New blog site

My blog will be moving to a new address to make it more compatible with the others in the newsroom. Check it out at:

jonbowens.wordpress.com

Moore's Machines incentives deal

This morning, at the Lee County Board of Commissioners meeting, I found myself in a very peculiar position - one which I had not been in before.
I was in total agreement with conservative Commissioner Linda Shook on an issue.
I am not saying that Shook's points are never valid. I have always found her to be a well-researched and articulate steward of the county taxpayers' money. It's just that, as somewhat of a leftist on most spending issues, I just don't find myself agreeing with her.
This morning, thought, that changed. As the only commissioner to vote against a $166,950 incentives package for Moore's Machines, which plans to bring 125 new jobs and a $12 million property investment on McNeill Road, I think she was right with her vote.
According to a report from county manager John Crumpton, the county has paid out a total of $7.2 million in incentives since 1996. Most of that money has gone to good causes. To bringing in high-paying jobs at companies like Caterpillar and Wyeth.
And I think a lot of credit needs to go to the Lee County Economic Development Corporation for the hard work they have put in on those packages, which have benefitted the county greatly.
And I am not saying that Bob Heuts and John Daniel were wrong to ask for the incentives package. Moore's Machines came to them with a query on what the county could do, and it is their job to put to gether a package for the commissioners. If EDC had turned them away, no other company would ever want to work with them.
And I'm not saying that the 125 new jobs are not welcome here from Moore's Machines. Kudos to them for bringing badly needed jobs to the county.
But, as Shook pointed out in the meeting, the company had already invested $1.5 million in purchasing the building before they ever asked EDC for the incentives deal. They likely were going to bring the jobs here without the deal.
The county could have made $166,950 off the company instead of giving it back to them in tax breaks, which would have been very useful for a county that is already very strapped for cash.
Maybe, as my parents and several other older people have told me I would, I have become more concervative in my old age. As I see more and more of my paycheck being consumed by taxes, I have started to pay more attention to where that money is going.
And I just can't see the virtue in this particular incentives package.

Go Tar Heels (off campus to smoke, please)

My alma mater has gone too far. Normally I love everything Carolina Blue. I love the crisp autumn nights in Polk Place and Kenan Stadium. I love watching a Carolina victory in the Dean Dome. Heck, I even loved going to class, at least the times I went, when I was there.
I especially loved buying a pack of cigarettes at the Campus Y and smoking between classes when I knew my girlfriend at the time would not catch me, and taking a smoke break on long nights at the Daily Tar Heel.
I read last night in Carolina Alumni Review about the school's new smoking ban, and I have to say I am offended, not only as a smoker but as a North Carolinian and former student.
If you haven't heard, the school essentially banned smoking on campus by saying there is no smoking within 100 feet of a public building. Every building on campus is a "public building," meaning there is just a small strip down Polk and McCorkle that where you can light up.
Here are three reasons why this is a bad policy:
1. Universities are supposed to be the last bastian of free thought. Why not let students make their own minds up about smoking. Sure, smoking is bad for you. It causes Cancer. It stinks and litters up the campus. But kids are always going to be kids unless you allow them to make their own minds up about what is good and bad.
2. That campus was built on tobacco (well, at least the parts that weren't built by slave labor.) This is the tobacco state, and since the 1970s, it has been turning its back on the very farmers and industrialists who paid for most of the state buildings here.
3. There are always going to be exams and drinking on campus. Therefore, there is always going to be smoking. Does the school need to invest its money into enforcing a ban that essentially meant to keep people from killing themselves? Why not save that money to build another building and name it for some rich person that no one knows?

More on SiCKO, Wal-Mart, etc.

You ever type a word and it not look right? That is what I just did with the word "nugget." Just looks funny to me. It probably is misspelled, but anyways...
So I watched SiCKO again last night, and though it makes me madder and madder about our current system with each viewing, I also found a few more holes...
First off, the clinics and hospitals Moore visited in other countries were always in major cities. It would be interesting to see if the same quality care was available in the country towns like Sanford...
Secondy, the reason countries like Canada, the UK and France can afford to have such a sophisticated system is that for the last 60 or so years, they have not had to have a strong military. We have one. They are our friends.
I think Moore's broader point still stands, though I don't think a nationalized health care system would work here. People get mad when you try to raise taxes for the slightest thing...
Instead, how about a nationalized insurance system. Let doctor's and pharmaceutical companies charge what they want, but the government will pay for it...At least that way there would be an incentive for doctors to work hard and drug companies to innovate.
Another nugget - I went to the new Wal-Mart last night to beat the holiday rush with a little shopping, and was disappointed to learn that there are no self checkout aisles. What's up with that? Ain't that the wave of the future?

Farm City Banquet

I find terms like "salt of the earth" condescending and offensive. Because usually, those terms are meant for people like myself - small town people whom most others think are simple-minded.
So I am not going to use that term to describe the group of good people whom I had the pleasure of eating eggs and country ham with last night at the annual Lee County Farm City Banquet.
Let me just say, for the record, that I love interviewing farmers more than anyone else in this town. I usually jump at every farming story we run.
The reason? Simple. Farmers are always straight shooters. Whether you ask them about migrant workers or the tobaccco buyout or the drought, they'll tell you the truth. At least with all the ones I have ever dealt with - from Gary Thomas in Broadway to Tim Thomas and Duane Jackson, I always get the truth.
I am the first to admit that while I technically grew up on a farm (my dad leased most of his land to hay growers), I know very little about it. But every farmer I have ever spoken with, once you set aside some time in the evening, has been very helpful in teaching me what I need to know to write a story.
The major thing I have learned is that farming is not nearly as easy as it looks. Sure, it takes a lot of manual labor, but it also takes a wealth of knowledge on issues as diverse as legislation, finance, chemistry, biology, geograpy and about a million other topics. Farming has to be one of the most well-rounded, sophisticated professions out there these days. I spent nearly a whole Saturday with Tim Thomas in the Spring learning the ins and outs of how tobacco legislation will effect his income - not exactly your average plant-and-grow, Farmer Brown topic, and one they taught me nothing about as a Political Science major at UNC.
In this business, we deal a lot with PR people and leaders who have been coached to say scripted answers to whatever you ask them. It is so frustrating sometimes. Working with farmers helps you appreciate them a lot more than you already should every time you sit down to a meal.
And, by the way, the eggs, grits and ham were great, but the highlight for me was the red-eye gravy! Growing up that was the one thing my dad was good at making. Last night took me back.

DVD of the Week: SiCKO

Before I launch into my review of Michael Moore's latest documentary, SiCKO, I must first give you a little background on my watching Moore films.
I first saw Roger and Me as a teenager, before I even knew who Michael Moore was or what left and right really meant. This forced me to take the documentary on its on merits. So I watched it with no preconceived notions of what it would be about or where it came from, and what I saw made a huge impact on me. It was a great, inspiring movie, and actually caused me to take a deeper look at the world around me.
I watched Bowling for Columbine in college, and left the theater with an expanded mind as well. Although it did not have the same fire of Roger and Me, it was nonetheless well worth my $8.
Fahrenheit 9/11, though it had some good points, was more or less a "don't vote for Bush" diatribe, which was very disappointing. I could have done without it, and so could Moore's career.
In SiCKO, Moore's study of the flaws of the American healthcare system (or lack thereof), he returned to his roots as a brash filmmaker. Of course there are several not-so-subtle jabs at the Bush Administration, but they are well overshadowed by an in-depth comparison between the socialized health systems in Canada, Europe and Cuba and the free-market Darwinism that is United States health care.
Moore does get a little liberal with his facts, though. Several Web sites have been created to debunk many of his assertions -- most notably that the socialized systems are just as efficient as the American system. That simply cannot be the case. It's simple economics 101 - of course a free-market system is more efficient. The market makes it that way. There are no outside forces on a socialized system (such as competition) to make it work efficiently.
Also, it is a fact that people in countries with socialized systems have a longer average life expectancy than us. But just how much of that can be attributed to their health care systems is debatable. You must also figure that more younger Americans die each year than their peers in other countries, mostly due to traffic and other accidents that are not preventable by health care.
Moore's broader argument, though, that the market often leaves out large sections of society - like the poor or uninsured - is much more salient. And this is the major reason why I agree that we need some sort of reform in this country.
The sad fact is, that big insurance companies do run this country's health care system, and they often dictate who gets care and who doesn't. I'll give you an example. My father, who has worked hard all his life as a self-employed businessman, has no insurance, and couldn't afford it if he wanted it. He had a heart attack last year, and, at nearly 60 years of age, will likely be paying for his stint insertion for the rest of his life.
Is that fair? Luckily, my dad can afford to pay the monthly payments. But there are millions of people in this country who can't. And most of those people, including my dad, often decide not to go to the doctor for check-ups because they can't afford it.
I'll give you another example. My friend had a kidney stone last year, so he goes to the doctor for treatment, and the doctor tells him he needs a CAT scan to determine if the stone is his only problem. His insurance was supposed to cover it, but this year when he went to buy a house, his application was turned down because of a medical lean on his credit report. It seems the insurance company turned him down, but he never got a letter about it. The hospital, not receiving any payment for a year, turned it over to a collection agency.
My friend will be renting a home for at least another seven years, until the $2000 lean is gone, although he has already paid it.
This is the richest country in the world. But we didn't get that way by being nice to our own people. There is a reason that 80 percent of this countries wealth is owned by one percent of its population.
It's because we don't really care. The insurance companies don't care about your illness. Businesses don't care about their employees, but rather the bottom line, and the people don't care enough to vote in ways that influence your leaders to change things.
Imagine if we invested all the money that is currently going to pay for an unnecessary war into our own infrastructure. Our own hospitals and health care systems. Our own schools and education systems. Our own police and fire departments, here at home. We could have the healthiest, smartest, safest population in the world -- not just the richest one percent in the world.
I think that is what Moore was saying, at least.

