Debra Hill of Big Stone Gap, Va., announces the engagement of her daughter, Tressi Brewster of La Grange, to Robert Dryden, son of Pam and Richard Dryden, also of La Grange. A May 26 wedding will be held in Kinston.

Brenda Sutton Sasser of La Grange, and Newton David Sasser Jr. and Natalie Sasser of Sneads Ferry, announce the engagement of their daughter, Frances Michelle Sasser of La Grange, to Ty Aubrey Gay Jr., also of La Grange, son of Lisa Sugg Gay of Goldsboro, and Ty Aubrey Gay and Kimberly Gay of Kinston. A June 9 wedding will be held at River Landing Country Club in Wallace.

Canady

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Wayne Canady of Kinston and sons, Alex Landon and Braylon Garrett, announce the birth of a son and brother, Bryson Kaleb Canady, on Dec. 13, 2012, at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Maternal grandparents are Jean Hill Jones of Kinston and the late Ashley Dwight Jones Sr. Paternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Donald Canady of Kinston. Mrs. Canady is the former Amanda Leigh Jones.

Nicholson

Brandon and Carrie Garriss Nicholson of Ayden and sons, Tanner Bryce and Stokes Bradyn, announce the birth of a daughter and sister, Emmaline Claire Nicholson, on Nov. 17, 2012, at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Maternal grandparents are Mike and Rose Garriss of La Grange. Paternal grandparents are William Nicholson of Grifton and Judy Nicholson of Winterville.

The Little Union Academy of Martial Arts teaches its students respect, discipline and the importance of helping others in need. This holiday season, the students reflected what they are taught in their martial arts studies by giving back to their community.

To spread cheer, they chose SAFE of Lenoir County, an organization that serves victims of domestic violence. Students collected a plethora of items needed by the families that SAFE serves. The students were very excited about their community service project and learned that a gift given is truly a gift received.

Little Union Academy of Martial Arts is at 133 N. Queen St. For further information about their New Year discount enrollment promotion, call the office at 252-523-5862 or email TheLittleunionAcademy@yahoo.com.

Attention all current and would-be potters: Two new classes are starting in February at the Community Council for the Arts. 

Beginning Pottery, with instructor Melanie Waters, will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays for six weeks, starting Feb. 19. In this class — basically for beginners but open to intermediates as well — Waters will teach wheel-throwing basics and help hone skills, using new ideas and forms and welcoming those the students bring.

Waters runs Double Diamond Pottery, five miles south of Farmville. She has been working and teaching pottery out of her studio since 1998. She has studied pottery with Dan Finch of Finch Pottery in Bailey, the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, and considers herself a lifelong student in pursuit of pottery excellence. She equally enjoys teaching children and adults the craft of pottery making.

Amanda Lehtola will instruct Intermediate Wheel-Throwing from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays for six weeks, starting on Feb. 20. Her focus will be wheel-throwing and skill honing, with specialty items such as lidded jars, tea cups and saucers, teapots, casserole dishes, and matching dish sets. This is an intermediate wheel-throwing class, but experienced wheel-throwers are also welcome.

Lehtola is the staff artist at the arts center. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Kent State University, and her BFA in ceramics from the University of Iowa. She has taught ceramics for more than 10 years at all age levels, from children to adults. She has taught as a high school ceramics teacher, at a children’s museum, for a continuing education department, and as an Art Department faculty member for the University of Wisconsin — Colleges. She enjoys teaching classic pottery forms as well as contemporary ceramic concepts.

For more information or to register, contact the arts center at 252-527-2517 or at artist@kinstoncca.com. More information also is available at kinstoncca.com.

Hobbs

Pfc. Alden Hobbs III, 19, of New Bern, graduated Jan. 4 from U.S. Marine Corps boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, S.C.

Hobbs successfully completed 13 weeks of intensive basic training as one of 64 recruits in Training Platoon 2001. Following 10 days home on leave, he will report to Camp Lejeune for two months at Infantry Training Battalion.

Hobbs is the son of Alden and Karen Hobbs of New Bern.

Sorority honors members

Sigma, a social and service sorority, is part of Beta Sigma Phi, an international organization dedicated to life, learning and friendship. Recently, rituals were held for two members at The Baron and the Beef Restaurant.

A pledge ceremony was held for Kathy Tucker, new member. The Exemplar ceremony was held for Martha Poythress. Exemplar is the third degree of Beta Sigma Phi. To qualify, a member must be in good standing for four years of Ritual of Jewels membership, including participation in regular chapter activities and four years of required cultural programs.

The sorority holds meetings twice a month.

Bridge club names winners

The Fairfield Duplicate Bridge Club played a regular game Jan. 8.

The winners were: Edith Cahn and Nancy Barwick, first place; Tempie Pierce and Emily Exum, second; Lamar Finch and Pearl Schechter, third; and Eva Balknight and Jenny Holt, fourth.

A regular game will be played at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday at Fairfield Center. The club welcomes and encourages all bridge players.

For more club information, call 252-523-6791.

ENC Episcopalians to choose new bishop

The Rev. Clifton Daniel III, bishop of the Episcopal Church’s East Carolina diocese since 1997, has resigned to become bishop provisional of the diocese of Pennsylvania. His resignation becomes effective Feb. 28.

