Commentary

Editorial: It's the system that needs fixing

Remember when "earmark" was such a dirty word? An earmark is money provided by Congress for projects or programs that somehow circumvent the regular processes by which Congress appropriates money. Most of the time, these are specific projects for... Full story

Military health care proves to be a pretty good deal

Kristi Stolzenberg

Before my first visit to a naval hospital, I caught wind of some bad publicity about the medical staff allowed to practice within the walls of a base hospital. Perhaps the worst that I ever heard was that the staff was a bunch of "Motrin... Full story

We interrupt this 'Tiger watch' for some real news

By Otis Gardner

Here in the middle of tax time, I’m mostly out of touch with what’s happening in the world outside my office. The only time I’m able to catch up on the news is the half hour I spend with CNN at the start of each day. ... Full story

Editorial: DOT fails to listen

Government and its agencies should be responsive to the people. In the case of the East Main Street median project, clearly this was not the case. Dwayne Alligood, an engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation, told Havelock leaders last... Full story

People can decide what speech is worthy

By Barry Fetzer

The recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United V. The Federal Election Commission has been called everything from "absurd" to "outrageous" to "ridiculous" to "a crisis." But the decision is called these things mostly by elite progressive... Full story

Bug gone bad leads to emergency vet visit

By Otis Gardner

Our dog Sasha got sick Saturday morning. I generally don’t pay much attention to things like that, figuring she’d simply picked up a "bug" somewhere. If I crawled around our yard every day on my hands and knees shoving my nose into any... Full story

Editorial: Tough decisions ahead

Havelock city commissioners are getting their first hard look at what’s ahead this year and next at this week’s board retreat. They may not like how the picture is looking. All indications are that the 2010-11 budget cycle is going... Full story

A breakthrough in ketchup technology

Sometimes I have no idea what this column is going to be about when I sit down at the computer. When that happens, I Google "news headlines" and scroll down the list of current events to prime my creative juice pump.  This week’s... Full story

Friends offer come good advice about love

By Kim Smith

Knowing that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I decided to devote this column to love. Both of my girls are in relationships and have asked that I leave them out of this, so I went where everyone goes these days for help. I asked... Full story

No homecoming ever goes smoothly

Kristi Stolzenberg

The number one rule of homecomings is: Don’t talk about homecomings. No, wait, that’s the number one rule of "Fight Club." The real number one rule of homecomings is: They go wrong. The only thing that varies from homecoming to... Full story

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