Yule Log (with director's commentary)

Hmmm.

American Hebrew Academy Toy Drive - Over 1000 Gifts Collected!

As seen on Greensboro101.

"The mission is simple, we seek to provide hope in times of uncertainty, joy in times of struggle, and holiday spirit in times when the spirits of many are down and out. Were making a difference together"

 

The Coalition to Unchain Dogs

As seen on Greensboro101.

"The Coalition to Unchain Dogs is a non-profit founded by Amanda Arrington in Durham, North Carolina in 2007. The Coalition has expanded into Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, NC and Richmond, VA. In less than three years, volunteers of this organization have freed over 400 dogs from their chains by building free fences."

Plagiarism at WFMY?

There is an article on WFMY's Digtriad today about an accident involving Cincinnati Bengal's football player Chris Henry (who has now died). The author of the WFMY piece* is identified as Matt McKinney (his name hyperlinks to an email address at wfmy.gannet.com), but his story is identical to a story by AP sports writer Mike Cranston.

* UPDATE: The story on WFMY's site has changed. The original, as it appeared at the time of this post, is here.

Kilmer updated: 'I think that I shall never see, a tree in Reedy Fork."

With interest rates low and the market good for buyers, we have been causally looking at what the real estate market may offer. The web keeps turning up homes in our price range and size range in Reedy Fork. I would never buy a house there. Why? The development is in the middle of a beautifully forested part of the county but the developers scalped their neighborhood to the ground -- not a tree left standing. It is unbearably ugly.

Ugh

Digby via Lex:

"What this huge electoral mandate and congressional majority have gotten us, then, is basically a deal with the insurance industry to accept 30 million coerced customers in exchange for ending their practice of failing to cover their customers when they get sick — unless they go beyond a “reasonable cap,” of course. (And profits go up!)"

Health care reform is making me sick (NC Senator Kay Hagan doing her part)

I had high hopes for health care reform. It was a major consideration in my voting decisions last year. I've followed the discussions and expressed my opinions to my elected representatives. Despite the explanation that what we are likely now to get is better than nothing, I think not. A cost/benefit evaluation leads me to think it's better that nothing get passed rather than this crippled-by-compromise junk accurately described by Lex Alexander as reform that:

• Mandates that every American buy expensive insurance from private companies without the choice of a public option and lets the IRS fine you if you don’t
• Severely taxes middle-class health care plans, rather than wealthy individuals
• Increases insurance premiums about $1,000 a year
• Increases health care costs
• Continues to exempt health-insurance companies from antitrust laws, inhibiting competition
• Provides a sweet deal for pharmaceutical manufacturers while denying the government the ability to negotiate for lower drug prices for Medicare, something Democrats actually promised three years ago.
• Apparently won’t let the government import drugs from cheaper foreign sources. I’m told my own junior senator, Kay Hagan, was arguing tonight that this was a “safety” issue, which must come as a surprise to the dozens of other countries that do this every day.
• Grants monopolies on new biologic drugs so they will never become generics
• Offers NO public option
• Offers NO Medicare expansion, even in return for payment, for 55- to 64-year-olds.
• Limits insurance-company payouts, contrary to President Obama’s promise in September
• Raises taxes in January while not beginning benefits until 2014.

Carmany criticized for blogging?

From a Joe Killian article:

"Former council member Sandy Carmany was the only one who blogged regularly and was heavily criticized for it before losing an election, [Sue] Polinsky said."

She was? I followed Sandy Carmany's blogging very closely. I do not remember her being criticized, much less "heavily," for blogging. I question whether that is true

"Made in Triad" -- The erasure of Greensboro

One of the consequences of our blind acquiescence to the myopic view of professional business recruiters that we are better off as some larger homogeneous ill-defined region is that we no longer acknowledge and promote the identities of the real places in which we live -- we have no sense of place. We have no community in which to take pride anymore.

This (Greensboro, NC) News & Record headline is a good example:

"Holiday stamps made in Triad go world over."

Made in Triad? The stamps were manufactured in Guilford County and designed by a resident of Greensboro Greensboro businessman*. Regionalism doesn't belong in everything, especially at the expense of the hometown newspaper acknowledging its hometown.

With this kind of erasure of place, local media obscure why interesting things happen where they happen, stealing recognition and pride from the places where innovation, education and energy drive progress. Greensboro and Guilford County pay the highest price as acknowledgment of our achievements gets diluted by shared attribution with the hinterlands as supposedly accomplished in the no-place "Triad." And we get it from both ends. When neighboring communities fail to invest in their schools, or to exercise, or to brush their teeth, Greensboro get lumped into headlines about "Dumb kids/Fat people/Lots of cavities... in Triad."

Pick a successful major metropolitan area in the US. Pick any one. Its name will be anchored by a real place. Even if it has some nifty additional descriptor, all grown-up places elevate and acknowledge the lead city or cities. Things that happen in Chicago happen in Chicago--not Ilinwi; Atlanta, in Atlanta--not The Quintcounty Region; Orlando, in Orlando--not TangerineLand.