Let's map the world!

I stumbled upon this site last week during a bout with insomnia:

http://www.wikimapia.org/

It's similar to Wikipedia, an open encyclopedia that anyone can update. Only it is a satellite image of the entire world. You can pick any spot on earth, like your hometown, your elementary school or the Eiffel Tower, and write your own description of it that place, complete with links.

Imagine the possibilities...

It's pretty cool and a little addictive. I have already filled in Sanford proper, and someone else added the Herald, the Temple Theatre and Carolina Trace. Have at it.

Tooth filling

I went down to my dentist, Dr. Moretz, today to get two teeth filled. Just before I fell asleep in the chair she walked in with the needle. I hate needles, and I hate the sound of those drills even more. But it had to be done.

So I'm chatting with Dr. Moretz just before she started drilling, and she said she gets about two patients a day that won't let her numb them before she fills a tooth. She said they either don't like needles or they don't like walking around with a numb mouth all day.

Call me a pansy, but I would never do this. Oh my God. Just the sound of those drills alone is enough to make me cringe.

That would be worse than open heart surgery with no anesthetic. Which, apparently, I will have to do one day if my ticker ever gives out. When I was seven, I had an allergic reaction to anesthetic during a tonsilectomy, and my mom said I can never be put to sleep again.

Let me know, Sanford. Have you ever had dental work done without anesthetic? If so, why? What did it feel like? Are you crazy?

Oh hi Bob. Bob.

Sanford needs to change it's slogan from "Vision and values working together" to "the City of Bobs."
I went to the "Backstage Lee County" real estate agents tour Thursday. After a nice lunch from Sagebrush, Bob Bridwell from Lee County Community Development delivered an address to those assembled about the town's development future. Then an agent asked a question, directing it simply to "Bob."
Everyone stopped and laughed, because there were three Bobs standing before us — Bob Heuts, Bob Joyce and Bridwell. No one knew who should answer. Someone said there were two more in the small audience.
I told County Manager John Crumpton that he should change his name to Bob, to which he responded with a rather emphatic "no."
But it got me thinking. There are a lot of Bobs in Sanford government and politics. Along with Heuts, Joyce and Bridwell, there is Bob Stevens in Broadway, on the Lee County Commission there is Chairman Bob Brown and Robert (Bob) Reives Jr., although I doubt I'll ever call him that in person, and there's N.C. Senator Bob Atwater.
And who could forget the omnipresent Bob Etheridge, who seems to be everywhere in this county. We at the newsroom have always speculated that Etheridge found the keys to the Congressional cloning machine and there are at least four versions of him floating around the second district at all times.
"Robert" must have been a popular name back in the day. I'm guessing there will be a lot of "Jons" when my generation takes over, since there are at least a million Jonathans my age in this state alone.
If I've missed any Bobs, let me know. I'm on my way to the courthouse to officially change my name to Bob Owens. I have an uncle named that already, so I guess I'll be Bob Owens II.

Electionnightapalooza

So I'll take a cue from Billy and keep a running blog of my election night experiences, too...

7:51 p.m.
After several plates of Chinese food and several meager attempts at hitting on Chelsea with clever pick-up lines, I am getting ready to go to Broadway for the returns.
Clem Welch just called me to tell me that most of the candidates are assembled together down there at the polls. I guess if you are going to do a story on the election, that is the place to be.
R.V. just called with results from early voting. After early voting counts, Lora Wright, Charles Taylor are winning, and, the surprise of the night so far...Earl Barker is leading Linwood Mann by six votes.
I'm off to Broadway. For a running report, you'd probably be best served looking at Billy's blog.

8:59 p.m.
Just got back from Broadway, where I seemed to have just missed the party. No one was to be found at the community center, but when I walked back into my desk, Lynne West Green was calling me. I left a message for her earlier in the day to call me back with contact information for the night. Green, Woody Beale and Clem Welch won seats on the board, and Donald Andrews won the mayoral race.

Sanford races too close to call, though Mike Stone and Charles Taylor seem to be stretching out a lead...

9:53 p.m.
Just interview Charles Taylor since polls have shown that he has won the Ward 2 seat on the Sanford City Council. He seemed pretty excited about joining the board, and said one of his priorities will be repealing the business privilege tax. More from this interview will be in The Herald Wednesday.
I must write now so I am not here until 3 a.m.

11:46 p.m.
Ah, after four stories and seven interviews, it is finally over, and I am at home getting ready for naptime! It was not as exciting as most election nights. R.V. even mailed it in on the newsroom jaunt he normally does.
Of course, what can you expect from a municipal election anyway? It seems to me, though, that Sanford voters sent a clear message tonight that they don't like the direction of the council, with two conservatives winning easily in what had been, up to now, a mostly democratic board, while the one Democrat running barely squeaked by.
Oh, wait. This is a nonpartisan board...
As I have stated before, next year will be a big one, although I'm not sure North Carolina will be as "in-play" for the Democrats as some pundits have projected, since most all the tax increases on the ballot tonight across the state failed. Only time will tell though.
Goodnight, and good luck.

Why I voted

With only two choices on my ballot — At-large and Ward 2 seats on the Sanford city council — I'm sure I would have been forgiven if I had just gone to the Dairy Bar for coffee before work instead of voting.
Let me back up for a second, though. Election day is the best day of the year to be a reporter. Not only can you come into work at noon, since you'll likely be up until 1 a.m. writing stories, but the air of excitement all day is palpable. Plus, you get free pizza! (although, this year, we are lobbying for Chinese food.) The highlight here at the Herald is always R.V. Hight storming through the newsroom with returns at around 8 p.m. It is a great but long night that I have looked forward to every year since working on the state and national desk at the Daily Tar Heel in college.
But this year, eh, well, the excitement level for a political junky like myself is somewhat subdued. There's no national, state or even countywide elections to create a buzz. So I would have been forgiven if I had opted to sleep in rather than voting.
But I didn't. Instead, I went to the Sanford Exchange Club, walked up and handed the pollworker my driver's license and waited. And waited. And waited, while she thumbed through the roll of names and didn't find a single "Owens, Jonathan Boyd" on them. She looked at me like I was a criminal, trying to sneak in to vote from Pittsboro or Carthage.
After the confusion settled, with a quick call to the Board of Elections, we figured out that I was at the wrong precinct. The only other time I have voted in Sanford, last year, I chose early voting since I figured I would be swamped all day in the newsroom. So I asked Gordon Anderson where we vote and he told me the Golf Course. He was wrong, and so was I.
I could have quit there, deemed the election of too little importance to drive across town to the Elk's Lodge, and simply went on in to work. But I didn't. I drove on down, picked up my ballot and voted. It took about a minute, and I felt like I had done my small part to make Sanford better.
After all of this, though, I was only the 148th person to cast a ballot at the Elk's Lodge in a precinct that must have at least 2,000 registered voters. That is sad.
So why did I go through all that trouble to vote, and why should do the same?
It's a topic that every newspaper editorializes each election day. I think we did it today. And it is always the same — if you don't vote, you can't complain. And while that is a good point, I can give you a better, more pragmatic reason.
Vote because, for most of us, it is the only power you have in this country or even this city. For one day a year, the poorest people in Sanford, if they have not been convicted of a felony and have registered, have the same amount of power in their hands as the prominent business owners, the school superintendents, the real estate developers, the newspaper publishers, the bank presidents, the mayor, the commissioners and councilmen.
Everyone likes to say that America is a government of the people — that government officials are mere representatives who serve at the pleasure of their constituents. But that is only true one day out of the two, four, or six years that they serve — and that day was today.
In truth, this country and even this town has a ruling class that for all the other days of the year make decisions based on both their vision for the future of their constituents' lives and their own self interests.
For one day, though, you get to tell them whether they are doing things right or not. So go vote, because today you rule this town.
I would suggest, though, that you read Chelsea's story in today's Herald first, so you are not driving all around town looking for your polling place. Obviously, I didn't.

