Navy brass not budging on landing field site

As far as the Navy is concerned, the flat land of Washington and Beaufort counties -- and nowhere else -- is the place for its jets.

The Navy's chief operations officer repeated in Congress this week that he wants to see a new outlying landing field in the Eastern North Carolina community despite concerns about thousands of large migrant birds and a court order reminding the Navy to look at alternatives.

Under questioning from U.S. Rep. David Price at a congressional budget hearing, Adm. Michael G. Mullen said he hasn't seriously considered alternate sites offered by Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina and former Gov. Mike Warner of Virginia.

"The commitment we've made is to put an OLF site in Washington County," Mullen said. "That meets the needs we have."

The Navy wants a landing field as a place to practice takeoffs and landings for jets out of Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., and Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock, N.C. It has chosen a 30,000-acre site in Washington and Beaufort counties.

But the site is home to thousands of migratory waterfowl, evoking opposition from hunting and wildlife groups.

A three-judge panel ruled in September that the Navy had not done a thorough job of investigating the impacts of the proposed site and ordered the agency to do more research.

The Navy also said in November that it would gather some information on five additional sites.

Price, a Democrat from Chapel Hill, queried Mullen on Wednesday during a budget hearing: Would the Navy work with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in learning about the birds? Do you intend to consider the other proposed sites?

Price didn't get many answers.

Mullen was calm and brief in his response: He expects to hear the opinion from the wildlife agency, but he needs to move quickly on building an outlying landing field.

"I have a reasonably significant challenge in what I'm doing with that OLF," Mullen said. "[Washington County] seems to be the best solution."

Mullen added, though, that he would be happy to get back to Price with more information at a later date.

Price wasn't impressed.

"What you saw, I'd say, was a non-responsive response," he said later.

Canada's diplomatic soiree

Raleigh doesn't have diplomatic receptions every day. But Tuesday night, the Canadians put on a diplomatic soiree for Brian Oak, Canada's consul general, who was visiting from Atlanta.

"Canadians are the best-kept secret in the United States," Oak quipped to an international gathering on the 28th floor of the Cardinal Club."We are the fifth column."

Actually, the Canadian influence is not so secret in the Triangle, with such corporate Canadian giants as RBC Centura and Nortel having operations in the area.

Raleigh is home to two consulates -- Mexico and Canada, both of which have full-time staffs. There are also about a dozen honorary consuls for countries such as Sweden, which are manned by volunteers to help their fellow citizens.

The Raleigh diplomatic corps -- such as it is -- as well as business people and local political leaders were among those who showed up to sample the sushi and salmon and sit at tables that bore both the American and Canadian flags. The event was presided over by Louis Boisvert, the consul of Canada, who heads the office for the Carolinas.

Coble gets a bit part

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble: Thespian?

The gregarious, gravelly voiced U.S. representative was on Monday.

Coble, a Republican from Greensboro, played the part of Howard Coble in a one-time production of "The Pundit Whodunit: The Case of the Political Puzzle."

The play was a fund-raiser for Washington's Arena Stage, which puts on a production every year with actors drawn from Congress and the media. This was Coble's first time. He got the gig in typical Washington fashion: because somebody knew somebody.

Among the other actors were U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., pundit George Stephanopoulos and NPR reporter Nina Totenberg.

Coble played himself, wearing a suit, and was able to read from a script just like the other politicos-turned-actors.

It was a small part, though. Coble had only about four lines.