“I do love and treasure our Diocese of East Carolina and count it as a privilege to serve as your bishop for these years,” Daniels said in a statement posted recently at the diocese’s website. “I have confidence in the leadership of the standing committee going forward and in the skills and abilities of a wonderful and dedicated staff at Diocesan House.”

Since the diocese has no coadjutor, or deputy bishop with the right of succession, Daniel’s vacancy will be filled by a church election. In the interim, a six-member standing committee of Episcopal priests and lay members will handle the diocese’s day-to-day affairs.

The diocese will form a search committee to screen candidates. A new bishop will then be chosen by an assembly of priests and lay delegates from Episcopal parishes from across the eastern half of North Carolina.

Daniel graduated from UNC in 1969 and earned a master of divinity in 1972 from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1973 and served parishes in Kinston, Ahoskie, Dayton, Ohio, and Bristol, R.I., before being elected bishop coadjutor of East Carolina in 1996. He became full bishop the following year.

In Pennsylvania, Daniel will serve the diocese which covers the city of Philadelphia and four surrounding counties, with more than 22,000 members and 155 congregations.

Elementary Battle of the Books is a program that challenges students to read a selection of novels and compete as a team in answering various questions. The purpose is to motivate students to read, monitor their own comprehension and become active participants in book discussions.

Battle of the Books encourages students to read quality literature on a variety of topics and themes. The books are written at different levels that will both challenge and entertain students.  Through Elementary Battle of the Books, teachers strive to promote a love for literature and the important character education goals of teamwork, respect and good sportsmanship.

Elementary Battle of the Books is sponsored and supported by the North Carolina School Library Media Association. Its goals are to motivate readers and non-readers to discuss books with their peers; to encourage students and teachers to expand their knowledge of new titles, authors, illustrators and a variety of literary genres; and to involve parents and other community members in school library programs.

Benefits of the program are that students collaborate as a team to reach a common goal, they read from a variety of genres that they may not have selected on their own, and they are celebrated for reading and discussing literature.

Other Elks Lodge 740 projects include: Having their drug awareness trailer at The Gate Community Development Center; donating to Mary’s Kitchen, which serves more than 180 meals every day to homeless residents in Kinston and Lenoir County; supporting veterans through the annual Salute parade; and sponsoring a job fair for Veterans in the area.

You already said yes to the test.

In North Carolina, driving while impaired is considered by state law an “implied consent” offense. That means a law enforcement officer can demand breath, blood or urine tests of someone suspected of DWI without first obtaining a search warrant.

It’s not the same way nationwide. A case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday could change procedure locally and elsewhere.

In 2010, Missouri State Trooper Mark Winder pulled over Tyler McNeely for speeding. According to reports, McNeely’s eyes were bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol. After he refused a Breathalyzer test and failed four field sobriety tests, Winder charged McNeely for drunk driving and took him to get a blood alcohol test.

Winder, who had done so in the past, didn’t get a search warrant for the blood test in this instance. McNeely had a .154 BAC, but the Missouri Supreme Court threw out the test. The court ruled that not obtaining a warrant beforehand violated McNeeley’s Fourth Amendment rights.

The State of Missouri, with an assist from the Obama administration, appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

So the question stands — under what circumstances can law enforcement order a blood test for a suspected DWI?

Currently, half of all states ban warrantless blood tests. According to National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg, the federal court “has long held that, except in emergency situations, warrants are required when government officials order bodily intrusions like a blood draw.”

In states like North Carolina, “emergency situations” include the charge itself. Indeed, John Koester, arguing for the prosecution, told the court that going for a warrant in the McNeeley case could have delayed an alcohol measurement by as many as 90 minutes.

Hence, the longer a body has the chance to metabolize alcohol, the less a test will show the condition of the suspect at the time of arrest.

“It would just prolong the arrest process, because the law enforcement officer would have to sit there and type, or put together a search warrant explaining the probable cause to take the blood,” Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris Hill said. “It’s just a delay, is all it amounts to. It would just take longer to complete that process.”

Hill added, “We do search warrants all the time. It’s just part of law enforcement. But when you’re trying to get an accurate blood alcohol content, time tends to be of the essence. A greater delay of time may create problems down the line as far as prosecution goes.”

State Trooper C.J. Daniels, though, sees the blood test as simply one element of evidence in building an overall case against a suspect. It could matter more in cases when the driving behavior isn’t eye-witnessed.

“Any type of test, whether it be a blood test or a breath test, is just to corroborate the officer’s opinion, as to (the suspect’s) impairment,” Daniels said. “It’s not absolutely necessary to have a test to charge someone with driving while impaired. The more evidence you have, the more information you have, the better your case is.”

Early media reports of the hearing indicate the Supreme Court justices are likely going to seek a compromise position on the matter – trying to protect Fourth Amendment freedoms without unduly hindering law enforcement.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.   

SNOW HILL — Greene County government now has a travel policy.

A meeting of the county’s board of commissioners recessed Monday when a consensus failed to be reached on what travel expenses the county should pay for, how much and the general process about getting approval. Resuming the meeting Friday, commissioners unanimously approved a plan drawn up by Interim County Manager Richard Hicks.

The specifications are to last until the end of the fiscal year.

Under the plan, Hicks has authority to approve all travel related to licensure, certification of maintaining employment and any travel that doesn’t necessitate county funds. For both, the employee and department head in question have to show documentation of the “essential nature of the travel.”

