Beaufort County jobs are down, and community college enrollment is at a record high. This presents a catch-22, as community colleges are largely funded by taxpayers; yet many taxpayers are unemployed and attending community colleges.

According to figures recently released by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, Beaufort County's jobless rate rose 0.3 percent from October to November.

As of today, 1841 students are enrolled in spring classes at BCCC, the highest number on record for spring enrollment, according Beaufort County Community College Registrar Rhunell Boyd.

"With the economy the way it is, folks are having to go back and be retrained and enter the workforce in different areas," said Boyd.

BCCC administrators dev... Read More

Publisher's Note: It's governmental budget season in Beaufort County for the 2011/2012 fiscal cycle. Thanks to the Beaufort Observer for this article on that process, and the Beaufort County Taxpayer's biggest expenditure.

The Beaufort County Board of Education apparently just does not get it. They are acting just as they always have been, as if there is no recession and that money continues to grow on trees.

Faced with a $1.6 trillion deficit, Congress is struggling (well, some in Congress are) with how to cut expenditures to match revenue. And in Raleigh the Elephant in the room is a $3 billion budget deficit. Word is that this will result in cuts being pushed down to local units of government including counties and school boards. Bea... Read More

Publisher's note: We could not attend the Town Hall Meeting with Representative, so we do appreciative this article from our friends at the Beaufort Observer.

Rep. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort/Pitt, held a Town Hall session sponsored by the Beaufort Patriot Tea Party on April 21, 2011. We have the video of most of that meeting below. The first video is the welcome and introduction:

The next video begins a review by Rep Cook of the bills he has sponsored or co-sponsored this session:

In the third video Rep Cook identifies some of the major issues facing the General Assembly during the remainder of the session and invites those in attendance to offer their ideas, suggestions and recommendations on those, or any other issue:

The participati... Read More

The Democratic Party is in need of a new source of inspiration and hope, after sustaining political losses in 2010; but following Saturday's annual Democratic convention at the Beaufort County Courthouse, the Party walked out divided and weak.

Though Surry Everett did not have any trouble getting elected as Chairman of the Beaufort County Democratic Party, he did have some difficulty finding the words for a post-election speech to the party and remarks to the press.

Everett--the nominating committee's choice, elected unanimously by the delegates--approached the lectern without any emotion or excitement whatsoever and read two manuscripts written by Democratic Party State Chair David Parker and Governor Bev Perdue, instead of delivering... Read More

I recently had two experiences that have taught me a great deal. The first was covering the School Board presentation of its budget request to the County Commissioners and the other was watching the debate this week in the N. C. House on the state budget.

To understand what I'm about to say requires you to either accept that this nation, state and county are in serious financial trouble. If you do not accept that then you can stop reading this. Maybe I'm wrong but I believe most people know this. They know the national debt is unsustainable. They know inherently that the state, city and county cannot continue to spend more than they take in.

So when I sit and listen to a School Board and its superintendent ask for more money such that it ... Read More

I'm writing to address Ms. Winborne's letter, published in Greenville's Daily Reflector on April 29, which accused the Tea Party and the GOP of trying to put grandma in an early grave by seeking budget cuts. Well, that is simply outrageous and ridiculous. The fact is that our government promises too much to too many people but continues to relieve too many of them from contributing. We continue to fund lifestyles that place a huge burden on our fiscal well-being. You eventually run out of other people's money, which is where we are now. If Ms. Winborne wants to accuse leaders of sending grandma to an early grave, then she should look no further than Obama himself and his group of healthcare advisors.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist c... Read More

From the Bottom Rung, One Often Sees the Risers to the Top.

And then again, we may never know all there is to know about Felix Bush. Felix was a hermit, who stayed to himself, and kept locked up inside to the point that no one knew the truth, the history of who he was, and how he got that way. Felix figured it was about time to awaken his dark past to enlighten those folks, who had long considered the many rumors that filled that blackened void.

Venerable Actor Robert Duvall is drawn to these roles: Dark conflicted men, who are at the nexus of their existence. He finds value in films that share real truths that are universal, irrespective of the budget of the film in question. Usually; however, these are of the low budget variety... Read More

Artist and arts advocate Amy Scheidegger continues to enjoy overwhelming support for her Artistic Rebuttal Book Project. As of Mar. 25, Scheidegger reported that 357 people have confirmed to contribute from 83 cities across America and Canada. The finished product of the Artistic Rebuttal Book Project will be marketed to galleries, arts councils, tourist departments and libraries across the country. Scheidegger will also now be collaborating with teachers and students across the country on a children's edition of the project.

