Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / April 4, 1985, edition 1 / Page 4
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Opinion Page THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Susan Usher Neves Editor Terry Pope Writer Johnny Craig Sports Editor Mary Polls Office Manager Cecelia Gore Advertising Representative Tatnmic Galloway Typesetter Sieve Anderson Pressman Bill McGowan Photo Technician Clyde and Mnttic Stout, Jinj Ballou Circulation Page 4-A Thursday, April 4,1985 We're Glad You're Here Another In Court District Attorney Michael Fasley stood, looked back at the courtroom full of Jurors and addressed Superior Court Judge B. Craig Ellis Next on J 1 ^ the court docket was another defetv ^ f / Off y dant who had entered into a plea jJfiL i n bargain agreement with tiie DA's of- k r OpG flee, thus avoiding a trial. 1 "Your honor, before we get started, I'd like to remind the court thai this is the last case we had an- n'nK was the Brunswick Count? tlclpated being a Jury trial this r.rund Jury, who added anothei week," he added. The Jury had serv- strange cieincni to the Superici ed Its duty for the week and would be Court docket, receiving a check for $12 a duy for sitting in tiie courtroom. They unveiled the Brunswick Coun ty interagency drug squads' In In tact, utlhmigh the Jury \*iis eal\- VcstlgaUon Into drug deals in th ed and reported to court on Monday county by handing down Indictment morning at 9:30 a.m., by Thursday against 22 defendants on Gti charge morning there iutd been no trial for selling and distributing mar cases held In Brunswick County junna and cocaine. Superior Criminal Court for the enlire week. Ail of tile defendants iuid '" lelments were Hie result ( eltlier pleaded guilty. Iuid tlwir cases "" Investigation dating buck to Jun delayed or made a plea bargain ,9M. U* largest drug Investigation I agreement with the DA's olflcc 1!' > "'"* I" Hrunswlek County. Wlu better time could one pick to presci The whole week was strange, but Bio cnscs to the Grand Jury but <j the Jury was thanked just the same l,ils strange week in March? for serving iLs duty?by sitting and waning on cases inni were never ,l 4 JUUI n*""' "-I*"1 ciillc<l the Grand Jury. It was the Gran Jury who had been working har "Sometimes, the jurors' presence Monday while most attornie at the courthouse can move cases," wandered around the courthouse lik JudKc Ellis sold, "whereby the they were lost, as though they wei defendant will voluntarily plea cases, visiting the place for the first time i Whenever folks do come in and see their careers. There was plenty the Jury is ready, they will enter into free time on everyone's hands, a plea arrangement milter than face trial " On Tuesday, a substitute report from District Court begun filling To give you an idea of how strange while the pleas were accepted '11 of a week it was, Uiere was no court nrraignments were held and sever Monday except for a roll call of those not-guilty pleas were entered, givlr defendants present On Monday mor- reason to believe that at least ot nlng, while on her wt) to court, court trial by jury would take place duru reporter Sylvia Edwards was injured th<. week Court seemed tvack to nc in a car accident on N.C. 211 near mal ngaln Supply, fracturing her knee and left ankle. Court reporters are scarce When the Jurors were dismissed specimens in the 13th Judicial go immiic or back 10 work inursdi District morning, several had smiles on the faces. They would not be called aga Court docs not (to on without ? (w dutv (or snothcr two years. U court reporter not even picas can tie judge said, heard and no arraignments can take place, usually the first action taken It may take that ton# before we st during any Superior Court session another week of Superior Court th The only ones who actually ac- can match last week's strange v* compUshcd something Motxlav mor- slan Scholarship Goes Beggint A scholarship to Brunswick the student. 