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Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter and Terry Pope Staff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Ttmberley Adams & Cecelia Gore Advertising Re pre sen latives
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. JANUARY 10. 1991
County Needs
No Smoking Policy
In Public Places
It's time for Brunswick County to go smoke free.
Commissioners should outlaw smoking in the county's public
buildings, especially at the government complex in Bolivia.
The Brunswick Hospital last week made a dramatic step in
prohibiting smoking at the hospital. Signs were placed outside
the building advising visitors to leave their tobacco products in
the car Smoking receptacles were removed from the hospital
and signs state that smoking is not allowed in the building.
Smoking cessation classes are being offered to employees to
help them break the habit.
The county should follow that example. If commissioners
are concerned about the health and well-being of their con
stituents, they should readily adopt a no smoking policy at the
complex.
Several years ago, former Health Director Thomas Blum
tried to get health directors and commissioners interested in such
a smoking ban, but his ideas were quickly shot down by those
holding county office at the time.
The Board of Health should try again and draw up an ordi
nance which would prohibit smoking by both visitors and em
ployees at the complex. If persons wish to smoke, they could do
so outside the buildings.
While court is in session at the complex, the hallway is so
smoke-filled that it stings the eyes. Signs have been placed in
side the courthouse asking people to keep their feet off of the
walls, by order of the Superior Court judge.
Footprints on the wall are not harmful to another person's
health. Smoking, it has been proven, is harmful to others who
might passively breathe in another person's tobacco smoke.
People have a right to choose to smoke, but it is just as ap
propriate for a health-minded community to limit where smok
ers may light up. The poorly-ventilated, close quarters of public
office buildings are not the right place.
Perhaps the new Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners will be more concerned about the health of the
people who elected them, many of whom are non-smokers.
Maybe the board will realize that non-smokers have rights that
need to be protected, too.
If those rights are not guaranteed hy the local government,
then by whom?
Write Us
The Beacon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed
and include the writer's address. Under no circumstances will unsigned
letters be printed. Letters should be legible. The Beacon reserves the
right to edit libelous comments. Address letters to The Brunswick
Beacon, P. O. Bo* 2558, Shallotte, N. C. 28459.
Guns To Flippers ?
Police Get It All
Shallotte Police had a busy year in 1990, busier even than the num
bers of arrests and charges might indicate. To really get a feel for what
they've been doing, you'd have to
look in the department's property
room. Better yet, look at their re
covery report.
Last year, between going to
school, speaking to groups and ar
resting dnink drivers, officers re
covered property worth $107,078,
not counting an end-of-the-year
car seizure. Most of the stuff was
returned to the rightful owners
where they could be identified. That was, however, with the exception
of a few items awarded the department by the courts, such as several
guns that were in good condition.
The haul also included another $150,000 in illegal drugs that were
destroyed.
Just about anything you could name is on the recovery list, some of
it recovered from larcenies, others from embezzlements or shoplifting
attempts. Some were seized in drug-related cases.
At the top of the list, 14 cars and trucks seized that ranged in value
from $500 to $12,800, and a Harley Davidson worth $10,500; Food
Stamps and cash, guns of almost any type you could imagine.
Officers claimed rocks of crack cocaine, marijuana plants, real and
counterfeit marijuana, six packs of beer, mini-bottles of liquor, wine
coolers and a bottle of Wild Irish Rose, hashish, L.S.D., alcohol, pre
scription drugs, and drug paraphernalia. While vehicles passing through
on U.S. 17 might account for a good deal of the drugs seized, some of
the stuff came from right here in peaceful little Shallotte, where most
families don't care to admit there just might be a drug problem.
The rest of the goods in the officers' stash could have helped stock
a variety store. Officers recovered a wheelbarrow, rake and square point
shovel; hair styling goods, makeup and false fingernails; a circular saw;
vitamins and calcium; screwdrivers, pocket knives ar.d pliers; bicycles;
eight cans of tuna; black mild cigars; jewelry that included a diamond
and sapphire ring; clothing: a television and videocassette recorder.
Even a jar of Vaseline and a clarinet.
But my favorite items come from a recent "diving" expedition at a
local golf course, where some energetic entrepreneurs were recovering
golf balls from the pond without permission of the course. Recovered
along with a bucket of 750 golf balls worth $245; two sets of swimming
flippers, a SCUBA diving knife, two sets of snorkeling masks and a pair
of wet suit booties.
It was all in a day's (and night's) work.
Susan
Usher
Fighting Mini-Wars Here On The Homefront
This is a touchy subject bccausc
by this time next week the United
States may be closer to war than at
any time since the Vietnam conflict.