If you like Tivo...

You'll love this. It's called StumbleUpon, and it is a program you download onto your browser that learns your Web surfing tendencies and suggests sites to you.
Go here to download:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Last night, I downloaded it, and it suggested some really cool earth mapping sites, some interesting sites on presidential speeches and cool baseball statistics site to me just minutes after. I have a pretty boring life...
And it seems pretty safe, since I downloaded it from a link off Microsoft's Web site. Then again, everything on the Internet seems safe, then one day you find yourself $100,000 in debt because of that "rich uncle" in Haiti you were e-mailed about...

The day my life changed

In life, there are days and instances that you just don't forget. For some, it's the day you meet the one, the day you get married, the first time your child cries or the day you are baptized.
I have yet to experience most of these, but there is one defining moment that I will never forget. It happened when I was five years old. I was standing in my dad's truckbed with my brother, wearing a Duke sweatshirt. My brother is a huge Duke fan, and growing up, as must younger brothers do, I always wanted to be just like him. So I was a Duke fan, too.
Anyway, my uncle Johnny (the biggest Carolina fan I know) walks up, said, "Boy, what are you wearing!" I didn't know what to say, but I knew in that minute that my big brother, my hero, was wrong.
Johnny jerked me back into reality that day, and pulled me from the forces of evil that is dark blue over to good. From that day on, I was and still am a Tar Heel.

I sat on the couch with him as Chris Webber called time out in 1993. I watched us recover from a 17-point deficit in the Peach Bowl on that same couch just months before, as well as countless Duke games. He took me to my first UNC football game (versus UTEP, when we sat in the bleachers and ate peanuts all game) and first basketball game (a blue-white scrimmage when I was 7.)
I wish I could say that I went to UNC because it had a great Journalism program (which it does) or that it is one of the top public schools in the country (which it is) or I was thnking ahead to my career and knew a degree from UNC would help me somewhere (I'm still waiting for that day, by the way). But no, the truth is I went to Carolina all because of that day. Because of the sports teams.
If my uncle had not made me a Carolina fan, I never would have aspired to go there and wouldn't be here writing this today. Basically, I went there so he and I could go to basketball games together, along with my dad, for free. And boy did we ever go. I went to UNC during the "8-20" as we call it, the year Jason Capel and Kris Lang almost destroyed a tradition it took Dean Smith 30 years to make, and me, daddy and Johnny went like 10 games that year together. Free tickets were very easy to come by.
Johnny and daddy moved me into every dorm room and off-campus apartment I ever had. I went to N.C. State for a semester before being accepted for transfer to Carolina, and the day I moved into the dorm Johnny wore a Carolina sweatshirt (he told me all day, "Jonboy, some things never change, and being a Carolina fan is one of them. You remember that when you are over here in all this red.")
He also taught me how to play poker on the hood of his Monte Carlo during a rain delay at a race a North Wilkesboro when I was 9. He taught me about women, and took me on what to this day is the only hunting trip I have ever been on. We didn't shoot anything. It was cold and rainy and I slept a lot.
He is like a second father to me in many ways. But today, as I write this, he is undergoing surgery to remove part of his colon because of a large tumor his doctor found on a recent exam. And I am worried.
I called him last night, wanting to know how he was feeling before the surgery. Perhaps not really wanting get to emotional, both our thoughts quickly turned to Carolina basketball and the Yankees and racing.
Women often don't get men's love of sports. It's stupid to them. But to us, it's a way to bond, much like the native Americans elders bonded with the young over the hunt. I learned more about being a man from Johnny and my dad while watching sports than anything else.
I just hope, one day soon, I'll get to watch just one more game with them at the Dean Dome.

The funniest things I've ever seen

I enjoyed reading our publisher Bill Horner's blog on things he has done once. It got me thinking about some of the funny moments in my life so far. There have truly been too many. Here are a few.

My best friend Matt doing a cartwheel
OK, so it was like 3 in the morning, and as college students will do after a night of drinking... er, soda... we got the hankering for Taco Bell. About 6 of us pile in my 4Runner for the run to the border. While waiting for our Mexican Pizzas, someone starts telling Matt (who looks like me physically, more or less) that he can't do a cartwheel. He gets mad, jumps out of the car and does one, right there in the Taco Bell parking lot at 3 a.m. It was one of those things that is so funny, no one laughed... We were more in awe of his hilarity. It was the best unintentional Chris Farley impression ever.

My dad's rhymes
My dad is a 60 year-old potter from Robbins, but he loves Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite) rhymes for some reason. He would break out in the Jungle rhyme or "Sally" out of nowhere. He said it is because he rode a Greyhound bus with Moore to New Orleans when he was popular and Dolemite did the rhymes the whole way down, which makes sense, since I can't really see my dad watching Dolemite movies.
My dad is the funniest person I know. And I know a lot of funny people.

Tommy Boy and Dumb and Dumber
Some movies are funny. Some are hilarious. And then, there are these two classics. I swear, I can recite every line of both of them, and they still crack me up. Two comedic geniuses (Jim Carrey and Farley) when they still wanted to be funny (Carrey) and were alive (Farley).

The Badger Commercials
What a treat it is to live in North Carolina right now, if for no other reason than to be able to watch these local gems from Johnson Automotive. I have a friend that works for Johnson, but he has never met the badger. I would buy a car from them, if I could afford one.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Badger+commercials

Gordon Anderson's Return of the Mack
If you haven't seen it, I can't explain it. You just have to be there.

The Republicans

So I watched last night's Republican debate, and I have a few knee-jerk reactions. (For the record, I had been a registered Republican most of my life until taking on this news role at the paper. That, coupled with my overall disdain for the direction of our country in the last six years lead me to switch my registration to unaffiliated. So now, I am shopping for a candidate, though I am not excited about voting for anyone besides John Edwards, because I think it would be awesome if the President was from my hometown!)

— Mitt Romney should not win. I know I posted last week that he was my choice for the Republican ticket, but he looked like he was trying too hard to be the frontrunner. To step back and let the others fight. Kinda like Hillary has in every Democratic debate. There's just one problem with that strategy for ol' Mitt. HE IS NOT THE FRONTRUNNER. Or, at least not enough to sit back and wait. From all I've seen, Rudy is leading this thing so far. Of course, Howard Dean was leading by a wide margin at this time in the 2004 race, so polls don't mean anything. Still, Romney is a Mormon, has flipflopped more than John Kerry and is from Massachusetts. Obviously, many Republicans in the BIble Belt would have a hard time voting for him.

— Mike Huckabee would be a solid candidate for the Republicans. I know, you're saying "Mike who?" But this Gov. of Arkansas once lost more than 100 pounds. He is humorous, likable, and seems to have his priorities, and his stump speech down pat. It's a shame he won't get a second look by a lot of GOP voters, because he may be one of the only chances to unseat Hillary. (See John Edwards.)

— Guiliani is not a traditional Republican, and therefore would not rally the base enough to pull off an upset of Hillary. Sure, that 9/11 talk does fire up the base, and boy does he love to pull it out, but the Christian Right would never support fervently a pro-choice candidate.

— Fred Thompson is a joke. A tall, jowly joke. But a joke, nonetheless. Whoever thought it was a good idea for him to run must have thought voting for the Presidency was a lot like voting for Emmys, someting I'm not so sure Thompson deserves in the first place. In every movie or TV series he has ever been in, he has played the same character, and he was still playing it on the stage last night. But his wife is hot...30 years younger than him, but hot, nonetheless.

All of this leads me to...

— John McCain as my choice. Long ago and far away, before I went to college, I was a major supporter of McCain. The year was 2000, and he was tearing through the Republican primaries. Then came South Carolina, and the shenanigans Bush pulled to get that state, and eventually the White House. I loved McCain then. Fresh out of high school, I was perhaps naive enough to believe in the "Straight talk express." Fast-forward 8 years... McCain has been throttled in the press and among voters for selling out to the Bush regime. But he is still a principled man that spent five years in a prison camp for his country. That would be a hard thing to argue for the Democrats, especially for Clinton. And he looked like it again last night. I think his selling out days may be behind him.
McCain had the best line of the night, when talking about Clinton's support for a Woodstock Museum, he said he was "tied up at the time." alluding to his time in the camp. He can do this all year long. And he was the only one on the stage that had that Presidential look. He has the charisma, respect and knowledge to go toe-to-toe with Clinton on the campaign trail and at the debates. That's something that no other Republican can say.
If the Republicans want to throw out a sacrificial lamb for Clinton to devour, they will run Guiliani, Thompson or Romney. If they want to win, they will run McCain.