Decisions handed down by Hicks can be appealed to the full board of commissioners.

Other forms of county employee travel carry a number of restrictions and specifications.

“Basically, we’re saying any annual conferences or training sessions or seminars that anybody wants to go to, we need to try to limit that between now and June 30,” Hicks said. “We have asked for documentation (to) be provided by the employee and the department head explaining the need for travel.”

He added, “We don’t think, at this particular time, that professional development is going to be hindered by just missing a few sessions or anything the next months. There will be more sessions in the future and you can take training next year.”

The following now apply:

n Departments are encouraged to use county vehicles whenever possible

n For personal vehicles, mileage reimbursement is set to 35 cents a mile, down from the Internal Revenue Service rate of 56.5 cents per mile

n Mileage is calculated from the Greene County government complex, or the employee’s residence, to the destination — whichever’s shorter

n No overnight lodging for any travel 75 miles away or less

n Any lodging costs are limited to the U.S. General Services Administration per diem rates

n Meals and incidental expenses are not allowed to exceed 75 percent of USGSA rates

n Travel requests cannot exceed the available funds budgeted

n No travel request is required for any adjacent county

Commissioners also approved a proposal from Groundwater Management Associates for a study on water capacity use area restrictions for Greene County and Farmville. GMA lists the cost of the study at $38,000.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Reach him on Twitter at WolfeReports.  

Some people dress their pets up to keep them warm; most people do it for fun.

“They are like our children,” said Rachel Banks on Thursday.

Banks and her husband Josh own two dogs, a 6-year-old Chihuahua and 1-year-old Labrador mix. The couple began putting sweaters and coats on their Chihuahua, Barley, when he was a puppy to keep him warm. Even though Barley’s owners dress him in layers when it is cold, he has a variety of outfits for the holidays, including a Santa suit for Christmas and a green and white hat for St. Patrick’s Day.

Monday is National Dress Up Your Pet Day, so don your pets in their finest, and if you are a pet owner who doesn’t dress up your pet in clothing, put on their most colorful collar or even a bandana. 

Officials are gearing up for the third annual Freedom Classic to be held at Grainger Stadium in February.

Last year’s event drew about 4,000 people, despite a rain-out resulting in only two game days.

Jenny Inabinet, event chairwoman, said U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy players were so impressed last year, they wanted to come back.

“They were absolutely amazed at how they were treated,” she said, “and they said they’d like to come back for a third year.

“We would like them to come back, too.”

Inabinet said organizers are looking for sponsors for the three-day baseball series.

“I’m really excited about this event,” Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy said. “Kinston is not a military town, but we pride ourselves on the support of our active duty and our veterans.”

New this year is a unique sponsorship that pays for military members’ tickets.

Anyone who would like to support military troops can contribute $20, which will pay for five service members to watch a game at no cost to them, Inabinet said.

Contributors will get their names written in a supporter list in the event’s program book.

Currently, officials at Camp Lejeune have said they have as many as 45 single Marines that would like to come, Inabinet said. Active duty airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and other military installations are encouraged to come to the games.

“We want to pack the park with 1,000 Marines, airmen or soldiers at each game,” said Bill Ellis, the Kinston/Lenoir County Parks and Recreation director.

Inabinet added, “The key is, we have to have those supporters paying for them to come in.”

It’s recommended groups contact Inabinet at 252-939-3338.

Businesses and individuals are also encouraged to purchase sponsorship ads, including the three Red, White and Blue sponsorship levels.

Red level sponsors will get a box, which has nine seats, and recognition on the sponsor board. White level sponsors also receive a box seat, and the blue level receives four tournament passes.

“Becoming a sponsor helps ensure that we’re able to treat these young men to a first-class event in Kinston,” Murphy said, “and I would even encourage individuals and businesses to purchase tickets so we can give them away to active duty men and women.”

Parents of ball players are expected as far away as Hawaii and California, and veterans groups are coming from as far away as Charlotte, Ellis said.

“We’re always excited to have the Freedom Classic in Kinston,” he said. “It honors our veterans to recognize the academy ball players for what they do, and it’s just great baseball.”

Breakout box:

What: 2013 third annual Freedom Classic

Who: Navy vs. Air Force

When: Feb. 22-24; games are at 6 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday; 12:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Historic Grainger Stadium

Cost: $5 adults; $4 seniors, active duty, retired military, veterans and students

For information about the Freedom Classic sponsorships or to donate for military members to attend free, call Jenny Inabinet at 252-939-3338.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter at MargaretFishr. 

It didn’t take long for Lenoir Community College’s basketball team to shake off the holiday rust Saturday.

The Lancers were equally effective when it started to reappear.

Josh Hill scored 27 points and Isaac Brown added 26 as LCC fought off a second-half comeback in a 99-88 Region X win over Guilford Tech.

The Lancers (4-3, 1-1 Region X), playing for the first time since Dec. 8, saw a 19-point second-half lead shrink to four with 3:11 remaining before pulling away a second time.

“We got a little lackadaisical, but toward the end I thought we had to grind it out,” LCC coach Bobby Dawson said. “We had some kids that stepped up.”

The Lancers women didn’t fare as well. Anika Jones led five players to score in double figures in Catawba Valley Community College’s 88-66 over LCC earlier in the afternoon.

Dominique Graham and Zera McDuffie scored 15 points each for LCC (10-4, 1-2).

