Goldsboro News-Argus | Editorials: August 2005 Archives

Shared tempest: Gulf hurricane reminds us to be prepared — and ready to help

Eastern North Carolina is no stranger to the devastation a hurricane can bring. So, now that the numbers are coming in from Hurricane Katrina, and we are seeing the damage this storm left all along the Gulf Coast, there are...

Bring your ideas: Neighborhood meetings can open an essential dialogue

It didn’t take a lot for Goldsboro Mayor Al King and City Manager Joe Huffman to admit that there are still problems that need to be solved in the city. After all, just about every municipality in the United States...

Good neighbors: A nurtured relationship can keep BRAC away

Although most of the drama seems to be over, that doesn’t mean that Wayne County and North Carolina’s work is done as it relates to the Base Realignment and Closure commission. Keeping Seymour Johnson Air Force Base safe from the...

U.S. has an obligation in Iraq’s quest for freedom

There are 1,500 men and women who are headed to Iraq from Fort Bragg. About 250 airmen and women recently were deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. And that is just what has happened recently and around here. There...

Turnaround: Politicians trying to look tough on immigration issue

Democrats who want to run for president are suddenly talking tough about illegal aliens. When you hear that kind of rhetoric, run for the border. It’s all political posturing. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are...

Appoint judges? Convoluted process has been proposed

In an 11th-hour move, the North Carolina General Assembly started pushing through a measure that would give the governor the authority to appoint appellate court judges and the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The chief justice would have to...

Reminded to care: Volunteers set example for us all

Unless you are one of the many people they help, you probably wouldn’t recognize their faces or their names. That is the hallmark of most volunteers. They do their work in silence and without any call for fanfare. They don’t...

Bold move: Will Israel’s withdrawal bring peace or danger?

Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, should get a Nobel prize. Time will tell whether it should be the Nobel Prize for Peace or the Nobel Prize for Stupidity. As you have read, Sharon has ordered the 8,500 Jewish...

Sad spectacle: Cindy Sheehan’s media frenzy

This will not be an easy editorial to write. Our hearts go out to Ms. Cindy Sheehan. She lost her son in Iraq, as have almost 2,000 American mothers. Ms. Sheehan has gained worldwide media attention by demanding a second...

Sad spectacle: Cindy Sheehan’s media frenzy

This will not be an easy editorial to write. Our hearts go out to Ms. Cindy Sheehan. She lost her son in Iraq, as have almost 2,000 American mothers. Ms. Sheehan has gained worldwide media attention by demanding a second...

Prison camp’s contributions to community will be missed

It is not the announcement that Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is closing, so it will not get the attention it deserves — or cause the ripple it might have. But that fact does not mean the announcement last week...

The U.N.: World body has grown impotent and dangerous

The fate of the world depends largely on the relationships between nations. It was for that reason that the United Nations was established shortly after World War II. Such a world body, it was believed, could promote accord by settling...

Be involved: Volunteering in schools can make a difference

Thelma Smith is right. The Wayne County Board of Education member recently challenged churches across the county — as well as residents and parents — to become more involved in their schools. She suggested that if this community embraced its...

Beyond turfs: Commissioners, school board show they can work together

After weeks of comparing notes and needs, the Wayne County Board of Education and the Wayne County Commissioners have finally inked out a budget plan for the 2005-06 fiscal year. And although there has been much too much bickering over...

Criticism OK: But our elected officials deserve appreciation

Wayne County Commissioner Jack Best is not the most verbose elected official in our area. But when he speaks, people listen. He has something important to say and he doesn’t mince words. Best spoke out at a recent commissioners meeting....

Criticism OK: But our elected officials deserve appreciation

Wayne County Commissioner Jack Best is not the most verbose elected official in our area. But when he speaks, people listen. He has something important to say and he doesn’t mince words. Best spoke out at a recent commissioners meeting....

Bill Frist: Doctor and senator has been steadfast

Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist has been lambasted by some critics on both sides of the aisle and by segments of the national media for “flip-flopping” on the issue of embryonic stem cell research. Frist, a widely respected heart...

State’s long budget battle leaves many issues unsettled

Finally, after what has seemed like months, the North Carolina Legislature has passed a state budget. And from the looks of the list of items that still remain unfinished in Raleigh, it is possible that those same legislators still could...

Change: Summer prepares for its inevitable fate

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;...

Play ball! NCAA has gone off the deep end

The NCAA will ban from championship games any college sports teams using names and mascots its executive committee feels project “hostile and abusive” imagery. These include such names as Indians, Braves, Warriors and Seminoles. Interestingly enough, the Seminole Tribal Council...

After Hawaii: Commissioners who went have a duty to citizens

Well, they are home and the Wayne County commissioners have issued their report on their trip to Hawaii for the national county commissioners’ convention. And there weren’t any pictures of luaus or hula lessons included, either. The commissioners who went...

Deprived: East’s economy needs more attention in Raleigh

In its base-closing proposals this spring, the Pentagon treated eastern North Carolina with considerably more sympathy than it usually gets from its own Legislature. Take roads, for instance. While highway construction proceeds apace in the Piedmont, the eastern district that...

N.C. gangs among nation’s biggest?

The roundup of members of dangerous gangs in metropolitan areas of our state perhaps should not have been surprising. But the fact that cities in our state rank among the highest in the nation in gangs made up of illegal...

A starting point: Accountability tests are just one indicator of achievement

The numbers are out, and now the Monday morning quarterbacking begins. The final ABC accountability results for Wayne County Schools were released Thursday, and many people around the county will soon be talking about which schools were at the top...

WATCH: Taking healing to the byways

Most people have to really be “under the weather” before deciding that they are “sick enough to go to the doctor.” That probably is especially true for those with limited means, no health insurance and not eligible for medical assistance...

Traffic crisis: Currituck bridge need is obvious

The federal government has made a $2 million grant to East Carolina University to study the possibility of a bridge from mainland Currituck County across the sound to the northern Outer Banks. The bridge would have to be around 10...

For our neighbors: Lives are changed with help of United Way

United Way campaign chairman Jane Rustin is right. If you are thinking just about donating to another charity when you fill out your United Way pledge card this year, you are not concentrating on the right thought. Giving to the...

The red fez: It stands for more than entertainment

Many know Shriners for their colorful parades, the guys wearing funny red hats that look like upside-down flower pots, and doing crazy antics with their tiny vehicles. We all know them, too, for their annual fish fries. And on some...

Corruption: Some state employees given special pay raises

Once again, North Carolina’s legislative leaders have proven the wisdom of Lord Acton, the British historian of a century ago, who declared: “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It was learned last week that the three top legislators,...