If the race came down to McCain and Edwards, I would have a hard time choosing. But it won't.

Wait till next year!!!

As you have seen from this blog recently, while my colleagues have been busy with the Sanford muni elections, I have not written anything remotely political.
Basically, that is because I am not covering any of the races intensively yet. Gordon covers city council, so he has the insight to write about the heated Wright-Stone race. Me, well, I don't know much about either candidate, although I did attend Monday's Forum.
Oh, but 2008 will be an entirely different story! As a Cubs fan would say, just wait until next year! There will be sooooooo many political topics to write about!
First, it's a Presidential election year, so there will be much to commnt on in that realm, especially if fellow Robbins boy John Edwards wins the nomination (I'm not counting on it!) I see Hilary-Obama versus Romney-Rice. Boy, what a choice...
Statewide, Easley is term-limited, meaning we will be picking a new governor. And Liddy Dole will be running against some dude (aka whomever the Dems can get to run against her).
Oh yeah, and there will be some sacrificial lamb that will challenge Bob Etheridge, the only tobacco farmer in congress.
And oh, the local elections we'll have. Seats currently held by Commissioners Ed Paschal, Jerry Lemmond, Bob Brown and Kirk Smith will be up for grabs, as well as several seats on the board of education. We will also have the sales tax referendum on the May ballot, and may have a countywide alcohol sales referendum and a referendum on a bond to renovate Lee County High School. If we don't, those issues will likely be a focal point of both the commission and school board races.
Next year should be fun. I can't wait! Until then, you guys will have to suffer through weekend tales and car blogs. And I'll leave the politics to Gordon.

While we are on the subject...

I love cars. No, I mean, I really love cars. My dad always told me it was the curse of being an Owens. We have a sweet spot in our soul for anything on four wheels...and even some two-wheelers (my dad has an extensive collection on old bicycles for some reason.) I think it has more to do with being male...

Here are some of the cars I am excited about for 2008, and beyond. As I said earlier, I'll never be able to afford any of these...
2008

BMW 1-Series


The Germans have been talking about this one for a while now, but the cheaper, smaller 1-series has been delayed so many times it looked to be dead. Back in 1995, BMW made a 318ti, a hatchback that was supposed to usher in a line of cheaper beamers. It never happened.
I don't know, though. If I am going to buy a BMW, I would want to spend the extra $10,000 and get a nice one...

BMW M3


...LIKE THIS ONE! The M3 and the 1958 Carolina Blue Corvette have always been my dream cars. The 2008 edition only confirms that. Just looking at this thing gives me chills.

Chevy Silverado


There's not really much new about the 2008 model after a complete redesign in 2007. But as a Chevy man (I think my dad has had a Silverado in one form or another since before I was born) I have to give a nod to this one. Just look at that picture. It reminds me of two things: 1) the radio-controlled truck I had, named Black Thunder, as a kid that would go about anywhere I wanted it to; and 2) the big truck Marty McFly gets as a birthday gift in Back to the Future. Both of those, along with all my dad's trucks, set the precedent for me as a kid. Chevy trucks are engrained in me.

Nissan Rogue

Talk about extremes. But there is just something about this little thing that I like. I haven't seen one in person yet, but the ads are cool. I wouldn't buy one for myself (I already have a Honda Element that I can't get rid of) but I just like these things. Maybe I'll buy my wife one. Oh, wait. I'm not married. And I have no money...

Porsche 911

A Porsche 911 is supposedly the most perfect car built, so long as maintenance and repair is not an issue. On pure handling and speed, it supposedly does not get any better than a 911. Of course, I say supposedly, because I've only driven one in my life. It was my dad's lawyer's and I had barely turned 16, so the speed limit was my limit. Still, above is an exciting design. Porsche had gotten into a bad habit recently of making all their cars look exactly the same, from the Cayenne to the Boxster. I hate it when companies do that. My beloved BMW has a tendency of making that mistake from time to time...

BEYOND
2009 Camaro Convertible

You got a sneak peak of this bad boy in Transformers, but just look at this thing. The mix of retro styiling and modern cues is amazing. Plus, it's good to see the Chevy muscle car back. The convertible version is slated for a late 2009 release, and I swear if I hit the lottery by then I will be the first in line. This thing is bad...

2012 Corvette

Every year a new corvette comes out, it is always the car design event of the year, and I am sure that the 2012 release of the C7 (Seventh version of the Corvette) will no different. I am not really ready for a change yet though. I think Chevy hit it out of the park with the current design, though I guess in five years that will be old news, too. Plus, I think Chevy learned a lot from its mistake with the C4 (The 1980's vette, which lingered way too far into the 1990's causing the brand to lose a lot of fans to the Dodge Viper and it's breathren).
My excitement is muted, however, by the fact that the only 'vette I'll ever afford is a Chevette.

2008 Honda Accord

I just said something to our photographer, Brooke Wolfe, that I never thought I would say. I'm surfing the latest car styles on the internet, when I came across the new Honda Accord. I said out loud, "That new Honda Accord is hot!" Either I am getting old, or the Accord is getting much cooler. I think I am just getting old.



But it is a nice looking car. It looks a lot like the new Acura sedans, which make sense because Honda makes Acura. Still, I'd rather have a BMW 3-series.

Who am I kidding? I am going to be driving my current car until the wheels fall off or I die. And since it is a Honda, I'll probably die first...

Why do Latinos come to North Carolina?

The following story ran in Thursday's Herald. I have added a few facts and figures that, because of space constraints, were edited out.
--------------------------------
Hispanics in North Carolina
- In a state with one of the fastest growing Latino populations in the country, Lee County alone has seen a dramatic increase in that segment in the last three decades. In the 1980 census, Lee County had 300 Latino residents, or about .82 percent of its total population of 36,718. By 1990, there were 800 Latinos in Lee County, or about 1.9 percent of the 41,374 residents. And in 2000, the county had 5,715 Latino residents, 11 percent of the total population of 49,040.
- Don Kovasckitz of Lee County Strategic Services estimates that as of Wednesday, there were 12,163 Latinos in Lee County, or about 20 percent of the total population. His estimates come from rolls in the Lee County public school system and other sources, and includes both legal and undocumented residents.
- According to the U.S. Census, North Carolina had the fastest growing population of Hispanics in the U.S. during the 1990s — 394 percent — representing over 300,000 new residents. By 2006, the percentage of the state's population that defined themselves as Hispanic had grown to 6.4 percent, or around 566,000 residents.
- More than half of these new residents live along the state's urban crescent, the stretch from Charlotte to Raleigh along the Interstate 85 corridor, or around the state's major military bases such as Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune — areas that have experienced much of the state' employment growth in the past decade.
- The median age of Latinos in the state is around 25 years old, more than 10 years younger than that of the non-Hispanic residents.
- The number of Latino births in North Carolina increased seven-fold from 1990 to 2000, and more than 12 percent of the state's Hispanic population is under the age of five, more than double that of the non-Hispanic population.

By JONATHAN OWENS
owens@sanfordherald.com

SANFORD — There’s a rumor that somewhere along the U.S.-Mexican border stands a sign that points illegal immigrants directly to North Carolina.
Even if it’s not true, today’s Mexican immigrants don’t need directions to know where to go once they reach the United States. Simply put, many go where they can find work, and for several decades now that has been the Southeast — North Carolina in particular.
In recent decades, there has been a noticeable shift in Latino immigration patterns from border states such as California and Texas toward the southern part of the country, where low-skilled jobs in construction and agriculture are plentiful and promise immigrants a prosperous life unimaginable in their home countries.
Though Latino immigration to the Tar Heel State has origins in the 1970s and 1980s, the current trend saw its roots in the 1990s. The reasons for this influx are varied, but most follow the trend of the state’s overall economic growth.
Nolo Martinez, who was appointed by both Gov. Jim Hunt and Gov. Mike Easley to head up the state’s bureau of Hispanic Affairs, said Wednesday that “family reunification and economic opportunities are the most important reasons why Hispanics come to this state.”
Further, he said, it is somewhat of a cycle, wherein Latinos find jobs, then recruit other Latinos to work for that employer, which results in more and more immigration to the state.
“Higher demands from employers to expand operations required more workers doing heavy labor under difficult conditions at low pay,” he said. “Latinos are great recruiters of additional labor force. They help the bottom line of business in expansion. Good, low-pay workers that can also support each other.”

