Middle Passage Art.....

The nightmare of the Middle Passage is caught through this art by Edward Wilson, former professor at SUNY-Binghamton. A friend in New York asked if I had any friends who'd like to purchase this piece of art. Take a look friends.

You can go to ebay and type "middle passage" and it is about the fourth item listed.

NC Register of Deeds Association Officers!

From top left to right- Judy Gibson, Mecklenburg ROD; Davis Brinson-Duplin County ROD; Wayne Rash-Caldwell County ROD; Kathy Young- Stokes County; Rebecca Cipriani-Rockingham ROD; and Amanda Garrett- Person County ROD.

From bottom left to right- Kim Hargrove-Harnett County ROD; Dollie Summerour- Pasquotank County ROD; and NC Secretary of State Elaine Marshall!

PREP Meeting at NCARD Conference

Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds Judy Gibson led the powerpoint presentation on the PREP vision and discussed her involvment in PRIA.

Jeff talks about the opportunity to form PREP chapters!

Vicki Locklear, Robeson County Register of Deeds and Bonnie Reece, Cleveland County Register of Deeds at the PREP meeting.

NC Register of Deeds Conference in Fayetteville!

The NCARD conference was in full swing today. The highlight of the day came in the afternoon with the Electronic Notarization and Electronic Recording in NC Presentation.

The panelists included: Sec. of State Elaine Marshall; Brunswick County ROD Robert Robinson- chair of E-Notary Commission; Kathy Dils, VP Loan Services with BB&T and chair of E-Recording Council; Margaret Lawson- Sr. VP at First Citizens Bank; Johnston County ROD Craig Olive; and vendors Aptitude Solutions and Electronic Document Logistics.

Both E-Notary and E-Recording Councils will be conducting 45 day public comment periods on their recommendations. Harnett and Johnston counties will be two of the first pilot counties. E-notary trainings through the NC Secretary of State will begin in October as well.

As a work in progress, it is important to honor the work of all those who have been involved with this groundbreaking process in technology and e-filing in NC. At the same time, many Registers are anxiously awaiting the standards; dialogue with potential users from the property records industry; and statutory issues such as NC being a "race state".

I'm very clear we have alot of work to do at the state and local levels and the next six months are crucial in moving forward.

Clinton and Wallace Interview

CLINTON: "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked: Why didn't you do anything about the Cole? I want to know how many you asked: Why did you fire Dick Clarke?"
WALLACE: "We asked ? we asked."
--President Bill Clinton responding to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, 9/24/06
VERSUS

Since 2001, Chris Wallace has interviewed the top national security officials from the Bush administration -- Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Hadley -- 42 times. According to a database search, none of them have been asked about the USS Cole or why Clarke was demoted.
--Source: ThinkProgress.org, 9/23/06, 9/23/06 Check out the interview.

They reported, you decide!

City/County Campaign Kick-off for United Way!

Guilford County Government and the City of Greensboro battled it out to raise the most funds for the United Way from 11 to 2 pm on at One Government Plaza!


Doug Logan, Director of Juvenile Detention is given a hot dog "All the Way" with Paul's Place Special Relish!

The Good Deeds Team raised $340 in just under 3 hours. I'm very grateful to all staff who took part in this effort!

An example of "Intergovernmental Cooperation". Planning Director Greg Niles allowed Mayor Keith Holliday to pull a name in their Drawing!

Mark Kirstner and Rodger Bardsley served some great chili!

Elle Turns 3 and Wins 'New Star Discovery' Event!

Elle turned 3 this past weekend! We had a great party at Bounce U in Greensboro. I highly recommend Bounce for children's birthday parties.

We had a great time with Thigpens, Coughlins, and Elle's friends and their family.

On Sunday, Michelle took her Mom, and sisters Anita and Denise along with Elle to the Four Season's Mall to do girl stuff...you know..shop! Well, 'New Star Discovery' had a children's pageant and they entered Elle in the 3-4 year old contest. After jumpin' around and singing......

SHE WON THE EVENT! She won her age group and recieved a nice little trophy for "All-Around" and won another for "Most Beautiful Eyes". The event now qualifies her for an event in Richmond in April of 2007.

Well, I'm pretty proud of my daughter and now she's the most beautiful girl in the world! (AT LEAST IN MY EYES)

Any bloggers know anything about this "New Star Discovery" group? We've been told the winner of the national event gets a $25,000 scholarship. Any insight??

PREP groups have formed throughout the country to provide an opportunity for public/private partnerships and improved communication between the primary players in the property records industry. As you can see, PREPs are popping up throughout the country.

I've spent a considerable amount of time over the past week talking to other Registers about planning a PREP for NC. I'm excited that there's an emerging level of interest and believe we'll all work together to make it happen.

Pender County Residents Get Flooding...

The recent Hurricane Ernesto caused flooding of some areas in Duplin and Pender Counties. The photo in the Morning Star Newspaper was taken in Whitestocking. I grew up about 3 miles away...