Call this Web launch a 'soft opening'

The Independent Register this morning lurched onto the on-ramp of the information superhighway with the launch of our new Web site, www.indieregister.com.

But Florida-based Netdor, the company that hosts our servers, is currently experiencing power outages caused by Hurricane Wilma. The Web site -- and our indieregister.com domain e-mail -- are only accessible between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. because the servers are running off power generators.

So if you see this post during bankers' hours, we encourage you to check out the new site and see what you think.

The site is still a work in progress, and we hope to update it frequently and incorporate this blog into the site. Kudos to Eric Voliva, our sports editor and co-publisher, for spearheading the charge for a Web site and doing the entirety of the design work himself.

Once again, the URL address is www.indieregister.com.

Oct. 25 edition nears completion, release

Tonight, the Oct. 25 edition of the Independent Register is occupying hard drive space on three computers in various states of malfunction.

Tomorrow, it will roll off the presses and find its way to newsstands and countertops -- and hopefully into your hands.

We're excited to release what we feel is the best Independent Register to date. The forthcoming edition features an article and accompanying editorial on Amy Holliday, a 28-year-old New Bern woman with cystic fibrosis. Holliday needs a double-lung transplant to extend her life, and the Children's Organ Transplant Association is helping local volunteers plan and promote fund-raisers to reach a $55,000 short-term goal.

The paper also contains thorough game stories chronicling Friday night's high school football action and an engaging feature on the weekend's Junior ROTC drill meet at West Craven High School. For all this and more, pick up a free copy of the Independent Register.

The newspaper is available at about 25 locations throughout New Bern and Craven County, including the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the Piggly Wiggly on Trent Road, Port City Java and Cow Cafe on Middle Street and Trent River Coffee Company on Craven Street.

Down-to-earth commissioners steer Craven County

All the blazers, ties and pantsuits in attendance couldn't shade the fact that Craven County doesn't take itself too seriously.

As members of the Craven County Board of Commissioners filed back into the room Monday morning after a brief recess, I saw one commissioner walk to the dais with a vanilla cream cookie held between his teeth.

It made this former Floridian chuckle, and one of my first thoughts was that the savvier politicians in Hillsborough County (the Florida county that contains Tampa) would sooner be stripped of office than caught by the media mid-chew. But the more I pondered this odd sight, the more my respect and admiration for Craven and its colorful county leaders grew.

All cookies aside, the point is that our county commissioners are not career politicians. They're ordinary citizens who sought election to public office to make a difference, as hackneyed and cliched as it may sound. The Board of Commissioners is truly a representative government body -- county residents elected their neighbors, not a privileged subgroup of politicos.

The most disappointing aspect of the meeting -- held at 8:30 a.m. at the county administration building on Broad Street -- was that no one from the public bothered to show up.

Citizens, this is your county and your government. You should know what's going on, from every tax hike to every cookie crumb.

Incumbents projected to win aldermen races

Incumbent aldermen up for re-election in New Bern are projected to defeat challengers in four wards, with provisional ballots to be counted and election results to be certified Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Preliminary results show Alderman Robert G. Raynor Jr. retaining his Ward 2 seat with 58 percent of votes -- 164 to challenger Marshall Williams' 117.

Mack L. "Max" Freeze captured 61 percent of the vote in Ward 3, thwarting Robert P. "Chick" Natella, who logged 187 votes.

In Ward 5, Barbara Lee triumphed over Bernard White by an 80-61 margin, or 57 percent.

William H. Ballenger edged Dana E. Outlaw in Ward 6, with 50 percent of votes (195) to Outlaw's 45 percent (177). Frank E. Kerr trailed with 5 percent of ballots cast (20).

New Bern Mayor Tom Bayliss and aldermen Julius C. Parham Jr. (Ward 1) and Joseph E. Mattingly Jr. (Ward 4), all unopposed, retained their seats with 100 percent of votes cast for those offices.

Provisional ballots should be counted Oct. 18, according to the Craven County Board of Elections. Results are not final until the provisional total has been added and results are certified.

Polls close in New Bern municipal elections

Four of six seats on the New Bern Board of Aldermen are contested, with polls closing at 7:30 p.m. tonight in municipal elections for the 30,000-population Bear City.

Mayor Tom Bayliss and two aldermen running unopposed are expected to retain their roles in city government, while results for the remaining four seats on the Board of Aldermen should be certified and released later tonight by the Craven County Board of Elections.

The Independent Register will make every effort to post election results in this space as soon as information from the Board of Elections can be obtained.

Oct. 11 edition of Indie Register hits newsstands

The second issue of the Independent Register was printed today and is available at about a third of its distribution points throughout New Bern and Craven County.

Remaining newspapers will be distributed Wednesday and Thursday. Papers are currently available at City Limits Auto Sales in Havelock, Port City Java, Trent River Coffee Co., Cow Cafe and Marina Sweets in downtown New Bern, and at the New Bern and Havelock campuses of Craven Community College.

The Independent Register is a biweekly alternative newspaper providing comprehensive coverage of Craven County. It is published every other Tuesday and has an average circulation of 2,250.

For information about the newspaper or directions to the distribution center nearest you, call (252) 633-2757 or e-mail corey@indieregister.com.

Sympathy for the Blue Devils-Rolling Stones at Duke Universtiy

Durham – More than 40,000 fans of the legendary Rolling Stones got satisfaction as the aging rockers blasted onto the stage at Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium.

Opening for the Stones was Trey Anastasio, former Phish guitarist. Anastasio’s set included a cover of the Beatles’ "I am the Walrus" and a song dedicated to his mother, who was in the front row, for her birthday.

