Today's News

We’re told by political analysts that American voters don’t like “negative campaigning.” The talking heads say that voters want “positive” ideas, uplifting proposals about what candidates would offer for the future.

It’s true that people respond to proposals that reflect their hopes. This was certainly the case during the Great Depression, when most voters saw that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s promise of a “New Deal” was exactly what they needed. Today, however, we live in far more cynical times.

The Sheriff's Office is taking steps to reduce fuel expenses, according to Sheriff Mike Brown. Brown spoke at a Bedford County Board of Supervisor's work session, Monday evening.

Calls are up. Brown said that deputies responded to 17,099 calls in the first six months of the year. That's an increase of 1,272 over the same period in 2007. In spite of that, a vehicle use policy introduced at the end of June has reduced fuel usage by 316 gallons per month. Brown said that amounts to a savings of $13,000 per year on an annualized basis.

A private road request at Sunset Cay Marina, formerly Campers Paradise, received unanimous approval by the Bedford County Board of Supervisors Monday night.

The request originally hung up on a 3-3 split vote on July 14. District 7 Supervisor Gary Lowry was absent that night.

Two county teens have been charged with vandalizing St. John the Baptist Church in New London.

The vandalism occurred in the predawn hours of July 17 and was discovered by one of the church's deacons a few hours later. The vandals had taken some partially empty cans of paint from a storage shed behind the church and painted "666" and an upside down cross on the back of the church.