The Kangaroo company is recommending to its gas stations to limit its customers to 10 gallons per customer because of the anticipation of Hurricane Ike hitting Texas. Evidently, it’s a trend that is hitting the entire state’s independent gas stations, according to AAA.
Free Press cub reporter Justin Schoenberger is on the story and he’ll have a story soon. Stay tuned.
MCCAIN ACCEPTS REPUBLICAN NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT
As this link states, John McCain — the political maverick of the Republican Party — became the face of the party Thursday night in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
My take: Because of the Kinston-North Lenoir game, I only got to watch the final 15 minutes or so of his speech — but I was impressed. McCain has a level of self-confidence that has the experience to back it.
He deserves some credit for the way he’s distanced himself from the most unpopular president in history, too. Other than the 8-minute speech from the Oval Office, how many times did the Republicans bring up W? I didn’t get to see the entire McCain speech, but he didn’t mention W once — and neither did Sarah Palin on Wednesday, and I watched that entire speech.
By the way, here’s funnyman Dave Barry’s take on the convention wrapping up in St. Paul. Hilarious!
HANNA IS ALMOST HERE, BUT NOT AS STRONG AS WE THOUGHT
Some great news here on the MNR — Hanna is almost here (should hit the Kinston-area approximately 10 a.m.), but she’s going to be a lot less powerful than we originally thought. Here’s the National Weather Service projection:
My take: Yay! You know you’ll drink all that water and eat all those vienna sausages at another time. Besides, you’d rather be over-prepared for something that doesn’t happen than under-prepared for something that does happen.
And an update on Hurricane Ike — also good news — it looks like it’s headed to Florida and not here:
HOW ABOUT THOSE VIKINGS?
Kinston whipped North Lenoir last night, 65-19, setting the school record for points in a game. It was 45-12 at halftime — which arrived after 9 p.m.
My take: Whew. I knew Kinston was going to be good this year — I called them my surprise team of the area — but they’re good. Check out my story for all the records that were broke last night, but I’m probably going to have a follow-up on the blog soon, with a picture of the Freedom Cup being presented to the Vikings.
But I don’t think North Lenoir is that bad, either. Yes, the Hawks are young, but they also have one of the top coaches in Eastern North Carolina on the sideline. They also have arguably the player of the year in our area in Marquez Powell running the ball. They’re going to be fine — much better than the 0-11 I predicted for them.
It should be a fun North Lenoir-South Lenoir game next Friday!
The iPod shuffle
Foolish Games — Jewel
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) — The Four Tops
Dixieland Delight — Alabama
Counterfeit — Limp Bizkit
Watching The Wheels — John Lennon
This looks like great news, although Hanna has changed her mind (as has the National Weather Service) almost every three-hour update.
The NWS is predicting that Hanna will only be a tropical storm (with sustained winds under 73 mph) when it hits — now at the NC/SC border.
Sounds like a woman (always changing!). Let’s see how much trouble THAT gets me in.
As always, click on the image for a larger view. Also, you can go to the NWS site here.
From ECU:
WVU-ECU Football Status Update
Parking Operations Adjustments Made In Preparation For Hanna
GREENVILLE – Although the start time of Saturday’s football game between West Virginia and East Carolina is still scheduled for 4:30 p.m. as of Thursday afternoon, director of athletics Terry Holland has announced the implementation of parking operational changes for Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and its adjacent areas.
All parking lots will open three hours before kickoff to allow adequate drainage in the event of possible localized flooding caused by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna. In addition, tents and tow cookers will be prohibited from entering the lots as a courtesy to others should there be space limitations. Fans are also encouraged to carpool and share rides to the game to help alleviate additional congestion.
“We want as many Pirate fans here as possible, but at the same time, we want them to exercise personal responsibility in making their decisions,” Holland said. “We will need the help of all fans who attend the game. I want to encourage everyone to figure out ways of getting here that might be a little different than normal in order to help others whose parking spaces might be affected.”
Operational changes related to parking include the relocation of the Softball Field Lot to the Belk Lot, which will eliminate all general public parking spaces in that lot. There will not be any anticipated changes to any handicapped lots.
An update on the situation will be released by ECU officials mid-day Friday.
•The game will kick off at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6 (based on the best information available at this time)
•The parking lots will open three hours prior to kickoff
•Tents and tow cookers are prohibited in all parking lots
•Fans are encouraged to carpool (double-occupancy preferred)
•Softball Lot moved to Belk Lot
•All general public parking spaces in Belk Lot eliminated
•No anticipated changes to all handicapped lots.
•An update on the situation will be released by ECU officials mid-day Friday.
Go get your milk and water now. Ol’ Hurricane Hanna is headed our way. Check out the 11 p.m. National Weather Service map (click on the map to enlarge it):
For updates every three hours, click here.
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION GETS IN FULL GEAR
The Republicans — not Hurricane Gustav — finally took center stage on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn. President Bush delivered a short message from the White House, Fred Thompson was his usual folksy self in his keynote address and Al Gore’s 2000 running mate, Joe Lieberman, brought the house down with his endorsement of John McCain.
My take: In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t get to watch any of the live action last night, since I had to cover the Lenoir County school board meeting (fun and exciting!). However, I did get to see the wrap-up on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, so I got a feel for what happened Tuesday night.
Lieberman was his usual solid self and it was a real coup for the McCain camp. The GOP is/was wise to keep Bush in D.C. — far, far away from St. Paul.
But the best part was Thompson, who was very folksy and likeable on stage. This TV reviewer was very impressed with Thompson’s performance.
The Republicans will trot out vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tonight — along with her daughter’s potential baby-daddy. Should be good TV again.
HANNA TO MOVE ACROSS BAHAMAS
The extremely slow moving Hurricane Hanna is expected to bash the Bahamas today and tomorrow before moving across the Atlantic to the U.S. on Friday or Saturday. Here’s the latest National Weather Service map (8 a.m.) that projects Hanna hitting South Carolina at around 2 a.m. on Saturday:
My take: Please listen to what the Emergency Management folks say — be ready for the storm. Get some water, some food and be prepared for anything that could happen.
RIP, JERRY REED
My dad is heartbroken today as one of his music idols, Jerry Reed, passed away on Monday at the age of 71. Reed was Burt Reynolds’ sidekick in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies, but had a slew of country music hits, including “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.”
My take: I listened to quite a bit of Jerry Reed growing up, and I thought he was funny in the SATB movies. RIP.
The iPod shuffle
I Wanna Be A Cowboy — Boys Don’t Cry
First Cup Is The Deepest (Country Version) — Sheryl Crow
Come Monday — Jimmy Buffett
Low — Cracker
Can I Get A — Jay-Z
Reminder: Check out the adjusted prep football schedules blog entry; nearly everyone in our area has moved up their games from Friday to Thursday in anticipation of Hanna. Also, don’t forget to get your picks in by Thursday, since a chunk of games will be played that night.
Hurricane Hanna is going to be a force to be reckoned with this weekend. Here is the latest (as of 11 a.m.) projection by the National Weather Service of the path of hurricane/tropical storm (click on the map for a better view):
I’ll post some more updates this week, but you can check out the latest map by clicking here.
Blogging with Bryan C. Hanks 