Let the business recruiters and the government statisticians continue to identify a region called the Triad. It suits their purposes. Local media would do better, both for promoting us to the world and fostering pride at home by referring to the real named places where we live. Congratulations to the Guilford County factory that made the stamps designed by the man from Greensboro. It's a great story for them and for Greater Greensboro.

* A commenter notes that the designer operates a business in Greensboro, but lives in King.

Stoopid youts

"Some students believe that World War II was fought after the civil war."

In a rant about how dumb today's youth are, you might want to leave that one off your list.

Greensboro Sports: Aquatics center deficient

"If we are going to build an Aquatics Center, let’s get it right. You can’t cut corners and expect to be the best on the East Coast."

Don of GreensboroSports.com takes a close look at the proposed aquatics center and finds it lacking.

Snow in Greensboro

As seen on Greensboro101.

I don't know who did this or where exactly, other than it's in Greensboro. But someone made snow yesterday.

A Christmas memory

"My daddy was always a big kid when it comes to Christmas. He couldn’t wait for Christmas Day to arrive. I’ve long suspected that if Christmas Day was on December 26th, instead of the 25th, he might just keel over from the pain of waiting just one more day. I just don’t think his heart could of handled it."

 Bill the Blogging Poet remembers his dad.

Shout out to the leaf crew!

Methodical. Physical. Meticulous. A big thanks for the job you do to the city crews who vacuum up the leaves from our curbs.

Related: An interactive map of where the leaf crews are and where they are headed.

Greensboro: Journalism case study

I had a nice interview with UNC Journalism masters candidate Michelle Cerulli this morning. She is working on a project of Greensboro as a study of the influence of alternative media on local journalism.

We talked for over an hour about everything from the interplay of local corporate media and blogs, to the roles of traditional and alternative media in the Wray saga, to the question I found most interesting, "Why this proliferation in Greensboro?"

Michelle says her report will be published on the web and I'll link to it when it is.

105.7's Bob and the Showgram: Failure right around the corner

This video of some local DJ rednecks being obnoxious, in a Christmas parade, of all places, caught my eye on Greensboro101 this morning. So, as I ran some errands, I thought I'd tune in and check out 105.7's morning show Bob and the Showgram.

What a boring and embarrassingly unfunny crock-o-crap this thing is. Just what is the size of the eating-boogers-is-funny moron market in Greensboro? However minuscule it is, Bob and the Showgram will have it cornered -- until their imminent and prompt failure.

Coliseum Director issues correction: There was no unanimous War Memorial Commission vote in support of the swim center.

Tony Wilkins reported that the War Memorial Commission took a vote on December 3rd on supporting the proposed financing scheme for the proposed swim center. It passed 8 to 1.

But Keith of Triadwatch notes in the comments that Coliseum Director Matt Brown, two days prior, told City Councilor Trudy Wade at a public meeting that the War Memorial Commission had voted unanimously in support of the swim center.

Here is a transcript (On video here, starting at the 01:05:00 mark):

==========
Brown: "I can only speak to you of what... my presentation to both the Parks and Recreation Commission and War Memorial Commission were nothing but enthusiastic support, I can say unanimous support because I didn't hear anyone oppose the idea and object it once we described and were clear in the details of what the end product was."

Wade: "So you never took a vote on any of it, you just discussed it. Is that correct?"

B: "On Which group, Trudy?

W: "Either group. Did you ever vote on whether we...?"

B: "The War Memorial Commission voted, I'm not sure we had an actual vote on the Parks and Recreation Commission, I'm not sure there's a member here who could attest that for me, but..."

W: "Well, what was the vote? It was unanimous...

B: "Yes."

W: "...on the War Memorial?

B: "Yes, ma'am."
========

This exchange led me to submit a records request of the City for "all minutes of the War Memorial Commission at which any votes were taken regarding the proposed swim center."

In response to my request, I did not receive any minutes. I did receive a letter, dated today, from Coliseum Director Matt Brown to the City Manager and City Council that reads, in part:

"I incorrectly stated that the War Memorial Commission had held a formal vote in support of the Aquatic Center. I then compounded my error by later stating that I recalled the WMC vote as unanimous."

As much as I despise the hyperbolic BS that too often accompanies the cheerleading for these kinds of public projects, Brown deserves credit for correcting his mistake, publicly, directly and unambiguously.

Punished for offending?

Greensboro blogger Jeff Martin (AKA Fecund Stench) has been charged with annoying someone with email. Why? It is not because he annoyed someone with email. It is because he confronted someone by email, said some things to which she took offense and, in my opinion, probably hit too close to home; she didn't like what was said and found a way to hit back through what I hope will be decided was a misapplication of the law.

