Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / April 6, 2005, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
2\ THK NEWS-JOURNAL Rjcford, N.C. April 6,2005 Viewpoints Es the p Frien sion i ofadi year, for 2 vide prox 2004 10,01 '•Hav 1800, Invest in children now or pay later B'l Bxrbar.v Braoi.E'i Executive Director ter. NC Child Advocacy Institute .Another high school student is suspended. Nothing unique about that. Not at all newsworthy — or is it? This particular student had ne\ er seen a dentist and his mouth was full of rotting teeth and infec tion. He was in such pain that when another student insulted him. he "popped" him one. A \oung person in need of exten sive discipline? No. A child in need of extensive dental care? Yes! Mike Easley, Secretary Odom and Tricia Willoughby have pro posed pu tt i ng teams of n u rses and social workers over the next two years in 100 schools with high populations of children at-risk of failing. The Governor vows the program would expand thereaf- These teams of professionals are eritically needed. Did you know that “risk” assessments of students are not currently per formed in our state until a young person is incarcerated? A little late, don’t you think? Consider this: In North Carolina,4of lOstu- dents in 9th grade, or 41 percent do not graduate from high school four years later. The single largest predictor of later arrest among adolescent fe males nationally is having been suspended, expel led, or held back during the middle school years. Seventy-five percent of youth underage 18 who have been sen tenced to adult prisons have not passed the 10th grade. Childhood abuse and neglect has been demonstrated to impact children throughout the remain der of their lives. Research has linked maltreatment to several lead ing causes of death and high risk behaviors in adults, including sub stance abuse, obesity, promiscuity, chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.), obesity, de pression and suicide. Performing assessments in the schools helps ensure that children who need referral to community ser vices will receive the help they need. Teams of nurses and swial workers are needed in all schools in North Carolina. Mental health profession als should be added to that team. We owe our children nothing less. We can "pay now or pay later" — let’s save our state money by investing in children before expen sive remedies are needed. A state that helps all children do well is healthier, stronger and safer. Help ing children get the services they need is to everyone’s advantage. Let’s get behind the Governor on this proposal. Sincerely religious, yes; literate, no The Friendly Undertaker and 1 trav eled to Clinton for our auctioneering education class which we have to do once a year. You can’t get too much education even in auctioneering. He drives one year and me the ne.xt. The one doing the dri vi ng doesn ’ t ha\e to pay for his breakfast; that is left to the other. I never hesitate when it is my turn to buy breakfast. How ever. with the Friendly Undertaker it is another matter. He insists that I order first, then if he thinks my break fast will cost too much, he suddenly left his money at home. I continue to tell him that he is so tight that when they bury him they wall screw him in the ground. It doesn't affect him in the least. He just gets in the motor home and rides off into the sunset. All of us at times say things we don't mean and mean things we don't sny — such as announcements on church Bulletins Bloopers. Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Ber tha Belch all the way from Africa. The Fasting and Prayer Confer ence includes meals. The sermon this morning. "Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight "Searching tor Jesus.” The ladies of the church have cast A View from the Country Raz Autry off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon. This evening at 7.p.m. there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 a.m. All ladies are invited to lunch in the fellowship hall after the B.S. is done. The pastor will appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pan cake breakfast next Sunday. Low self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door. The eighth graders will be pre senting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. Potluck supper Sunday at S.p.m. — prayer and medication to follow. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands. The peacemaking meeting sched uled for today has been canceled due to a conflict. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you. Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfu sions. She is also having trouble sleep ing and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons. Irvin Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. A bean supper will be held on Tues day evening in the church hall. Music will follow. Please place your donations in the envelope along with the deceased per son you want to remembered. My parting thought — Elderly pa tient: Help me. Doc. 1 am 90 years old and still chase women. Doctor: If you are that old and still chase women, you don’t need my help. Elderly patient: But I keep forget ting why I chase them. We Get Letters Right to choose To The Editor: This announcement is to inform you that any person(s) receiving the followi ng services has a right tochoose from any agency at any given time. Personal Care Services, Home Health Care Services, CAP Services or DM A Equipment providers. The decision making of a client switching to an other agency or choosing an agency is •entirely " the clients or responsible party’s decision. Client(s) or respon sible party do not have to state the current provider, the reason they are sw itching, but must, notify the current provider prior to switching agencies. Medical Doctors can offer you a pre ferred agency, but cannot choose for you. If you feel like your physician is not being beneficial to your needs, you can choose another physician of your choice. Owners of healthcare providers cannot force the healthcare workers to stay with their agency. The owner or presiding "RN " cannot take away your CAN I or II license because of a decision in your leaving their agency, e\en if the client follows. They can not take the healthcare workertocourt 'tli.irm tlieirlicense(s). (’till Program aid Integrity il you have any ques tions or complaints regarding this announcement at (919) 647-8000. Kathy Gullick Haven needs help To '1 he Editor: Mti I siipp.Mtingllie Dogsol War" (I prop cl begun after pels were Icit behind w hen troops were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan), The Haven now needs an army to move moun tains in Operation Rebuild. The Haven - Friends for Life, North Carolina’s largest no-kill ani mal shelter, is located in Hoke County, and serves Hoke, Cumberland, Moore, Richmond, Robeson and Harnett counties. The Haven has always striven to support our communities’ homes’ pets, w ho due to unexpected deploy ments may have to find a home (tem porary or otherwise) for their be loved pets. Now, the Haven needs help. New state animal welfare regula- tionsare requiring immediate, large- scale remodeling. The Haven is ask ing service groups, churches and pri vate citizens to open their hearts and give a helping hand with donations and the physical labor so that The Haven will not divert precious dona tion funds away from direct animal care. The Haven has already pur chased some of the materials and is ready to begin the building/rebuild ing project. The Haven is looking to have several groups out helping each and every weekend. Please contact the Haven shelter director Linden Spear at 910-875-6768 to schedule your self and/or your group to volunteer on this important project. Ilie Haven needs immediate help with: • Dismantle dog runs • Remove fence staples for land scape timbers • Liy ground wire • Frame new kennels with land scape timbers or railroad lies • Sptead gravel • Erect new fence • Construct shade covers • Pick up and haul in railroad ties • Funds to purchase additjpnal materials The Haven also needs to borrow, rent or accept donations of: • A tractor with bucket & blade • A flatbed truck to haul landscape timbers • Wheel barrels, shovels, fence post drivers, fence tighteners • Dump truck • Large hand garden tiller • Drag leveler for behind a tractor • Drag tiller for behind a tractor • Chain link kennels and fencing • Aluminum roofing sheets • Plastic dog houses • Concrete and gravel Conserving donation dollars will help in achieving the building goals. Also, volunteer assistance will be inte gral to the success of this large-scale project. The importance of making these changes as quickly as possible cannot be overly stressed. Last year. The Haven found homes for over 2,600 homeless pets. We cannot jeopardize the lives of current and future homeless habitants at The Haven due to lack of funds. We know we have a loving commu nity willing to take these abandoned animals into their homes and willing to donate time, love, and money to the projects lying ahead. The Haven is the final safety net that keeps abandoned pets alive in this community - giving them a real second chance at a forever home instead of inevitable euthana sia. Success on this project starts one volunteer and one donation at a time. Their lives are in your helping hands. For more information about Friends for Life at the Haven, please contact shelter director Linden Spear at 910- 875-6768 orvisit http://www.thehaven- nc.com. (See LETTERS, page 3A) Floweb,s r , ‘’IHbLO'AWT ” LIVING. WILLS (AAS CASL)S cT 'M ‘Reeducation’ lottery: not worth selling out for North Carolina legislators are poised to sell out. It is really not such big news when politicians sell out by giving up an important principle or position in re turn for something else that seems more important. Selling out is part of the market place of representative government where, in order to achieve some im portant goals, a politician has to com promise on other, perhaps less impor tant, ones. It happens sometimes as early as a politician’s first campaign for public office. The new candidate learns that his or her position on some important issue cou Id result in the loss of critical votes or campaign contributions. So the candidate decides to mini mize or conceal this position-or even change it. After all, if you don’t get elected, you can’t do anything. These “sell outs” also come after successful elections when legislators are trying to build the connections with