County Day

2008-01-08T16:08:00.001-08:00

BLADEN COUNTY LOVE

Bladen Co. man on N.H. Democratic presidential ballot
By Jimmy Ryals
The Daily Reflector

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Thirteen times Bladen County businessman Randy Crow has run for office.

Thirteen times he's lost.

That number will likely rise by one today, as Crow makes his third
appearance on the Democratic ballot in the New Hampshire presidentia
primary.

Reached by cell phone Monday in Manchester, N.H., Crow said his 2008 bid
may end today, but his quixotic political career will continue.

"After I determine that I'm out of this, which might be Wednesday, I'll
probably change my Web site to read, 'Democrat for president ...
2-0-1-2," said Crow, the lone eastern North Carolinian running for
president this year. "That's what I did in 2-0-0-4."

With his fellow Tar Heel presidential hopeful, John Edwards, Crow shares
a party, a home state and disdain for President George W. Bush's civil
liberties record, but little else. His opposition to the war in Iraq and
to the treatment of U.S. citizens targeted as terror suspects don't
stray from mainstream Democratic opinion.

"We're losing our civil liberties right and left," Crow said. "I just
kind of feel like (running is) something I feel uncomfortable not doing
while we have this concerted effort to take what I consider our
constitutional rights away from us."

Crow shares some positions with hard-right conservatives. He advocates
abolishing the income tax and Social Security.

Other Crow positions are not so mainstream.

On his campaign Web site, he argues for abolishing the Federal Reserve
Bank. He believes the Bush administration had a role in the Sept. 11
attacks and sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002.

"I don't go along with the 9-11 Commission's view of September 11th," he
said. "And that was kind of the reason that we are in Iraq. So, if you
don't go along with how we got there, then there's, in my opinion, no
real reason to be there."

Crow said he tried to get onto the Florida and South Carolina
presidential primary ballots but made neither. He's run in Texas and
Louisiana primaries in the past.

In 2004, Crow drew 60 votes in New Hampshire, up from 29 in 2000.

He'd like to continue the upward trend this year but admits considering
the numbers "puts me in a bad mood," he said.

Still, his campaign continues.

"I don't look at it as a single event," he said. "I would say that it is
just a step as far as my message that we are not doing what we should be
doing in this country."

Jimmy Ryals can be contacted at jryals@coxnc.com and 329-9568.

2007-12-03T08:11:00.001-08:00

ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. -- Police are searching for a man who paid for $150 in groceries at a Food Lion grocery store with a $200 bill. The man walked out of the store with his groceries and $50 in change before the fake bill was discovered Sept. 6.

The bogus bill -- the U.S. Mint does not print a $200 bill -- bore the image of President George W. Bush on the front and had the White House on the back. It also included signs on the front lawn of the front lawn of the White House with slogans such as "We like broccoli" and "USA deserves a tax cut," Roanoke Rapids police said. Instead of being labeled a Federal Reserve note, the fake bill was marked as a "Moral Reserve Note." The bill bore the signatures of Ronald Reagan, political mentor, and George H.W. Bush, campaign adviser and mentor. Officials at the local Food Lion had no comment. Food Lion officials at the company headquarters in Salisbury could only say their normal policy is not to accept bills over $100.

2007-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

From Carucci:

"Same Old County Grubbing Story"

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — At a rally Saturday night touting the fact that he's been to every Iowa county, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards once again criticized Democratic opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, on Iran.

2007-03-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

TOXIC POLLUTANT COUNTIES

From a report analyzing the top 100 counties reporting the highest releases of air and water carcinogens:

21. Gaston County
68. Haywood County
86. Craven
87. Mecklenburg

2007-01-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

COASTAL COUNTIES

There are seven Ferry Routes, run by the state at public expense.

2007-01-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

HERTFORD COUNTY REPS

Sen. Robert Holloman (D-Hertford) died today

And Rep. Howard Hunter (D-Hertford) died Sunday.

What's up Hertford?!?

2006-12-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

EASTERN NC COUNTY POWER STRUCTURE

Are all of NC's Dem Con leaders from down East?

