Havelock Scoop

You can almost see cobwebs. There certainly are enough old threads.

 The encToday.com message boards’ Havelock section hasn’t seen a new post since June 6, and that one (as well as the few recent ones before it) was mine. I’m sure there are plenty of Havelock area residents with great insights on local goings-on, so why not share them on the boards?

Online communities like this one are a great way to chime in and have your say in local dialogues. I’ll sometimes use the message boards to scare up a source for a feature story — see my unanswered post on Harry Potter mania — or just to gauge what our readers are most interested in.

Visit the message boards here

Pharmacists in Washington state are suing to overturn laws requiring them to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives such as the “morning-after pill,” the AP reported today.

Some Christians believe the pills constitute abortion. Pharmacists who hold this belief have refused to fill the prescriptions on principle, but a number of states have passed laws ensuring access to emergency contraceptives.

As someone who’s neither a scientist nor ethicist, I take no position on the pills themselves. But I bristle at any government mandate requiring people to change the way they do business; essentially forcing them to participate in something they find reprehensible or risk legal consequences.

Let the free market sort this one out. If demand for emergency contraceptives increases, then the pharmacies that sell them will grow while the ones that choose not to will languish. Keep governments out of everyday business decisions.

One thing’s clear: Washington seems to prefer the middle finger to Adam Smith’s invisible hand.

Some copies of the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” are missing numerous pages, according to Consumerist/Yahoo! News reports.

I’m reasonably sure my copy isn’t one of them. I finished the book late Wednesday night (just in time to watch Denis Leary’s exploits as a firefighter in “Rescue Me“).

The ending’s truly magical and succeeds in doing justice to the previous six volumes while leaving some questions unanswered and some tangential mysteries unexplored. It’s worth a read, whether or not you’ve been a longtime Potter fan.

AVE MARIA, Fla. — This fictitious dateline will become a real city when developers put the finishing touches on a Catholic-themed community in (where else?) the Sunshine State.

The Associated Press reports that Domino’s Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan is spearheading the project to build a city whose streets bear the names of popes and religious rites.

Nothing wrong with Catholic congregations…well, congregating, but doesn’t anyone find this a little crass and all-too-similar to the Disney-engineered Orlando suburb of Celebration, Fla.?

The deadline to file for election in Craven County municipalities came and went last Friday — but not before four would-be commissioners paid their $5 filing fee and threw their hats in the ring.

Matthew “Sugar Bear” Jones, a perennial mayoral candidate, joined the field Thursday. Following suit on Friday were Herbert “Hubby” Helms, George Liner, Eva Sermons and M.C. “Skip” Skipper.

Helms is a former Jaycees member and community leader who said he’s ready to reenter the public fray. Liner is a retiring civil service worker with an intense interest in city politics — he’s one of the faithful few who attend nearly every commissioners meeting.

Sermons is a 29-year veteran of the Havelock board, the longest continuously serving commissioner in city history and distinguished volunteer who received a prestigious state honor, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, last year.

Skipper is a retired Marine officer who leads the Ketner Citizens Action Group in their battle to save the traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Ketner Boulevard from removal.

One of downtown New Bern’s oldest and most historically significant businesses — Baxter’s Jewelery — is preparing to close, the Sun Journal reported today.

I never shopped there, as someone my age and with my level of disposable income is rarely in the market for fine jewelry. But the store still symbolized all that is elegant and grand about downtown New Bern. Customers or not, we will miss Baxter’s.

Poultry-sized biceps, championship belts, the “squared circle” and, yes, over-the-top theatrics are becoming Havelock’s next export.

Professional wrestling is here in a big way with the Independent Circuit Wrestling Federation and Crash Wrestling, both of which make their homes in Havelock. There seems to be some affiliation between the two groups, as at least two ICWF stars are featured on the Crash Web site, but whether they share ownership remains unclear to me.

Crash is planning a wrestling show and live TV taping for 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3 at 238-A U.S. 70 West in Havelock. For details, check the site. And if you go, watch out for the dropkick.

Hounded, harangued and harassed by debt collectors? Confused and concerned over what they say you owe? Then maybe you should be the one interrogating them.

The Consumerist last week linked to this handy guide to using the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to make debt collectors provide you with evidence that you are responsible for the debt they’re trying to collect and that they have a legal right to collect it.

As those who follow the debt collection business (and loyal Consumerist readers) know, many companies will sell their unpaid debts to collection agencies to avoid the expense of taking debtors to court. Since litigation is prohibitively expensive for most small debts, collectors will hassle you and drag your credit through the mud, but they’ll rarely — if ever — sue.

I’m not telling people to be irresponsible, but if you racked up a few hundred on a credit card and a sinister combination of sky-high interest rates and ludicrous late fees have swelled the balance to a few thousand, I’d quibble over every cent and fight that debt tooth and nail, blood and bone.

Legal loansharking is a multibillion-dollar business. It’s time someone leveled the playing field.

Occasionally, we’ll receive letters that we’re unable to publish in the Havelock News because they don’t meet our standards for letters to the editor. One of those standards is that all letters be signed — no anonymous diatribes, please.

But sometimes there’s a substantive submission that — unfortunately — is unpublishable. I received one such letter today from a Girl Scout leader who found a yellowed copy of the unsigned letter below in its entirety. I’m sharing it with Havelock Scoop readers because it deserves to be seen.

Click below for the full text of the letter.

(more…)

The commissioner of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles has resigned amidst allegations that he helped a friend get a replica truck titled as authentic, according to the News & Observer.

George Tatum’s resignation follows a State Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations that Tatum used his position to get a replica 1937 Ford truck titled as a vintage vehicle. The state Department of Transportation’s chief financial officer has been named interim DMV commissioner.

How’d I first hear of this scandal? Not from the N&O.

The North Carolina Republican Party faxed us a news release containing the party chairman’s statement in reaction to Tatum’s resignation. Since the former DMV commish is a Democrat and Gov. Easley appointee, the Republicans came out with guns blazin’.

Corruption is corruption. Preferential treatment and favor-trading seems to run rampant in both political parties. This is no time for fractious partisanship.