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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