A writer comes into her own

Laurel — To Kesha Hudson, for winning a statewide journalism award. The West Henderson High School senior has been named High School Journalist of the Year by the North Carolina Press Association. The award carries a $500 scholarship for Hudson, 18, and a matching one for her school. Although her elementary school teachers were concerned about her writing skills, Hudson grew to become co-editor in chief of West High's award-winning Wingspan newspaper and serves as president of the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association. She is the third student from West to win the state award.

Dart — To the Cumberland County School Board, for holding a public meeting in Florida earlier this month. The board held the meeting while at the National School Boards Association conference. Ten days before the conference earlier this month, the board sent out a notice saying that it would hold a planning retreat while there. Minutes of the meeting were made available afterward. Those actions meet the letter of the law, but not the spirit. How many Cumberland County residents could travel 540 miles to be at the retreat? The open meetings law is supposed to guarantee that the public has access to meetings. Not just any public. The public that the Cumberland County School Board serves. That public wasn't in Florida.

Laurel — To the Gift of Life Program in Hendersonville and the Brevard Rotary Club, for giving a teen from the Philippines a more normal life. Suzanne Aman knocked over a lamp when she was only seven months old. The resulting burns cost her a hand and left scars on her face and body. Florence Allbaugh of the Gift of Life Program coordinated her visit here for corrective surgeries. Brevard Rotary Club members are putting Aman and her mother up during the surgeries. Pardee Hospital is providing facilities, laboratory tests and rehabilitation services. Surgeons on the team include Dr. William Overstreet III, a plastic surgeon with Blue Ridge Plastic Surgery; Dr. David Napoli, an orthopedic surgeon with Blue Ridge Bone & Joint; and pediatrician Dr. Ora Wells.

Dart — To state legislators, for getting the state into another financial bind. In the 1990s, the legislature began keeping civil fines. School boards sued in 1998, arguing that the state constitution requires that elementary and second schools get all fines and penalties paid to state agencies. They won. A 2005 state Supreme Court ruling further expanded the types of civil fines that must be turned over and sent the case to Wake Superior Court to determine how much schools should get. Judge Howard Manning has determined the Legislature owes school systems at least $660 million and possibly as much as $750 million. He says he will require the money to be repaid over several years. Legislators say they will have to dip into other education money to make the payments. That's typical. Rob the left hand to pay the right when legislators should have kept their hands out of the pot in the first place.