Havelock Scoop

I always enjoy reading Man on a Bike, an online column written by Sun Journal editorial assistant Justin Schoenberger. It provides some perspective for those of us who’ve been frustrated by the prospect of sharing the road with cyclists.

The column asserts — correctly — that bikes have the same rights as cars, but drivers usually throw their four-wheeled weight around, hogging the road and failing to yield the right of way. However, the latest installment describing a close call between the writer and a motorist gives me pause.

Justin writes that a woman driving an Acura made a left turn without yielding to his right turn, but his narrative indicates he wasn’t giving up an inch: “…when I kept going as if she hadn’t just failed to pay tribute to my existence on the road, she proceeded to give me a dirty look.”

Having the right of way doesn’t magically absolve us of the responsibility to exercise caution. I can’t count the number of times I’ve yielded to someone barreling through an intersection when it’s really my turn to turn. You can shout, scream, stew, fume, honk the horn if you’d like, but challenging someone to a game of tandem-turn chicken is just plain irresponsible.

We’re working on a story for Wednesday’s edition about gas price increases and how they affect both consumers and distributors. Based on the information I’ve received so far, mark-ups are minimal — gas stations are charging more, by and large, because they’re paying more.

How are the gas prices affecting you? Are you cutting back on non-essential travel? Carpooling to work, school or church? Let us know in the comments.

Havelock commissioners are split over whether outstanding city workers should be eligible for a 10 percent retention raise when they’re recruited by other employers.

At last month’s annual planning retreat in Goldsboro, commissioners voted to give the city manager the authority to offer well-qualified recruits a 10 percent increase over the posted starting salary. It’s since been suggested that the manager should be able to offer the same 10 percent raise to existing employees to keep them in Havelock.

Should the city compete with other employers to keep its best and brightest, or should it let them move on to greener pastures and focus on recruiting and training their replacements? Let me know what you think.

In a portion of my Havelock News column this week, I encouraged readers to decline the exit door receipt/bag checks that are becoming a widespread irritant at retail stores. The checks are voluntary, and some of us honest customers who don’t appreciate being treated like criminals have decided not to participate.

Now I’m asking you Havelock-area folks how you feel about this practice. Do you agree that being asked to show your receipt is insulting, or do you think it’s a reasonable way for stores to prevent shoplifting? Please vote in the poll below and comment on this post if you have a point you’d like to make.

Thanks to Charlie Kraebel of the Kinston Free Press for the poll-making tool, which I noticed on his blog earlier today.

Thursday is Valentine’s Day, and a few well-known Havelock residents share stories of their first kisses in tomorrow’s edition of the Havelock News.

One former mayor’s first kiss was with the girl he would later marry. A longtime commissioner remembers smooching a sailor. And our editor, Ken Buday, first locked lips on the playground at Annunciation Catholic School.

As for yours truly, my first kiss took place at the Hollywood 18 movie theater in New Port Richey, Fla. I was 16 and, to this day, I can’t remember what movie we saw — not that I saw a great deal of it.

When did you reach this romantic milestone? Leave a comment and let us know!

The lanky boy wizard with the lightning-strike scar has battled dragons, tamed fantastic creatures and tangled with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but can Harry Potter hypnotize Havelock?

We’ll find out next week, when “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” premieres in local theaters. And the final volume of Harry’s adventures — “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” — goes on sale July 21.

We’re working on a story about the Harry Potter buzz, and we’re looking for a few good Muggles who are anxiously awaiting the new book and movie. To tell the Havelock News why you’re wild about Harry, you can e-mail me at cfriedman@freedomenc.com or call me at work – (252) 444-1999 or (252) 259-4021.

Help us scoop the Daily Prophet!

Svelte, shiny and sleek, it’s a status-seeker’s hottest quarry and every hipster’s new best friend.

The Apple iPhone hit the market last week with high prices and almost-as-high sales, replacing the Motorola Razr and its clones as the standard-bearer of cell phone style. I’ve seen a dozen-plus posts on The Consumerist and still can’t understand what makes this phone so desirable.

Is anyone in Havelock the proud owner of a new iPhone? Tell me what makes it so great, and you may be featured in a forthcoming story. Or, if you think the new wireless marvel is, as a friend of mine would say, “dumber than a bag of hammers,” let me know.

Acknowledgment: The headline of this post is the title of a song and album by the band Five Iron Frenzy.

The Havelock-Craven County Public Library may be forced to cut its hours of operation and send its staff home early to pinch pennies after city leaders slashed its budget.

Havelock commissioners said Monday they support the library, but believe Craven County should be contributing more because the impact on the county’s  budget is proportionally greater. A county commissioner told the Havelock News that city leaders should have budgeted at least the same amount for the library this year as last year.

Whose responsibility is it to keep the library doors open and the shelves stocked with new materials? Let me know what you think.

Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m right. Tell me off.

Just tell me something.

The Havelock Scoop is back with renewed enthusiasm and an earnest plea to everyone out here in the blogosphere. In order for this blog to be a true community forum — not an egocentric brag board for my pontification and prattle — I need your input. Comment at the end of each blog entry, zip off an e-mail to tell me what you think, call me at the office, heck, send up a smoke signal.

The Havelock News launched this blog to supplement our print reporting and commentary. The newspaper’s printed once a week, but news happens 24 hours a day. Technology has provided us with a way to post breaking news instantaneously, and though it certainly doesn’t replace the newspaper, it makes a good complement.

So, please share your opinions with me and with your fellow readers. Use the comment form below this and every blog entry, and if there’s a topic you’re interested in that hasn’t been addressed on the Havelock Scoop, please let me know.

Comments are screened before publication — not because I’m interested in stifling anyone’s point of view, but simply because this blog is a magnet for spam comments advertising all manner of “enhancement pills” for men, women, Martians and certain species of reptiles.

Welcome to the new, improved and hopefully more interactive Havelock Scoop.

There’s not much middle ground with stand-up comedy. It’s either good — inducing rollicking laughter — or it’s abysmal.

I’m an avowed fan of the former kind, a regular Comedy Central viewer and the proud owner of Denis Leary, George Carlin and Mitch Hedberg recordings. I’ve even dabbled in scratching out bits of my own stand-up routine, though it’s nowhere near good enough to perform.

I wonder if anyone in Havelock shares a similar interest in the comedic arts. Are there any diehard stand-up fans in the Gateway City? Are there any aspiring comics?

Let me know by leaving a comment on the Havelock Scoop blog, e-mailing me at cfriedman@freedomenc.com or calling me at (252) 444-1999. You may be featured in a forthcoming story about the local stand-up scene.