Those who are saying that they think Jeff has exhibited objectionable behavior by writing derogatory things are correct. They are wrong, I believe, to leap from that observation to cheering for a successful prosecution of him. Remember, the charge was not for libel, not for defamation, not for threats -- it was for annoying. The "victim" wasn't libeled, wasn't defamed, wasn't threatened and, judging by her replies to the emails in question, she did not seem to even be annoyed, never asking Fec to stop emailing her.

What she was was offended.

We should all think long and hard about whether or not we want offending someone to become criminal in North Carolina.

"Darlin' do not fear what you don't really know"

I was in Sisters on Tate Street last night when I heard this Brett Dennen song over the speakers.

"We have nothing to fear from love and committment."

Greensboro blogger Gedeon Maheux posts this video of New York State Senator Diane Savino speaking on the subject of gay marriage. As Ged accurately describes it, "this speech is a testament to how common sense, humor and the moral high ground are powerful weapons in the battle against bigotry."

Erecting Friendly's Santa

Found on Greensboro101.

Rumors and whispers substitute for reason and facts among the feeble-minded

Did you know there are a couple of cops in Greensboro who have conducted scores of illegal warrantless searches? Neither did I. A supposed leader in our community allegedly whispered that to "substantiate" a point of view.

This kind of whisper with a wink and a nudge is, unfortunately, not uncommon. There is a frothy subcurrent of "discourse" in Greensboro that I find sickening. It involves people wedded to an untenable opinion, unable to convince others with reason and facts of their point of view and yet unwilling to adjust to reality. Instead, they resort to explaining their opinions with rumors of secret evidence -- stuff they earnestly ask us to believe exists but cannot produce for inspection and often have no first-hand knowledge of themselves. "Wait until the tapes come out." "You know it's because she was sleeping with him." "We have information." "If you only knew what I know."

It would be one thing if this crap came from little old ladies around a knitting circle, that it comes from elected officials, newspaper editors, reporters, police officers, preachers and otherwise seemingly intelligent and upstanding people is mind boggling. Please, put up or shut up. I'm willing to follow the facts, but the rumor mongering is despicable.

Greensboro flash mobbed

"At 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 18th, 40 Ignite Greensboro agents gathered and froze during rush hour on all four corners of Greensboro's busiest downtown street, Friendly Ave. The goal was to highlight cultural conformity of students who are not willing to reach outside their institution to learn about the culture and city of Greensboro."

Backstroking to the swim center

"If you look back on it, $20M was always the price tag for a “Regional Swim Center” and Greensboro is backing into that number slowly but surely.  People are pissed at the process, and rightfully so."

David Hoggard reminds us of the underhanded way in which we got here.

On year, smoke free

I quit smoking a year ago. Although I was not a life-long smoker, I smoked more often than not as an adult and the addiction seemed to have a firm hold for the past ten years or so. I never stopped wanting to quit, but the prospect just seemed more and more unlikely as time went by -- until I tried Chantix.

Friends have reported unpleasant side effects--nightmares and feeling "strange"--but for me, the only effect was that I simply did not want a cigarette. No cravings, no "high" (or "low"), just a sense of returning to normal. After twelve or so smoke-free weeks, I stopped the Chantix. I have not had a single smoke, or even bummed a puff since -- I haven't even been tempted. If you don't smoke, you'll shrug. If you smoke, you'll appreciate how remarkable the complete elimination of the craving is.

If you smoke and you want to quit, there may be any number of ways to do so. I found Chantix to be phenomenally effective.

Tell me again the N&R's policy on identifying sources

Lorraine Ahearn has an article in today's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record about complaints of people viewing pornography on public library computers. In it, Ahearn reports:

"Library associate Dwayne Eaker said the mother, who declined a request for a newspaper interview, was so vocal in complaining to librarians that she may have “tipped off” the violator to switch screens."

Why is the complaining parent not identified? Her complaint is the impetus for the story, but she remains anonymous. Why?

Susan Griffith of High Point. NC should meet Google

Susan Griffith of High Point, NC, has a letter to the editor in today's (Greensboro, NC) News & Record in which she writes: 

"Our most precious documents, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, mention God throughout."

You cannot just make stuff up, publish it in public and not expect people to scoff. How seriously should we take Ms. Griffith's point of view when she justifies it with make believe? Not very, I'd say.

The Declaration of Independence. The United States Constitution.

Break-in City

Crime problem?

These within the past 24 hours:

Ian McDowell, "My door was kicked in at 3:00 AM."

"Cops have come and gone. Took them twenty minutes to arrive, and then they drove past the building twice. CSI has come and gone. "CSI" being one lady cop with a flashlight and camera, who said the footprint on the door panel was too blurry to tell anything. The first cop tried to call the K-9 unit, but they told him the dog had gone to bed."

Brian Higgins, "A victim of crime."

"Coming home to a smashed front door and a bird flying out of my house was about as disarmig a feeling as I've had in some time. My wife and I have always told me that we feel safe in our neighborhood and I'm certain that we feel less confident about that than before."