In the men’s game, Sean Deniton scored 28 points to lead the comeback efforts for Guilford Tech (6-10).

Leading 64-45 less than 5 minutes into the second half, the suddenly sloppy Lancers endured a methodical 21-6 run to find themselves in a tight contest.

But LCC clamped down on defense, took smarter shots and hit the accelerator in transition to outscore the visitors 13-6 in the final 3 minutes.

“The rust was falling off,” said Brown, a sophomore guard out of Bethel Academy who credited Dawson’s recent emphasis on conditioning with the arm’s-length win. “We were executing a lot more. We weren’t tired. People weren’t asking to be taken out of the game because we had the energy.”

Deon Platt, a 6-foot-6-inch sophomore center, scored 25 points for Guilford Tech.

The Titans built their comeback on 3-pointers but missed their final five attempts as LCC pulled away. Guilford Tech finished 6 for 20 from long range.

Early in the game, the teams traded baskets and leads a remarkable seven straight times before the Lancers separated themselves.

A furious 22-3 run gave LCC a 30-15 lead with 9:20 left in the first half. Thanks largely to 10 Guilford Tech turnovers and 13 transition points in the half, the Lancers led 46-38 at the break.

LCC, which plays host to top-ranked Louisburg on Monday, didn’t return from a lengthy holiday break until this week, leaving Dawson to rely on his players to take the initiative to stay in shape.

The 36th-year coach, whose team plays on a court named in his honor, agreed with Brown’s assessment.

“We had a lot of guys that contributed, but I liked the energy they were showing,” Dawson said. “That was the thing: They brought a lot of energy out there. And as long as you do that, you can be in a game.”

David Hall can be reached at (252) 559-1086 or at david.hall@kinston.com.

Gov. Pat McCrory’s inaugural speech in Raleigh Saturday got more personal than his campaign speeches, but was not as specific as comments he made in Eastern North Carolina on Tuesday.

McCrory talked to elected officials in New Bern about support for maintaining a strong military presence in North Carolina, about how significant Tryon Palace complex is as the state’s first capital, and about a need for a long term plan for the Global TransPark to become self sufficient.

 “I made no political promises to anyone,” McCrory said in a Sun Journal interview, “and I’m reluctant to say what I’ll do now until I put out the fires I’m finding.” 

“I don’t have a magic wand,” he said, “but I’ve spent the last four weeks reviewing policies that need to be changed and I’ve have help from citizens from throughout the state.”

“I pleased with the cabinet I’ve put together,” he said, including Republicans, independents and Democrats “from the East, the Piedmont and the West, some very high talent to take very difficult cabinet positions when some of the departments they are taking over severely broken. I had to twist some arms but I’m pleased with the talent we’ve selected.”

Asked if he planned to make the use of alternative energy a priority in new state construction, McCrory said he isn’t even thinking about new buildings. “My immediate issue is fixing the roofs and the floors and doing a basic paint job.”

Walking down the streets in Raleigh near the Governor’s Mansion, McCrory said he looked at structures in serious disrepair and asked “Who owns that,” only to find it was a state building “I’m afraid the mayor of Raleigh is going to ask us to tear down (state buildings) they are in such bad repair.”  

“Government operations is one of the areas most wanting,” he said. “The maintenance of existing buildings throughout the state has been neglected. We built a lot of buildings without budgeting operating money. Before we build any new buildings, we’re going to have to find operating money.”

McCrory said, “I didn’t come just to give a speech. I came to have a very serious meeting with state and local officials from the East regarding the issues we’ll have to deal with.”

“I came to New Bern and Tryon Palace for two reasons: to send a strong signal to the East that it is important for us to work together to develop a strategy for economic development and for a historic reason. This is the first Governor’s Mansion and the Capitol of North Carolina. It is of historical significance for me to be here.”

He brought Secretary of Cultural Resources Susan Kluttz and Deputy Secretary Kevin Cherry with him to New Bern after they’d been on the job for just a day to stress his sense of the importance of Tryon Palace and the N.C. History Center to state history and Eastern North Carolina’s tourism economy.

“I hear there is a short term military issue with wind towers that have the potential to not allow military airplanes to take off and land. The Utilities Commission made a decision regarding them in December and no one knew about it. To me that’s another breakdown.”

“I toured Cherry Point with former Gov. (Bev) Perdue and I’m going to be developing a strategy, that includes going to Washington and meeting with Pentagon and congressional officials,” he said. “We are going to do everything we can to protect our bases and we have to present the military with an economic plan that conveys that.”

“We’re known as the friendliest state for the military,” he said. “We honor their service, and when our soldiers come home, their leadership and skills will help grow our economy.”

Asked about his position on continued state support for the Global TransPark, McCrory said, “I plan to have the secretary of commerce review where we are and where we need to go in the future. We have to come up with a 10 to 20 year plan for who actually manages the park.”

He said he has tremendous confidence in Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker and will be open to her recommendations on that and how to reenergize manufacturing in the state to produce jobs.

“My bias would be how we can move toward privatizing,” he said. “But I need the numbers on how much we’re spending. At a certain point it time it needs to become self-sustaining. There is great potential but there has to be a point in time where the money from the state has to be weaned.”

“I’ve got to do more with less,” McCrory said. “That’s what families and businesses have had to do since 2008.”

