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 [...]

For the first several cold case articles I wrote, no family members of the victim were interviewed. They had moved on and didn’t want to talk, or died themselves or just were difficult to locate. But in the last several cases, I have spoken to the family of the victim. It was heartbreaking to stand in Pamela [...]

The Daily News had a good Op/Ed piece about Thanksgiving in Thursday’s newspaper. It got me to thinking about being thankful. The biggest problem my wife and I face these days is that while I am making more money than I ever have, we have less and less spending money on hand. We went through [...]

The Onslow County Sheriff’s Department released some new information today about the shooting death of a horse in Hubert. Read article here. According to a press release, deputies were called to Bear Creek Road to “investigate incidents involving the random shooting of animals on a farm.” I’m off today since I have to work the [...]

Two Midway Park men have been arrested and charged with several area break-ins. Read the article here. According to warrants, they stole ”a Winchester model 1909 .22-caliber rifle, Cannon video camera, Nikon digital camera, and a six-inch sex toy vibrator.” On a serious note, I like Flowers’ shirt. I am not kidding. As my boss, Cyndi [...]

The Sheriff’s Department is in the middle of investigating the shooting death of a $30,000 horse in the Bear Creek area of Onslow County. Read the article here. When this case is over, I believe it will involve more than just the dead horse. We should see some weapons violations coming out of this as [...]

For anyone who ever doubted the legal skills of Jacksonville attorney Ed Bailey… 35-year-old Leonel Saballos pleaded guilty Friday to two minor crimes. Considering the charges Saballos originally faced, this case seems to fit the textbook definition of ”getting off easy.” I believe the D.A.’s Office did all it could in this case. I sat in on a bond hearing [...]

Cabbie Irene Bennett, mother of three teens, picked up a fare in the early morning hours of Mother’s Day 1993 and was never seen alive again. Read the cold case article here. Mike and I have spent the last two days at the crime scene and scouring public records looking for family members and witnesses. We [...]

The suspect in Saturday’s armed robbery of a Brynn Marr Road jewelry store was nabbed by the JPD during a traffic check Thursday. Read Molly K. DeWitt’s article about it here. This kid was due in court on an unrelated charge the same day he was arrested. Aren’t you supposed to clear your calender before getting [...]

Former WCTI-TV cameraman Eugene Shelton was found guilty of obstructing an officer Thursday. Eugene waiting for his trial.  Read the article here. As I reported earlier this year on the blog, Eugene is a friend of mine. I have heard through mutual friends that he thinks I threw him under the bus, but it isn’t [...]

Seen this guy?           Jacksonville police say he is one of two armed men that forced a clerk into the beer cooler during a robbery at the Gum Branch Road Expressway on Monday night. Read the entire article here.

A Dateline crew was at The Daily News today to interview me about the William Miller cold case. Here is a photo by Dave Melvin of freelance cameraman Kevin Bond filming me looking at a bunch of photos on my laptop: Bond was the cameraman that shot rolls of film for Dateline when they were going [...]

The Onslow County District Attorney’s Office is reporting that Lance Cpl. Christina Laurean has returned to Camp Lejeune from her visit to see her husband, a murder suspect held in a Mexican jail. Hey, Ed C., you owe me five bucks.

My company cell phone finally crapped the bed this morning. I have really overworked it in the last year. And no, for the hundredth time today, I didn’t have everyone’s number stored somewhere else. Good news: I will have a new cell with the same number in a few days. Bad news: The 300 plus cell phone numbers [...]

I am sitting in court waiting for the judge to return from an hour recess. Elijah Payne, the Yopp Road Wal-Mart employee accused of shooting up the store in March should be pleading guilty to something pretty soon. Judge Gary Trawick looking over the agreement before calling for a recess:

Do you cling to your faith and guns? Will Barack Obama take them away? A lot of area gun lovers think so judging by sales since the election. Read an article I wrote about the explosion in gun sales in the face of a Democrat-controlled Congress and Obama as president. Check out the article I [...]

An article about a witness in the 1972 homicide of a Camp Lejeune Marine coming forward to talk about her fear of the suspect is Online now. Read it here. George Hayden: One thing I am curious about: Investigators seized George Hayden’s computers and other electronic devices because they thought Vickie Babbitt and he were communicating about [...]