Is your biz advertising with 336 Events? Beware.

336 Events' spam resurfaces. If the company's operators don't care that people find their tactics annoying, the businesses that advertise with them should.

Clear, tight, accurate: N&R's cancer near the landfill story.

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Amanda Lehmert writes a piece on the high rates of cancer around the White Street Landfill. She didn't break the story, Yes!Weekly's Jordan Green did a week ago, but Amanda brings a broader survey of the facts and increased understanding to the matter.

Although Dr. Joe Guarino says the N&R story is all just so much hysteria, claiming (erroneously) to have already debunked the report's findings, I think it's appropriate to give Amanda kudos for a tight, accurate story that includes the salient facts.

• A state agency study found cancer rates around the landfill to be higher than they expected.
  
• The cause of the higher rates is not known, but there are several possible reasons.
  
• Pancreatic cancer is higher among African-Americans and that alone could account for the higher rates.
• Local officials want further explanation.
  

People will argue about the significance of the facts and try to massage them to fit their agendas, but Amanda is right where a reporter should be on something like this, dispassionately bringing factual context to information.

Higher rates of cancer around White Street Landfill? Account for race and you may be surprised.

Jordan Green's Yes!Weekly reports on a study by the NC Cancer Registry (NCCR) and titles it "Cancer rates Near White Street Landfill higher than expected."

Are they? The study summary (below) explains that the "expected" rate of cancers to which the White Street area population was compared was derived from state-wide cancer rates, adjusted for age and gender. But not race. Most of the people who live around the White Street Landfill are African-Amerian.

The North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics publishes rates for specific types of cancers by race. I compared these to the NCCR White Street study findings.

The study, without accounting for race, finds elevated rates of pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma around the landfill, but the rates for those cancers among African-Americans statewide are higher than the total population in North Carolina to begin with. Take race into account, and those cancers, while possibly still elevated around White Street, are likely not as elevated as the study reports.

The study, without accounting for race, finds elevated rates of brain cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, but the rates for those cancers among African-Americans statewide are LOWER than the total population in North Carolina to begin with. Take race into account, and the rate of those cancers around White Street are likely HIGHER than the study reports.

Bottom line: It looks like there is something there, there. Joe Guarino gets into a thoughtful physician's caution against jumping to conclusions about cause (so does the study), but this cannot be swept aside.

Cancer Registry

We are divisible

Here is video of the Pledge-of-Allegiance-drives-the-liberals-crazy Congressman I wrote about earlier stumbling over the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance, to my hypocrisy

While eating lunch just now, I was watching some kind of "Republican health care" gathering on capitol hill on FoxNews. A congressman from Missouri was introduced to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Before doing so, he took the opportunity to say a few brief words about how the phrase "under God" certainly belongs in the Pledge. Among his reasons: "It drives the liberals crazy."

The congressman then proceeded to lead the pledge and promptly forgot the words.

Yesterday's election. Historic? Monumental?

Yesterday's election: Historic? Monumental?

Oh, please. I know people are excited. Me too. But all one has to do is look at the wall of 200 years of mayors' portraits at city hall to realize that electing an older white man* is not some monumental break with history. Bill Knight deserves all the credit due for winning and maybe his tenure will prove monumental is some way, but his election is more of a return to the status quo than history in the making.

I'd also caution against thinking that everybody who voted for the winners all did so for the same reasons.

(* Nothing personal, Mr. Mayor)

You gotta show up -- turnout puts Knight over Johnson

Here is a map showing how turnout won the Greensboro mayoral race for Bill Knight.

Out of 106 precincts, there were only 11 where turnout was greater than 30% of registered voters. They all were won by Bill Knight. On the other hand, of the 18 precincts where turnout was less than 10% of registered voters, 11 of them were Johnson precincts.

Election results

Polls close at 7:30. Election results as they come in here.

Don't let the chowder heads at Heart Argyle get in the way of seeing good local TV political reporting

I can place video from WGHP here on my blog.

I can place video from WFMY here on my blog.

I cannot place video from WXII here on my blog.

Bill O'Neil had a nice piece on the Greensboro mayoral race. You might want to see it, even if the anal-retentive chowder heads up the corporate ladder at Heast Argyle think its okay to put WXII video on YouTube, where non-exclusive rights are assigned to Viacom, but are unwilling to make WXII videos available to bloggers.

I know nothink!

[Apologies to my younger reader who may not get the Hogan's Heros' reference.]

Ed Cone gets a reply to his inquiry of state Democratic party about the mailing they sent in support of some city council candidates. Short answer:

"Who, us?"

This is why I can never imagine being affiliated with a political party again. Too many things, like simple honesty, get subverted to partisanship.

So think you might want partisan city council elections?