Closer to home, there has already
been a mini-war of sorts. Recently,
officials at Sunny Point Military
Ocean Terminal near Southport had
to deal with a bomb threat.
Sunny Point is the largest ammu
nitions port in the free world. It lies
just a mile north of the Carolina
Power and Light Company's Bruns
wick nuclear plant on the Cape Fear
River. You don't want to think
about the kinds of bad things that
might possibly happen should an
accident occur at either place.
With the conflict in the Persian
Gulf against Iraq's Saddam Hus
sein, Sunny Point has been a hotbed
of activity in recent months. Who
knows how many rounds of ammu
nition or bombs have passed
through the terminal since the de
ployment of troops to Saudi Arabia
began last September?
The live rounds are loaded onto
ships that come and go through the
treacherous mouth of the Cape Fear
and then out to sea and to the
Persian Gulf. The ships that pass the
quiet town of Southport nead for the
terminal riding high on the waves.
Terry
Pope
When the ships return on their way
out to sea, they look like pregnant
guppies, as though their bellies are
scraping tlx; bottom of the river
while loaded with explosives.
With so much at stake, security is
of utmost importance at Sunny
Point There is no room for error or
for a laxening of tne tightened con
trols. Military experts know that it's
next to impossible to in nitrate the
elaborate security system at Sunny
Point, but on the morning of Dec.
28 a call came into the terminal say
ing that a bomb would go off inside
around 2 p.m.
Longshoremen loading the explo
sives had to stop their S51 an hour
jobs while a search of the area be
gan, looking for a bomb among the
bombs, like a needle in a haystack.
The FBI was called in. Brunswick
County Emergency Management
Coordinator Cecil Logan temporari
ly canceled his vacation to assist.
The State Highway Patrol sent five
troopers to assist with a possible
evacuation. The Brunswick County
Sheriff's Department added patrols
and Interim County Manager David
Clegg was kept abreast of the situa
tion.
In effect, the county's emergency
response team jumped into action as
though a major hurricane was about
to hit the coast or as though a nucle
ar disaster was threatening to con
taminate the county. CP&L officials
were notified of the potential danger
to its nuclear reactors.
FBI bomb experts rushed to the
scene. Every precaution was taken
to protect lives in the event of a
bombing at the terminal. What up
set officials abou' the call is that the
man's voice had a foreign accent
and he was very vague about the
bomb threat. Telephones at the ter
minal are wired. An attempt to trace
the call proved unsuccessful.
Logan began a ground search
outside the terminal, taking a count
of how many families might have to
leave their homes until officials
were confident the threat was over.
He counted 32 mobile homes and
five houses in the immediate area.
While all of this was going on, it
appeared in the South port area that
nothing was going on. Unmarked
police cars came and went quietly.
No sirens were used. Fearing a pan
ic among citizens when officials
were 99.9 percent certain that it was
just a prank, no residents were noti
fied to leave. It was quietly kept un
der wraps.
The construction of the terminal
is designed to protect area homes
against a blast. Earthen berms wall
the storage and loading areas so that
if a blast docs occur the debris and
shrapnel won't blanket outward.
The berms will bear the brunt of the
blast instead.
"It was a good drill," Logan said.
"I took it pretty seriously. It helped
me think about what am I going to
do in the event of a bomb. You just
never know what can happen. And
it's always better to be prepared."
If there is a positive note to end
on it would be just this. Emergency
response teams were ready. They
actcd quickly and avoided a public
panic while taking every precaution
to sec that no one would be harmed.
But every nut is to be taken seri
ously, especially in the war-threat
ened period we are facing.
Isn't this a crazy world we live in?
T "Ve holidaysare over.,,
The kids are cjorve,,,
Li's nice -to be alone again,
just you and me, wrfch
no distractions!
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Choose To Be Involved In BCKAB
To the editor
Reading Bill Faver's column in
The Brunswick Beacon is an enjoy
able experience and particularly the
one in the Dec. 27 issue entitled,
"Choose to Be Involved In The
New Year."
Mr. Faver mentions several na
tional organizations for us to be
come associated with and, in so do
ing, express our concerns and
"make a difference through them." I
would like to add the Brunswick
County Keep America Beautiful
(BCKAB) organization to the list.
This group has set recycling as its
number one priority and the ulti
mate goal is to have every Bruns
wick County citizen recycling.
