Bill to preserve oyster shells moves ahead
"The state legislature is a step away from preventing a repeat of the oyster controversy that saw the N.C. Department of Transportation shelled with criticism earlier this year," according to the Wilmington Star-News.
"On Tuesday, the state House approved, 115-1, its final version of a bill that would prohibit any state government agency from using oyster shells in landscaping or highway beautification projects. ...
"The passage of the law will bring to an end an episode that began in March when roadside crews dumped 2,000 bushels of shells as part of a beautification project near the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge.
"The scene was also piled with irony as just a few hundred feet away was a popular drop-off site that is part of a statewide effort to collect shells for use in programs to restore the state's oyster fishery.
"As the shells went down, other state agencies were trying to increase awareness of oyster recovery efforts and the General Assembly had banned shells from landfills and was working on establishing oyster hatcheries at the state's aquariums. ..."
Pickin' and grinnin'
"Bluegrass great Earl Scruggs was in attendance as he and fellow Shelby native Don Gibson were honored by both the House and Senate [on Tuesday at the General Assembly]," according to the Associated Press. "The chambers passed a resolution celebrating Scruggs and Gibson, the country performer and songwriter who died in 2003, for their contributions to the arts and the prestige they brought to their home state.
" 'I'm really delighted and pleased to be here,' Scruggs told the Senate. 'My heart's always in North Carolina.'
"A number of lawmakers rose to praise the performers, with only Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, finding a downside to the proceedings: 'There's one thing missing from this bill -- a requirement for Earl Scruggs to play for the House today.' ..."
Take a Pinehurst 'sabbatical'
"How good a golfer could you become if you could take time off and really work on your game, with top-notch instruction, equipment and world-class places to play? For just a thousand bucks a day, you can now find out," blogs Larry Olmsted on USA Today.
"I get a lot of bizarre press releases and package 'deals' across my desk these days, but this one, from Pinehurst Resort, really stood out. On the one hand it is a lot of money, and very few readers will even be able to consider it halfway seriously. On the other hand, who wouldn’t want to try it? Especially since this is no gimmick destination, but rather the nation’s most storied golf resort, the first destination golf resort in the United States, the only place that has hosted the PGA Championship, the US Open and the Ryder Cup, and the closest thing we have to St. Andrews, an entire charming town that lives and breathes the spirit of the game.
"So what is this package? It is the Pinehurst Golf Sabbatical, and it was introduced to celebrate this year’s 100th birthday of the legendary Number Two course, the most revered of the eight layouts that make Pinehurst the nation’s largest golf resort, and the second largest in the world. Number Two hosts all the big tournaments and was the seminal work of Donald Ross, considered by many the greatest American designer (at least after he moved here from his native Scotland, living out his entire adult life in Pinehurst in a house alongside the course). ..."
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