I was talking to Ben Holder a few minutes ago and the issue of the non-partisan or not city council races came up. Ben had a very good point that he said his yard sign distribution commitment will keep him from blogging about: Non-partisan does not mean that political parties do not get involved, they have to varying degrees for years. It does not mean that a candidate's affiliation is not considered by those for whom that matters.

What it defines, simply, is the way in which candidates enter and advance through a city council election. In a non-partisan race, unaffiliated voters may enter and run without having to align with a party. It also means that the candidates who advance through a primary are not, through an artificial construct, necessarily each of differing parties. In an unaffiliated race, the most popular of the field advance whoever they may be--not the most popular Democrat and the most popular Republican.

For my conservative friends who think partisan elections might be a good thing for some reason, if the pure math is not enough for you (Democrats far outnumber Republicans in Greensboro) consider the effects of partisan races on this year's elections:

District 3 would be Zack Matheny vs. Jay Ovittore
In a partisan race, the highest vote-getting Republican (Matheny) would be running against the highest vote-getting Democrat (Ovittore). Those of you who like Republican George Hartzman would be out of luck. As it stands, made possible by non-partisan elections, top vote-getter Republican Matheny will face off against second most vote-getter Republican Hartzman.

District 1 would be T. Dianne Bellamy-Small vs. Charles Coffey
A partisan primary would have guaranteed a Bellamy Small reelection. As it stands, made possible by non-partisan elections, Democrat Bellamy Small will face Democrat Luther T. Falls, and there is a reasonable chance for new representation from District 1.

Them's the facts. I'll be on the lookout for reason why partisan city council races would be beneficial.

Just make it as hard for me as you can to vote for Bill Knight, why doncha?

I am an unaffiliated voter (registered as neither Democrat or Republican). I switched from Democrat in 2002 when there was a Republican running for local office for whom I wanted to vote in the Republican primary. (Unaffiliated voters in North Carolina can pick a party's primary in which to vote.)

Two years ago, I voted for Yvonne Johnson for mayor. While there is no doubt she has some good things going for her, she hasn't lived up to my expectations.

In general, she doesn't seem too "on the ball." I have been sorely disappointed in her lack of (public) curiosity towards the "black book," for example, and what it did or did not imply and her lack of any leadership in taking the public to a reality-based understanding of that issue. (Her comment that, if we are going to have a book "like that" for black officers, there should be one for white officers too is illustrative of her confusion.) She has either lacked the intellectual curiosity herself to get to the bottom of things or, if she does understand now, she has not seen the need to correct the perceptions she previously publicly painted.

She has, like other city council members, said all the right things about transparency, then proved to be impotent in doing anything about it.

She said six months ago that she was personally going to recruit a broadband internet provider to compete with Time Warner Cable and apparently has not yet succeeded, but I do not know of the status because she declined to answer my email inquiries about her progress.

So no egregious missteps or bad intentions by Mayor Johnson, just a lackadasical term that has someone like me thinking we can do better. Thus I take a serious look at Bill Knight, but some of his supporters sure make it hard to want to touch the screen for him.

Jordan Green at Yes!Weekly transcribes this from a recent press release by Bill Wright, the chairman of the Guilford County Republic Party:

"The Democrat controlled city council and legislature operate under the same ideals of an ever expanding government, higher taxes and more infringement into individual freedom and property rights. Yes, the awakened voters of Greensboro have sent a chill rushing through the Democrat council candidates and the prospect of losing control of the Greensboro City Council is real and frightening to the Democrat establishment with their feeling of entitlement."

There is enough of the "right" language in there to make a conservative giddy: The Rush inspired "Democrat" instead of the correct "Democratic" (for a party that wants to make English the official language, they sure are eager to abuse it), "expanding government," and "entitlement." Wright hits all the chords and that is exactly the kind of stuff I DO NOT want to see infused into local government: That unthinking ideological call to arms for the indoctrinated.

I would like a numbers guy (Knight is a retired C.P.A.) with the knowledge and desire to put the budget under a microscope. I think Knight is capable of actually reducing taxes without crazy pain and with a little luck. I'd like a guy who is willing to face facts, no matter where they may come from--Knight strikes me as naturally inquisitive.

But I want this guy to be this way because it is pragmatic to be so--a good way to govern for the best outcomes--not because he is out to start and win some ideological skirmish. Bill Wright has me nearly convinced that the election of Knight would be an ideological victory--I mean, he is plainly saying as much in his press release. I have no interest in voting to get that started. I have no interest in voting for what some hope will be an escalation of partisanship on council.

I have a real dilemma.

Citizen journalist arrested for bringing gun to protest

On October 17, 2009 I wrote a blog post in admiration of someone who posted a video on YouTube under the pseudonym of jrpj1983. It shows the camera operator approaching a group of abortion protesters who are being questioned by Greensboro police officers and subsequently declining to answer an officer's questions after the officer notices the camera operator with a gun on his hip. I may not have agreed with the purposes for which he was exercising them, but I do admire people who exercise their freedoms as the law allows. Indeed, the video shows the GPD officer relenting to the camera operator, getting in his patrol car and driving away, suggesting that the officer determined the camera operator to be, in fact, within the bounds of the law.

