oth[Sunswick^c0N
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Swcatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter and Terry Pope Staff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Dlroctor
Timberley Adams & Cecelia Gore Advertising Representatives
Tammle Galloway & Dorothy Brennan Typesetters
William Manning Pressman
Brenda Clemmons Photo Technician
Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14. 1991
County Workers Should
Be First To Pay Taxes
County Manager David Clegg is right. In a recent memo to
department heads he called on county employees to square their
accounts with the county's property tax office.
It seems that about 43 percent ? more than four of every
10 ? county employees have not paid their tax bills, or 57 per
cent have paid them. That's an extremely high non-payment rate
when you consider that the county has already expressed con
cern about an 88.7 percent overall collection rate and the miss
ing revenues that represents.
The county budget is based on a 95 percent collection rate. If
all county property owners followed the example set by county
employees, the county coffers ? and those feeding at the county
trough ? would be in trouble.
Times may be getting harder. Paying taxes may seem like a
low priority given the bills most households have to pay.
But county employees should consider themselves lucky to
have the opportunity to pay taxes. Not only do they have full
time jobs, unlike an increasing number of county residents, most
earn more than the median Brunswick County household salary
of $12,883 per year, with decent benefits to boot. In their quest
for the good life for their families, many also manage to hold
down part-time second jobs.
County employees should be waiting in line for the privilege
of paying their property taxes.
Is it significant that this group of people is slow to pay tax
es? Have they been slow in past years as well or is this a new
development? If either case, the question someone should be
asking is "Why?"
W rite Us
The Beacon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed
and include the writer's address. Under no circumstances will unsigned let
ters be printed. Letters should be legible. The Beacon reserves the right to
edit libelous comments. Address letters to The Brunswick Beacon, P. O.
Box 2558, Shallotte, N. C. 28459.
This Catalog Has
Sense Of 'Humer'
Don't know how it is at your house, but Don and I get an incredible
assortment of mail-order catalogs. But our latest find was purely
serendipitous.
The 1991 edition of The Anatomical Products Premier Gift Catalog
came in the mail to the office, addressed to somebody else. But with the
cover promising such goodies as
anatomical leotards and a Gray's
Anatomy coloring book, we
couldn't resist looking before tak
ing it back to the post office for
eventual delivery to the rightful
owner.
This catalog is worth five or
six of the ones waiting at the
house. It's funny and fresh. I'd
read it just to find out about
Gregory.
Do you work odd hours, drive alone late at night or live alone? For
you, Gregory could be the ideal companion. His muscle-bound fiber
glass body and intimidating stare "are guaranteed to reduce crime" just
by his mere presence. He weighs 1 1 pounds, and you can change his ap
pearance with clothing, facial hair, make-up, glasses. Hand, wrist and
elbow are moveable, as is his head. He comes with a 30-day guarantee,
doesn't argue back and doesn't require feeding...
Gregory's just the beginning of the catalog's serious, silly and slightly
shocking "stuff" that relates mostly to human anatomy, with a few di
nosaurs thrown in for good measure.
Seriously, this catalog could be very useful to a classroom teacher,
health educator, or health professional. For them and for everybody else
it's also a lot of fun. There are a lot of "humerus" items, though all
aren't in what your grandmother might consider great taste.
Check 'em out anyway:
?An anatomical model of the heart, crafted out of one pound of solid
milk chocolate or a tooth in white chocolate, S19.95.
?Bugs Bunny scrub suit tops for doctors who work with children, with
smaller look-alikes for their kids. "What's Up, Doc?"
?Clever T-shirts and sweatshirts dubbed with titles such as "Bone
Appetit" and "Bone To Be Wild," with appropriate skeletal art.
? Miniature replicas of body organs crafted into unusual lapel pins. For
S10, receive your choice ? brain, eye, tooth, intestines, stomach, baby in
utero.. .almost anything goes here.
?A cardboard walking skeleton puppet which, for S2.50, comes alive
with your two fingers as legs.
Want more? There's an incredible deal on a life-size heavy paper
human skeleton kit ? a steal at S14.95. No glue required, but may take
seven hours or so to assemble.
One of my co-workers was takrn with tht anatomical study leotards,
but after looking at the price tag changeo her mind. "I can draw them
for that," she said. She's right.
But what about EarBear? He'/ the perfect gift for the loving mother
of a child with an earache. Look into Teddy's left ear with the "profes
sional-quality, physician-approved otoscope" and you can see both how
a "normal" eardrum should look, and then how it looks with signs of
middle ea. infection or fluid build-up. Comes complete with guide
booklet and EarBear reward stickers. A mere $49.95.
