Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Jan. 16, 1992, edition 1 / Page 4
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Opinion Page THE BRUNSWii K & KF AXON ? ? ? Bkr ? m W I www* w ? ? ar Mrs a w w I ?? Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn 11. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt IZdttor Susan Usher News Editor Terry I'ope and Dori Gurganus Stajf Writers Doug Rutter S/xtrts Editor Peggy Earwood OJjice Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director Timber I cy c*i*v? Ccccliu Cor" d wC'r* iix'v* Dorothy Brennan and Brenda C'lemnions Moore.. Graphic Artists William Manning Pressman Lonnte Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Tracy Smith Photo Technician Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4 A. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16. 1992 Here's Why Those Green Monsters Can Be Dumped Big, green, trash bins in niral areas where people can dump garbage are dinosaurs that have outlived their time. We can now afford to send the green monsters to the dump. 1 lere's why. Greenboxes, as they are called, are becoming rarer in North Carolina as counties must step up their recycling programs. Brunswick County is no exception. The county's 50 or more greenbox sites will dwindle to just 13 under a new solid waste contract with Waste Industries Inc. of Raleigh this year. But never fear. That number had planned to drop drastically anyway, even if trash hauling had remained un der county employee control. Some residents have grown accustomed to the convenience of having those eyesores located so close to home. However, persons are missing the point when they complain about having the greenboxes removed. It's no conspiracy aimed at cutting ser vices to residents. Hounded by state laws and public demand for recycling, counties are replacing 'he binv; with newer and staffed collection centers where trash is sorted for recycling. The county will have at least 10 convenience centers and three solid waste transfer stations w ith recycling bins. All homes will be located w ithin five miles of a convenience station when the construction is complete. When someone gets out of their car to dump trash, bins will be there to hold recy clable materials? such as glass, newspaper, aluminum cans and plastic ? that do not belong in the landfill. Despite educational efforts, a lot of recyclable material is still winding up in the greenboxes and is trucked away to the landfill. Unmanned sites today also end up filled with discarded furniture, tree limbs and appliances. Counties have been pushed into action by a 19X9 state law aimed at reducing the amount of waste going to landfills by 25 percent by 1993 and 40 percent by 2001. To meet that goal will be tough. Counties w ill need to offer more than just bins at trash disposal stations. County Engineer Robert Tucker has been the person under fire recently. It's his long-range plan that has Brunswick County Commissioners looking to the future and trying to deal with the solid w aste crisis. Before Tucker was hired in 1990, the county did not have a long-range garbage plan. His proposal came under attack at a commissioners' meeting last week. Residents were quick to criticize the removal of greenboxes without stopping to ask why. The county must reduce the number of places where recy clable material can be dumped in with the household trash. The fewer the sites, the easier it will be to keep an eye on things and to meet next year's goal. So say goodbye to those ugly greenboxes. It's something that must be done. Lb I I ERS I (J I Hb tL)\ lOR Why Was Weclome Center Built Instead Of Overpass? . u , ~ Toihc editor On Nov. I, 1991, there was an accident on the new Highway 17 bypass in Shallotte. Two innocent people were killed, one of which was my first cousin. Steve Alien Smith. Both victims had family and friends who loved and cared for them very much. But the sad thing about the whole situation is that the suite of North Carolina feels that these two lives are not impor tant enough to have an overpass built to prevent any future acci dents The slule of Nnrlh Carolina feels that at least five more people have lo he killed before they ever consider building an overpass. It has been two months and sev en days since the accident oc curred. I was at work the morning of the accident. Imagine the shock and pain I felt when I heard the news. And, just think, 1 was Steve's first cousin. Imagine how his wife and two children felt, not to mention 16-year-old Misty Carmichael's family. I know building an overpass isn't going to bring Steve and Misty back, but it could prevent a lot of families from going through what our family is going through today and will go through for the rest of our iives. just think of how you would feci it if were your family! I Juiow I sound as if you have never lost a family member in an accident. I'm sure you may have or, then again, you may not have. But if you have I know you must know how it feels. It is not a good feeling. So what good is a welcome cen ter going to do for the town of Shallotte or the state of North Carolina when people are afraid to even go through the intersection where the center stands, knowing that their family was killed or could be killed because the suite decided lo build the center lo wel come people to our town insipid of an overpass that could save the lives of our families and friends. Gina Caison Calabash Bigger ; Better Is Hope For Future To the editor: To all those who assisted in the Christmas tree lighting for 1991, sincere thanks for your coopera tion. We hope future years will bring a bigger and better celebra tion as the event becomes recog nized as an annual welcome to Christmas in the town of Shallotte. Alex Meams, Coordinator South Brunswick Islands Rotary Club (More Letters Following Page) It's Another Love-Hate Relationship ? 