More disorientation at the News & Record

Wouldn't it be nice if the News & Record accurately understood the geography of our hometown? In an article examining burglaries in Greensboro's "eastern side," reporters Mike Kernels and Dioni L. Wise describe the area as:

From roughly Lee Street north to West Cone Boulevard...

Which includes downtown, Fisher Park, Irving Park and Kirkwood, which are empirically not "eastern" Greensboro. So now readers throw up their hands and shrug, "Well, who the hell knows what they are talking about." (Previous inability to read a map.)

There goes the Friendliest Town Award

Judges from the Friendliest Town in the USA competition are in Mount Airy, NC today to judge its friendliness. Also in Mount Airy today, an argument between a man walking on a road and another man driving. The driver, who allegedly yelled at the walker to get off the road, got out of his vehicle and approached the walker who shot the driver in the groin.

Binker, Round II

News & Record reporter Mark Binker crankily scolded me for asking a question about an item he posted to his blog, the answer to which was in the print edition -- to which I do not subscribe, a fact which annoys Binker. Our initial exchange.

Round two:

Mark writes:

You may be right. I'm old fashion in a lot of ways. I believe in "please" and "thank you." I believe in contributing to a resource when I use it, whether that means paying a fee for the service or having the common courtesy to execute a free registration to use the product. I believe that for too long my industry has allowed folks like you to take advantage of it and asked little in return and that as a result my company and my personal circumstances have suffered for it.

So if you think it's taunting for me to point out that the answer you sought was in a product that was available in your market place but that you that you refuse to buy, okay, you may be right. And if your question is an implied threat to go to our online advertisers and tell them what a jackass I am, by all means do so. I don't think it's any secret that I'm a jackass from time to time. I think we may have put it in a house ad once.

But please also disclose to those same online advertisers that if you treat their businesses like you treat mine, you'll take their goods or service, refuse to pay and not even bother to wipe your feet on the way in or close the door on your way out.

Me:

Do you remain unaware of my considerable efforts to drive readers to your online product for which, speaking of "thank yous," I have asked nothing in return? [Note: I'm referring to Greensboro 101] I'm sorry my engagement with your company leaves you feeling so put upon, but I, specifically -- and others, generally -- who avail themselves of products you make available as offered are not to blame for the failure of your company to execute a survivable business model.

Can inferiority drive a business model?

I read this today on Capital Beat, News & Record reporter Mark Binker's blog, when it popped up as a recommended item on Greensboro 101.

This is the bill pushed by the Triad delegation on behalf of a local retired business magnate who thinks high school kids aren’t learning what they need about civics in high school.

That prompted the following email exchange:

Me: Hi Mark,

Who is the "local retired business magnate who thinks high school kids aren’t learning what they need about civics in high school?"

Mark:  Gee, Roch, if you were a print subscriber you'd know.

P.S. David Stedman.

Me: Do your online advertisers know you taunt your online readers for accessing an admittedly inferior version of your product?

Mark:  I have no idea. I've never been one to worry about advertisers.

What I DO know is that you are someone who frequently writes to ask questions that are already asked and answered in a product that you refuse to buy.

Me: I think you are a little old fashion if you are acutely aware of subscribers as revenue but unconcerned with online advertising.

"Would you like to buy an ad on our website, ma'am? We try to steer people away from it, taunt them for using it and in various and sundry other ways make it less inviting so, whaduya say?"

Round II

The Mason Jar

I tried the new Mason Jar restaurant (1310 Westover Terrace) today. The service was friendly without going overboard and that was about the best thing the place has going for it -- at least, as far as one lunchtime visit can indicate.

The Mason Jar serves southern diner style food. One might guess that by their name, but some indication on their signage or windows might help, we were not sure until we walked in and saw the daily specials sign board. (Why not put that in the window?) The dining room was simple and a little too warm for a summer's day, but it's the food that matters and my date described it best: uninspired. It most reminded me of Your House up the road.

We both ordered sandwiches, a grilled pimento cheese and tuna salad, both of which were tiny and underwhelming. The homemade potato chips were overpowered by the flavor of cooking oil. The fries were a little better, not quite as greasy. Ho hum.

I haven't scratched The Mason Jar off my list. I'd like to go back to try one of the daily specials like Meatloaf (Mondays) or Pot Roast (Thursdays, I think) and maybe there are some real gems elsewhere on the menu. But it seems to me that this type of restaurant has two paths to success, either riff on the theme and kick it up a notch (I'm thinking Smith Street Diner's BLT with pimento cheese or their double burger with Velveeta) or, if it's going to be kept simple, at least get the flavors right and serve a hearty portion -- like the old Alpat used to. Otherwise, it's just a nicer looking and friendlier Your House.

WGHP MyFox8: Keep it stupid, simple

Are you familiar with "THE Muslim flag?"

How about "THE Christian flag?"

"THE Buddhist flag?"

I'll bet you didn't know that, just like countries, religions have singular official flags, one for each of the world's major religions.

