Vote for your future on Nov. 3rd 2009

As is true of all municipal voters in Granville County during this election cycle, I will be asked to vote for candidates who will have the responsibility to represent me. Those elected will make choices that will impact my future and that of my family. This duty should be the result of much more than a “popularity contest” or “familiarity exercise”. As voters we have the right to demand the highest quality candidates possible. What attributes can we use to measure these individuals? Who can help us to determine one over another?

 Let’s take a look at two words—“quality” and “integrity”. I choose these words because they have significant value for me as a person and a citizen in this country. I consider them “core values” that play a major role in my evaluation process of all candidates running for public office.

 Quality: “The standard of something as measured against other things of similar kind; the degree of excellence of something”. “A distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something”.

 Integrity: “The state of being whole and undivided”. Before attending the recent candidate forums in Oxford and Creedmoor, a list of 15 general questions was drafted. While under no official obligation to respond to these questions, candidates were asked publicly if they would be willing to answer them in writing. Of all the candidates attending both forums, at least 23 individuals either raised their hand in agreement or willingly accepted the written questions on paper. All were given an email address and a deadline date for their individual responses.

The following candidates kept true to their word and handed in their responses: Frank Strickland, Steve Powell, Ron Bullock, William “Bill” Johnston, J. Sue Hinman, Jackie Sergent, David Wicker, Jr., Darryl D. Moss, Otha Piper, Jr., Randy J. Rich, Kevin A. Rumsey, Jack L. Day, and William “Bill” McKellar.

 The variety of answers included everything from 1-sentence responses to 4-page detailed, thoughtful and insightful statements. Certain attributes of “candidate quality” are equally as important as their having held prior elective office or their list of accomplishments produced for a particular segment of our community. The quality of a candidate’s thoughts will frequently shine through the “din” of “political speak” and the “background noise” of trend. The mere fact that these candidates SAID they would respond and DID reflects their integrity. Their “state of being whole and undivided” was revealed. These candidates were given an opportunity to demonstrate their integrity on a very basic level and they took it. No email response, request for clarification, or contact was received from any of those who chose not to respond. Clearly some candidates are “ready for prime time” and others are “works in progress”.

 Our local media outlets (TV, radio, internet and print) have the ongoing responsibility to challenge our candidates and assist us in “raising the bar of quality” during each election cycle. We encourage them to continue in this process.

Sallyann Hobson, Chair GCDP

A congratulation is in order for the Town of Butner’s, Town Clerk Dianne White. Dianne received the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments (COG) Outstanding  City/County Clerk award for 2009.

She is always ready to help when we have contacted her for information, which we do truly appreciate. It is town staff like Dianne that makes Butner a great place to live, so congrats again Dianne. You deserved it.

Although, BCS is new to the area and the blogosphere, we are excited about the upcoming Butner Municipal election but most importantly, so are our readers. In fact, it was the positive responses and suggestions from you the community that was the driving force behind the voter project. Just remember, November 3rd 2009 marks the first, historic  Mayoral and Butner Town Council Election for the citizens of our great town.

Over the next two days we will be posting the candidate’s questionnaire along with their responses to our questions today’s featured candidate is a the current Butner Town Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Linda Jordan. As you will find from Ms. Jordan’s thoughtful responses to our questions, she has a strong drive to move the Town of Butner forward, yet keep the best aspects of our community the one’s that give us that small town appeal.

Get to know Butner’s Mayor Pro Tem Linda Russell Jordan in her own words.

 Why are you seeking the office of Butner Town Council member? 

I am seeking re-election because I care about  the Town of Butner, the children, the citizens and the community which includes the business owners.  I began serving in 2004 as a member of the Butner Advisory Council and was appointed Mayor ProTem in 2007.  My role is to be the voice for the citizens.  Since incorporation, there is a great deal of work to be completed.  I would like to have the opportunity to see these tasks through as well as explore other opportunities for the town.   

Going forward, what do you believe are the most important issues facing Butner? In addition, how will you address those issues?

The most important issues for Butner now are bringing in businesses to help our citizens with employment, addresses issues regarding facilities for the children and elderly and protecting our environment.  Today, we do have citizen input from our surveys regarding parks, walking trails, retirement center, YMCA, ball fields, businesses, etc.  We need to continue to partner with the NC League, Kerr-Terr COG, Triangle North and other resources to assist us in getting grants for some of this.   