1 h:ive a love hate relationship with government, as do most people, I think. At times it seems that ihcre arc tilings that should not Ik lelt up to individuals to decide or handle, that for the good of the whole, govern ment ought to do it. Then there are days when I'm convinced it wouldn't hurt a hit to do away with all government and its creations ? or at least specific |xir tions thereof. You have days like that as well, I'm sure. Some of you more than others. Here's a minor case in point. In fact, on one level it isn't worth being bothered with. But. as you've said yourself at one time or another: It's the principle of the thing. We own a home in a subdivision just outside the town city limits. Our house is almost exactly two miles from the town lire department anil about four or five miles from the next closest fire department. Suson Usher ^ ST We're in ihc town's fire service district, though we've been assured thill both departments would re spond to any fire in our neighbor hood. When we bought insurance, the agent indicated that it' we had a lire hydrant nearby we could qualify for a discount on our premium. Last year our subdivision got county water, there's a lire hydrant right at the corner of the lot. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well, the insurance community doesn'l think our improved situation gives us any lower risk of fire loss. While wc live very near the town VFD, because we happen to live outside the town limits wc were told last year by two companies Unit we do not qualify lor a reduction in our fire insurance rates because wc don't live within the town. Never you mind that we live much closer to the lire department than many of the town's actual resi dents; never mind that there's a hydrant at the corner; never mind that there's a second department in hollering distance. That doesn't mailer, say the pow ers that hi lt's not the lire department's fault, or even the town's fault. From what wc understand, ii has to do with lire department ratings and comes from the state Depart ment of Insurance. The town VF-'I) was chartered by the town. It receives its space, over head costs and a lot of other support from the town and its taxpayers. MOM IvCr, ?nui IitC iiiVuTujiCC pCO pic don't figure in their rules is that the department is supported by county lax dollars as well and serves a district that extends beyond the town limits. But to qualify for the discount, we must not only be within a certain number of miles ol the department and have a hydrant nearby, but also live inside the town limits. Silly, huh? The few dollars we might have saved don't really matter; again, it was the principle of the thing. Our subdivision just became part of the town's extraterritorial juris diction. A dime says that doesn't make a lick of difference either But maybe next year or the year after we'll be annexed. Then maybe we'll not only qualify lor a few dol lars off on our insurance premium, hut also gel to pay town taxes for ;i service already available to us as county taxpayers ("est la vie ftQ&AJ .T^lQ 1 camjha car rrms Are Fashion Magazines Outfitting Bradshaw? I Uon'i watch a lot of football. Admittedly, when the Atlanta Falcons actually made the playoffs and looked like they had a longshot at the Super Howl, I sat up and tixik notice. A little home-town favoritism never hurt anyone. Also, being married to a sports fan has had an influence on the amount of football I've had to watch. So, I'm sitting in the living rt>om on the occasional Sunday when my husband has possession of the re mote control, and I'm watching football. And I'm wondering why Pat O'Brien and Terry Bradshaw arc dressed like models from those men's fashion magazines. That's not how real men dress. How many of you out there be lieve that Terry Bradshaw has a Don vsmi Cosgrove M _ || bunch of olive- or teal -colored, dou ble-breasted linen suils in his closet at home? And how many of you believe that Terry picked out those colorful, painted-on flowery silk ties? 1 can hear it now: "Oh yes, I'll wear that salmon and jade one." I think he'd probably rather be wearing a sweatshirt. Pat O'Brien is the worst, howev er. There he stands out on the side lines, miking to the coaches and players in the mud and rain. He's wearing a khaki, news re porter's trenchcoat and a dark brown, or is it sandstone-colored tai lored suit, and one of those flowered lies. How realistic is this? I don't claim to be anyone's fash ion advisor, but I do have