It looks like everybody involved may have been unaware, however, of a state law that prohibits bringing a dangerous weapon to a demonstration at a health care facility. The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record reports that the camera operator, now identified as James Ronald Penn Jr, has been arrested and charged with "misdemeanor counts of possession of a firearm at a parade or demonstration, failing to store a firearm to protect a minor, and resisting a public officer."

News & Record circulation down 13 percent in six months; 16 percent annually

The daily (M-F) circulation of the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record is down to 70,617 according to the latest from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a decline of 13 percent from April* and 16 percent from a year ago when circulation was about 84,500.

The Sunday circulation is down to 91,599, a decline of 4.7 percent since April and 9.5 percent from a year ago when circulation was about 101,225.

In 2005, the N&R's weekday circulation was  95,119 and Sunday was 112,154, representing declines to-date of 26 percent and 18 percent respectively.

[*Scroll down to post of April 28, 2009, the direct link to this post has rotted.]

Which annoying district 3 city council candidate with more questions than answers is about to get even more annoying with robocalls he knows are so annoying that he doesn't want to accurately describe them on his campaign finance reports?

[Disclosure: District 3 candidate Zack Matheny is a paid advertiser on web sites operated by this blogger.]

Yes! Weekly's Jordan Green synopsizes city council campaign money, including:

"George Hartzman
Major expenditures: ...Bill Money, West Palm Beach, Fla. for 'voice broadcast', $873"

"Voice broadcast?" William Money does phone calls for political campaigns.

We do not need a representative on city council who thinks it is cool to be obtuse. We do not need someone who thinks it is clever to obfuscate. One of the most important roles of a city council representative is to bring forth information with clarity. District 3 candidate The Committee to Elect George Hartzman (as he refers to himself in a proud salute to obfuscation) would do the opposite. He has a fondness for ambiguity that would be maddening in an elected representative.

Good question.

Whatever their method for getting letters to the editor online, the procedure at the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record appears to require some human effort. Occasionally, I'll see a stray letter pop up on Greensboro101 a few hours after the others have already been published online, which is usually around 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM.It is not unheard of to see an overlooked letter appear online later in the day.

Yesterday, a letter in support of mayoral candidate Bill Knight did not make it online with the others for the day. So Joe Guarino wrote about it, noting its absence from the web*. The letter did not subsequently appear.

Today, Tony Wilkins asks again why the letter is still not online. Good question.

[* Guarino has edited his post since its initial publication, subsequently removing his observation that the letter is not online.]

Public input sought on City's records response procedures

Greensboro Assistant City Manager Denise Turner is preparing procedures for City employees to follow in response to public records request to propose to City Council on November 10th. She is inviting "media partners," which I imagine includes interest bloggers, to give their suggestions at a briefing on November 2nd. The meeting is at the plaza level conference room of the Melvin Municipal Building, 300 W. Washington Street, Greensboro at 2:00 P.M.

The invitation letter and an outline of the draft proposals are below:

Letter seeking input on Greensboro records response policy   

Greensboro records response proposals    

Yes! Weekly's Brian Clarey: Time shifter

On October 17th, remarking on how illuminating it is to have Greensboro videos aggregated at Greensboro101.com, I posted a found video (by Jp2easy) showing two fights within minutes of each other in downtown Greensboro.

The next day, on October 18th, Ryan Shell posted the same video with no mention of how it came to his attention.

In this week's Yes! Weekly, editor Brian Clarey writes that Ryan posted the video on his website and that it was subsequently "reposted" on this blog where Jerry Bledsoe commented on it.

Yesterday, I will send Brian an email to ask him to review this:

Who is Warren Romaine?

John Galt? Who is Warren Romaine?

My message to Senator Kay Hagan

I sent the following to North Carolina's Senator Kay Hagan today:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Honorable Senator Hagan,

I am 46 years old. I am in great health. In the past fifteen years I have not needed any medical services beyond ten or twelve physicals and some quit-smoking medication (which worked -- I haven't had a cigarette in eleven months).

I do not engage in risky sports, I exercise vigorously three to five times a week and I eat a very healthy diet.

In January, three months after I quit smoking, my Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina health insurance premium rose from $200/month to $300/month. Today I received a letter informing me my premium will rise again in January from $300/month to $350/month.

FROM $200 to $350 IN TWO YEARS! My health insurance premiums are going up 75% IN TWO YEARS! -- For a healthy person who barely utilizes the health care system.

Meanwhile, the CEO of "non-profit" BCBSNC earns $4 million a year and top policy sellers go on company paid vacations.