One of the focus areas for strong economic development in Granville County is the southern portion of the county, which includes Butner, Creedmoor and Stem. Going forward how do you propose developing this area and through what measures? 

Yes, there are opportunities to develop the southern portion of Granville County.  However, we don’t want to over develop and lose the small town feeling for Butner.  First, we need to define how much development is needed for the southern portion and what type of development we want to have.  Finally, we need to establish short term goals for the immediate needs and then have a long range plan to ensure we have the proper infrastructure in place. 

 What in your record as a citizen or other experience demonstrates your ability to be effective on the Butner Town Council? This might include career or community service; be specific about its relevance to this office.

I have been a citizen of Granville County and Butner for 19 years.  I have served on several school and county committees: 

Superintendent Parent Advisory Council – 6 years

President and/or Secretary for PTO for Butner Stem Elementary School- 5 years

President and/or Secretary for PTO Butner Stem Middle School – 3 years

Granville County SunTrust Board, representing the Butner branch – 3 years

Granville County Human Relations Committee – 5 years

Kerr-Terr Regional Council of Governments – 1+ years

Secretary, Butner Church Council – 4 years

Chair- Town of Butner Finance Committee- since 2007

Serve on the Town of Butner Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee

Serve on the Community Building Committee

Worked with Triangle United Way for over 10 years

Member of Greater Triangle Stewardship Development Awards Program

All of the items above show my dedication and my commitment to the community.  In order to be a good servant to the community, one must know what is going on and be aware of the activities.  I have supported several initiatives for Butner including the renovations of the Soldiers Memorial Building, various greenways, helped to create and design the new Town of Butner website, PARTF grant for the B Street Athletic Complex, Butner Town Hall, new businesses and currently working on ways to a Community Building for the town. 

I am currently employed with GlaxoSmithKline and have worked there for 21 years.  I have a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and a Masters degree in Organizational Change and Leadership.  I feel that all of my education and work experience displays my leadership skills, work ethics, dedication and loyalty to fulfilling the obligations of serving on the Butner Town Council.

October

Plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs

Apples keep well for about six months at temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees F.

A Styrofoam chest or a double cardboard box in a cool mudroom or cellar can approximate root cellar conditions. Remember to give your apples an occasional change of air. Apple cider may be frozen after first pouring off a small amount to allow for expansion.

Store beans in a moisture-proof, airtight container. Beans will stale and toughen over time even when stored properly.

Onions and garlic: mature, dry-skinned bulbs like it cool and dry, so don’t store them with apples or potatoes. French-braided onions and garlic are handy and free to get some ventilation as well.

Brush your root crops clean of any soil and store in a cool, dark place. Never refrigerate potatoes and apples together; the apples give off ethylene gas, which will spoil the potatoes. Clipping the tops of parsnips, carrots, beets, and turnips will keep them fresher longer.

Squash don’t like to be quite as cool as root crops do. If you have a coolish bedroom, stashing them under the bed works well. They like a temperature of about 50 to 65 degrees F.

Put some parsley plants in a box and place the box in a light cellar or shed.

Put some frozen rhubarb roots in a barrel of dirt in the cellar, where they will produce stalks for winter use.

Dig up and store dahlias, gladioli, and other tender plants.

Plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs.

Clumps of sensitive chrysanthemums can be set in a cold frame for the winter. They will yield many divisions in the spring.

Clean, oil, and store lawn mowers.

Paint any garden structures that need it.

Clean up and burn diseased plants, spread manure, and plow the garden.

Rake up the fallen leaves and use them as mulch for flowers and shrubs. Hardwood leaves such as oak and chestnut contain more plant food than those from softwood trees.

To balance all the harvesting, do a little indoor planting, which will liven up the house later. Calla lilies and begonias can be planted now, and paperwhite narcissi can be started.

November Task

Make certain that climbing roses are securely attached to their supports.

Use small stakes or markers where you’ve planted bulbs or late-starting plants in the perennial garden to avoid disturbing them when you begin spring soil preparation.