My favorite writer, Ernest Hemingway once said that when it comes to writing, it is more important what you leave out than what you put in. As a writer who got his start in the newspaper business, Papa knew what he was talking about. I had a good conversation Friday with a high-ranking Camp Lejeune official. [...]

A civilian employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the commanding officer at Camp Lejeune alleging the base violated his constitutional rights. Read the article here. Two photos of the anti-Islamic stickers that landed Vietnam War veteran Jesse Nieto in hot water with the Marine Corps: Nieto lost his son in the 2000 terrorist attack on the U.S.S. Cole and [...]

Daily News Content Editor Jennifer Hlad has an article Online about improvements in PTSD treatment. Read it here. The article mentions the Maria Lauterbach and Holley Wimunc cases and how they have pushed domestic violence in the military into the spotlight. The article says those instances are rare, not the rule. 

The former police chief accused of the 1972 murder of Camp Lejeune Marine William Miller bonded out of the Onslow County Jail on Friday. Read the news article. As a condition of Hayden’s pre-trial release, Onslow County District Court Judge Jim Moore ordered Hayden’s home in Beaufort and his son’s home in Cape Carteret be used [...]

JPD snipers train police shooters from all over the country. A couple of weeks ago Mike and I went out to the range and observed the training. Read the article here. Mike and JPD Lt. Devon Bryan discuss sniper rifle suppressors:

The 19-year-old alleged mother that is accused of dumping her alleged newborn in the trash could still face murder charges if the right evidence is found, I am told by a source close to the investigation who asked me not to use his name because he is not suppose to discuss the case with the [...]

Two teenage girls were brutally murdered in Jacksonville in 1980. They had several things in common:  They were beautiful. They were black. They were too young to die. And they have largely been forgotten.      They were also both dumped like so much garbage aboard Camp Lejeune. I have conducted more than a dozen interviews with cops (retired and [...]

Found this on WITN while surfing the Web: A Nash County fugitive will be profiled on Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted” tonight. James Ricky Perry is wanted for conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. He has been on the lam for three years. [...]

A Camp Lejeune Marine charged with child abuse yesterday after his stepson died will be charged with murder now that authorities have autopsy results, Lenoir County Sheriff’s detectives say. The original story here.

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 [...]

An article is Online now about an arrest made in the dead newborn found in the garbage. Read it here. The story will be updated after I get more info from the sheriff’s department. The mother’s address does not correlate to where the garbage man stopped his truck when he spotted the baby in the [...]

A story is Online now about Christina Laurean going to Mexico for a possible conjugal visit with her husband Cesar. Read it here. D.A. Dewey Hudson’s press conference Thursday on the steps of the Onslow County Courthouse: Dick McNeil and Dewey Hudson discuss the case, the 2012 presidential race and where to get a good burger [...]

At around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, I received a phone call from WITN-TV’s Chelsea Donovan and WNCT-TV’s Laura Vesco. They told me the courthouse – the traditional place the media, public, and candidates hang out on election night – was so packed they couldn’t get in. I was tied up writing one of three articles I [...]

A profile article on Jacksonville attorney Dick McNeil is Online now. A FreedomENC photo of McNeil, Vaughn Jones and P.I. Jerry Waller: Read it here. Waller and McNeil outside the Craven County Courthouse: A tidbit of the story: McNeil said he did not know whether Cesar Laurean would ever be returned to the U.S. to [...]

District Attorney Dewey Hudson has called for a press conference at his office in Onslow County for tomorrow to provide an update on the Cesar Laurean case. More when I know it…

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 following Op/Ed piece ran in The Daily News today: A recent sting operation conducted by law enforcement officials resulting in the arrests of at least eight men, including two Marines, exposes only the tip of the iceberg, according to the State Bureau of Investigation. The state’s figures – indicating 18,000 sexual predators of children reside [...]

The Daily News printed this letter to the editor by Clark Bardin of Swansboro in Saturday’s edition: This letter is in response to The Daily News’ Oct. 29 editorial headlined, “Where does Obama stand on gun rights?” Supporting background checks, getting militarystyle assault weapons off the streets, and giving law enforcement more tools to stop [...]

Pamela Bell, a young, beautiful 17-year-old girl, fell victim to a pimp who tried to turn her out in 1980. After repeatedly refusing to go to work as a Court Street hooker, her nude body turned up aboard Camp Lejeune near a stream. She was drowned in six inches of water. Bell was one of two [...]

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 [...]