* Mike Easley was born in eastern North Carolina and before his election
as governor was district attorney for the Down East counties of Bladen,
Brunswick and Columbus. He lives in the coastal city of Southport.

* Beverly Perdue's home is in New Bern, a seaport that was the royal
capital during the colonial period. She represented that area in the
legislature before her election as lieutenant governor.

* Marc Basnight, the Senate president pro tem, was born in Manteo -- as
far east as you can go in North Carolina without getting your feet wet
-- and represents that area in the Senate.

2006-12-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

SCOTLAND, JONES, and VANCE COUNTIES

Despite independent yellow-dog Democrat opposition, these counties with large African-American populations just elected their first black sheriffs.

African-American population as a percent:
Jones County - 34.6%
Scotland County - 34.3%
Vance County - 49.8%

2006-12-06T14:40:00.001-08:00

The Sod Father

2006-11-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

99 COUNTIES

The number of counties UNC's Class of 2001 comes from this year... pray, pray, what is the omitted county?

2006-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

PITT COUNTY

Check out Fountain, NC.

2006-10-25T09:26:00.001-07:00

DARE COUNTY

Crazy non-scientist excavation pursuits occur here: http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/502591.html

2006-10-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

FRANKLING COUNTY

Site of the International Teen Whistling Championship

2006-10-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Which counties do not have a court system?

2006-10-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

BUNCOMBE COUNTY

Perry Deane Young, who has written extensively on the history of folklore of Western North Carolina is the author of two plays and 10 books, including a New York Times bestseller, the David Kopay Story. He can be reached at www.perrydeaneyoung.com

2006-09-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

ALL THE COUNTIES

And how you pronounce them:

*Note: These are the official pronunciations as dictated by John Sanders, who though fully North Carolinian is also white, affluent, and rooted now in Chapel Hill, so all choices should be seen through this lens.

2006-09-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

(ALMOST) ALL THE COUNTIES

A good guide to online newspapers in NC broken down by county can be found here.

2006-09-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

35+ COUNTIES

Check out the Mountains to Sea Trail!

2006-09-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

ALL THE COUNTIES

2006 Big Sweep Unusual finds: http://www.ncbigsweep.org/strange.html

2006-08-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

WATAUGA COUNTY

Accomplishment!

2006-08-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

GROWTH COUNTIES

Union, Brunswick, Currituck, Mecklenburg and Wake counties in North Carolina were among the 100 counties nationwide with the largest increases in housing units between 2000 and 2005.

Wake County ranked 97th on the basis of the number of homes added from April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005. The county posted an increase of about 21 percent, growing from 258,961 units to 314,400 units.

Charlotte's home county and a nearby bedroom community also cracked the list. Mecklenburg County added 64,261 homes over five years -- a 22 percent increase and a rank of 91. Union County, ranked 24th, added 14,194 homes.

Currituck County, on the state's northern coast, ranked 81st, with a nearly 23 percent increase in housing units. Brunswick County, at the southern end of the coast, ranked 55th, with a nearly 26 percent increase in housing.

2006-08-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

COUNTY MONIES

http://www.srdifedfunds.org/similar.aspx

2006-08-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

ALL THE COUNTIES

Check out this county breakdown of philanthropic assets in the SE:

2006-08-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

ROWAN COUNTY

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education has banned South Rowan High School's Gay/Straight Alliance. They are trying to skirt around banning all clubs by arguing that they just want to ban "sex-oriented clubs." Read more here

2006-08-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

MECKLENBURG COUNTY

Notes from Charlotte:

I'm not sure this message will reach you because I'm sending it via a
portable satelite connection courtesy of a National Geographic photographer
I was lucky enough to run into down here. Of course, there is obviously no
internet here in Charlotte.

I'm a having a great time. The people here are so friendly even though they
have so little. It just goes to show that you don't need all the things we
have back in Chapel Hill to be happy.
The culture here is so different: the customs, the clothing, greetings, etc.
Can you beleive that they don't have sensors that turn on your water
faucets for you. You have to do it by hand!!! The hardest part has been
getting used to the food. You wouldn't believe the things they eat here.

I don't know when I'll be able to contact you again, but I just wanted to
tell you that I made the trip safely and I'm doing all right here so far.

