Computers, trees and decisions

Opinion

July 23, 2010

W. TERRY SMITH Editor The Daily Southerner Fri Jul 23, 2010, 11:16 AM EDT

TARBORO — I saw the e-mail was from Town Councilwoman Candis Owens and read "EMERGENCY" on the subject line.

"Hope you get this on time ... I am presently in Madrid, Spain and am having some difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuables ...

"I need you to help me with a loan of (2,421 EUR= $2,950) to pay my hotel bills and to return home ...

"Your help is much appreciated, Regards, Candis."

Is this for real? Nah, gotta be a hoax, but what if ...

That was 2 p.m. last Friday. Four hours later, here came another e-mail slugged "Candis' computer" from her friend Anne Boone Urquhart.

"This is just a heads up on Candis' behalf: She is not stranded in Spain and does not need you to send money! Her email address was hacked today and she is working on getting it restored but probably with another address. She will be back in touch as soon as she is able and will let you know her new address. Anne Boone.”

Tarboro Police Officer Dwayne Owens is working the case. So far, he's determined the e-mail only went to fellow members of Town Council, the mayor and her favorite newspaperman.

"It doesn't appear anyone has hacked on her computer," Lt. Keith Hale said. "They got hold of an e-mail list, maybe off the town Web site."

Owens has hundreds of e-mail addresses, many of which she uses for her garden symposiums.

Les Reynolds of Lesdodit computer repair shop at 105 Main St. advises, "Make sure your firewall is up and running.

"There are 300,000 ways to hack into a computer," he said. “You need a good spyware and virus protection, but that won't do any good unless they are up to date."

Owens closed that e-mail account.

"I don't know what you can do," she said. "I've never been to Madrid, but I would love to go."

Owens said several others have told her of similar attacks accounts.

I GOOFED in the story about Police Chief Robert Cherry retiring Sept. 1. Cherry replaced Jimmy Lewis, when Lewis retired Jan.1, 1996.

And "Moose" Hale, the administrative lieutenant in charge of investigations, records and the 911 center, says he also will be a candidate for the chief's job along with Lt. Jay Boykin, the officer in charge of the patrol officers.

Hale, 46, is a Tarboro native who has been in the department more than 24 years.

THE TOWN planted 24 trees last winter, including seven in in the Town Common.

"We try to keep up with what we lose in storms," said Ken Flint, the building and grounds supervisor. "We try to plant 25 each year."

Flint and his crew stay busy trying to water each new tree every week or so during the summer in addition to cutting grass, etc.

WHEN THE Board of Education names the next superintendent tonight, it will be a man. Lana VanderLinden, the associate superintendent in charge of operations who was mentioned on so many parents and staff surveys, was one of the five finalists. The final three finalists are men.

W. Terry Smith is editor of The Daily Southerner.

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Opinion

To The Editor
To the Editor:
A recent news story about the Montford Marines honors the important and too-often forgotten group of men. However, some of the statements in the story were wrong and need correction.

February 20, 2012
Happening a special event
My first Happening on the Common was one to remember, perhaps in part because it included a wide variety of music, arts and crafts and food.
And while you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking if someone liked either music or arts and crafts, there is no such uncertainty when it comes to food.
My favorite of the day was from the Hispanic Youth Group from Tarboro’s First Baptist Church. Their tamales were, as the Campbell Soup Kids used to say, “umm, umm. good!”

May 21, 2012
A thief at large
To the Editor:
A glorious day was marred by a pickpocket, stealing from an eldery lady enjoying the day at the Happening on the Common on Saturday.

May 21, 2012
Arts Council does many things for community
Happening on the Common, which offered the opportunity for a day filled with leisurely entertainment, didn’t just happen.

May 21, 2012
Remembering Betty Perrin NeSmith
Betty Perrin NeSmith was a force of nature. I hate the past tense, but it's the grammar we use when someone dies‚ Im just not sure it's the grammar Betty would use when thinking about death. She is moving on, with things to do. She was looking for a higher plane even while grounded on this earth, and I'm happy to think of her still searching out there in the other worlds.

May 16, 2012
A great example of poor judgment
TO THE EDITOR: I was having breakfast at a restaurant last week when I was asked, What do you think of the new police chief selection? I responded with, Who did they choose? Thats when I was given the devastating news it wasn't one of our own.

May 16, 2012
Did you ever lose your vehicle?
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a parking lot, knowing in yiour heart that you remembered where you parked but faced with the realization that you didn’t?
I think many of us have been down that path, sheepishly realizing that the reason your automatic door opener isn’t working is because it’s not your vehicle.
Then, sheepishly, we walk away and begin our wandering and wondering as we try to find our wheels.

May 14, 2012
Economic growth a must
I give credit to Rich Karlgaard, a regular contributor to Forbes magazine, for many of the statistics I use in this column.
As we all know our economy is extremely sluggish to put it mildly. It’s just growing at somewhere between 1 percent and 2 percent and at this rate the economy can only get worse. In comparison, our economy has grown, on average, at a rate of 3.3 percent since the end of World War II. And even during this time frame we had two big recessions.

May 9, 2012
Rest of week just gets busier here in Tarboro
Just the other day, as the community was making final preparations for Relay for Life, we heard someone complaining about how there is “never anything to do around here.”
We beg to differ.

May 9, 2012
And we continue to walk ...
As a cancer survivor — and on behalf of other cancer survivors — thank you to everyone who has taken even the most minute role in the Relay for Life effort.
That effort continues this week when the Rocky Hock Opry rolls into town for a couple of Saturday performances at Edgecombe Community College.
Please, continue your support.

May 7, 2012
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