No Boundaries

Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck based his entire campaign on cleaning up the county's major drug problem. Although it began before he took office, today his and a handful of other law enforcement agencies showed they are serious about cracking down on drugs.

They're calling it "Operation No Boundaries" -- it was a massive drug sweep that spanned Carteret, Jones and Onslow Counties.

Detectives from six agencies (Jacksonville PD, Morehead City PD, Beaufort PD, Carteret Co. Sheriff's Office, Jones Co. Sheriff's Office and NCIS) announced this afternoon a round-up that's put more than 50 people behind bars on drug charges in the last three days.

Officers from those agencies have been working together since November. They say through their undercover operations, they purchased drugs from more than 100 street-level drug dealers.

As of 11 a.m. Saturday, they'd arrested 51 of them.

Sheriff Buck says drug dealers Down East need to start looking over their shoulder.

"The people in this county realize that the drugs are a serious problem," Buck says. "We're going to be putting the resources toward working hard against drugs. And like I said, if we didn't catch them in this one, we're liable to catch them in the next one."

During the sweep, officers seized nearly 500 grams of marijuana, about 125 grams of cocaine, $16,000 in cash and at least three cars.

They say more multi-agency sweeps like this one are in the works.

Hopefully that gives you some confidence that officials here in the East know there is a problem -- and they seem to be working to do something about it.

What do you think about all this? Click the "Comments" button below and let me hear from you!

Just for fun...

So in my posts about the Carolina/Dook game, you heard me rant a little bit about how much I cannot stand Billy Packer. I was afraid he'd be on the sidelines for today's UNC/Wake Forest game, seeing that he's a Demon Deacon grad. Fortunately, as I tuned in to watch my Heels absolutely trounce the Deacs, Packer was nowhere to be seen -- and even better, he was nowhere to be heard. But I did some digging online, and have found a couple of examples of other folks who don't like Packer. This is all in good fun, but I hope you enjoy!

Check back later on, and I'll have more on a MAJOR drug-related announcement out of Carteret County this afternoon!

WOO HOO! YEAH HEELS!

Wow -- that was an exhausting game to watch. Great job overcoming double-digit leads by my Heels. What they say is true -- rankings simply don't matter when these two teams play.

I am so STOKED right now -- I'm really at a loss for what to say. I am watching WRAL's live coverage of Franklin Street right now (online) and it is KILLING me not to be there. But I sent my friends plenty of text messages to make sure they live it up for me. The mob scene on Franklin Street is so beautiful to behold -- and hey, I think I just saw my best friend on WRAL's coverage! Crazy. Man, there's just something mystical about Chapel Hill that makes you miss it so much!

Again -- I'm kind of at a loss for what to say. I still am not a fan of Billy Packer, still not a fan of Tim Brando -- and definitely still hate dook. But I'm in a lot better mood than I was at halftime.

OK -- I'll try to have more perspective tomorrow. For now, I'm going to do a little celebrating!

Feel free to hit the "Comments" button below and add your thoughts about the game!

Thanks to the AP/CBS Sports for that picture -- Tyler Hansbrough is a BEAST!

I ... HATE ... dook

OK -- so I'm seething after the first half. I can't stand losing -- especially to dook. And Billy Packer and Tim Brando are only making it worse.

Billy Packer is officially the WORST commentator of all time. I'd rather hear Dick Vitale -- and that's huge coming from a Tar Heel. But Packer is just awful. And I used to like Tim Brando -- but tonight he's killing me. And he needs to learn how to say Alex Stepheson's name. Tim, it's Stepheson, with no "n" -- not StepheNson. You messed it up last week -- and you're butchering it again. Just quit talking.

All these things probably wouldn't be annoying me as much if we were winning -- but right now every little thing is getting on my nerves. If I say how I'm really feeling, I might lose a few readers! So I'll leave it at this for now.

OK -- time for the second half. LET'S PICK IT UP HEELS!

Just a couple of minutes until the first big game of the year!

OK -- so I'm the world's BIGGEST Tar Heel fan. A lot people say that, but for me, it's not much of a stretch! My blood is Carolina Blue through and through.

It's just a couple of minutes until the first big match-up of the season -- UNC vs. Dook. I'm feeling pretty confident about my Heels' chances tonight. I nearly drove up to Chapel Hill to watch the game with my friends and join them in storming Franklin Street after we win. But being a responsible adult eventually won out. It was definitely a tough decision, though.

So here's my plan -- I'm gonna post before the game (now), during the game (at halftime) and after the game (after we win, that is). I'll try and give you a sneak peek into the emotional roller coaster that is being a UNC basketball fan. Hope you enjoy!

LET'S GO HEELS!

What's your favorite Super Bowl ad?

I think this Budweiser "spot" is my favorite ad from this year's Super Bowl. I'm a sucker for dogs.

I missed the first half of the game, and subsequently, the first half of commercials. But I found a website where you can go and watch all the national commercials. Check out http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads?video=16

You'll have to cut and paste that link, by the way.

The commercials are arranged by quarter, so they're pretty easy to find. Take a look, and then click the "Comments" button below and let me know which one was your favorite!

PS -- I'm happy Peyton finally got a Super Bowl win. Feel free to chime in with what you think about last night's game!

Hope you're all doing well!

All about PowerText

Hey everybody! If you were fortunate enough to see some snow today, I hope you enjoyed it! If you're like me, you saw only rain. Either way, I hope you stayed safe and warm!

I'm toeing the company line with today's blog post -- it's all about PowerText. It's a new service we're rolling out to help keep you in touch and informed. If you want to stay on top of breaking news, the latest weather and all your sports scores, give it a shot -- it's free.

Nearly all of us have cell phones, and a lot of us are now riding the text messaging wave. It's a great way to stay in touch with friends and family -- and by signing up for WNCT's new "PowerText," you'll be able to stay in touch with us here at Nine On Your Side.

With PowerText, you'll also be able to save money, express your opinion and let us know what you want us to cover. So how do you sign up? Well, you're just a few clicks away.

All you need to do to sign up is just head to our website. Once you get there, click on the "PowerText" tab. When you see the PowerText logo, click on "Join the Revolution."

Doing that will open up a new window where you can register. Once you get to that website, click on the yellow link to fill out the registration form. Fill in your name, and choose a username and password that are easy for you to remember.

Then complete the online registration form. Click save -- and you'll instantly get your first text ... an activation code.

Now you're almost done with registration! Just take the number that comes in that text message and plug it into the web page. Once you click "confirm" -- you're done! But feel free to explore that website so you can personalize powertext -- and get the content you want.

If you've got questions, there's a tutorial video under the "PowerText" tab. If that still doesn't do it for you, click the link about PowerText in my "BlogLinks." That'll take you to another blog where you can ask all your questions -- and we'll be sure to get an answer to you ASAP!

It's a pretty neat service -- so, give it a shot!

Otherwise -- does anyone else have any good ideas for some of your area's "best kept secrets?" Keep passing them along -- just click the "Comments" button below!