their colleagues. These connec tions will be platforms to build the kind of coalitions that are necessary to "get good things'done.” In trying to build connections by helping their colleagues, legislators find themselves under pressure all the lime to change their positions on issues that are im portant to them. 1 have seen these “sell outs” hap pen so often, both during and after elections, that 1 might be more toler ant of them than you or most other people. What is even sadder to me than watching a politician “sell out” is seeing one do it and get too little in return. It is the saddest when there is nothing in return. Then, all that is left is a politician stripped of a principle with nothing to show for il. Take, for instance, a candidate who pledges not to campaign negatively against the opponent. But, toward the end of the campaign, the advisors and consultants say, “You can’t win un less you go negative in a big way.” So the candidate gives in and mounts a vicious campaign against the oppo nent. But the opponent wins anyway. Our candidate is a two-time loser-of an election and of the principle and of the trust that supporters had given. Other times, legislators have traded a principle in exchange for a building or a program that was important to ^ oters back home. Sometimes, it turns out, the voters forget about what the legislator got for them, remember the abandonment of principle, and vote for theopposition in the next elec- tii)n. 1 Ik‘ issue of a sl'ate sponsored lot- Uiy iv the jxjssiblc sell out" that hasmy attention now. lnsteadof“Edu- cation Lottery” we should call it the "Reeducation Lottery.” Itstill turns my stomach over to think that theState of North Carolina might start “re educating” its citizens to persuadethem to gamble — an activ ity that it has previously “educated” One on One D. G. Martin them to avoid. What has been jjj^bad that it had to be criminalized is now so good, the state will reeducate us to believe, be cause of all the good things the pro ceeds of the lottery will make pos sible. We will hear about more educa tional opportunities for pre-schoolers, smaller class sizes, teacher’s salary increases, construction money for school buildings, water and sewer lines, college scholarships, and lots of money to share with local govern ments. There is a problem (as Speaker Black’s special committee is learning as it tries to draft a lottery bill). The proceeds of a state lottery won’t pay for all the good things that its support ers have talked about. The funds it might generate would simply be poured into a big state government budgetary hole. So, those legislatoVs who consider "selling out” for a state lottery ought to realize that they are going to have nothing tangible to show for it. They will have sold out for nothing. So, my advice to them is: If you are going to sell out, sell out big time. Don’t just establish a mini-version of the dull state lotteries of the states that surround us. All of them have already found that the lottery be comes old hat. It takes more and more expensive advertising and slicker and slicker games to entice people to keep on playing. So why not insist.that North Carolina.start with somethihg'that will b^ a f^'a) big moneymaker — something that will set us apart from the others. For example, why doesn’t North Carolina capitalize on the eagerness of its people to bet on the NCAA basketball tournament by setting up a state sports gambling monopoly? Think of all the options we could have had during the last few weeks. The state could have sold NCAA tournament bracket selections, with millions in prizes to those who picked all the winners. We would have people from all over the country, not j ust South Caro lina and Virginia, coming here to place their bets, and leaving their money to help with our schools. Just to be sure you understand, I still think state run gambling is a terrible idea. 1 don’t think North Carolina ought to establish a lottery under any circumstances. But, if our legislators are really going to sell out an important prin ciple, they ought to insist that they get something really important in return. The INews -Journal Published every Wednesday by Dickson Press, Inc. Paul Dickson, Chairman Robert A. Dickson, President Anne Dickson Fogleman, Secretary/Treasurer 119 W. Elwoud Avenue, Raeford, NC 28376 (910)875-2121 nilllTEO WITH SOY INK M Home l*jij»e: www.tliencws-jmirnal.coiii Ken MacDonald (ken@thenews-|ournai,com) Publisher Pat Allen W .Ison (pat@thenews-|ournal com) .... EdUor Victoriana Summers (viciy@thenews-)ournai.com) Reporter Hal Nunn (^aKgnhenews-ioumai.com) Sports Writer Hal Nunn (hai@thenewa-|ournai.com) Sales Representative Teena Jones (teena@thenewi-journai.com) Office Manager Linda Watson Oinda@thenews-|oumai.com) Receptionist Sandra Wiggins (landrac^henewi-journai.com) Composition Design Mantise Andrews Press Foreman email ads to: ads(3)thenews-journal.com email classifieds to: classifleds@then8ws-journal.com email legals to: legals@thenews-journal.com Periodical Class Postage at Raeford, N.C.(USPS 388-260) Postmaster: Send address changes to: P.O. Box 550 Raeford, N.C. 28376 G you it if
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 6, 2005, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75