You may want the EarBear.. .but you're more likely to buy the bat
tery-operated mirror shown on the back cover, if you can choose be
tween the one that laughs or the one that screams. The perfect gift for a
practical joker to give or get
There's more, but you'll have to see it for yourself. You should see
this catalog at least once in your lifetime, if never again, just to satisfy
the practical joker tucked away beneath your skin.
Sometimes other people's mail is just better than your own. This
was one of those days. Happy reading.
Susan
Usher
/%
J2 j
Years Of Living Dangerously In Leland
At times it's embarrassing to tell
people that I live in Leland. Actually,
i live in the Maco community and
have a Leland mailing address.
This is a column about an ugly
situation that exists in an area where
my family has lived a lifetime. I'm
going to call it as I sec it, and I'm
sure it's going to make some people
angry.
There are good points about the
community that may not appear in
print here, but this column isn't to
praise. It's an attempt to explain my
embarrassment and why I feel
threatened each time I leave home.
Each morning as I pull that door
shut behind me I ask myself, is this
going to be the day? I have a list of
serial numbers of my meager pos
sessions hidden in two placcs, from
fear deputies will need that informa
tion when they file that breaking
and entering and larceny report.
I come from a community that
goes way back, where people once
never locked their doors. Now, peo
ple are getting chased down and
struck by pickup trucks in fast-food
parking lots, water pumps are stolen
from outside of homes while the
residents are inside watching televi
sion, cars are hit by gunfire on busy
highways, cindcrblocks are thrown
through the glass doors of business
es so that someone can steal jeans
and sweaters, drink machines are
r
Terry V 17
Pope
CHL
beat to death so they will yield a
few quarters, drive-by shootings oc
cur at nightclubs, high school ball
games subject cars to vandalism and
theft in lighted parking lots, a bur
glar loads valuables into the back of
a resident's pickup truck and then
drives away with the pickup and
nearly everything the family owns
(in daylight), dozens of tombstones
are kicked over and broken in a
church cemetcry..and the list goes
on and on.
You name it, I have seen it on
crime reports filed by deputies at
the Brunswick County Sheriff's
Department. The stack of reports
filed each week from the Lcland
area is astounding.
A fellow basketball official, with
whom I have called a number of
high school games and who teaches
and lives in Wilmington, asked me
just the other day, "Where do you
live?"
"Over in Leland/]
? ? ? ? >J-,
"They seem to have a lot of peo
ple who get in trouble with the law
over there. I read in the paper all the
time where Leiand people arc being
arrested in Wilmington."
Members of the Small Business
Association in Leiand recently ap
proached Brunswick County com
missioners to ask that something be
done to beef up the patrol coverage
in the northern end of the county.
Businesswoman Kay Todd, whose
video store has been burglarized
three times within seven months, al
so spoke to the Leiand Town
Council last Thursday to ask for po
lice help.
You see, Leiand doesn't have a
police department, and even if it did
that police force wouldn't be able to
help those outside the town limits.
If the National Guard wasn't being
called up to support troops in Saudi
Arabia, that might be an answer to
the crime wave.
The bottom line is, Leiand resi
dents are going to have to help
themselves, too. Residents will have
to band together. If a neighbor sees
something, then he or she needs the
guts to stand up to the criminals. A
typical investigation often sounds
like this:
"You might want to ask John Doe
about it."
Dctcctive asks, "Did you see him
do anything?"
"I'm not saying I saw anything,
but you might want to ask around."
Thanks for no help at all.
To speak bad about one's own
neighborhood isn't a very neighbor
ly thing to do, but as I said before, I
want to call it like I sec it. Leland is
growing, new businesses are locat
ing there each day. The shopping
centers arc expanding.
But along with that growth comes
an influx of people that I don't want
to see. Wilmington residents have
good reason to picture Leland as a
haven of felons and parolees, given
the embarrassingly high number of
crimes that occur there.
I wish there was a quick solution,
but I'm not feeling very positive
that there will be, no matter what
the town or county decides to do
about a police force. I just don't
know what it will take for Leland to
become that "shining city on the
hill," to borrow some words from
Ronald Reagan.
1 can only hope that in the end,
the good people will outnumber the
bad guys. It is a brave gesture for
prominent businesswomen, like
Kay Todd, to go public with their
fears about crimes that affect every
one in the community, to air the
dirty linen out for the world to see,
to cling to that sliver of hope that
Leland will be returned to the good
guys in the end.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Night The Lights Went Out At Holdert Beach
To the editor
Tonight as I looked out my front
door toward the marsh across the
street, I thought of the countless
times I've enjoyed seeing the reflec
tion of our security light on the
high-tide water-almost as lovely as
moonlight. But not tonight.
Tonight 1 can only see darkness
beyond my door. My neighbors'
houses are just dark shapes. For the
first time since buying our house
ten years ago the street is in dark
ness.