 Asked his position of increased and new ferry fees passed by the General Assembly in it 2011 budget and delayed by a Perdue executive order, McCrory said he is not taking a position until his Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata reviews the matter and recommends action.

As in his inaugural remarks Saturday, McCrory said that “polishing up our state’s brand” in travel and tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and finance is essential and something he will be working hard to do as governor.

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.  

This past week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell introduced his comprehensive plan to overhaul how the state funds transportation. 

The plan calls for a complete elimination of the gas tax while raising the sales tax to not only offset the loss of revenue, but raise even more revenue.

Sounds interesting, right?

The idea in and of itself has merit. The plan moves the transportation revenue stream to a tax that rises with inflation and better compensates for the ever increasing costs of road construction.

Anyone who has driven extended amounts on our roads here in Tobacco Road can tell you that they definitely could use some upgrading, unless you live in and around Raleigh.

McDonnell’s plan also calls for an increase in registration fees and increases the amount of sales tax used to fund transportation to 25 cents.

So far, so good. I can relate to these proposals.

The plan continues by saying that those people who own hybrids or other fuel-reducing or fuel alternative vehicles must pay an additional $100 fee.

Wait … what?

So let me get this straight — if I go out and do the right thing and purchase a vehicle that reduces my dependency on gasoline, I have to pay an additional registration fee? And conversely, if I go out and buy a massive SUV or monster truck that gets, at best, 20 miles per gallon, not only am I rewarded by not paying more taxes for using more gas, but I actually have lower registration fees every year as well?

Wow, sounds like an awesome deal, particularly if I want to ensure that oil and gas remains the big dog, so to speak. Shouldn’t we at least be giving lip service to oil reduction?

I know that no one really wants to get off the oil teat presented to us by the Saudis and others — much like a drug dealer displaying his wares — but we can at least pretend to want to not have to deal with the Middle East and its caldron of problems.

Seems to me giving people a tax break for purchasing a vehicle that gets double the gas mileage would be the way to go during these times, but instead the governor of Virginia has chosen the exact opposite.

I have said that this has become “Bizarro World.” Any Superman or Justice League fans out there will know to what I am referring. For those who do not know the reference, in Bizarro World, everything is exactly opposite from how it should be.

Good is bad, evil is good and so forth.

We all have seen signs of Bizarro World taking hold. People are praised and promoted at their jobs for doing absolutely nothing — and doing absolutely nothing quite well.

We see honorable people passed over while their lazy counterparts thrive. We see people like the Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo rewarded for not only having no talent but generally being shallow people, while those who genuinely want to help others must toil away living almost a day to day existence.

We see Sarah Jessica Parker viewed as one with sex appeal and considered a fashion icon.

How does this craziness happen?

The point is we need to get out of Bizarro World and come back to reality. We need to reduce our consumption of oil and gas, not reward ourselves so we can go buy an even bigger, less efficient SUV. It’s not like we car pool anymore anyway.

So why all the extra room?

Here’s an idea. Maybe if we made the cars a tad less comfortable, people would actually drive the speed limit in an attempt to get off the road. Haven’t we all been behind the guy that is driving 20 mph under the speed limit and thinks his front seat is the couch in his living room?

Oh well, I digress.

Richard Clark is the desk chief for Halifax Communications ENC. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com.  

Dorian Edwards said if you see a problem, you run from it, ignore it or try to fix it.

The 22-year-old has chosen to become a part of the solution.

The problem, according to many people Edwards’ age, is Kinston. It lacks the social scene, shopping, jobs and future they see in a bigger city — or even in neighboring towns like Greenville and Goldsboro. Its population, now about 22,000, is actually shrinking — down about 15 percent in the last 20 years.

Yet Edwards plans to return to Kinston when he graduates from Livingstone College in May to help resolve those issues.

 “You can’t sit around and wait on something to happen,” he said about Kinstonian’s grumbles. “We should put the same effort into trying to get away from Kinston into trying to make Kinston a better place for every single person.”

‘It’s home’

That work is under way — and is bearing fruit. Community members are striving to bring more businesses and people into town. Some young people who grew up in the city are returning, bringing with them their outer-Kinston experiences.

“It’s home,” said Troyshika Shaw, a Kinston High School graduate who travels around the country in her fashion design career. “I don’t want to live here permanently for the rest of my life, but it’s a place I like to come back and visit.”

Shaw, 21, said Kinston isn’t ideal for a younger crowd since the lack of activities and events pushes them into other communities. 

“If we had more programs to draw their attention, it would make them stay,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of activities to keep (youth) focused, busy and that will occupy them in a positive way.”

Her attitude about Kinston isn’t completely negative, though. She realizes the city is just like any other place — it has its good points.

Some residents, especially of the younger age demographic, seem to overlook those points and only see what’s missing from Kinston.

“People are a lot quicker to say they don’t like something than to say they like it,” said Greg Hannibal, who manages the LCC Small Business Center downtown. “Very few people are totally satisfied with their circumstances.”

He said communal issues begin with everyone’s individual problems coming together. The community has to work together to fix issues, including collectively finding ways to make Kinston larger.

“You have to attract more people,” he said. “Telling people you don’t like (Kinston) and you live here is not going to attract more people.”

Hannibal believes that before people decide to settle into Kinston, the lack of resources — such as public transportation and less-than-modern apartments — and social amenities have to be confronted.