Apply protective mulches on the perennial garden after the ground has frozen an inch or two.

Cover strawberries two inches deep with hay or straw.

Bring garden furniture under cover if you have not already done so.

Destroy breeding places for pests and disease.

Work a trowelful of bonemeal into the soil around your rosebush, then hill up more soil around the base.

Prune grapevines.

It’s never too late to apply lime to your lawn, as long as snow doesn’t stop you from pushing the spreader. The minerals in lime retain their value until the grass is ready to grow again.

Give the compost pile a good turning before winter sets in.

Give all trees and shrubs plenty of water before the ground freezes.

Check trees around your house for weak branches that should be removed by you now, rather than by snow and ice later.

Source: The Old Farmers Almanac

GOP leader’s stunt plays into Perdue’s hands

A political tip: If you’re going to send something to the governor’s office, you’d better know what’s in it.

Like, say, a check.

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger showed off a wheelbarrow full of “Conservative Voter Surveys” Tuesday that he said reflected lots of anger and frustration with Democrats.

As Dome noted Wednesday, the survey questions were written to stir up anger and possible Republican campaign contributions. We’re guessing Berger never imagined the governor’s staff would bother to read them. He was wrong.

Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson, responding to a request from Dome, said she had skimmed about a third of the 3,000 or so surveys. She noted comments written to the Republican Party included:

“I am embarrassed to be associated with this organization. Your tactics are disgusting and you’re going to lose a generation of voters.”

And then there was the check. A staff member found a $50 campaign contribution made out to Berger tucked in the surveys, which were, after all, a fundraising ploy.

That brings us to political tip No. 2: If you get a check, cash it.

“I was surprised to find a check,” Pearson said, noting that one woman wrote to the party, “Don’t just throw this away, read it.”

Pearson said the office intended to forward the check to its intended recipient.

Another comment: “Stop wording questions so geared up to get the answers you want and start wording them to actually find out the people’s opinion, not just confirm your own. There are probably only three questions on here that are legitimate.”

On Dome’s own sample survey, a Harrisburg woman wrote in the box for including a credit card contribution: “Not sending you any more money.”

Jim Blaine, director of the N.C. Republican Senate Committee, said both parties need to pay attention to the surveys.

“We’re glad her staff has looked at the surveys,” Blaine said. “We hope she takes to heart the responses that are critical of her programs as we take to heart the responses that are critical of our programs.”

Perdue’s staff might just want to get its own wheelbarrow and deliver the surveys, which are now public records, back to Berger.

Source: By N.C. Politics & Government | The News and Observer

Around these parts of North Carolina in October most folks are “deep fried bound”; translation, they are heading to the NC State Fair in Raleigh. But there’s a lesser known smaller regional fair right on its heels, the Vance County Regional Fair in Henderson and believe it or not this year they are celebrating the Fair’s  ”92nd” year in operation.

Starting October 27th running through the 31st (Halloween), gates open at 5 pm, Tuesday – Friday and on Saturday, at 10 am. There will be something for everyone; a bird and poultry exhibit, Agricultural & Heritage exhibits and this year the fair is presenting an all new midway courtesy of North Carolina based Inner Shows. Check out their website for more information, specials and directions to the fairgrounds.

Madoff's sporting a new doo

 Bernard Madoff swaps ‘coke-fuelled’ high life for prison pizza

Legal papers reveal spartan life of disgraced US financier who shares cell with mafia boss and convicted spy

Bernard Madoff, the disgraced US financier who carried out one of Wall Street’s biggest-ever frauds, has swapped a life of luxury and drug-fuelled excess for a spartan life in prison where his main companions are a mafia boss and a convicted spy, according to legal papers.

Madoff – who is serving a 150-year sentence for masterminding an elaborate Ponzi scheme, which cost investors around $65bn (£39bn) – has swapped his vast penthouse in New York for the lower bunk of a prison cell, underneath a drug offender, and dines on pizza cooked by a child molester.

The insight into the 71-year-old’s new life comes in papers filed by Joseph Cotchett, a lawyer who is representing about a dozen of Madoff’s thousands of victims. He interviewed Madoff at the Butner federal prison near Raleigh, North Carolina, in July.