Recruiting immigrants
The Hispanic Liaison of Chatham County has been around for 20 years, and Director Iliana Dubester has witnessed the population boom firsthand in Siler City, which is about 40 percent Latino now.
She said Latinos are coming here first and foremost for jobs.
“This is not a traditional immigration state like Texas or California,” Dubester said. “Much like the rest of the Southeast and the heartland, Latinos are coming here for work. They wouldn’t have come here if there weren’t jobs, if there weren’t open doors.”
Dubester, who is Brazilian, said many Latinos have found out about North Carolina through active recruitment in Mexico. She said people are actively recruiting skilled and unskilled workers south of the border, promising them better pay and bonuses for people who bring more people with them.
She adds that despite the recruitment, illegal immigrants aren’t “taking jobs away” from Americans.
“To say they’re taking jobs away, then to look at our unemployment figures, it doesn’t match,” she said.
Dubester said she doesn’t promote illegal immigration, but she doesn’t approve of the way illegal immigrants are treated once they’re working in the U.S.
“There’s been a failure of congress to pass immigration reform,” she said. “Being undocumented is much more risky than it used to be. In order to deport the 12 million people who are in this country illegally, though, you’d have to deport 1,000 people a day for the next 30 years. Instead, we’re at a point where we’re driving the underprivileged down even further. If people here are fearful of contact with police departments, then crime goes unreported. People aren’t cooperating.
“This is happening all over the state. We’re not wanted, we’re hated and we’re hunted here,” she added. “The state is sending a mixed message — we’ll give you work, but you have to live in the shadows.”

Higher birth rates
Another reason for the increase in Latinos in North Carolina can also be attributed to high birth rates. According to the CDC, North Carolina had the highest fertility rates in the nation for Mexican mothers (the largest segment of Latino immigrants) in 2000, with 181 births per 1,000 Mexican women ages 15 to 44 in this state, amounting to about 16,000 births.
Carolyn Spivey, executive director of the Coalition for Families in Lee County, a non-profit that deals directly with teen pregnancy prevention, said the instances of Latino teen pregnancy is significantly higher than that of non-Latinos. She attributes that fact more to cultural differences than anything else, including an aversion to birth control methods, although she could not say whether there was a religious basis for it.
“Typically, Latinos get married and have children at a much younger age in their native countries,” she said. “It is more accepted not to graduate high school.”
She said with acculturation, that rate usually slows. First generation immigrants, she said, are much more likely to get pregnant earlier than those whose families have been in the country for more than one generation.
Lee County Director of Public Health Mike Hanes agreed with that assessment.
“There is much more cultural influence to start a family early,” he said. “It’s not out of the norm for early pregnancies to happen here, because they bring their culture here.”

Economics drive immigration
Hanes said, though, that immigration into the area is a much larger reason for the population boom than birth rates. He pointed to the vast disparity between wages in Mexico and the United States, which is higher that between any other neighboring countries in the world.
“I’d say that economics are the first, second and third reasons for the Hispanic population increase,” he said.
Martinez said he doesn’t see an end in sight to the stream of immigrants coming to this state to find work and a better life. As long as the state grows, its Latino population will likely grow as well.
“Immigration is America,” Martinez said. “North Carolina needs to continue to invest on immigration and less on isolation. You can outsource high-tech jobs, but workers from India cannot mow your lawn or do other low-skill work that we Americans choose not to do. “

My tummy hurts..

Never eat the Speedy Gonzales at San Felipe before noon...I'm just saying.

A weekend down east

So basically, I gave up a chance to see my beloved Tar Heels pull off a win over Miami this weekend to take in my first football game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville with my realtor/good friend/biggest Pirate I know - Jeff Stallings. Here are a few observations from a weekend of beer, football and, well, beer.

- ECU has a lot of women. OK, so for three years now, Jeff has been telling me how many more women are in Greenville than Chapel Hill. I always scoffed at this notion, though. Come on. UNC has a 70-30 female to male ratio. Of course, I never really got to take advantage of that, since I had a girlfriend all through college (Yes, I was that guy, although without that girlfriend I probably would not have graduated... so I guess God knows what he's doing after all).
But Jeff was right. There are way too many girls in Greenville. Of course, now, at 27, I am too old to take advantage. I am now the old creepy guy at the game to them. My timing is impeccable.

- ECU has a kickass team entrance. Again, Jeff has been touting this for years, and he was right about this one, too. It was awesome. A pirate comes out of a ship. There are cannons. It's exciting.

- The Pirates know how to tailgate. So all Saturday Jeff was telling me how disappointed he was in the tailgating crowd, but it was much better than anything I ever saw at Chapel Hill. I love Carolina, but we do have a bit of a wine and cheese crowd. Maybe it has something to do with us being a basketball school. It's hard to tailgate in 20 degree weather. But that may be changing with Butch in charge.

- Some ECU fans have a bit of an inferiority complex...Whenever someone asked me where I went to school and I said Carolina (and it happened a lot, probably because I was one of the only people in a sea of purple and gold with a light blue shirt on), they would automatically launch into a diatribe about how badly Carolina treats ECU. And every complaint would have a "Y'all", as in "Y'all didn't wants us to have a Medical school" or "Y'all tried to keep us from getting a dental school" or "Y'all don't want us in the ACC" or "Y'all didn't want to play us" or "We kicked y'all's asses this year."
For the record, I have never made a single decision on the academic or athletic pursuits of either college. And I didn't take a single down in that game earlier this year where we lost by 3 points...Hardly an ass-kicking.
Finally, one fan asked me how I liked my visit in Greenville, with a smirk as if to say it was 10 times better than anything in Chapel Hill. My response? "Y'all got a nice little school down here" with an equally condescending smirk. He didn't like that.

- I am still a Tar Heel.. I would trade all the cannons and girls in Greenville for the sight of a beautiful, pristine Carolina blue Saturday in Kenan Stadium, with the Bell Tower looking over you as the Tar Heels blast out of the tunnel with Hell's Bells playing.

- And the town of Greenville has got nothing on Chapel Hill. When I die, I hope they bury me in Chapel Hill, under one of those big poplars in Polk Place. God I miss that place. It's the closest to heaven that I'll ever be.

- I'm getting too old for this. When I say I miss that place, I mean Chapel Hill, not college. College was fun, but it had it's time and place. And though I am not allergic to a good time, I wouldn't go back for the world.
It's weird, but in high school and college, I ate, drank and slept Carolina athletics. Now, I still pay attention and want us to win. But I don't have that same fire anymore. I have new stuff to worry about. I love Roy Williams, but he ain't going to pay my car payment for me.
Growing up sucks. Or does it?

I had a good time in Greenville, though. It was a great game, and I even bought a t-shirt, along with one for my roommate (an ECU alum) to repay him for a run-in he had with a redneck this weekend on my behalf. And thanks to Jeff for taking me down there.

A mysterious benefactor???

Near the end of a long and very productive Lee County Commissioners meeting Monday morning (at least stories will be in tomorrow's paper from it,) Board Chairman Bob Brown alerted his fellow commissioners that the county may have found a "rich uncle" so to speak, eager to help out at least one of the county's 24 departments.

It seems Brown and County Manager John Crumpton were contacted last week by the law firm of Helms, Mulliss and Wicker, who said one of the firms clients, who wished to remain anonymous, plans to donate a significant amount of real property to a county park which the land joins soon. The law firm asked the board to confirm its interest in the property through a vote, which the commission did, even though they don't knwo where it is.

Actually, Crumpton and Brown know who plans to donate the land, and where it is. But they are not talking, because the benefactor hopes to remain anonymous through the process.
Which leads me to speculate a little as to the location. The only clues Crumpton would give is that the property would connect several tracts of land the park currently owns and that it would significantly reduce traffic and safety concerns there...Hmm...

My guess is SanLee Park...Or maybe O.T. Sloan...Or it could be at Dalrymple...

I give. I guess we'll have to wait until Oct. 15 at 3 p.m., the commission's next meeting, to learn more...

Sunday Column, Sept. 23

In case you missed it, or used the business section to line your cat litter box, here is my column from Sunday, Sept. 23, along with a couple of tips that did not fit this week and will go in next week's section.

Dairy Bar up for sale?
Several people have asked me what I will be writing about this week, now that the Wal-Mart is finally open and the Waffle House is set to open on Sept. 24. I was a little worried that there would be a lull in business news, but I was wrong.
I think it says something about the shape of Sanford's economy that I really don't have to work too hard on this column these days. I can remember a time, just a few short years ago, when all the newsroom pitched in on these tidbits just so we would have enough to fill it.
Now, though, business in Sanford is booming, from what I can tell, at least. We have a true Superstore now, and several top notch restaurants to go along with a great mix of small businesses. But I would still like to see that bookstore.
Then a juicy tip came in this week. While at the grand opening of the new Wal-Mart, celebrating Sanford's leap into the 21st century of retail shopping, someone told me that the Fairview Dairy Bar, a local institution that is usually full at all hours of any given day, from when it opens to closing time, is on the market for an asking price of a cool $1 million. That was shocking, although I can see where it may be worth a lot of money, being such a well-known local brand.
Being the inquisitive journalist that I am, and having a hankering for a little barbecued chicken, I decided to take my lunch Thursday at the Dairy Bar just to see if the rumor was true. I ran up with owner Paul Freedle, who was hard at work on another busy lunch crowd, before I sat down and asked him flat out about it.
He laughed, then said there was absolutely no truth to the rumor — for now at least.
"I hear that all the time," he said of the rumor. "But it's not true. This is a family business, and it would break my heart to drive by and see someone else running it. Someday my grandkids might want to run it."
Freedle said, in fact, that quite the opposite was true. He actually has plans to invest in a computerized ordering system by the end of the year to make running the business more efficient.
The Dairy Bar is probably the busiest restaurant in town at lunch, and I couldn't see anyone walking away from that kind of gold mine. Like an unnamed customer said as I talked to Freedle, "I would just like to have the money they make off desserts."