Developmental strategies

Adrian King, executive director of Pride of Kinston, worries about downtown, which he sees as both an indicator and driver of Kinston’s growth.

The scheduled replacement of two bridges on South Queen, the main entrance into the business district, will take a toll on commercial activity for at least the two years of the project, to begin next year.

More long range bypasses and other highway construction plans could take travelers farther away from Kinston’s center

“If those bypasses materialize, it’s going to have a material effect on the customer base in downtown stores,” King said.

“We need to double our efforts to get people coming in town,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of things going. Slowly but surely, our town is evolving right before our very eyes.”

Pride is working with local businesses, entrepreneurs and community organizations to open more shops, restaurants and cultural sites downtown. 

Recent business openings, such as Chef and the Farmer restaurant, Mother Earth Brewery, the Woodman Community Center and the new Red Room nightspot are just part of the beginning of Kinston’s growth.

However, many people in Kinston don’t know about major developmental plans.

“It’s not enough around here for young, successful or educated people,” said Miguel Starkey, a Kinston native and Woodmen Community Center employee who returned home after graduating from UNC-Pembrokein May. “I feel like they can do a lot on Queen Street as far as businesses and night life, possibly.”

He said that would keep a younger crowd around and attract visitors.

Changes are happening slowly as businesses bloom in the area. 

 “I’d say five or six years from now, it’s going to be a totally different town,” King predicted.

Keeping them here

A local organization, Young Professionals of Lenoir County, tries to make an impact with the city’s youth to influence those that want to leave to return to Kinston after they venture off to college or join the workforce.

“I think every high school kid wants to be a doctor, lawyer or teacher,” said former YPLC chair Justin Hill, who returned to Kinston after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill and teaching in South Korea for a year. “There are just a lot more specific things out there.”

The group is taking about 12 high school juniors to Lenoir Memorial Hospital this week and exposing them to different career choices.

“(It will) give them a reason to come back to Kinston,” said Hill, an LCC employee and former Free Press staff writer. “There are a lot of things going on that might not be apparent at first glance, but when you do a little bit of looking, there’s a lot of great stuff going on here.”

Annually, The Free Press honors 20 residents under 40 years old who have made an impact in the area. Last year, Ashley Manning was among those honored and part of the 75 percent in that group who was born here and chose to live here.

“I came back to be with family,” said Manning, a social worker for Lenoir County Department of Social Services. “There are a lot of family-owned businesses here. … I feel it’s important to local families to carry on traditions to continue to make Kinston a good place to live.”

 Inaugural 20 Under 40 winner and Rochelle Middle School Principal Nicholas Harvey II said he wishes more people would come back to Kinston.

He grew up in the city, went away to North Carolina A&T and initially moved to Greensboro as an educator.

“When I started teaching in Greensboro and saw how effective teachers could be, I wanted to come back home and do what I was doing in Greensboro in my own community,” he said.

Harvey said while he understands the importance of natives coming back to Kinston, he knows it’s sometimes not the most attractive place for teenagers.

“I always try to push our students to be prepared academically so they can go to college,” Harvey said. “I think going to college, getting that college experience and bringing stuff back to Kinston, is the only way that we improve Kinston. That’s why I’m back here.”

Even if it’s not college, he thinks simply having an experience outside what Kinston has to offer will “continue to head us in the right direction.”

The Answer

Patience is not only a virtue, it’s an imperative when the goal is to transform a town.

“As in any community, I think that the constituents really need to invest in their community,” Greg Hannibal said. “Nothing is a quick fix when you’re talking about community and how to solve problems.”

He said everyone — community, small and big businesses and the government — has put forth equal, collective efforts.

“Yes, we have problems, but they’re all solvable problems … and universal issues,” Hannibal said.

Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy said people in the city need to be more involved in their communities and with the youth.

“There is continuous, negative conversation without any constructive cause,” he said. “Engaging in our youth, engaging in the business enterprise in the community and engaging in the civic lives of our community is important to have a healthy and vital (one).”

Adrian King said entrepreneurs are talking to Pride about façade grants to improve buildings on Queen Street, even turning some into living spaces.

 “We’ve got big business and small businesses in that area perking along together,” he said. “The economy is beginning to perk along again and people are beginning to invest more.

“People are having dreams again, and we do have a reason to believe that things will get better.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan. 

Moss Hill Ruritans give back to community

Members of the Moss Hill Ruritan Club gathered food for the donation of two Thanksgiving dinners for needy families.

The children of those families attend Moss Hill Elementary School.

The presentation was made Nov. 18, in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Home Solutions: Four common electrical mistakes 

Some electrical wiring projects can be easy enough for do-it-yourself savvy homeowners, but frequent mistakes that can be easily corrected can be safety hazards and ultimately cause electrical fires. Don’t become a statistic by making these common mistakes.

N If the fuse keeps blowing every time you replace it, or the breaker continues to trip after you reset it, you decide to replace the fuse or breaker with a larger size. Never do this. Breakers and fuses are designed to interrupt the current flow in a circuit if the current flow becomes excessive. The reason for the breaker tripping or the fuse blowing should be corrected at once.

N Most incandescent light bases in your home require 60-watt bulbs. A wattage limit is posted next to the socket for safety purposes. The problem arises when a 100-watt bulb is screwed into the socket. The bulb fits fine and lights just likes the 60-watt bulb, but brighter.