a few ideas. Let Mr. O'Brien wear an official network sweaLsuit, complete with embroidered logo, when he's out on the field. Maybe a polo shirt under neath. And some tennis shoes instead of those shiny loafers! Let Mr. Bradshaw wear a sweater with the network logo on it, and a turtleneck underneath. It's casual and comfortable, and most of all, it's the look more sports fans can relate to, I believe. I mean, why should sports an chors and reporters feel pressured lo dress like news reporters? And while we're on the subject, even news reporters gel to wear sweaters or leave off their lies when they're on physically-active assign ments. Like following President Bush up to Kennebunkport, or cov ering events in the Middle East. 1 don't think that sports fashions have ever been as strict as other fashion rules, so why shouldn't sports reporters wear sports fash ions? If 1 were a dedicated sports fans sitting at home in blue jeans and sweatshirt watching these guys, I might be able to relate to them a lit tle easier. And without giggling at my hus band, "Look at how they're dress ed!" all throueh the names A Cartoon Would Paint A Thousand Words I wish I hail the artistic talent to be an editorial cartoonist. There would be plenty of subjects to keep me busy here in Brunswick County. II I could draw beyond slick fig ures, I'd have fun characterizing those in the public eye. As I write this now, I'm wailing to see how the cartoonists picture President George Bush's trip to Japan. Can they draw his hmji with the llu tactfully and still touch on the humorous side ol our leader? If Bush thinks he had a problem bat tling a wimp image during the 1988 election, wait until the cartoonists get a shot at his passing out ami throw ing up at the emperor's dinner table, during an election year at thai. Closer to home, I 'd put the pen to work on our own notorious leaders, heroes and bad guys. The saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. You can say so much in a cartoon dial you wouldn't want to express in a column; that's where your picture is loeated and you arc so open to attack. As a cartoonist, you could scribblc your last name, if you wanted to, in some inconspicu ous corner and leave it at that. I'd have fun displaying our noto rious drug dealers from the past and present. Brunswick County has quite a few. They range from Operation Terry f T Pope 4 ^ Gateway in 19X3, where marijuana shipments cainc in on loaded shrimp trawlers, to Operation KIP m 1991, where drug dogs arc used to sniff out contraband from vehicles stop ped at road blocks. I ihink the nastincss of comments exchanged between the Brunswick County Commissioners and Register of Deeds Robert J. Robinson last week at an open board meeting would merit a cartoon. That may be what got me thinking about this col umn topic in the first placc, for sit ting there in the commissioners' chambers I cx pec led to get hit in the eyes with sand. Yes, with sand. The battle to abolish Robinson's advisory board last week would paint a mean picturc of children fighting over plastic toy soldiers in a sandbox. These are our county Democratic and Republican leaders. Right. The animal righLs activist who tailed to complain about my story on beaver trapping last week would probably end up caught in a trap, if I could only draw. Trapping animals is a two-sided and controversial is sue. The article dealt with the beaver problem in Brunswick County and one way to help work on that prob lr?rr? *-?/?*? tinlK -.?!?. ... ?viii, uwi ?* mi inv I.MUV \;i ? i ic u iv I trapping is a gcx)d thing or whether it's torture to animals. That's another story. I am an animal lover with three dogs, too many cats, a bird and fish. County commissioners are also open game to cartoonists. The thing aixiul drawing die five board mem bers is dial you have to lex; us on something that docs a good job of characterizing each one. For in stance, when drawing Sheriff John Carr Davis you would have to in clude the pipe he smokes. For commissioners, it may be the following: Jerry Jones' half-lcnscd glasses, Kelly Holden's stature or height. Gene Pinkcrton's bluntncss, Frankic Rabon's down to earth analogies, and Donald Shaw's po liteness. 1 think I could do it, but no one would rccognizc the slick fig ures I draw. I've thought of signing up for that correspondence arts coursc adver tised on television, the one where there arc just a few spots left but on ly if you call before midnight. If it could take me beyond stick figures, I'd be up there with Jeff MacNelly and the other big guys. THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON Established Nov. 1 , 1962 Telephone 734-6890 Published Every Thursday At 4709 Main Street Shallotlc, N.C. 28459 SUBSCRIPTION RATES IN ISRUNSWICK COUNTY One Year SI 0.36 Six Months S5.55 KLSKWHKRK IN NORTH CAROLINA One Year SI 4.86 Six Months S7.90 KLSKWUKRK IN U.S.A. One Year SI 5.95 Six Months S8.35 Second class postage paid at Shallotte, N.C. 2845<>. USPS 777 780. POSTMASTER, send address changes to: P.O. Box 2558, Shallotte, N.C. 28459-2558
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 16, 1992, edition 1
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