Cuban sandwiches coming to courthouse area

Maybe you can't travel to Cuba, but that's no reason not enjoy a delicious Cuban sandwich.
Emeterio and Julia Garcia recently moved down to Sanford from New York and plan to open Julia's Sandwich Shop at 1415 S. Horner Blvd., across from the courthouse.
Julia worked in restaurants in New York City, but after her husband suffered a heart attack and couldn't bear the cold winters up north because of the medication he was taking, the couple began looking southward for a warmer climate to set up shop in.
"We must have put 2,500 miles on the car driving through towns in the South," said Emeterio Garcia. "But as soon as we came to Sanford, we fell in love. We love it here."
When the restaurant opens on Oct. 1, the Garcias will offer the classic Cuban sandwich — carved pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard — as well as other pork sandwiches, fresh salads made daily and dessert favorites like creme brulee and bread pudding.
The shop will be open for breakfast and lunch daily.

C.O.W. coming to local feed store

Local feed and seed dealer Carolina Town & Country, in conjunction with Purina Mills, will host a Cow Owners Workshop seminar at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
At the seminar, Purina will teach local farmers how to increase their profit potential. Open to all cattle producers, the workshop will feature industry experts speaking on topics such as cattle management techniques, nutrition and herd health. Information will also be available on Purina's Accuration feeding programs.
The seminar is free and steaks and drinks will be served to attendees. Producers can also register to win one of 38 prizes available with an estimated total value of more than $43,000, including a John Deere Gator Utility vehicle and a John Deere riding lawn mower.
Kind of makes me wish I owned a cow.

Moonbeams and Fairiedust Enchanted Metaphysical Shop
Barbara Hart, owner of local mystical emporium Moonbeams and Fairiedust, dropped by my desk this week to tell me that the store will relocate from its current location in the Steele Street Mall to 709 Carthage St., the former home of Priss Pots boutique, on Oct. 1.
For those not familiar with the store, Hart sells everything from incense to dragons (not real dragons — I asked) to potions in the store.
"It's a magic shop," she said. "But we don't sell magic tricks, though we do sell potions."
She said she offers consignment area in her store for people to sell their potions, and one of her vendors offers a real "Love Potion No. 9," which she said has been very popular.
"Well, we have only sold one bottle," she said. "But three others have been stolen."

Coffee coming to Spring Lake
Java Jo’z Coffee & More, a drive-up coffee shop, will open towards the end of October at 1139 N. Bragg Blvd. in the Southwinds Plaza parking lot directly behind PD Qwix and near Big Lots in Spring Lake.
Mike and Sara De Rosa of Cameron own and operate the 240-square-foot, dual-lane drive-up coffee shop, which offers a variety of coffees and smoothies, and a limited selection of snacks such as biscotti, muffins, danish and cinnamon rolls.
Mike DeRosa said that each lane of the drive-up can accommodate four cars at a time. The lanes will run in opposite directions and access from and to Bragg Boulevard is only a stones throw away.
The coffee shop will soon have outdoor seating and parking will be available for walk-up customers, however, the shop’s emphasis will be on drive-up because seating will be limited.
When it opens, the store will operate from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, check out the store's website at www.javajoznc.com. The DeRosas can be reached at mike@javajoznc.com or at 910-960-JAVA.

I likes dat new Wal-Mart

I've come a long way since college. As the son of a small retailer, there was a time when I would have rallied against the opening of another "big box" Wal-Mart coming in and killing the little guy, raping the town's wallet and sending all the money to Bentonville, Ark.
But times have changed. Now, being broke most of the time, I can appreciate a good deal just as much as the next guy.
Now, falling prices are just alright with me.
That's why I've been pretty siked out about this new Wal-Mart. So much so, in fact, that everyone in th newsroom has picked on me about the excitement with which I speak of the 100-foot TV wall. But come on, man. Who doesn't love a 100-foot-TV wall?
It's so much nicer than any big box store I've ever been to. I've always been a Target fan because the stores are always so much cleaner and the products are "more fancy." But the new Wal-Mart here is better than any Target I've been to yet.
I grew up near Asheboro, which supposedly had the largest Wal-Mart east of the Mississippi when their store opened. So I'm used to a Supercenter. But the one here in Sanford is much nicer. More modern. More hip. More interactive.
I'll probably be dropping a few bones in there this week.
I may move in there. That seems like the only way I'm going to be able to afford one of those plasma TVs. They're open 24 hours. They'll never know.

Five bands you should be listening to, but aren't

I'm not as plugged into the independent music scene as others at the Herald are, but there are some great nearly mainstream bands out there that are not getting airplay. Each one of these I can put in a CD, push play and not skip a track. That is my measure of a great band.

1. Drive By Truckers
Simply put, my favorite band out there. Twangy country mixed with blues and punk rock equal one of the best sounds out there right now. Plus their shows rock. Three of the five best concerts I have ever been to are Truckers shows. I recommend you just go to the store and buy Decoration Day, listen to it all the way through, then go back and buy Southern Rock Opera, then The Dirty South.
Favorite lyric: "Ya momma's as good a wife and momma as she can be/and your sister's putting that sweet stuff on everybody in town but me./ You're brother was the first born, got ten fingers and ten toes/ and it's a damn good thing 'cause he needs all 20 to keep the closet door closed."

2. Jason Isbell
The former guitarist for the Truckers recently released his own album, and though parts of it sound nothing like DBT, it is still great. A native of Muscle Shoals, Ala., Isbell's songs have more of a blues influence than DBT's, and it is a lot more mellow
Favorite lyric: "You can't make a woman sleep alone/ and you can't maker stay her ass at home/ and you can't give her loving on the phone/ But you try, don't you?"

3. Drag the River
Gordon turned me on to this one, and I haven't taken out the CD since. A former punk band turns country. Great stuff. The song "Get Drunk" is the unofficial anthem of the Center for Indecent Living, where I reside.
Favorite Lyric: "I love to get drunk/ I love the movies/ I love my TV, my couch and my VCR/ Love the way the neon signs light up the walls/ but I don't love you any more."

4. Dr. Powerful
A local band who is tearing up the charts! No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 Latino dance list last week. OK, so that's not true, and Dr. Powerful is my roommate since the band practices in my basement. But Gordon and friends still turn out some kick ass jams. I'm not much on punk rock, but I love their shows.
Favorite lyric: "There's a guinea snowman where my footprint used to be."

5. Glossary
Another Gordon band. This one is the owner of his label's - Grand Palace Records in Murfreesboro, Tenn. It's a little more rocking than DBT and Drag the River, but has the same vibe.
Favorite Lyric: "The worst mistakes take the longest to kill us."

Movies you may have missed

In an attempt to save a little money, I haven't been going out too much lately. Instead, I've been watching a lot of movies. Here are a few recommendations of movies you may have missed in the theater, if they came out around here, but should check out when you get a chance.

Romantic Comedy
The Tao of Steve
Every man must suffer through them on date night. You know, the movies where there are no explosions. But this is one romantic comedy that even dudes can like. It stars Donal Logue as an overweight pothead womanizer - three words that usually don't go together - that falls in love with a blonde set designer visiting his desert town. The fat guy gets the girl in the end, which is always encouraging. It's not great, but it is worth seeing, especially for the Steve McQueen references.
Favorite line: "I'm a fatist. And I'm the worst kind of fatist. I'm a fat fatist."

Big-time Hollywood Thriller
Zodiac
About the Zodiac killings in the San Francisco area in the 1960's and 1970's, along with the press hysteria that surrounded the case. It's not great either. It's a little to long. But I enjoyed it, especially trying to figure out the killer, even though I knew the case had never been solved going in. Plus, the cops reporter for the San Francisco Examiner (Robert Downey Jr.) looks a lot like Herald Cops Reporter Gordon Anderson.
Favorite Line: I can't really think of one, but the sign above the coffee machine in the newsroom said "Coffee - Delicious as hell." That made me laugh.

