I’ve made no secret that I’m a Democrat, but if they keep getting me into hot water I’m going to have to start hanging out with a different crowd. Just days after someone accused me of buddying up to the sheriff, a Democrat, I’ve been questioned as to whether I am paying too much attention [...]

Albert J. Ellis Airport Chief Hans Miller has been named Peace Officer of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars N.C. District 4, which covers much of eastern North Carolina. After receiving the award Miller spoke to family and friends, but stopped just shy of announcing his intention to run for Onslow County Sheriff. [...]

- Robert Lewis has been convicted of manslaughter in his son’s death. Read the news. Photos from the trial are at the end of this post. I have covered every murder trial in Jacksonville in the last five years. I have seen some good lawyering on both sides, but I honestly think Ernie Wright put on [...]

Jacksonville City Councilman Jerome Willingham has a full-time civil service job in D.C., pays rent in Maryland and is registered to vote there. Read the news – part one. Read the news – part two. I promised a big-picture story about Willingham a couple of years ago. Took a while, but the time has arrived. [...]

Of course a homicide happens when I’m busy writing three of the several election stories we will have in the newspaper tomorrow.  If you have voted and still need an election night fix, check these two local political blogs:  In this one, liberal Democrat Thomas Brock tells us why he didn’t vote for Martin Aragona Jr.  And [...]

Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Philips said he “absolutely” did not know about Willingham’s federal lawsuit against the City of San Leandro. The District Attorney’s Office was also unaware of it when I asked last week. Why did Willingham keep it so secret? He clearly believes he was in the right, why not tell the voting public about it?  —————————– first update ——————————  [...]

Some weekend shifts are pretty slow, but this weekend is not shaping up to be one of them. Today, Deanna Murphy and I headed towards the Vietnam Memorial dedication at about 10 a.m. to pull together a story about the dedication and Flag Day. From there, we went to the Jacksonville USO where the National [...]

The Associated Press is reporting that the U.S. Attorney for North Carolina’s Western District is leaving her post for another position with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert’s office announced Monday afternoon that she would be resigning the post effective midnight Saturday. Who cares? Right. Well I tell you all this [...]

One thing I heard a lot Friday (almost exclusively from guests and inexperienced journalists) was that there wasn’t enough protection for the president. Listen, the Secret Service specializes in providing a blanket of security over a venue where the president is without being obvious about it. Check out these photos Chuck Beckley snapped for me. [...]

Only 18 months to go. Read news here. Read about a few things that stood out during the president’s visit. And check out this amazing picture Chuck Beckley took. Click the thumbnail to look at the full-blown photo:

In case you couldn’t tell by the frontpage of today’s newspaper, The Daily News is covering the Obama visit to the hilt. Aboard Lejeune right now are photographers Don Bryan and Chuch Beckley, computer wizard Scott Edgington, and writers Mike McHugh, Molly DeWitt and Jennifer Hlad: And me.

So I am up this morning getting ready and I am explaining to my wife that I have to hurry so I can get on base on time so I can cover the president and she says, “Whatever, you better have that money in RBC by 2 o’clock.” So I hope he gets here on [...]

It was one year ago today that authorities found Maria Lauterbach and her unborn son in a shallow grave behind Cesar Laurean’s Half Moon community home. Laurean was already on a bus bound for his native Mexico. There were many, many law enforcement officers who took part in that investigation and made Laurean’s arrest in Mexico [...]

D.A. Dewey Hudson is being sized up by newly elected Sen. Kay Hagan for a possible presidential appointment to U.S. Attorney for the state’s Eastern District. It’s an honor to even be considered. There are only 93 U.S. Attorneys in the in the entire country. Read the news here. Hudson arriving at 103 Meadow Trail exactly [...]

Y’all asked and here they are. Click on the thumbnails to see larger pictures.                                                                                                    

Molly K. DeWitt has an article Online detailing the city council’s heated discussion over the proposed public safety building. Read it here. Molly went over an looked at the mold for herself. Some of it was moving. She and Daily News photog Chuck Beckley thought they found a fossil in one of the offices, but [...]

W.C. Jarman called me today to make sure we get the word out that the commissioners will not be discussing the register of deeds pay. Read breif article here. It has links to previous Pollard stories. In order to be added to the agenda Dec. 15, it would take two commissioners. Jarman said he spoke [...]

Tommy Pollard wanted to clarify his position in talking to the county commissioners about his wife’s pay as the register of deeds. Read article here. Also, the stoplight Pollard helped install 20 years ago will stay in place for now. Read that article here.

