New Bern NC High School

New Bern High School was recently mentioned in a recent Sports Illustrated Magazine as the top high school athletic program in North Carolina. After making it to the state finals for 3 out of the last 4 years New Bern finally won the state championship with a herculean effort against a team that had won 7 straight championships. Just a few weeks ago New Bern also won the state championship in track and field. This was the 3rd year in a row that the track team won the championship.In addition, the girls remained undefeated in the Coastal Conference for the 14th consecutive season. The baseball team, basketball team, and wrestling teams consistently have successful teams. No doubt,these are all worthy accomplishments.

Now that New Bern has their athletic program in high gear, I think it is time to gear up the academic programs. New Bern High lags behind the other high schools in Craven County as well as much of the state. There is no reason why academics should not be stressed as much, or more, than sports. Few if any of our athletes will ever make it to the professional level whereas almost all of our students could go to college if they apply themselves to their studies.

My top 7 reasons to retire to New Bern NC

1. History-settled in 1710 New Bern is full of history and historic buildings such as the city hall shown on the left. Check out http://www.newbern-nc.info/New-Bern-history2.html for more information on New Bern

2. Climate-mild winters allow for golf and other outdoor activities pretty much year around.

3. Water-The Trent and Neuse Rivers converge in downtown New Bern. The Atlantic Ocean and the crystal coast are only 35 minutes away.

4. Golf- Plenty of inexpensive golf courses located in and around new Bern. No waiting for tee times and most of the courses are kept in immaculate shape.

5. Boating-Sailing- The Neuse River http://www.newbern-nc.info/Neuse-River.html is the widest river in the United states and offers sailors and power boaters ample opportunity to test their skills. The intercoastal waterway is only about 20 miles from downtown New Bern.

6. Lots of things to do- Check out these links http://www.newbern-nc.info/aroundthetown.html and http://www.newbern-nc.info/New-Bern-happenings.html to see what is happenning around New Bern.

7. Home Prices- home prices are considered reasonable by most standards. There are many quality subdivisions in the New Bern area. From waterfront and golf communities to the historic downtown area you are certain to find a community to suitt your needs.

Steve Tyson is a real estate broker and a native of New Bern. He can be contacted at Tyson@Century21.com

No to sub prime bailout

Although I am in the real estate business and the sub prime loans and foreclosures are harming my industry I do not believe the federal government should get involved with either bailing out the lenders or the borrowers. It is just the wrong way to attach the problem. Let me just say that I would not have a problem with the federal government using their bully pulpit to encourage the lenders to perhaps freeze their rate increases, no one forced the lenders to loan money to those that they knew could not afford to make the payments when the rate increases kicked in. The borrowers must own up also. Not the taxpayers fault that you made a bad decision and taxes should not be used to help correct the problem. The market will take care of itself.