2) a copy of t Technical v'oiicgr for a veteran or a Vctct oTt'a ^v*rpapers of vu veteran's spouse or child pursuing a approved documents that sh< vocational course of study is going honorable service; and inforn itkmiik I IT u?c* ? qualities'. up- uon on uir \-eieran 5 .uaiu> in i plicants council. t)nly two student* have approach- A veteran must submit his or 1 ed the Brunswick County Veterans out* separation papers whether Council, which sponsors the scholar- not eligibility could occur from ship Neither met the eligibility re- parent's prior service qutrements. according to a council Preference will be given toCour news release members and their families lN?iv4. |nr (he jAiUanlun Members reaffirmed at a March * granted for four consecuti meeting not to consider applications quarters of study and cover tuit that did not meet previously and mandatory fees established criteria If the student does not maird Each application must include 1) standards for completion for a wnuen statement which uiuxxiuors course, the v'ouncil reserves the n and stales the educational goats of to rex oke funding i K Welcome to spring in the South Brunswick Islands, a favorite time of year for Brunswick Countians and for oui friends from other places. To these friends we extend a warm invitation: Visit with us, worship with us, and share with us appreciation of s "home" rich in variety, ir. opportunity and in the natural beauty of its places and people. Whether a first-timer or a regular frequenter of out shores, pull up a chair and stay a while. We hope the enclosec Easter edition of Island Living adds to the pleasure and enjoy mcnt of your visit. It's our way of saying, "We're glad you're here." One Thing Led To No Mo We were paddling down an open channel blasted out of the wilds with dynamite. It was March 1980, the Okefenokee Swamp. We were on one of those trips that sometimes changes lives, the kind you still remember five and 10 years later. Our group of 16 strangers was determined to see and hear all that we could in our short time there. We had come equipped with field guides, film, bug spray, rainsuits and a change of wool socks. No wallets, no charge cards, no makeup, nager students we were, but we didn't know just what lessons the trip held in store. We were almost immediately overwhelmed by the unexpected: beauty. Few of us had thought a swamp could be beautiful. Threatening, yes; I dangerous, yes. But beautiful? Yes. i From the tiny red carnivorous I sundew still dripping in the morning light to the rich smell of humus. It was wintry back in Morganton. But around us the Okefenokee was I coming alive with sound and activi ty: animals crawling out of their muddy homes on the bottom, water lilies and marshmallows blooming furiously in a panoply of yellow and white; tadpoles wiggling into adulthood. .Spring had arrived. Disturbed by the passing of our canoe, two half-asleep alligators sharing a log in the sun slid quietly into dark amber water so calm il looked like smoked glass. Images doubled so clearly it was hard to toll which was real. : Goosen K? ai ^ Soiik' murine species are active H, that they roam in seas, bays ar ^ marshes in search of food. Others ai r. passive and stay in one place waitii for food to come by them. 11 gooseneck barnacles are a combin to Uon of active and passive, for they a O Iniii viiciiiscivca iu siu|t>, pieces ir lumber and debris and then are ca m rted many miles by currents or tra< lH. .outes (loose barnacies. or gooseneck be nacles. have little resemblance to l at more common acorn barnacles v r. find on pilings, rocks and oth places around the shore. Most goo inn nacies uvc (.mi uv oeep sea w torn, but some wash up on ot beaches attached to ocean debris ? How to ke . If? r. away ?r U?J* 5 15 ^jj TRAPPED IN ney, No Ma Susan V^ Usher Overhead a tall egret stood quietly near the top of a bald cypress. Deeper inside the swamp we would later see huge flat nests at the tops of other trees. We waited in awe at dawn as a flock of the birds left their nesting area to feed. Just at dusk an owl would visit our campsite. We poked gingerly at a swamp snake curled in a nook of this scrawny little tree on a hummock in the middle of the channel. He was sick and probabiy dying. A male chameleon, throat bursting with red, hitched a ride from an overhead limb as Jake and I paddled along. In the water we saw the outline of another snake winding swiftly our way?a cottonmouth. we ! guessed. i We'd been lold the swamp was light on snakes, inosquitos and 'gators this time of year. Yet we saw i plenty of them, or so it seemed. Stripping off longslceve jackets and rolling up our shirtsleeves, we i didn't worry. It was a sunny March I day in the Okefenokee Swamp. "Land of the Trembling Earth." ' Hllkv1' ^ eck Barnacles in v "* Al \ re A.V * nffj& Bill Br^ raver 1MB rie The.se 'stalked barnacles" have an elongated body wiUun a sheli made of r- two naives each with several piates. !)e The body forms a stalk about an Inch re or more long and fastens by means of er a glue-like substance. Barnacles se characteristically stand on