Sports Movie
Tin Cup
Anyone who knows me knew I would pick this one. It's great. A down-on-his-luck driving range pro goes out in search of glory, finding it at the U.S. Open. Only it's not a trophy, but a trophy wife in Rene Russo (when she was hot.) Excellent on so many levels, but never got the respect it deserved.
Favorite line (There are so many): "You can't get advise about the lady you are trying to hose from the lady you are trying to hose." So true.

Sophomoric Comedy
Booty Call
Hey, it's got an Oscar-winning cast! OK, so Jamie Foxx isn't exactly playing Ray Charles in it, but he is much more funny. I think he should have stuck to the comedy, like on In Living Color. Virtually everything he says in Booty Call is hilarious. Yeah, you probably shouldn't rent this one unless you are under 30.
Favorite Line: "I'm tired of looking at these ladies under muted light. I take a girl home from the club, wake up the next morning and a Sea Donkey is laying next to me."

I'll try to add to this list periodically. I love movies.

Sleeping in your dress blues

So this past weekend I reconnected with a bunch of old friends on my best-friend-since-Kindergarten's porch in Seven Lakes for a post-wedding party/guitar-playing/sing-along. It was great. It was just like high school, except there was beer there and girls that actually like us - somewhat, at least.

Anyway, For a small taste of what it was like, watch this video. I swear, Sanford. One day, you'll all be Drive-By Truckers/Jason Isbell fans:

A weekly shout out

I would like to give kudos to Chatham County Fire Marshall Tom Bender for keeping angry (and often unruly) protesters somewhat at bay during Monday night's contentious Pittsboro Town Hall meeting on the proposed Pittsboro Place development.

It was no easy task, to be sure. He was fighting an endless battle all night long.

I even had a run-in with Bender just before the meeting. He was attempting to keep a mob of 100 or so concerned citizens out of a tiny room where the meeting was taking place, when I walked up. He said I couldn't go in, so used the standard "You can't keep me out of a public meeting" line all media members have memorized. After a little time, he agreed to let me through.

Later in the evening, I ran into him again and apologized for the incident, telling him I knew he had his hands full — which he did and then some. He reciprocated the apology.

Let me just say that I lived in Chapel Hill for three years. I consider myself somewhat left of center on most issues, including those pertaining to development in rural areas. And I understand the need to protest and rally against causes you don't agree with. But when in a public meeting, there is a certain decorum that "concerned citizens" should try to adhere to if they really want to be taken seriously.

A few people didn't do that. For people who appear to know a lot about politics and the world around them, a handful of them knew very little about the actual governing process. There is an order to meetings. It is not a free-form shouting match. The shouting matches are held on the lawn before the meetings. If you want to speak up, make sure you come early enough to sign up to speak during the public remarks portion of the evening. It is not the commission's fault that you spent your time in the shouting match, then came late to the meeting and didn't get a seat.

Most of the protestors actually conducted themselves fine at the rally outside before the meeting and throughout the evening. It is a shame that a handful of them couldn't do the same, instead opting to push their way into the meeting room, talk amongst themselves through the entire process, actually sit on the floor in front of the developers, make snide comments to the commissioners and developers loud enough to interrupt the process, and file in and out of the room the entire — way too long — evening.

Especially when the reporters that are there to publicize your plight are on strict deadlines. I actually had to phone in my story from the road because, thanks to both the protesters and Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller, who, against the development himself, took every opportunity he could to grandstand and delay the process, when he knew all along the vote would come down as it eventually did.

Hopefully Mr. Bender gets to take a half-day today. As I probably will, since I worked 12 hours yesterday thanks to a 3 hour meeting that should have taken 30 minutes.

There's no need to fear

Finally I have something to write about!!!

I went to see Underdog this weekend. I know. I know. I'm too old. But I had two kids with me, so it's not creepy or anything.
Anyway, good movie. Well, it was not the movie that was great. It was the fact that it was about two hours worth of screentime for a talking beagle.

I love beagles. Always have. When I was in first grade, I got my first dog — a beagle named Jake. Jake was my best friend for the better part of my life so far. I could always count on Jake, no matter what life threw at me.

Then, one day my Junior year at UNC (I remember it like it was yesterday — Nov. 3, 2001), I tried to call my dad for my weekly "I need money" plea, but I couldn't get a hold of him all day. My aunt and another worker at the shop were acting weird each time I called, too. Finally, around 6 p.m., my dad called me back to deliver the bad news. Jake had gotten run over and died in our driveway by a pottery shopper. He was crying as he told me. Soon I was crying, too.

This was a dog that had survived hurricanes, snowstorms, endless shoppers, and almost everything else for 16 years. He even ran away one time for six months, and I thought I had lost him forever until, when driving home late one night I spotted him walking towards home on the side of the road about 5 miles from our house. I figured he could survive anything after that, but he couldn't.

A few months later I got Roscoe, another beagle. He was totally different from Jake. Jake was mild manored and loved to be outside. Roscoe, mostly because he grew up in my apartment in Chapel Hill, was fiesty and loved to be inside.

He was probably the prettiest beagle I've ever seen. One nght while working at at the Sports desk at the Herald, though, I received largely the same call I had gotten three years earlier, with dad telling me Roscoe had been cut down by a tractor-trailer while crossing the road to visit with pottery shoppers at my house.

Like most of life, owning a dog is great, but it can break your heart. I think if I had a farm with about 30 beagles and about 30 cars, my life would be set. This is my goal. To have enough room that I can have as many beagles as I want and not have to receive that call again.

Anyway, Underdog was good. Not a great plot — your standard superhero movie, except with a dog. And Jim Belushi is an awful actor. Luckily he is not in it a lot. But it has some funny parts. It is what it is.

And it is great for a beagle lover.

Worth a second look

It's truly an odd time here at the Herald. I have been here for three years, and I don't know that I have ever seen things in this much disarray. The cause? An ambitious total redesign of our paper taken on by our fearless leader, Billy Liggett, coupled with a switch in our operating software.
Hopefully, though, it will all go to give you a much better paper. Our redesign started Tuesday, and although there are some kinks to be worked out, I think the new look is a major upgrade.
But now it is time for you the reader to change your attitude. We are doing all we can to make our paper informative, relevant and interesting. We want you to give us a chance.
Too often I go to the Java Express or McDonald's and see folks reading the N&O. While that paper to the north is a great source for national and state news, if you want to know what is going on around you, we need to be the first place you look.
Please give us a chance, Sanford.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a computer to kill.

Monday morning rants

Here are a few quick impressions of events that have unfolded since last we spoke:
— Karl Rove resigns: This is a monumental event. I would venture to say that never before in the 231 years of this country has an unelected person had as much power over national affairs as this man. And when he leaves Aug. 31, he will leave his good buddy George with an approval rating below 30 percent, a war in disarray and an economy headed towards another recession when it never really recovered from the first one. Right now it's not looking good for his legacy. History will not be kind to him or his "boss," at this point, at least. But maybe 9/11 was a big enough event that Bush's lasting legacy will be his speech on the rumble. Only time will tell.
I bet GW wishes he had just been commissioner of baseball now.

— Tiger blows away the field for PGA: No shock here. Wouldn't you be more surprised if he didn't? Now, with just five to go before he shatters Nicklaus's record of 18 majors (I say he'll do it in St. Andrews in 2010, more on this in a second), it's time to start thinking about his place in history. I say he is the greatest golfer of all time, but is that fair? Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Arnie or even Nicklaus didn't have the equipment (or human growth hormone) that Tiger has at his disposal. What if the Golden Bear had titanium, squareheaded drivers aand low compression balls? Would the record be 30? He did finish second in the British Open a record seven times. Maybe an extra 40 yards on one drive, and his record is at least 25...And Bobby Jones, who Tiger tied Sunday with his 13th major win (granted, six of Jones' were Amateurs), gave up on golf at 28 to become a lawyer (isn't that pretty much the same thing? Golfer and Lawyer?) What if he had kept playing?
Look, it's a given that Tiger will blow past Nicklaus, though. As sports fans found out last week, records are made to be broken. He's 32 now, and if he remains a force until 46 (when Jack won his last major at the Masters in 1986), he'll have at least 52 more chances to win six more. I think he'll wind up with at least 25, if not 30. And I think he would dominate with a persimmon driver just as easily. But those factors are worth mentioning when talking about the greatest of all time.

— Barry Bonds breaks the record: I'm tired of hearing about it. Yeah, he took steroids. And he broke the record. Enough said.

— Gordon wrecks, Stewart wins at Glen: I think Stewart is firmly in the driver's seat for the Chase now. It will be a nice prelude for when Gibbs switches to Toyota next year. The bigger question is if Dale Jr. will make the chase. He has been a factor in about every race this year, but hasn't won yet because of some terrible luck.

— I flew a plane on Thursday. It was incredible. If I had an extra $10,000 lying around, I would go to flight school tomorrow.

Drive Fast! Go Straight!