Yesterday after reading in the
Beacon that the Holden Beach
Commissioners had voted 3-2 to up
hold the ordinance concerning out
side lights, I called Brunswick Elec
tric and requested that our security
light be removed as soon as possi
ble. Then I called the town hall to
notify them that there would be no
need for a letter. BEMC is very effi
cient and the matter was resolved
today.
There are a couple of points I'd
like to make. First, I was quoted in
the Beacon as having said I had
never heard a complaint about my
security light. What I said was that
the neighbors on either side of my
house had not complained; had in
fact been thankful for the protection
they, as I, felt it provided.
There was a complaint several
years ago by someone who lives
five houses and several vacant lots
away on our street. (He also com
plained about three other lights,
none of which were on our street.)
My husband, our daughter and I
came in on a Friday night to find
the security light blackened. This
should not have been done because
we didn't request it.
My second point is this: I've said
from the beginning that we would
have our light removed if the ordi
nance was not rescinded, not be
cause we agree with it (we don't),
but because we are law-abiding citi
zens of the town in which we have
chosen to live. At the open hearing
on this matter last Monday night,
people spoke for and against the or
dinance. Up to that moment I had
felt that the things we had to say
were important and could make a
difference, that there might be a
chance for rescinding the ordinance.
Then Commissioner Judy Bryan
told of her complaints concerning a
neighbor's light. She said she had
tried and failed more than once to
get the light blackened. She said she
had cooked an entire meal without
turning on her lights, just using the
illumination from the aforemention
ed light. It was apparent that her
mind was closed to the issue.
I had heard in advance of the
meeting that it would be a waste of
time 10 voice my feelings. The ordi
nance was a "done thing," as the
saying goes.
The Beacon article also stated
that "a previous town board adopted
the rules in November 1989 follow
ing a required public hearing. The
lighting regulations weren't oppos
cd until after they took effect last
November and the town started en
forcing them." This is not true. I
wrote a letter to the town manager
and commissioners on November
20, 1989, voicing my concerns
about the lighting ordinance.
I should think my letter would be
on file in the town hall, although no
one was courteous enough to re
spond to my questions. We lived in
Fayetteville at the time and could
(See LETTERS, Following Page)
Recycling Really Isn't Painful
The recycling movement has
been growing stronger and stronger
the last couple of years in Bruns
wick County.
The efforts of a few dedicated
volunteers who set up the first recy
cling operations at Boiling Spring
Lakes and Sunset Beach have been
rewarded.
There are now seven established
recycling centers sprinkled through
out the county, and the county gov
ernment is paying for all of them.
In addition to the ones mentioned
above, recycling centers have been
set up at Calabash, Shallotte,
Holden Beach, Southport and Long
Beach. If it isn't already in place, I
understand another center is in the
works at Leland.
That means almost the entire
population of Brunswick County
lives within a few miles of a recy
cling center. Even the folks out in
Ash are only 10 "^iles from
Shallotte.
That means people really have no
excuse not to recycle. It's simple
and doesn't take any time at all.
And best of all, recycling gives you
a feeling that you're doing some
thing to help the environment rather
than hurt it.
It wasn't until recently that I
Doug
Rutter
started recycling. I thought it would
be a lot of extra work. But setting
something aside to be recycled real
ly isn't any harder than tossing it in
the trash can.
1 also believed that recycling a
few soda bottles and newspapers
every week really wouldn't cut
down on the amount of trash going
into our landfill. I was wrong again.
In fact, I was amazed at just how
much of the stuff I'd been throwing
away is recyclable. Old newspapers,
plastic and glass containers arid alu
minum cans accounted for a lot of
the bulk items I had been throwing
out. Now they go U> tiiv Ilolden
Beach recycling center instead of
the landfill.
Brunswick Clean County Coord
inator Terry Munn told me George
Bush, the ma- /ho provides the lo
cal recycling collection trailers not
the president, has collected 489 tons
of recyclable items here since
December 1989.
That's a good start. But there's
still a lot of recyclable items going
into the landfill. They're taking up
space in the landfill, which some
time in the near future will have to
be replaced with another one.
Guess who will pay for it.
Brunswick County taxpayers will
pay for it, that's who. So if you
don't recycle for any other reason,
maybe you'll recycle to save your
self higher taxes.
You see, everything we do has
some impact on the environment.
We pollute the air every day when
we drive to work. We pollute the
water when we build along the
coast. By recycling, we give some
thing back to the environment.
I don't mean to sound like Captain
Planet or anything, but this is the on
ly Earth we have. Once this one's
gone, we have nowhere to go. We a!l
live in the same house, so to speak,
so we all should try to keep it clean.
If you don't feel an obligation to
protect our environment, consider
the "pain of recycling" as the price
you pay for living along the North
Carolina coast. It's like another tax.
So start paying it.