Great strides have been made in
this field. There are currently seven
recycling (collection) centers in
Brunswick County. BCKAB is do
ing an excellent job in educating
our people to the recycling way of
life. Getting involved with one of
the centers would be a way of ex
pressing our concern for the envi
ronment. One could form a neigh
borhood movement by taking turns
hauling recyclable items to the near
est center. We could volunteer some
time at the actual center, crushing
plastic, sorting glass by color or
even making appropriate signs for
the various containers. The Shal
loue center has been opened a
month now and is manned practical
ly single-handedly by Bill Potts;
that is, he opens the trailer every
day at 10 a.m. and locks it at 4 p.m.,
sorts items people have left and
makes sure the area is neat and tidy.
He could use some voluntary help
(579-5079).
So, "Think Globally, Act Local
ly," become involved in the New
Year and let's make Brunswick
My Tiny Niece Eats Like A Horse
I was fortunate enough to get to
Pennsylvania between Christmas
and New Year's Day to visit my
brother's family and some old
friends.
1 even got a Christmas wish
while I was there. In this column a
few weeks ago, you may recall that
I wished for a few inches of snow
for Christmas.
I didn't ask for a foot or anything
close to the 17 inches we got in
1989. All I wanted was three inches
to blanket the pine trees.
As you probably know by now,
we didn't get any snow in the
Carolinas for Christmas. But I did
get my wish a few days later when a
solid six inches fell in Philadelphia.
It happened to be the first snow of
winter in those parts. Pretty good
timing if you ask me.
As always, I had a lot of fun vis
iting the old stomping grounds. My
niece, Nicole, will be two years old
next month. She walks and talks
and does everything that a child her
age is supposed to do.
Nicole also eats like a horse. I ac
" tually saw her eat two juicy oranges
in approximately three minutes. She
was cramming the slices down her
throat faster than her mother could
peel and separate them. Oh well, at
Doug
Rutter
Ej? I
F?
M
' ~ ; J
/
least she's eating healthy foods.
I'm afraid I couldn't say the same
thing for Uncle Doug while he was
on vacation. Did you really think he
dRuld go all the way to Philadelphia
without eating some unhealthy
foods?
Shame on you. I had a genuine
Philadelphia soft pretzel with mus
tard, and we ate hoagies one day for
lunch. We bought the hoagies at the
place that catered the celebration for
the Phillies when they won the
World Series in 1980. My hoagie
was so big 1 couldn't eat it all. But I
had fun trying.
I didn't cat the whole time I was
there. I also played the Nintendo
video game system for the first
lime. It was a lot of fun. 1 particu
larly enjoyed the tennis game be
cause you play against the comput
er, and you can smash the ball at the
computer man's head.
It's one thing to beat a human op
ponent. Humans tend to make mis
takes. It's an entirely different thing
to beat the computer. Beating the
computer somehow makes you feel
superior.
Anyway, I didn't drive all the
way to Pennsylvania to eat hoagies
and sit in front of a television set
and pretend I was playing tennis.
As I said earlier, the first snow of
winter occurred while 1 was there. It
made driving difficult for a couple
of days, but we made the most of it.
No, we didn't go sledding or
bumper riding or skiing. We didn't
even have a massive snowball fight.
Some old pals and 1 played tackle
football in the snow. It reminded me
of some of the football games I
played in when I was young and my
bones weren't so brittle. The snow
was coming down in big flakes.
Everybody was breathing frosty
smoke and sliding all over the field.
This was classic, grind-it-out foot
ball. Even though the game didn't
last very long, it was the kind of
game John Madden would have
killed to announce. I think Madden
would have abandoned his old bus
and hijacked an airplane to watch
this one. It would have been worth it.
County an environmentally aware
place to live.
Chance Scrantom
BCKAB Member
Sunset Beach
Investigate,
Make Public
To the editor
The year 1990 finished with a
change on the county board of com
missioners. Voters showed their dis
gust with a split board and back
room politics. Now the papers tell
us we have the same situation with
the Board of Education.
One would assume that the Board
of Education would have more
integrity while dealing with the edu
cation of Brunswick County stu
dents. Some members failed to hon
or their rhetoric after they were
elected. It appears that they became
self-serving, enmeshed in deals and
perhaps bargained to use positions
as a stepping-stone to benefit their
own ambitions.
Recent reports in county newspa
pers lead the public to suspect that
some members of the Board of
Education have personal goals that
do not embrace the education of the
school children.
According to the papers, one
member of the board used her
elective office to try to gain re-em
ployment for her husband with the
school system. Both candidates for
the superintendent's position, Dr.
Rogers 2nd Mr. Hankins, rejected
Dot Worth's proposal.
All members of the school board
should feel a personal responsibility
to do what is best for the education
of our children.
As to the mauer of Mr. Worth
having five years additional insur
ance coverage after his departure
from his position, the board has a
responsibility to examine all the
facts and determine who was re
(See LETTERS, Following Page)