Wish me luck,

Matt

2006-08-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

CHATHAM COUNTY

From this site detailing Piedmont North Carolina growth trends:

Bynum, North Carolina is an easy place to miss if you don’t know where you are going. There is one little state road sign on 15-501 South that points the way. The small mill village is located approximately 8 miles south of Chapel Hill and 4 miles north of Pittsboro in Chatham County. With its “close-but-far” proximity to Chapel Hill and the Research Triangle Park, this quaint community has become the perfect target for rural gentrification.

Introduction to Bynum

The commonly accepted territory of Bynum includes the area immediately off of Bynum Road. The town grew up around the mill, which was set on the Haw River. The mill would later become the sight of the Bynum Manufacturing Company, established in 1872 to make cotton goods (Hadley: 1971). Originally, the company built 14 cotton mill houses available for rent to its employees (Eventually that number increased to 38). As the mill grew, the town grew and became a vibrant community. In the 1930’s there were five stores, a movie theater, and a high school in Bynum. As one native Bynum resident said, “You never had to leave Bynum at all back then. Everything you needed was walking distance” (interview: 2003).

Today, Bynum is much different. The mill is gone; closed down and burnt out. New houses have been added to the landscape. The only store that remains in town is the Bynum General Store which also serves as a post office and social gathering space. And the native residents of Bynum are disappearing.

Rural Gentrification

As with urban gentrification, rural gentrification begins with an area in decline. This decline is both economic and aesthetic. In the case of Bynum, the decline was the closing of the mill. This forced some people to leave the community which opened up vacancies for new people to move in. The company sold off the houses, but due to the company credit system, many of the native residents were too poor to purchase the houses in which they had lived their entire lives. Attracted to Bynum by the low property values and its quaint, down-home feel, new people quickly bought up the properties and the process of rural gentrification in Bynum came into full swing.

The gentrification of Bynum has both proponents and opponents. But regardless of where you stand on the issue, it is clear that the effects of gentrification have changed Bynum’s, physical, economic, social, and cultural landscape.

2006-08-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

ROWAN COUNTY

From today's News & Observer:

But Decker's lawyer, David Freedman of Winston-Salem, said the $50,000 deal was made at a Salisbury IHOP, a location midway between their districts. And, while not confirming that Black was the mystery man, he noted a Winston-Salem Journal report in March that Black and Decker made the deal for Decker's vote at the restaurant just off Interstate 85.

2006-07-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

RESEARCH COUNTIES

In case you were wondering the "Research Triangle Region" counties consist of Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake, and Warren.

2006-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

VOTING RIGHTS ACT COUNTIES

These are the counties in North Carolina (almost all in the East, a few in the Piedmont) that are covered under the Voting Rights Act reauthorization:
Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Caswell, Chowan, Cleveland, Craven, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gaston, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Jackson, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Northhampton, Onslow, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Robeson, Rockingham, Scotland, Union, Vance, Washington, Wayne, Wilson.

I'm slightly surprised that Mecklenburg, Forsyth, or even Wake are not on there. These areas definitely have had problems in the past: does the U.S. Justice Dept. consider such potential incidences ameliorated now?

2006-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

PITT COUNTY and ONSLOW COUNTY

Greenville, NC and Jacksonville, NC are rocking the young folk, according to a report by Money Magazine

Greenville's and Jacksonville's populations are reported to be 47.6% and 46.9% single respectively.

This leads to only two possible conclusions: either we're dealing with a large college campus and/or large military base or the sepulchrous marriage breakdown epidemic is currently ravaging Eastern North Carolina.

The interpretation is yours.

2006-07-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

BUNCOMBE COUNTY:
The New York Times is surprised that Asheville, NC is gay-friendly. So gay in fact that the Times is now encouraging their constituencies to visit what they assert is a "gay-friendly getaway."

After all its easy to get there and there's so much to do!

Just hop on a flight from Newark to Asheville direct on Continental, stay in quaint hotels in the $200+ range (named after un-named famous author Thomas Wolfe), and visit the Biltmore Estate.

Once again proving how incredibly, disgustingly, beautifully GAY NC counties/New York Times are. Now if only the Times could be as unpretentious, sincere, and bluntly prejudiced as county day residents, I might consider calling off my call to have the New York Times editor tried for treason.