This is hilarious:


NASCAR Coach Reveals Winning Strategy: 'Drive Fast'

Mr. Bean gets new owner

Mr. Bean Coffee House on Jefferson Davis Highway will have new ownership Wednesday.
Kathleen Wright has sold the business, which she has operated for almost two-and-a-half years, to Barbara Dickinson.
"I'm just ready to do something else," said Wright.
Dickinson said she plans to keep the business the way it is for now, but may look into expanding in the future.
"I've very excited about it," said Dickinson Monday.
The coffee shop features a wide variety of coffee, fruit drinks, ice creams and other treats to drivers down the busy highway in Tramway.

Fighting on youtube

Earlier this year, we at the Herald ran a story about Lee County High School students posting staged fights on Youtube. Well, if you read my Thursday story, you'll know that you can now watch another kind of fighting on the web, also known as the Lee County Board of Commissioners meetings. Simply follow this link to watch the meetings:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22Lee+County+Government%22

In all fairness, the meetings are usually pretty tame, unless you count the occasional bickering between Linda Shook and Robert Reives. But they are also very important. Local government is probably the most important branch to you as a Lee County citizen in all of politics. Every action the commission takes has an effect on your life. You can't say that about Congress, the presidency or even the N.C. General Assembly.

So I implore you to watch the meetings. To be an informed electorate. To know where your money is going.

Other than that, I really don't have a lot to report right now, except that we at the Herald, especially me and Gordon Anderson, are very excited to have a third reporter coming on board soon. We can release very little right now except to say that she is very talented. Some even say she can write circles around us. Stay tuned for more.

I am anxiously awaiting a weekend bachelor party trip to the beach - the last hurrah for my best friend since Kindergarten before he takes the plunge - so my mind has been elsewhere this week. I have two days to talk him out of it.

Just kidding.

I'll just leave you with this. It's the funniest picture I've ever seen:

Notice the pickles on the bun and the eating helmet!!! If there is a restaurant in town that could create a burger so big it would require me to wear an eating helmet, it would definitely be worth a note in my business column.

Have a good weekend. I know I will.

Harry Potter

Five or six years ago I asked my then-nine year-old niece Kaylee what she wanted for Christmas from me. Being the cool uncle that I am, I expected her to ask for a new bike or the hot new toy of the year, or at least a cool Carolina shirt or basketball tickets since I was in college at the time. Instead, she responded "Harry Potter."
I didn't know who that was, but I figured it was an action figure or doll or something. I went to Wal-Mart and found out it was a huge book. I got past the confusion, though, resigned myself to the fact that my niece was a nerd, and bought the book.
But by the time Christmas rolled around, I understood a lot better. Kaylee was not a nerd. She was the norm. Harry Potter was a cultural phenomenon. In an age where kids have any information in the world available at the touch of a mouse, this nerdy little English kid was defying all logic and making it cool to read books again.
Kaylee is a teenager now and entering her freshman year of high school. She has always been a very bright girl, but I have to say that I think the Potter books made her love to read — and read actual thick books, nonetheless — a hobby which has so many benefits.
I have no doubt that she will go on to do whatever she wants to do in life, partly because of the gift me and a little English kid gave her.
Reading opens a child's mind to different ways to think and worlds they can't imagine otherwise. It teaches patience. It improves vocabulary, which is sure to help in the real world and the job market, and is beneficial in countless other ways.
I can't say that I love reading — well, books, that is. I have loved to read newspapers and magazines since I was three. But my hobby is golf, one that has very little practical applications beyond making girlfriends mad and shrinking my wallet.
And I had never and still haven't ever read a Harry Pottery book or seen one of the movies. Come to think of it, I've never even read a book as thick as a Harry Potter book, unless you count the countless, mind numbing textbooks I've suffered through over the years.
My generation didn't have Harry Potter. We had Teddy Ruxpin — a talking stuffed bear — and Nintendo. Not exactly brain-busters. And partially as a result, it is often said that we will be the first generation in American history to be less successful than our parents.
So please, go by the last Harry Potter book this weekend for your kids. Somebody has got to take care of us lazy Gen Xers when we are old, broke and playing Madden 2035.
And because I still don't read, somebody tell me whether he dies or not...actually, I'll probably just buy it for Kaylee and let her tell me.

Sanford boat stores expand south

While at the beach this weekend, I ran across two Sanford-related business tips. First off, while traveling from Holden Beach to Little River on N.C. Highway 17 to hit a casino boat — a trip that ended very badly for my wallet — I spotted the newly opened Choplin Marine 2, a boat store, in Ocean Isle.
Choplin Marine is based in Sanford just off Jefferson Davis Highway. Chris Mace, the Sanford store's sales manager, said Monday that Choplin had opened the second store several months ago to take advantage of the dramatic population and traffic increase along that stretch of the coast. It plans to sell mostly salt water crafts at the second store.
Mace said the location is also ideal for a service center, which the company plans to add in the near future.
The second tips is also related to the Sanford boat sales industry, which seems to be booming throughout the state even though the closest substantial body of water to the Brick City is at least 20 miles away. And I'm sure you've all noticed this before, but when traveling down N.C. Highway 211 I notice several billboards advertising Chatlee Marine. I also saw several advertisements for Chatlee on my last trip to The Streets of Southpoint in Durham. Just thought it was interesting and comforting to travel so far away and still see Sanford's home-grown businesses having a major impact around the state.

Big Yellow Fellows

In Friday's edition of the Herald, you will find a story about bus maintenance. To some of you, it may be silly. It may even seem like a nonstory, and you may skip right over it to read about the latest dirt on Paris Hilton or the golf course or check out the new cars in the classifieds.
But the truth is, it all matters in education, from the buses to the food to the books to recess. So I urge you to read it, because it is a positive story on a part of the local school district that is doing something right.
Friday will mark my third anniversary with the paper, and most of that time I have worked with schools in some fashion. Two years of that time I worked in sports, covering high school athletes from this county and beyond and the coaches who lead them. For the last year I have been able to delve deeper into the inner workings of the school district in a newswriter's role.
And during that time, I have come to realize two things. One, there are a lot of teachers, administrators and staffers that truly do care about providing your kid with the best education they can in a safe environment to make them productive citizens of the county.
And two, that doing my job is not fair to them sometimes. I don't try to be unfair. People often tell us we never write anything good about the schools. But when tests scores come out, it is our job to report them good or bad. It is our job to compare them with area counties' scores and give our readers context to base their opinions on the district upon.
I would love to write a story on a kid who learned the alphabet, the meaning of Pi or the capital of Djibouti (it's Djibouti) every day, and I could because those small victories are won every day in classrooms all around this county.
But unfortunately,we don't have that much ink.
Test score season is fast approaching. Writing scores should be available within the next week, and end-of-grade ones will follow in August. I have no idea how those scores will turn out, though I know there have been many teachers and administrators working hard this year in Lee County to win enough of the small battles mentioned earlier, hopeful that it will translate into an overall victory in the war that has come out of federal and state standardized testing.
Hopefully I can write a few more positive stories like the bus one. But if not, just know that there is a lot of positive stories going on each day in each of Lee's 15 schools to make up for the bad ones.
You just have to ask your son or daughter how their day went, or what they learned today.

The PIR

Today is the ending of an era. A turning of a page.
Bob Barker's final episode on the greatest game show in history, The Price is Right, just aired, and as I sit at my desk, only sadness grips me.
Barker has been with me from the beginning. I remember sitting in my living room on summer days as a child (when I should have been outside playing or working) watching fantacizing about one day being on The PIR, playing Plinko or the mountain climbing game or putting alongside the long miked man with the white hair.
In high school, though things changed often, there was always Barker. I remember my second-period journalism teacher at North Moore allowing me to watch it, and today, watching the final episode with Barker, I found myself back in that room...engulfed in the PIR when I should have been working on a paper.
That theme followed me in college, where I laid out of a many an Econ 10 class to watch the show. (But I still got an A- in that class by only the grace of God. I swear I think my professor got me mixed up with someone else.)
And I got pretty good at it, up to the very end. As four of us in the newsroom wwatched this morning, I came the closest to the final showcase and guessed the correct price of a car on the Any Number game.
So where does the show go from here? The best thing about the show with Barker was that it never changed, even though the whole world around it did. It was the one constant in my life. The car prices got hirer, but the games rarely changed. No digital dials or computer graphics. Just plain old wheel-spinning and price guessing.
The putts kept falling. The spay and neuter calls did, too. And the Barker Beauties stayed beautiful, although plastic surgery and implants didn't hurt, either.
Whomever takes over for Barker (God help us if it is Mario Lopez) there is no way the show will ever recapture what Barker had. They'll probably dress it up with fancy camera angles, new spins on old games and savvy marketing ploys.
But it won't be the same.
God bless you, Bob. Have a nice retirement. You will be missed.