According to Cotchett, Madoff’s main leisure activity is taking walks around the prison’s running track at night. Among his companions are Carmine Persico, the convicted boss of the Colombo crime family known in his professional life as “The Snake”, and Jonathan Pollard, jailed for life in 1987 for selling military secrets to Israel.

The lawsuit filed by Cotchett contrasts Madoff’s current existence with details of what the legal papers claim was a pre-prison life awash with cocaine and financed by investors’ cash.

It alleges that Madoff employed a member of staff from 1975 to 2003 to acquire cocaine for his workplace, an office known by co-workers as “the north pole”.

Saying the claims are based in part on interviews with people associated with the his firm, the papers allege that topless waitresses were common at office parties, while Madoff kept a list of his favourite masseuses in a personal phone book. “Employees described it as a wild, fast-talking, drug-using office culture,” the lawsuit says.

Source: By Peter Walker | The Guardian | UK

Funnel Cakes anyone?

Despite the clouds, Creedmoor’s annual Music festival went off without a hitch. No matter what you were looking for, from the music to the funnel cakes, chances are you found it on Main St.,  Creedmoor. It’s the one afternoon every year that downtown Creedmoor  transforms into one big community get together to celebrate the end of summer.   

This year’s turn-out will no doubt surpass previous years with 60 plus vendor’s from all over selling  jewerly, photography, gift baskets, painting’s and one must not forget the hard working non-profits. The American Red Cross, Knights of Columbus, Families Living Violence Free  and Butner Town council candidate Dana McKeithan and her friends were making up some delicious hot dogs, raising money for a cause she works tirelessly for; citizens with mental, physical and developmental disabilities.  

If you are an aficionado and only went for the music, you were not let down. This  year’s  performers  included; The Sourwood Mountain Band, GrassStreet, Tuxedo Junction, Nikki Baker, Stacey Carol-Morales, the McSchaws,  Steadfast Ministries and the South Granville Marching Band.

GrassStreet on center stage

Thanks to all who made the event possible by sponsoring the 2009 festival. Sponsors include; The city of Creedmoor , AAA Gas and Appliance, Altec, Ace Hardware, Andrews Ford, Senator Doug Berger, Cardinal State Bank, Butner- Creedmoor News, Bill & Brad Mullins, Champs Tire, Currin & Dutra Attorneys at Law, Dr. Marcia Lewis, Dave Pollard, Duke Energy | Select Heating and Air Conditioning, Davenport Subdivision, Creedmoor Fuel, Ellington-Brim Chevrolet, Farm Bureau, Fidelity Bank, Southern States (who sponsored the great stage), Suntrust, Nationwide Insurance | Jimmy Williams & Associates, Atty. Nathan Garren, M & H Tire & Trends, Smokers Friendly BP , The Wooten Company, Dr. Tamara Stall,  Tatum & Edwards, Waste Industries and  the Whitfield Development.

Katy says: shoot out to my pooches

And I can’t forget one other noteworthy four-legged person in attendance this year, Ms. Katie Moody Smith. Katie was escorted by her Mom slash guide-human, Suzanne Moody Smith, this was Katie’s first year at the music festival. Katie’s guide-human, Suzanne is a member of  the city of Creedmoor’s Planning Board and also teaches Violin, Viola and piano to local students at her studio in Creedmoor. Suzanne plays a mean fiddle and her students have played at the  festival in the past. Some of you may have seen Katie before, she’s a regular downtown and at Creedmoor’s Alive after Five events.  

Kudos to Mayor Darryl Moss and Creedmoor Commissioner Otha Piper and all others who were in charge of organizing this year’s festival. You guys did a great job and what’s on tap for next year? Maybe it’s too early to ask, so I’ll see you all in 2010.

North Carolina agricultural exports rose to $3.1 billion last year, up 51 percent from 2007, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The value of the state’s exports, which topped $3 billion for the first time, grew on higher prices and the emergence of China and other nations as importers of food from the United States, says Peter Thornton, the department’s assistant director for international marketing.

“As developing countries get richer, the first thing they are going to do is eat better, which offers us more export opportunities,” he says.

North Carolina ranked 13th in the nation for agricultural-export value during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

More on the story at the Triangle Business Journal