Tommy Pollard thinks the new register of deeds should get a raise. Read it here. I have only know Tommy a short time (like five days) but I really like him. He is not shy and does not back down from controversy. Which is a comically volatile mix when you do stuff like this:

W.C. Jarman was named the Onslow County Board of Commissioners Chairman during Monday night’s meeting. Read Molly K. DeWitt’s article about the swearing in ceremony. Jarman’s employment at the Sheriff’s Department while running for county commissioner was one of the points of contention between Sheriff Ed Brown and former county manager Frank Clifton before Clifton [...]

An article about trying to sort out the political labrynth behind the removal of “Tommy Pollard’s stoplight” is Online now.  Amanda and I also wrote an article this weekend about a possible snag in Jacksonville’s proposed public safety building. The articles mark a slight turning point for me as the newspaper has asked me to steer [...]

The sixth place vote getter in Tuesday’s race for Onslow County Commissioner told The Daily News he wants a recount. His reasons are given in the article here. Molly K. Dewitt has a breakdown of the race here. She also compares Onslow County voting to the rest of N.C. Republicans dominated Onslow County. With the [...]

The Daily News opinion about the election: In one of the highest turnouts in county history, Onslow voters joined in a marvelous demonstration of the American democratic process in action. The sheer number of individuals who made the effort to cast their votes in this general election reached historic levels. Add the groundbreaking victory of [...]

During his acceptance speech tonight, Obama quoted Lincoln. He said, “As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than we are ‘we are not enemies, but friends.’”

The Daily News is running an Election Day blog. My editors are posting info on there now and when the night ramps up, I will be out in town snapping photos and talking to people. Freedom dug deep into its corporate pockets and purchased an air card so I will be able to post from [...]

The Associated Press is reporting that Barack Obama’s aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago. There goes the liberal media again, always covering up for Obama. Get real! Journalists live [...]

By Mike Baker Associated Press RALEIGH - A new poll shows that North Carolina residents believe Democrats will do a better job handling nearly every major issue facing the country — from the economy to energy to education. An Elon University poll released Friday identified only one issue that favors Republicans — the Iraq War. Respondents [...]

John McCain and Sarah Palin slammed the Los Angeles Times of protecting Barack Obama by withholding a videotape him at a 2003 party for a Palestinian-American professor, according to Associated Press.The Republicans say Rashid Khalidi is a former spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization. He denies that. Khalidi – a professor of Middle East Studies [...]

The following Op/Ed piece appeared in The Daily News today: Brilliantly, Democrats have kept the issue of guns out of the presidential campaign. Guns have barely been mentioned, with the exception of Barack Obama’s gaffe about rubes clinging to Bibles and guns, his cautious support of the Supreme Courts Heller decision. Democrats have long been [...]

If you are a hot momma voting for Obama and can’t get your McCain man to agree or if you know you’re Right and your spouse is wrong, then The Daily News wants to hear from you. The newspaper is working on an article about families split over the election with die hard voters from [...]

Some of y’all said that you would vote for Colin Powell if he were running for president. I asked what you would say when Powell supports Obama. Well, since Powell is now supporting Obama, I ask again, what say you? Powell on “Meet the Press.”

Michelle Obama was in town today campaigning for her husband. Did I take pictures? Of course I took pictures. Click on thumbnails for larger photos. Obama speaks to 1,500 supporters at Jacksonville Commons. JFD Fire Marshal John Reed said he estimated there was another 200 people outside that couldn’t get in. JPD Capt. Tim Malfitano checks [...]

In a comment to a previous post, Uncle Bill said I refer to a source close to the investigation “in virtually every story you write.” Huh? I have been writing for The Daily News since April 2007. In that time (not counting a repeat of something already published) I have quoted an unnamed source a [...]

I had a two hour interview with Louis Sewell yesterday. He had just been asked to resign by Gov. Mike Easley an hour before and Sewell was still defiant as to whether what he did was wrong. Read the article here. Sewell, a co-founder of Golden Corral, made headlines Sunday in Raleigh’s News & Observer for directing [...]

Sen. Elizabeth Dole stopped by The Daily News on Saturday to talk about stuff. I asked her about Sarah Palin and here is what she had to say - watch video here. I wrote about Dole’s visit to Jacksonville and her opponent Kay Hagan stopping by back in June. Pictures of both candidates in Jacksonville. Political insiders are [...]

The slow, painful unraveling of North Topsail Beach continues. Daily News Topsail area reporter Suzie Ulbrich has been following this story and has filed two articles about it so far. The town manager fired for trying to do the right thing. The town’s capital project coordinator and assistant finance officer quits in support of the [...]