2006-07-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

WILSON COUNTY -

"The engagement is off.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, might have earned immediate "cool" points with the young generation last week when it was learned that his daughter was engaged to rapper The Game and that Butterfield himself had given the entertainer "the third degree" this spring.

Alas, the engagement's off.

The pairing -- and Valeisha Butterfield's 19-carat engagement ring -- was first announced in the July issue of "Sister 2 Sister" magazine. But reports later said the rapper was recently seen with another woman at an awards show.

Her parents are divorced; her mother, Jean Farmer-Butterfield of Wilson, is a state representative in the legislature.

Valeisha Butterfield, who had bit parts in two movies, met The Game in her job as coordinator of Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, said Ken Willis, the congressman's spokesman.

"They had been friends, and then he asked her to marry him," Willis said. "Then, they decided not to go through with the engagement."

The Game appears in the movie "Waist Deep" and has a new album out this summer.

Willis said the congressional office has been swamped with calls about the engagement and breakup.

Willis did confirm a key detail of the story:

"Yes, it was 19 carats," he said. "And she gave it back."

2006-06-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

WAKE COUNTY/HENDERSON COUNTY

NYTimes Shout Out to Raleigh-Durham (Wake County) and Henderson (Henderson County) for their new approach to placing homeless people in their own apartments.

Here's an excerpt:

"In this campaign, promoted by a little-known office of the Bush administration, 219 cities, at last count, have started ambitious 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness.

The cities include New York, which is stepping up efforts to house the estimated nearly 4,000 people huddling on sidewalks or sleeping in parks, and Henderson, N.C., population 17,000, which recently counted 91 homeless people, 14 of them chronic cases.

Many of the early starters are reporting turnarounds. In Philadelphia, street dwellers have declined 60 percent over five years. In San Francisco, the number of the chronic homeless is down 28 percent in two years, in Dallas 26 percent and in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., 15 percent."

2006-05-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

SO MANY COUNTIES

The state lottery is up and running, and as predicted the poorest counties are spending the most money per capita on lottery tickets. Data taken from here. Income data taken from here.

* Wilson, $6.72, average income: 33,655

* Nash, $6.70, average income: 37,396

* Vance, $5.43, average family income: 30,230

* McDowell, $5.23, average family income: 31,791

* Martin, $5.12, average family income:29,128

* Edgecombe, $4.89, average family income:31,432

* Lenoir, $4.81, average family income:30,952

* Washington, $4.80, average family income: 28,211

As a comparison here are the expenditures for Chatham and Orange County:

* Wake, $2.99, average family income: 56,945

* Chatham, $2.39, average family income 44,089

* Orange,$1.90: 45,292

2006-05-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

MECKLENBURG COUNTY

Mecklenburg County Democratic representative Drew Saunders had this to say about the effect of gifts on the legislative process: ""Even the baby Jesus accepted gifts, and I don't think it corrupted him."

Well, put for a Jesus/baby-faced representative. I just hope he gets an advance on the gold and myrhh he'll surely receive in heaven for his unique and pragmatic extrication of modern theological questions.

2006-05-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

FRANKLIN COUNTY/WAKE COUNTY

Franklin Wake county line clash

2006-05-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

CARTERETT COUNTY

Student in Carterett County (New Port, NC), are protesting the Bush Administration's move to sell parts of the Croatan National Forest, and nearly 10,000 acres in North Carolina. Mark Rey, under secretary of agriculture, explained in unambiguous language to a room full of 6th graders that selling the land was necessary to preserve arts and sports programs in their schools. Representative Charles H. Taylor, a powerful NC Congressman and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee has spoken out against the arrangement.

The New York Times teaches us: "Around Newport and Morehead City, expensive homes and condominiums are mushrooming at a rate that makes Carteret County one of the fastest-growing counties in North Carolina."

And therefore students have responded:
""I have lived here all my life, and when I was little it was much prettier. We keep adding all these houses."

2006-03-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

A County Day blog, dedicated to the pursuit of counties, county characters, and moments of county-lulia will soon be here! Email countyday@gmail.com if you have any questions.