They don't, of course, but WGHP MyFox8 insists on identifying various flags flown at a veterans memorial as "THE" flags of particular religions. It is a marvelous technique for ginning up controversy and sowing disharmony -- our flag, their flag -- us, them -- but it is, in reality, insipid. It is dumbing-down past the point of simplification and into the realm of make-believe. Call me old fashion, but I don't think news reports should misrepresent reality.

Ed Cone: "It's not really that funny to watch the City lie in our name."

GREENSBORO, NC --

Ed Cone:

So the City of Greensboro has changed its legal argument on the White Street dump from "we haven't yet chosen the site" to "we chose the site so long ago you can't challenge it now."

The original argument was laughable, although it's not really that funny to watch the City lie in our names as it attempts to ram through a highly controversial project.

Ed is right. What an embarrassment

A legitimate question about the possible landfill reopening

GREENSBORO, NC -- George Hartzman is asking a legitimate question: If the White Street Landfill is reopened for household garbage, how much of it would come from the residents of Greensboro and how much from other areas?

It matters because concerns such as truck traffic, smell and life of the landfill will all be affected should the landfill be made available to garbage from outside the city. Hartzman seems to insinuate that the profit motive of the company contracted to operate the landfill might be given priority over Greensboro's interests. Are we contemplating a scheme that will be optimized for Greensboro's citizens or something that will maximize the profit potential of a company?

So George is right to ask how much of the garbage will come from Greensboro and how much from elsewhere. He hasn't received an answer to his inquiries and he's frustrated.

Here's the thing though, while we would hope that the people at City Hall would be willing to answer questions (in my experience, they generally are), there are no consequences if they don't. They are, however, bound by law to provide public records on request. I've suggested to George that, instead of asking a question, he ask for records that contain the information he seeks. It's a different approach that really shouldn't be necessary -- someone should just answer his question -- but it's the approach that has the weight of law behind it.

I've suggested to George that he make a records request something like this.

"Public Records Request: Provide me with all records in any form that document any estimation, predictions or expectations of the geographic sources for the garbage that would go to the White Street Landfill if it were reopened for household garbage and/or any estimation, prediction or expectation of the amounts of same, said estimations, predictions or expectations having been made by any party or entity."

Citizens should not have to get all lawyerly to get information from their government, but in this case it appears necessary.

Court slaps down Greensboro's annexation policy

GREENSBORO, NC -- (via Guarino) The North Carolina Court of Appeals has sided with a group of homeowners who sued the City of Greensboro to stop their annexation into the city, as reported by Michael Lowrey in a Carolina Journal Online exclusive. Greensboro had contracted with a developer to provide city sewer and water to his development with the agreement that the properties would eventually be annexed. Homes were built and sold and Greensboro eventually decided to proceed with the annexation. However, the people who had moved in to those homes decided they did not want to be annexed into Greensboro.

The City of Greensboro attempted to make a three-pronged argument for why the new proeprty owners should be bound to the agreement made with the developer. All three failed. The court told Greensboro that the law allows people being annexed to object at any time prior to the official adoption of an annexation ordinance and, if Greensboro doesn't like it, to take it up with the state legislature.

Update: In the comments, Joe Killian points out that the Carolina Journal story was subsequent to other reporting of the same set of facts, and thus not an exclusive. Although the article itself is no longer identified as an exclusive, remnants of that original claim remain in the article's url: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=7839

Wayne Abraham, candidate at-large, added to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

Wayne Abraham

GREENSBORO, NC -- Wayne Abraham, candidate for Greensboro city council at-large has added his profile to GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com.

GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com features:

• Candidate profiles;
  
• Recent campaign and candidate related posts and articles from local news and blogs and;
  
• Trending words in local election-related blogs and news linked to their sources.
  

WGHP MyFox8 making it up, fabricates a victim

GREENBORO, NC -- Why is WGHP MyFox8 reporting, as fact, that a man was arrested after "he tried to send graphic images to a 14-year-old girl" when there was no fourteen year-old girl? The man tried to send graphic images to someone whom he believed to be a fourteen year-old girl, and the legal consequences of that are inescapable, but for a newsorg to report the existence of a made-up character as if the online creation was an actual victim is bad journalism.

Elsewhere's spam campaign

I'd like to be nice to Elsewhere, Greensboro's artist collaborative. They've added some events to the Greensboro 101 events calendar and I've promoted them at this blog, but right now I am ^&#*# furious at their stupid move to spam me by providing my personal information to a third party spam mill.

I just received their "e-news" newsletter, something I did not ask to receive and to which I did not subscribe. When I clicked on the unsubscribe link I was taken to a third party website that displayed my full name and email address. Elsewhere, this was a bad move. What in the world made you think I would be okay with you submitting my name and email address to this website? You should have asked first. I would have said no, but at least you wouldn't have done me wrong. Now, in addition to being a funky cool part of Greensboro, you are also obnoxious.

