PHOTO BY BILL FAVtt
SPRING brings renewed activity with flowers , insects , and birds .
The Springing Of The Year
BY HILL FAVKR
II is not surprising that many people choose spring as their lavorite
season of the year. The feeling of youthfulness, the energy, and the be
ginning again meet needs most of us "nave after a
winter sometimes dark and dreary. We like the re
birth of plants and trees, the return of birds from mi
gration, and the warmer days spring promises us.
When you think about it the "miracle of spring"
is a spectacular event. Each year we know spring is
coming and we seem not surprised when flowers
burst into bloom and birds sing for the longer days.
When we do examine what is happening we can ex
plain it away scientifically as the position of the sun
and the cycle of the seasons.
But it is quite spectacular. Think about the de
tails and the interdependcncies and interrelationships. Leaves develop
and small caterpillars hatch out to feed on them just as the migrating
warblers pass through and enjoy the caterpillars. Enough caterpillars sur
vive to change into butterflies and mollis. Rowers blpom and insects
who depend upon flowers appear, birds come for the insects, and our
yards are filled with spring activity. The butterflies and insects help pol
linate the flowers so there will be seeds to produce another round of
flowers next spring.
Maybe it is the activity we enjoy in the spring. After winter and a
fairly quiet, restful time, we welcome the renewal of activity and energy.
Robert Frost reminds us to enjoy spring in these lines:
O ffive us pleasures in the flowers today;
And ^ive us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year...
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MORE LETTERS TO THF FDITOR
Don't Charge
Soles Tax On Power Cost
To ihc alitor:
Have you lixiked carefully at your
clcclric bill rcccntly? There is an
item charged that has a sales tax in
cluded- power cost as weii as a
charge lor electricity actually con
sumed by its members.
I'm sure Brunswick Electric
Membership Corporation's hoard of
directors instructed BEMC manage
ment to collect taxes on all revenues
mailed to consumer members. 1 con
tend this rule be changed, because
power cost is unsold energy to the
consumer, and therefore should not
be taxed!
*I"his makes me wonder if the di
rectors of BEMC, when approving
such a plan as unpopular as it is. ex
pected us to pay this tax levy or 're
imbursement" for lost profits?
Speaking of lost profits, this
month the North Carolina Member
ship Corp., which represents 27 co
operatives (including BEMC) lost a
15-year-old lawsuit against Carolina
Power & Light Co., accusing the
Raleigh-bascd utility of violating
Federal antitrust laws. After nine
days of testimony, U.S. District
Judge Frank Bullock ruled in faver
of CP&L, declining to send the case
to a jury!
Why? The North Carolina Mem
bership Corp. (including BEMC)
claimed CP&L had illegally refused
to sell the group an ownership inter
est in the utility's Brunswick nuclcar
plant in the 1970s.
The North Carolina Membership
Corporation (includes BEMC) for
example, owns 28 percent of Char
lotte based-Duke Power Company's
Catawba nuclear station on Lake
Wylic.
The North Carolina Membership
Corporation had demanded from
CP&L more than S3(X) million in
damages, the amount it believes it
would have been able to save, had it
been able to collect triple damages,
anu judge Bullock ruled that CP&L
didn't have a duty to sell an interest
in Brunswick nuclear plant.
Do you think this decision w ill be
appealed? What were the attorney's
fees paid by the North Carolina
Membership Corporation. BEMC
and the other 26 cooperatives?
I talked with an official ol CP&L
and was informed that Brunswick
Electric Membership Corporation
docs buy its electric energy from
Carolina Power & Light Co.. and. in
turn, sets its own rate to its con
sumer members (folks, that's you
and me ).
Brunswick Electric Membership
Corporation has no higher authority
to answer to in North Carolina. The
North Carolina Utility Commission
does not regulate a subcontractor
BEMC. In fact, BEMC docs not
have the authority to extend any
charges unless approved by its indi
vidual members at the Brunswick
Electric Membership Corporation's
annual meeting.
At the next annual meeting you
should, in my opinion, ask these
questions:
1. When was the last time BEMC
negotiated with CP&L for a better
rate?
2. What is that rate and why isn't
our rate printed on our bill?
3. Why arc we charged an arbi
trary percentage of our rate?
4. Why arc we paying a basic
rate of SI 3.60 per month and this
rate is "hidden" on our electric bill?
Bob L. Johnson
Ocean Isle Beach
Call Attention
Without Offending
Your Readers
To ihc editor:
Concerning the editorial cartoon
in the March 19 Beacon , was it nec
essary to use Christ" as an exple
tive in calling attention to the epi
demic ol weapons in the schools?
Webster's recognizes and defines
Christ as "I ) the Messiah. 2) Jesus."
While we of different laiths may dif
fer in our precise concept of Christ.
He certainly is not an expletive to be
used for. or to relied, shock in our
local newspaper.
While it is important to call atten
tion to this problem with our
schools, can it not be done without
offending many of those who arc
being addressed?
Would an apology to your Christ
ian readers be in order?
John Landers, Jr.
Rl. 9, Shallottc
Cartoon Provoked
Shock Reaction
From Reader
To ihc editor:
II {Beacon editorial eartoonist)
Barbour's purpose was shock, he
certainly provoked that reaction
I mm nie. hut not with the moral/po
litical message intended.
The language attributed to the
school nurse is offensive to anyone
who still has hope that America will
not let the news media be the arbiter
ot gtxxl taste. It is yet another exam
ple ol the decline in our value sys
tern under the f irst Amendment ol
free speech.
As my young grandson would
say, "That's ugly!"
Mrs. Doris Niland
Shallottc
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