So what’s the problem? This bulb uses more power and gets much hotter than the 60-watt bulb. The socket contacts are not designed for this extra load and as a result, the base will get hotter, possibly causing the base to overheat and start a fire. Always use the recommended wattage bulb in any light fixture.

N Multi-outlet power strips seem to provide an outlet for half of the house. The only problem is that the circuit you plug it into can only handle 20 amps. Every appliance in your home needs its own circuit, so spread out the electrical load. Appliances all draw a lot of power and need their own supply. For example, if a freezer and a refrigerator are on the same circuit, the load is too great and the breaker can trip. Don’t overload a power strip.

N Using a drop cord for an electrical load it isn’t rated for can cause the cord to get smoking hot. This is a great way to start an electrical fire. If you must use a drop cord on a heavy load appliance, use a cord that is rated for the appliance. The overloaded drop cord is most popular in the family room where all types of electronics are used: TV, DVD player, sound system, game consoles and other “necessities” of modern life. Drop cords should only be used for short terms, and never overloaded.

Check your home for these common electrical mistakes to save your family from a fire hazard.

Source: University of Arkansas

Trudy W. Pickett is extension family and consumer agent at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Office, 1791 N.C. 11/55. Reach her at 252-527-2191 or trudy_pickett@ncsu.edu.

   WASHINGTON — “You,” said Jack Nicholson’s Jessep to Tom Cruise’s Kaffee in the movie "A few Good Men.", “have the luxury of not knowing what I know.” Viewers of the movie “Zero Dark Thirty” will, according to some informed persons, lose the luxury of not knowing about hard but morally defensible things done on their behalf. Other informed persons, however, say viewers will be misled because the movie intimates (actually it is ambiguous about this) a crucial role of “enhanced interrogation” in extracting information useful to tracking Osama bin Laden.

In “A Few Good Men,” Col. Jessep insists that a harsh — and proscribed — training method (“Code Red”) saves lives: “You f—-in’ people ... you have no idea how to defend a nation.” “Zero Dark Thirty” explores the boundaries of the permissible when defending not a nation but this nation. Viewers will know going in how the movie ends. They will not know how they will feel when seeing an American tell a detainee, “When you lie to me I hurt you,” and proceed to do so.

The movie, which is primarily about CIA operatives, probably will make at least a cameo appearance in the confirmation hearings for Barack Obama’s nominee as the next CIA director, John Brennan. His 25 years with the CIA included the years when “enhanced interrogation” was used to squeeze crucial information from suspected terrorists.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the intelligence committee, and two colleagues have denounced the movie as “grossly inaccurate and misleading” for its “suggestion” that torture produced information that led to locating bin Laden. But former CIA Director Michael Hayden, while saying “there is no way to confirm” that information obtained by “enhanced interrogation” was the “decisive” intelligence in locating bin Laden, insists that such information “helped” lead to bin Laden.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey goes further: Khalid Sheik Mohammed “broke like a dam” under harsh techniques, including waterboarding, and his “torrent of information” included “the nickname of a trusted courier of bin Laden,” perhaps the one who is central to the movie’s narrative.    In 2007, Hayden ended the use of half the “enhanced interrogation” techniques, including waterboarding, because American law, our understanding of the threat and our sources of information had changed. He also says, however, that such interrogations produced half our knowledge of al-Qaida’s structure and activities.

“In the end, everybody breaks, bro — it’s biology,” says the CIA man in the movie, tactically but inaccurately, to the detainee undergoing “enhanced interrogation.” This too familiar term has lost its capacity for making us uneasy. America’s Vietnam failure was foretold when U.S. officials began calling air attacks on North Vietnam “protective reaction strikes,” a semantic obfuscation that revealed moral queasiness. “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity,” wrote George Orwell, who warned about governments resorting to “long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.”

Viewers of “Zero Dark Thirty” can decide whether or which “enhanced interrogation” measures depicted — slaps, sleep deprivation, humiliation, waterboarding — constitute, in plain English, torture. And they can ponder whether any or all of them would be wrong even if effective.

Mukasey says the phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques” is “so absurdly antiseptic as to imply that it must conceal something unlawful.” Such “harsh techniques” were, he says, used against fewer than one-third of the fewer than 100 “hard-core prisoners” in CIA custody.

The government properly cooperated with the making of this movie because the public needs realism about the world we live in. “We live,” says Col. Jessep, “in a world that has walls. ... You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.” Regarding terrorism, the problem is that we live in a world without walls, without ramparts that can be manned for the purpose of repelling an invasion by a massed enemy.

When the CIA woman who drives the pursuit of bin Laden is about to enter, for the first time, the room where “enhanced interrogation” is administered, the CIA man who administers it tells her, “There’s no shame if you want to watch from the monitor.” She, however, knows, and viewers of “Zero Dark Thirty” will understand, it is best to look facts, including choices, in the face.

George Will writes this column for the Washington Post Writers Group. Readers can reach him via email at georgewill@washpost.com  .

RALEIGH — North Carolina policymakers will have a lot on their plate in 2013. The General Assembly will tackle education reform, a rewrite of the state tax code, the unemployment-insurance debt, and other pressing issues. Gov. Pat McCrory will propose initiatives of his own, likely to include regulatory reform and changes to the budget process.

Nevertheless, I hope they make time early in the 2013 legislative session to take care of a lingering legal problem: North Carolina’s unwise and unconstitutional system for electing members of the state’s appellate courts.

