Happy birthday to me, Cupcake!

On July 8th, I will be 66 years old and I'm going to treat myself to a big-time celebration in the state's capitol.

I just can't celebrate a birthday without thinking about two special people - my grandmother, Annie Dowdy Dorsey, and my mother, Ruby Elizabeth Dowdy Semans. Mom gave me life and they both - in very different ways - instilled in me purpose, a sense of responsibility and values.

Grandma was reared on a farm near the Appomattox Courthouse area of Viriginia. She moved with my grandfather to the mountains of West Virginia during the Great Depression so he could work in the coal mines and support his growing family that included eight children. He was injured in a mining accident that left him with grand mal seizures that the doctor warned were eventually going to take his life. Not wanting his family to go through the horrors of watching him go through the horrible ordeal, he left the family to fend for itself so they wouldn't see him die.

It would be an understatement to say that my grandmother was faced with an incredible challenge of trying to support her large brood, one of whom died of rickets while only a toddler,  But she did manage to rear the remaining seven into adulthood. She was very religious and held no animosity toward life and what it had dealt her. Courage, strength and both a healthy sense of worth and humor stayed with her until she died.

She taught me much, but I think the most important thing she instilled in me was that while everyone in the world might be as good as I am, no one is better just because they have power, money or a soap box.

And, of course, on my birthday, I always feel my mother nearby. She was the most patriotic person I've ever known. She gave me a sense of power when she showed me by example that each day, we give birth to our own government through both what we do and don't do. There was no doubt in her mind - nor now in mine - that the government is our child and when it misbehaves, we owe it as parents to use some tough love to get it back on the right course.

The first time I really exercised my tough love responsibility was standing up to a police officer who wrote me more than 200 parking tickets while ignoring the same car parked right beside me each time. I happened to walk out one day as he was writing the ticket and challenged him on the fairness. "Listen, Cupcake, he is a very important person and you just own a little store."

"Cupcake" refused to pay any of the tickets and demanded a trial before a judge. I have to admit that although I won that fight, it was just dumb luck. I started to tell the judge that I had let the meter run out but before I could get to the fairness issue, he suggested I keep quiet. It seems the good judge had spotted a problem with the parking ordinance and had been waiting for someone to challenge it. The way it was written, the fine could only be collected from the vehicle, not the owner. All my tickets were thrown out and none were issued until the ordinance was rewritten. Of course, I got the honor of getting the first ticket but that's okay - a win's a win!

I've been watching the protests in Raleigh and I don't particularly want to be arrested. Instead, on Monday, July 8, without wearing a ribbon indicating whether I want to be arrested or just be a supporter, I'm going into the building to share my birthday cake and celebrate my right to be in that building that rules state is open to the public until the General Assembly adjourns for the day which is usually late at night.

I'm not going to carry a placard or sign but will wear an apron just as my grandmother did when serving food and dishing out wisdom. And my message will be one taught to me by my mother for times when our child, our government, behaves badly.

I can't carry enough cupcakes for everyone there, so  if my friends who are going to be there would bring some to share, that would be great because I would like to celebrate my birthday with as many as possible.

And the message, while short, is simple: "Mama, aka Cupcake, is in the building and she's mad as hell."

Facing federal charges, Mann's passport returned

Chief US District Court Judge James Dever III has signed an order allowing the return of Manns Harbor resident Harry Mann's passport so that he can take a cruise although under federal indictment for his alleged role in the theft of an estimated $10 million in property from the US Navy at the Dare Bombing Range. (For details of indictment, read April 9 post on this blog.)

Mann, via his attorney, asked for the return of the passport so that he and 10 family members and friends can take a planned cruise later this month. The request stated that the final payment of the cruise was made in March of this year. To read the request, click here.

Federal prosecutors object to the idea of Mann leaving the country because, the opposition motion states that they have a solid case against the former bombing range manager that includes two co-conspirators willing to testify against him. The objection also refers to evidence that includes video and audio footage. To read the prosecutor's objection, click here.

But the judge ignored the objections and on Monday, May 20, Dever gave permission for the passport to be returned to Mann and, after the cruise, ordered that it be returned to the federal probation officer. To read the order, click here.

More bad news for fishermen

A last-minute bill filed in the House today proposes to make striped bass, red drum and speckled trout game fish. If signed into law, it would prohibit the commercial fishing industry to catch and sell the fish. The bill notes that restaurants can purchase the fish from out of state dealers where no game fish status applies.

In a "Do you just beat your wife on Saturday night" move, the bill also includes the scenario for raising revenues needed to dredge Oregon Inlet. That creates a problem for law-makers who want the dredging funds approved but not the game fish status.

To see the bill, click here.

Governor's budget proposal not fishing-friendly

Governor Pat McCrory's proposed budget was filed in the House today and it brings a bad omen for the state's commercial fishermen, seafood dealers, charter boat owners and pier owners. The governor is asking for a 50 percent increase for all licenses related to commercial and charter boat operations. The increase includes boat registrations for commercial and for-hire vessels.

The proposal also, if adopted, would allow the Marine Fisheries Commission to establish gear permits and charge up to $200 for each type.

Pier licenses are proposed to be increased from 50 cents a linear foot to $7.50 per foot which would include allowing pier fishermen to fish without buying an individual license. And the blanket recreational fishing license is proposed to be repealed. The blanket license for charter boats would still be available. [This paragraph has been corrected; the earlier version that pier fishermen would have to buy an individual license.]

For a look at the proposed budget, click here.

Former bombing range manager indicted

Harry C. Mann of Manns Harbor, former Stumpy Point Navy Bombing Range manager, was indicted on April 2, 2013 by a federal grand Jury on multiple counts of theft and conversion of federal property alleged to be valued at more than $10 million.

Two other men, Rudy Lozano and John Williams, both salvage recyclers from Chowan County, also have been indicted related to the same actions. The indictment against Mann states that they - as well as others known and unknown to the Grand Jury - conspired and agreed to work with Mann to facilitate the thefts.

The indictment alleges that the three entered into a plan to take government property from the Bombing Range and sell the property to individuals or to scrap metal recyclers.

In some instances, motors and batteries were removed and sold and the remaining portion of the vehicles was sold for scrap. At times, Mann provided a government-owned "low boy" to be used to remove the property from the range. Most of the alleged thefts occurred at night and on the weekends.

The indictment states that a 40,000-ton military personnel carrier was transported to a recycler. In another instance, metal matting for a runway was chopped into multiple sections and then removed from the premises.

At the time of the initial investigation of Mann, the federal government seized property, cash in his home and money deposited in bank accounts. The seizures totaled a value of more than $6.7 million.

Mann is scheduled to make first appearance in federal court on April 24.

Click here to read.

Tillett receives Public Reprimand

Read about it on the Island Free Press by clicking on this link.

Tillett subject of pending proceedings

A panel of the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission has filed a complaint against Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett. The 13-page complaint will now be forwarded to another JSC panel for trial. The second panel can dispose of the matter in a number of ways including dismissal, public reprimand or forward to the North Carolina Supreme Court for consideration of removing Tillett from the bench.

To read the complaint filed against the judge, click here.