This is unconscionable, Senator. People are drowning out here. You MUST, please, for the sake of simple human compassion, support a public health insurance option. I think Howard Dean is right that the simplest, fairest and most economical way to achieve this is to let people buy into Medicare.

But however you accomplish it, it has become imperative, beyond any consideration of the protection of the insurance industry, that we, the people, have a public health insurance option.

Please do the right thing.

Sincerely,
Roch Smith, Jr.
----

[Related: The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Doug Clark defends insurance companies against these kinds of "attacks."]

Social media expert pulls blog post to share it with a wider audience

Social media expert Ryan Shell announces he has pulled a blog post "so that it can be shared with a wider audience," by which he means so that he can capitulate to the demands of a print publication that it only be shared with their audience. Ryan complies. Google does not.

Excuse me while I trip over my ideology

I have a few friends and intellectual adversaries upon whom I try to impress the pitfalls of trying to frame everything as an ideological issue. More often than not, it dumbs down an argument, limits its appeal to only the like-minded and supplants sound logic. Yes! Weekly's Jordan Green rightly faults the Rhinoceros Times' editor John Hammer for falling into this trap.

Hammer tries to make the case for a conservative city council by using the tumult surrounding the firing of former Greensboro Police Chief David Wray as an example of government gone awry when conservatives are missing from the panel. Hammer blames the fiasco on the fact that only one conservative, Tom Phillips, was on the council when things went to pieces with Wray. But wait a minute, as Jordon points out, Phillips actually supported former City Manager Mitch Johnson in his firing of Wray -- just blows Hammers "argument" out of the water.

So thank you John Hammer for a flawed argument advocating for partisan considerations in the council race and thank you (sincerely) Jordan for pointing out the ideological wheel-spinning to us.

Sunshine Workshop -- Good things coming, I believe

I attended this afternoon's public records workshop offered by The City of Greensboro and the Sunshine Center -- the afternoon session oriented towards city employees*.

Short version: I think Greensboro may be on track to make some significant steps forward in responding to public records requests.

Not as short version:

1. Nearly fifty city employees in attendance
2. Exciting to see Charlotte's public terminal for accessing city employee email communications offered as an example of modernized public access. (Maybe not exciting enough to warrant my applause, I'm a geek that way.)
3. Greensboro city attorney Becky Joe Petterson-Buie presented a candid and, to this layman, accurate explanation of what is and what is not public record.
4. Assistant City Manager Denise Turner gave an update on the progress of her attempts to formalize records request response procedures for city employees. It is thoughtful and substantial. It needs a few tweaks which I expect will be suggested to her when she has her anticipated meeting with media and records-seekers before presenting the plan to Council on November 10th.
5. Elon College professor and Assistant Director of the Sunshine Institute Dale Harrison gave an update on efforts in the state legislature regarding public records. He mentioned that Greensboro has already adopted a procedure proposed but not yet legislated into law -- that of recording the closed sessions of public bodies. This practice was adopted by Greensboro thanks to the approval by the current council of a motion made by City Councilor Zack Matheny.
6. Greensboro has also implemented a system called PIRT, Public Information, Request Tracking. Developed "in house" by city employees, I have some experience with it, enough to know some kinks still remain but it is a super initiative and one that should serve Greensboro well when fully tuned.

Thanks to the Sunshine Institute and the City of Greensboro for doing this. It is going to produce better government.

* There is another workshop this evening, this one geared more towards the public. It is at 7:00 P.M. at the Greensboro Historical Museum. About 90 minutes.

4G wi-fi coming to Greensboro

Time Warner Cable and Sprint are bringing 4G wi-fi (wireless internet access) to Greensboro.

A step in the right direction.

Way over-priced.

Joe Killian and Dick Barron report.

Update: Proposed Greensboro sewer extension to airport

[Credit: Thanks to Greensboro Assistant City Manager Andy Scott and Water Resources' Brian Boyd for their very speedy response to my request for these maps -- hours.]

These maps (below) show the proposed extension of water and sewer lines to areas of the Piedmont Triad International Airport. (Download them if you want greater detail.)

I am certainly no expert, but from what I can tell, it appears as if these maps answer the question of whether these proposed lines would benefit private property owners. With the exception of passing by a few individual homes, it appears not -- that it is only going to be airport property that is served by these extensions. (And, for some reason, a third try at extending sewer to the new FedExHub that the city originally said would cost around $250,000).

This item was continued from Tuesday's City Council meeting. I am not sure why. Maybe councilors wanted a few more questions answered. Here are mine remaining.

1. With any development served by these extensions being on airport property, the city will never reap any tax benefits from the properties, airport property being exempt from city taxes. Is this the best use of $4.5 million of the taxpayers' money? Maybe. Maybe not. A thoughtful consideration of costs vs. benefits including a careful consideration of opportunity costs is in order. Would $4.5 million spent elsewhere reap greater benefits if it meant development of taxable property instead of development of tax-free property?
2. Is the cost in line? Were I on council, I would want to see documentation for every penny the city is asked to pay. With the Airport Authority as the middle-man, with Greensboro having no opportunity to control bidding or costs, we should have clear evidence that the costs are appropriate.
   