The current system is unwise because it deprives voters of relevant information and reduces voter participation in judicial elections. Some years ago, the Democrats then in control of the General Assembly got worried about the increasing numbers of Republicans being elected to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Dressing up their partisan worries in good-government clothing, they voted to strip party labels from the ballot for judicial elections. They also instituted a government-funding scheme designed to discourage judicial candidates from running real, statewide campaigns — that is, campaigns that were privately funded with enough dollars to communicate effectively to voters.

The trick was essentially to compel judicial candidates to participate in the “voluntary” scheme by punishing those who didn’t. Under the law, if you refused to participate and received significant donor support your opponent received extra “rescue funds” from the state.

It was certainly not the case that, after these reforms, the races for the appellate courts became truly nonpartisan. Both Democrats and Republicans continued to recruit and endorse candidates for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. But because party labels were no longer on the ballot, and the government-financing scheme starved the campaigns, many voters had no idea who was in which party.

That was, of course, the idea behind these changes in the first place. Republicans had been winning judicial races, possibly because North Carolina voters thought GOP judges would be tougher on crime than Democratic judges. Robbed of this information by legislative action, voters had to resort to guesswork, or to thrilling moments of representative government in which they choose judges on the basis of apparent gender or a vague inkling of name recognition.

Some chose not to choose at all. In this year’s general election, some 4.5 million North Carolinians cast ballots for federal, state and local offices. Nearly all of them (99 percent) made a selection in the presidential race. Almost as many voted for governor (98 percent). But participation in other statewide races was significantly lower. More than a million voters, or nearly a quarter of the electorate, declined to indicate a preference for Supreme Court or Court of Appeals.

In addition to being unwise, the rescue-fund element of North Carolina’s election system also proved to be unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that a similar program in Arizona constituted an assault on the First Amendment. Because of the decision, North Carolina’s program was rendered unenforceable. But the law is still on the books.

I think state lawmakers should address these problems ASAP. They should repeal the government-funding system entirely and restore party labels to our statewide judicial races. The current system is the worst of all possible worlds – nonpartisan elections that aren’t really free from partisanship. By depriving voters of a valuable piece of information (party labels) and using so-called public financing to discourage judicial candidates from running real campaigns, the system pushes judicial politics into the world of super PACs and other independent-expenditure groups.

Failing that, lawmakers should do the next-best thing: Submit a constitutional amendment to voter referendum that emulates the federal model by having governors appoint the judges, subject to legislative confirmation and perhaps a subsequent retention election by voters.

Either option would be far superior to the current mix of play-acting, speech-punishing, and keeping voters in the dark.

John Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.

Supporters made Salute special

As the 2012 chairman of the “Salute to America’s Veterans,” I write to thank the members of the Salute committee and all who supported our mission to honor America and its veterans for their participation and support.

That involvement was critical to our success. This year’s theme was “Military Through the Ages.” The committee put together a weekend of activities for all to enjoy. But most of all, every event honored our dedicated military personnel, past and present, throughout all time.    We had a “Military History and Artifacts display” set up at the Community Council of the Arts. The “Georgia K. Battle Veterans Breakfast” was held at Fairfield Park and all veterans were invited to enjoy a full-course breakfast together. We held a “Walk of Honor Ceremony” at Tiffany West Park to dedicate new bricks to honor veterans past and present. It was followed by the “Flag Retirement Ceremony” in which Scouts properly retired flags no longer in use.

On Friday night, veterans, active duty military and the entire community gathered at the Arts Council to hear the Tar River Band. Saturday morning, we enjoyed the spirited Veterans Day Parade, which ended at Pearson Park. We were honored to have a native son, retired Gen. Alfred Flowers, as our keynote speaker.    Saturday night the community enjoyed an extravaganza in Grainger Hill Performing Arts Center. This tribute to veterans included songs, dance routines, and readings of letters from service men and women. Tears mixed with laughter. We closed out the week of events on Sunday, Nov. 11, with a memorial service at the American Legion Post 43 to honor all veterans of all wars.

I think we did a great job of carrying on an activity that was originated by the late Ted Sampley. We absolutely could not have had such a successful Salute to Veterans without all the contributions, support, participation and service.

Guy Basden

Kinston

Many reasons to like living here

When I describe the reasons I love living in Kinston, my list is long.

I enjoy the lifestyle here. It is easy to travel safely among the well-surfaced streets at a comfortable pace. There are clusters of places to enjoy fine and family dining. Just about any sport can be enjoyed nearby, and watching sports together with friends can be done in several nice venues. There is a plethora of cultural, social and spiritual opportunities. Business people are fair and friendly. New enterprises are nurtured into economic growth.

When we host group events, hotel staff place value on customer service. The easy-flowing Neuse River provides plenty of pleasure for picnics and sightseeing. I enjoy the museums that create an environment for local citizens and visitors to browse through walls of art and rows of firefighter memorabilia. One desiring to work will find reception, and a way will be made.

Education is a priority. Medical providers practice prevention and cure. People are generally neighborly. PathChoice Ministry was able to help about 40 families with holiday boxes due to generous donations to our project. Stationed differently in life, residents realize we are all kindred beings. We hook the plow with a broad base of humanity and pull each other along.

Minister Evelyn Dove-Coleman

PathChoice Ministry Inc.

Kinston