Chris Lawyer, at-large council candidate, first on GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com

GREENSBORO, NC -- At the suggestion of some old farts who love the internet but don't have time to let searching interfere with their golf, I've finally created the website they've been saying they are looking for.

It's GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com. It features:

• Recent stories and posts from local blogs and news about candidates and campaigns;
• Trending words in local election-related blogs and news linked to their sources and;
• A collection of candidate profiles.

Chris Lawyer

Candidates are invited to submit their own profile information and the first to do so is Chris Lawyer, candidate for city council at large. Best of luck, Chris.

Watchdog fail at the News & Record

It has become increasingly difficult to navigate the tired syntax, bad grammar and unfriendly formatting at Triadwatch. So much so that I hardly read it anymore unless it seems supremely compelling. Today there is a post worth some attention. It reports of an exchange between Triadwatch's Keith Brown and News & Record editor John Robinson at Robinson's blog in which Robinson explains his disinterest in covering local graft:

It's easy to make the case that city officials ought to be entitled to free access to events at a city arena. I'm not going to make it, but I also don't think it is that big of a deal.

I find that very disheartening.

Media Curator Wanted

Earlier in my life, the $500/month stipend, room and board would have been perfectly suitable compensation for this cool-sounding job of media curator at Elsewhere. From the job announcement on their blog:

Elsewhere, a living museum, experimental residency program, and creative laboratory set within a former thrift store, is seeking a media curator to join our curatorial team. The media curator is responsible for documenting ongoings at the collaborative site through photo, video, text and audio, and disseminating this info to participants, press, and new audiences through social media, blogs, our website, and throughout the museum. The media curator will oversee documentation, communications, technology, and media curation at the living museum with the help of an intern team.

Contradictions in landfill explanations

GREENSBORO, NC -- Leaving aside the legal arguments, there is a glaring contradiction in explanations for the procedures for reopening the White Street Landfill to household garbage.

The City attorneys are arguing that the City is just picking a company, that the decision for where the chosen company will put the trash will be made subsequent to choosing the company. From the News & Record:

Jim Clark, an assistant city attorney, argued that the city is signing a contract, not picking a site. Deciding where to dispose of household waste will be up to whoever wins the contract, he said.

In direct contradiction, Waste Industries has a full page ad in this week's Rhino Times that says those things will happen in reverse order, saying that if the city decides to re-open the landfill to household garbage, then Waste Industries is the company to choose. A portion of the ad:

The City: When we choose a company, then that company will decide about re-opening the landfill.
Waste Industries: If the city decides to reopen the landfill, then choose us.

So which is it? A company chosen first then location selected or location selected then company chosen? And who exactly is going to decide about re-opening White Street to household waste? Clark's assertion that it will be up to a company is ignorant -- or insulting. Somebody needs to get their story straight.

What's next?

What's next?

Something city council election related, by request.

Update: Done. GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com.

GrowGreen Power looking at Greensboro?

GREENSBORO, NC -- Two days ago, GrowGreen Power announced that it is looking for a location in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in which to locate a 300-worker GrowGreen center, a 50 acre greenhouse combined with a 37 megawatt "co-generation power plant."

Today, Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight announced a special closed session of city council for June 7 to discuss "matters related to business location or expansion in Greensboro." Related?

Blogger calls for judge's impeachment

GREENSBORO, NC -- Lex Alexander:

In point of fact, according to the state Constitution, public interest isn’t a standard for deciding whether a civil proceeding will be public or not. Court proceedings are presumptively public. There are a few well-defined exceptions, in the statutes, none of which applied here. Yet [Judge Patrice] Hinnant apparently intended to break the law until a News & Record attorney attempted to request a hearing on whether or not the proceeding should be open.

Lex is right. A judge should know better. A cornerstone of our democracy is open judicial proceedings. I would like to hear this judge's explanation.

Create or Die 2 snubs local community altmedia

GREENSBORO, NC -- Create or Die 2 is a conference underway at UNC-G that is "focusing on examples of community news and information sites outside of traditional media that may serve as examples of sustainable community journalism" for people "interested in innovations in community news and information."

Have you heard of it? I had not until this morning when I stumbled on a brief story about it in the Raleigh News & Observer during an unrelated search on Bing.

How does a conference that promises to bring "journalists, technologists [and] bloggers" together to "raise diverse voices in new media" come to Blogsboro and manage to remain invisible to local journalists, technologists and bloggers in the new media of the host city?

PTI flights on the morning the bear was shot

GREENSBORO, NC -- The News & Record has a story today looking at why a more humane method of dealing with the bear wasn't used at the airport on Tuesday morning. The bear was shot and killed at 7:30 A.M. on May 31st.

Reporter Nancy McLaughlin writes that it is "unclear" when a "commercial or cargo airplane had been expected on one of the runways." According to Flightstats, when the bear was shot that morning, the next arrival was flight ZW3618 scheduled for arrival at 8:32 and actually arriving at 8:59. The next scheduled departure was flight ZW3830, scheduled to depart at 7:50 and actually departing at 7:45.