Category: Quick hits

Here’s a little Internet tidbit that’s come in handy for us: it’s called gethuman.com. No, it’s got nothing to do with “Up With People”. It’s a guide for how to get through telephone mazes and speak to a human being when calling a major corporation. We thank one of our favorite long-time readers for the tip. Now that you’ve saved some time on the phone, waste it here on our open line.

For those who remain skeptical, I encourage you to go to a Boys and Girls Club in Vance County or anywhere and see what I saw yesterday and the day before: a group of children having good, clean, wholesome fun instead of sitting around at home watching thugs grab themselves on television or “hoochie mamas” shake their behinds on music videos. To Vance County Schools, we give kudos and credit where it is due. Without their loan of temporary facilities, …

Since this letter to the editor in today’s Daily Dispatch has already captured the interest of our readers, let’s go with it. How can the collection of child support from “deadbeat parents” be streamlined to best serve the interests of children? Give it a think on our weekend open line.

I took a few days away from the blog to spend with my family (which, in retrospect, was probably seriously poor timing) when the debate about Henderson Mayor Clem Seifert and his trip to the North Carolina League of Municipalities conference erupted. The debate raises the question of how much scrutiny a part-time city official merits, and where the line should be drawn between the public and private spheres. Let your thoughts on this or any other topic be known …

Here’s a story brought to our attention by a long-time reader about overcoming life’s adversities that makes the trials and tribulations of our daily lives seem trivial by comparison. Mull it over on today’s open line.

We were very interested to read in today’s Daily Dispatch that the Embassy Foundation is going ahead with a fund-raising drive for the performance hall aspect of the project. We ask for your thoughts on the issue on this weekend’s open line.

We invite readers to view this article in today’s Daily Dispatch on the agreement between the Alan Vester auto group and the NC Attorney General. In a community still suffering the results of the Creative Real Estate scandal, we wonder if consumer credit and finance should be part of our educational curriculum, or if this is just another symptom of the material-gratification-at-any-cost disease to which our culture seems to be prone. You be the judge on today’s open line.