their >t- heads and stick their feet out to bring ur in the food Six pairs erf legs divide in to curtinjj jointed branches at the ??d epyour child Otii drills. UtT St Help your kids to ! ^ " just say no. GEORGIA keup, Just I Home of Pogo and friends. Turning back toward camp, we encountered an Outward Bound group traveling the St. Mary's River, fighting the stiff wind that made our J return trip a breeze. That night we pitched tents on an ' ielonH in tho miHHlp nf thp swamn ( where a ' platform" for travelers had ' been erected. Up early, we canoed all the next day, with newly assigned 1 partners. We were getting to know and like one another. My day's com- 1 panion was a retired school principal twice as gutsy as me and nearly 1 three times older. He knew how to handle a canoe. [ Mist lay low to the ground, heavy and flat. All the wildlife that had filled the air with grunts, snorts and calls the day before had disappeared. In their place was nothing but rain, drizzling steadily, finding holes in the seams of our green rain ponchos. My elderly partner never complained as we canoed and sang, sang and canoed. Damp and exhausted, we returned to a meal of homecanned sausage, wild mushrooms and rice only to find a rip in the side of our tent from top to bottom. My tentmate?usually not the scatierbrain that I am?had left trail mix in a knapsack, a feast for a wiley raccoon. While we were more interested in the less often seen armadillo, the swamp was full of roving raccoons. (We avoided them, for it was among the Okcfenokee's raccoon population ; P, &&*$& " % ' w^w ' 2& A A > /?v\-1 ivc /~vi iu and resemble feather)- plumes. Since the goose barnacle attaches itself and gets a free ride all over the world, it is not considered to inhabit any particular place but is always a visitor wherever Jt washes ashore Those we find have stalks about an inch <CTi?, but in sonic pafu in uic world the stalks may be up to about a fool long. One story from Medieval England Is that the barnacle goose hatched from these goose barnacles. Since the migratory habits of these geese were unknown, it was assumed they developed almost overnight from the barncacles found in the area. Evans as late as 1678. Sir Robert Moray dissected a goose barnacle and reported to the British Royal Society n^aveyo* rMTPSSUr? K' I I Friends Jiat the rabies threat now spreading ;o North Carolina began.) On one island where health oficials had captured raccoons, injected them with vaccine and released them, we also saw vestiges of the limber operations that had almost iestroyed the swamp as we know it t>efore it became a federal preserve. As happens in late March, the irizzling rain got colder and colder. Waking at dawn icy cold, we looked out the tent flap to a world of white, rhat's right. It had snowed in the Dkefenokee Swamp. Moving as quickly as we could with eight canoes weaving behind our Western Piedmont Community College vans, we headed toward the foothills of North Carolina and home?only to have our journey interrupted in Augusta. Ga.. Several bad accidents had forced the closing of the Savannah River bridge. We were irappvu, broke, with no papeia, no money. Luck was with us. For two days we holed up in the warmth of a Day's Inn. Our 71-year-old principal had ignored packing instructions. With his senior card, we got two rooms?one for the guys, one for the gals?and all the free coffee we wanted. We nibbled on lettovers, ran up long-distance phone bills on other people's numbers and cried over old movies on Channel 11. The bonds formed that week are still strong after five years. If it snows again before Easter, you won't get any complaints from me. Passive that 'the little bill, like that of a goose, the eyes marked, the head, neck, breast, wings, and tail formed, the feathers everywhere perfectly shaped and blackish in color, and the feet like that of other waterfowl " Such imagination gave these bariiaClcS uicif iiunir, and many ye&FS passed before the notion was dispelled that these shells broke open and geese flew away. Watch for pieces of driftwood and floating timber riding the waves as they wash ashore. Examine them carefully for goose neck barnacles stretching out their slender staLks to feed And if you find them, you might just look around for some geese overhead! jr blood ft a ^ iH American Heart " $ Association %y ? /
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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April 4, 1985, edition 1
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