending time with friends and cooking for the family.

  • Plan penalizes good workers,...

    Brunswick County Schools officials have a problem getting some of its bus drivers to show up for work.
    And it’s costing taxpayers extra money.
    Worse yet, it’s likely going to cost you more.
    Each time a bus driver calls in sick, the district pays that employee sick time and then must pay a substitute to fill that route.
    To make it worse, officials are often left scrambling to find a replacement driver in the wee hours of the morning—ensuring someone shows up to get a bus on the road and your children safely to school.

  • New BCC program should help more...

    We’re quite proud of our community college.
    Brunswick Community College has been an innovator in education. Through creative fundraising and knowledgable, visionary leaders, the institution of higher learning continues to grow.
    It offers courses for area students who may have otherwise missed out on a college opportunity or who could have been ill-prepared for life at a bigger university.

  • Remember for whom you work, elected...

    When swearing-in ceremonies take place there will be some new—and renewed—faces in local elected
    positions.
    In four of our area towns—Shallotte, Calabash, Carolina Shores and Sunset Beach—new mayors have been elected. There are also a number of new people who will serve on town boards.
    While elected officials are getting ready for new terms and soon a new year, we call upon all to learn about—and commit to—open

  • A teen's self-esteem should be...

    It has been a while since I was 15 years old, but this weekend I was reminded of the trials of being a teen.

    At 15 years old, I was awkward. I had acne. I was shy. I was anxious about my appearance. I was scared to talk to boys. I was a typical 15-year-old girl.

    Anyone who has been 15 understands it is not an easy age. One would hope adults would have compassion toward issues facing a 15-year-old.

  • Mack Hewett

    Mack Leon Hewett, of Shallotte, widower of Edith Eloise Parrish Hewett, passed away on Nov. 2, 2011, in Wilmington.
    He was born on July 31, 1920, in Shallotte to Mattie Ruth and Warren Winslow Hewett.
    He married Eloise on March 20, 1949, and they were married for 54 years before her death in 2003.
    Mr. Hewett is survived by his four children, Jacquelyn Robinson and her husband Darryle, Mack Hewett Jr. and his wife Laura, David Hewett and his wife Cindy, and Amy Tanner and her husband Jeffrey.

  • Meeting hurt town’s relationship...

    They may be trying to help Shallotte business owners, but we think Michael and Paula Pease have done a disservice to the people of Shallotte.
    Michael, an appointed member of the Shallotte Board of Aldermen, is seeking election for an aldermen seat, while his wife Paula is a candidate for Shallotte mayor.

  • Speak up about staggered starts

    More than $500,000.
    That’s what Brunswick County Schools Superintendent Edward Pruden estimated a staggered-start schedule could save the district this year.
    That’s the equivalent of about 10 teaching positions.
    With financial cuts and belt-tightening taking place for the last several years, it made sense for the district to look at ways to cut costs and keep teachers where they are needed most—in the classroom.