Nearly 200 entries have already been submitted. Beaufort County Now published the first batch on Feb. 8, which can be viewed by clicking here; the second batch on Feb. 13, which can be viewed by clicking here; the th... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington, NC) - The Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center offers a variety of special programs and activities to help cancer patients, survivors as well as their primary caregivers deal with emotional and physical challenges associated with having cancer. The Cancer Center's vision is to provide integrative therapies that complement traditional care at no cost to the participant. The programs are not limited to patients of the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center, any survivor or caregiver is welcome!

Breast Cancer Support Network
Tuesday, April 5th at 10:00 am
Ladies, please join us for an opportunity to gain insight, encouragement, information and inspiration, and to share with ladies who have had similar experiences. We... Read More

A traveler passing through downtown Washington during its cool season might presume they had fallen upon a ghost town. When skies are gray, shop windows are dim and pedestrians scarce.

From November to March, most Beaufort County citizens enter a sort of hibernation phase, causing downtown businesses to keep even more limited hours than usual and downtown organizations to stop hosting their many attractive festivals.

When spring arrives and the stir-crazy people of Beaufort County emerge from their homes and venture out to boat, fish or just admire the Pamlico River, the adjacent downtown business district really perks up.

Ten springs ago, I had the pleasure of experiencing the height of downtown Washington's active season, as a waitre... Read More

Three months ago, Beaufort County Now published a selection of jokes by the "king of deadpan," Steven Wright. Wright delivers disturbingly bizarre dialogue, with no emotion, in the style of Christopher Walken, Bill Murray and, sometimes, even Seinfeld. A second selection is past due. Enjoy!

I can remember the first time I had to go to sleep. Mom said, "Steven, time to go to sleep." I said, "But I don't know how." She said, "It's real easy. Just go down to the end of tired and hang a left." So I went down to the end of tired, and just out of curiosity I hung a right. My mother was there, and she said "I thought I told you to go to sleep."

I wrote a song, but I can't read music so I don't know what it is. Every once in a while I'll be lis... Read More

The many birds, some Gulls and Pelicans, that inhabit these sandy islands just east of the ferry route: Above and below.

Along the waterfront in Southport, one sees a plethora of activity: the even longer Bald Head Island Ferry - above - the laughter of a small child feeding the Sea Gulls -below.

Along the waterfront streets of Southport, North Carolina, one can find a these public places on the water - this one with a dock: Above. Many beautiful homes stand upon the edge of these waterfront streets: Below.

This pretty little town, with its scenic streets and its lovely water resource, must be a a wonderful place to live: Above and below.

Near the middle of the town of Southport is the Smithfield Burying Ground. This nearl... Read More

Unemployment figures for March 2011, released today by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, show Beaufort County's unemployment rate improving for the second-consecutive month.

Since Beaufort County's unemployment rate peaked at 11 percent in January 2011, it has started to drop off, from 10.8 percent in February, to 10.2 percent in March.

The significance of this drop is especially poignant, in that Beaufort County is not only reporting less unemployment claims filed for the past two months, but is actually posting an increase in new jobs, with the number of employed increasing from 18,056 in January, to 18,242 in February, to 18,563 in March.

The addition of 321 jobs throughout Beaufort County from February to March is ... Read More

Back when we were in our teacher training program in college one of the assigned readings was a book entitled "The way it spozed to be." A variation was made into a movie called "Up the down staircase." The thesis of both was that schools often do things that don't make much sense but they do they because that's the way it's "always" been done.

We've said it before, but it warrants repeating here as an introduction to this article. We are absolutely confident that the day will come that in college courses on the History of American Education we will one of these days see students astounded by the professor recounting how in the twentieth century we operated schools on the premise that school boards should decide where students attended sch... Read More

As I promised in my last edition of "Noteworthy" (published in Beaufort Observer and Beaufort County Now), I am now prepared to help you identify a Liberal whether in an economic, political, social or spiritual sense. Please recognize that "Liberalism" is a mental disorder that afflicts both Democrats, Republicans and even some Independents. So here goes:

Economic Liberals

Liberals love money. Yours!

Liberals love to solve the problems they create with your money.

Liberals believe that upon your death the "State" should inherit not your heirs.

Liberals do not budget because their conscience and math skills are weak.

Liberals would have you "send it all in" and give back what they think you deserve.

Liberals believe if they have check... Read More

I know there are many wonderful mothers residing in this region, however, my personal best is my wife, Lynn, and for good reason.

She has raised our four children: Brandia, Meredith, Stanhope and Anna from birth, and has selflessly given much of herself to do so.

Our children will grow older and wiser with time on their side, but they will never experience anything again resembling the unconditional love that was showered upon them by both of their parents, but especially by their sweet, lovely mother.

My greatest decision in life was to ask Lynn Womble to marry me. My children's greatest fortune will always be their mother.
Pictured above: Meredith Deatherage Loughlin (left), Anna Alyss Deatherage (middle). Lynn Womble Deatherage ... Read More