Pyrotechnics lit up the cloudy sky as Mick Jagger pranced out onto the stage in his trademark strut to open the show with "Start Me Up." At age 62, the formidable frontman proved time was on his side as he continued through with the classics"You Got Me Rocking," "She’s So Cold," and "Tumblin’ Dice."

"Oh No, Not You Again" was the first of several songs from the band’s new album "A Bigger Bang."

Sly, smoking guitarist Keith Richards then traded his five-string Fender Telecaster for an acoustic for the popular ballad "Wild Horses." Jagger, too, donned an acoustic guitar to perform the country-like "Dead Flowers."

A horn section came in for "Bitch" and continued with a soulful rendition of the Ray Charles song"Night Time is the Right Time," featuring back-up vocalist Lisa Fisher as the female lead.
Jagger then introduced the band including bassist Darryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994, and legendary rock pianist Chuck Lavelle.

Richards took center stage for "The Worst" and "Infamy," jokingly proclaiming between songs, "It’s good to see you...it’s good to see anything, really" as the crowd roared.

Jagger returned to the stage, guitar in hand, as the band broke into "Miss You."
As the song began, the center of the stage began to trolley into the center of the field.

The band then performed the high-energy single "Rough Justice" from the new release with Richards and lead guitarist Ron Wood trading off licks.

It began to drizzle as the Stones belted out their first major hit "Satisfaction."

While the band played in the center of the stadium, a flowered, inflatable tongue rose from the stage.

"Honky Tonk Woman" was next in the line up as the mini-stage rolled back to the larger set up.
The light rain seemed to set the mood for the bluesy "Out of Control," which gave Jagger a chance to wail on the harmonica.

Drummer Charlie Watts, staying with the band despite a recent bout with throat cancer, banged out the beginning beats of "Sympathy for the Devil," as fire shot out from the tops of the stage on both sides, prompting fans to howl out the backup "Woo woo" part.

Jagger, dressed to kill, portrayed Satan himself as he pranced along the balcony of the stage. The video screens had a red tint as the song went on.

The band went on to perform the classic hits "Brown Sugar" and "Jumping Jack Flash" before leaving the stage.

They soon returned for an encore, however, due to the response of the multi-generational audience with "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" and "It’s Only Rock and Roll."

After leaving the stage a second time, the crowd pleaded for a second encore, but was notified by a series of fireworks that the show was regrettably over.

The Rolling Stones proved to the Carolina crowd that, even after 40 years, they still have what it takes to put on a great show, and sealed their stake as "The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band."

Down with Columbus Day

"In 1492, natives discovered Columbus lost at sea."

That’s a quote from a t-shirt I acquired several years ago at a Pow-Wow at the fairgrounds in New Bern. I bought the shirt specifically for that quote.

Ever since I learned the truth in the 8th grade from then history teacher David Rackley, the thought of Columbus Day being a holiday has irked me.

Why does the American government perpetuate a lie through its holiday system which spills over into the schools?

This may come as a shock to some people but, Christopher Columbus did not discover America.
For one, there were already people at the places he "discovered." So if people were already there, how could he discover it?

One may raise the point, he was the first European to traverse the Atlantic. Wrong again. Leif Erikson would take that claim, landing somewhere between Newfoundland and Cape Cod hundreds of years before Columbus was even born.

President Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1964, commemorated Erikson for being the first European to reach North America by declaring Oct. 9 as Leif Erikson Day, just before Columbus Day. So why don’t we just get European discovery week off?

I will give Columbus points for sticking to his belief that the world was round. That fact we now know is true. So, with that frame of mind, he set forth to find a new route to China. He thought he did. And we give a man who never knew he didn’t reach Asia such creedence?

Columbus never even reached mainland [North] America. Truth be told, his voyages landed him in the islands south of America, including Cuba and Jamaica and later to parts of Central America. Close Chris, but no cigar...well...

History teachers: Please tell your students the truth, not lies. Disregard the falsehoods and half-truths found in the standard textbooks and teach what you really know.

A plea for tech support as deadline looms closer

We're three relatively intelligent human beings, so it's mystifying how we can't seem to customize this blog, not even using the written-for-a-7-year-old help page. ("Ask your mommy and daddy to send money.")

Short of begging our mommies and daddies, we're stumped. If any of the few readers who have stumbled across this new blog have experience with Blogger code and would like to offer a word to the not-so-wise, please do so in a comment or in an e-mail to corey@indieregister.com.

Here are the things -- so far -- that I've failed to figure out:

1. How to change the "About Me" box to "About Us," and substitute the information about me with information about the Independent Register;

2. How to add a photo (.TIF image) of the Independent Register's flag;

3. How to add another box to the template for contact information; and

4. How to publish the blog off an FTP server, our indieregister.com domain.

I remember setting up my own blog eons ago and seriously doubt that the template formatting was as incomprehensible as it is now. Please bear with us until we get these technical bugs worked out.

Until the next time, I hope you'll keep reading.

Welcome to the blog; city elections near

Welcome to the Independent Register Weblog, the blogging home of Craven County's premier alternative community newspaper, the Independent Register.

This blog will be used primarily to provide readers with a lively online forum and to supplement the print edition, which is distributed every other Tuesday at more than 25 locations in New Bern and Craven County. First, it will be used as an election results blog for the City of New Bern's municipal elections, which feature four contested seats on the city Board of Aldermen.

Since we go to press on Election Day (Tuesday, Oct. 11), and will be unable to provide readers with results in our print edition, we will wait in the county administration building as election officials tally and certify the ballots.

Keep checking this space for updates between now and Tuesday. We may not be a daily newspaper, but we will continuously strive to get information to our readers in new and inventive ways.