Greensboro Airport Sewer Extension Map (West)
Greensboro Airport Sewer Extension Map (East)

Speaking of business recruitment

Yes! Weekly reports on the issue of business recruitment and the two mayoral candidates. Speaking of which, in March, Mayor Johnson said she was going to attempt to recruit a broadband internet access competitor to Time Warner Cable. I wonder how that is coming. I haven't heard anything in the seven months since and Mayor Johnson did not answer my email inquiry about it.

Exclusive: Video of Amanda's interview with the new city manager

Getting to know you -- or not.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Greensboro is renowned for its thriving community of local blogs. For all the many unsuccessful ways Greensboro has tried to find or fabricate an "identity" for itself, we have a genuine organic one in our preponderance of local blogs: "Blogsboro," as the L.A. Times called us. In our collection of citizens using blogs to converse, reflect, debate, inform and influence we are very unlike most other cities -- even Dayton.

[If you are aware, you can skip the next two paragraphs]
Greensboro bloggers have a significant record of investigating, organizing and reporting in ways that include not just expressions of policy-influencing opinions, but also manifestations of "real world" action ranging from organizing fundraisers to launching law suits.

Reporters know it. Politicians know it. Greensboro's smart and paying-attention know it: Greensboro blogs are a wealth of knowledge about and insight into Greensboro. You read them if you want to know what's going on in the hearts, heads and lives of Greensboro's people.
[/end skip]

So when someone brand new to town says he will not read local blogs because "I don’t have time for the noise,” my shoulder-shrugging reply is "Your loss, Mister City Manager."

Whoohoo! I won! I won! I won!

My fantasy football team's loss this week to Jeff Sykes' team is compensated by winning this week's GreensboroSports.com CiCi's Pizza NFL Picks Contest. I picked ten right and four wrong.

It's easy to play, just watch for the entry announcement each week at GreensboroSports.com, then post your picks. Thanks to the guys at GreensboroSports.com for the pizza,  I think I'll see if I can make a date of it with my nephew.

Um, make that $4,582,000

With some help from Keith Brown at Triad Watch, I found the attachments to tonight's city council meeting that describe in greater detail the grants the city is contemplating giving to the airport authority for extension of city water and sewer lines.

The total is $4,582,000.00.

Missing from the documentation are any maps showing where the water and sewer will be going. I have asked the city if any maps are available. There are several properties abutting airport land owned by popular contributors to city council campaigns.

Also on tonight's agenda, extension of water and sewer along Pleasant Ridge Road for which individual homeowners owners, unrepresented by moneyed interests, are being assessed between $2,700 and $7,000 each.

Uh, make that $3,364,000

In the comments to this post in which I ask some questions about the $1,546,000 grant the taxpayers of Greensboro may be about to make to the Airport Authority, an anonymous commenter notes that also on the agenda is a resolution authorizing the use of $1,800,000 from the Greensboro Water and Sewer Trust fund to extend water and sewer to industrial sites on the airport property.

The suspect cost aside, that is the way one might expect to see funds allocated for water and sewer extensions. Thus we are back to square one on our knowledge of the $1,546,000 grant to the Airport Authority, i.e. still ignorant of what it is for.

I appreciate the comments I am getting here and offline attempting to help bring some understanding to this. I know that Amanda Lehmert of the News & Record is attempting to get documentation to answer some of the questions raised. In the mean time, can this serve as a convenient example of how good our city government is at communications and transparency -- NOT! Seriously folks, here it is 24 hours before city council is about to consider spending over $3 million on some airport stuff and the public hasn't a clue--really, really piss poor public relations.

More on Greensboro's mysterious $1,564,000 payment to the airport

An anonymous commenter to my previous post says this about the $1,564,000 that the Greensboro City Council is to consider giving to the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority tomorrow night:

"It represents funds designated years ago for the City to help pay for sewer passing beneath Bryan Blvd. Some sewer originates off of the airport property but passes through the airport on the way to the plant. The alternative would be a pump station, which may have a lower initial cost, but would have to be maintained forever.

"Nothing sinister there, just normal, everyday, well executed growth of the city's w&S system" 

Assuming the anonymous commenter is not completely off base:

1. What is the history and where is the record of this responsibility being "designated" to the City of Greensboro? When, where and by whom was this "years ago" financial obligation assumed by or assigned to Greensboro?

2. Where is the property to which this sewer is being extended? Who owns it?

3. By what authority does the Airport Authority involve itself in extending utilities to facilities off its property? I am pretty sure that is not within the scope of its charter.

4. Why is this being paid to the Airport Authority? If Greensboro is to build a sewer line, by what rationale do we have to pay the Airport Authority for it?

Anonymous assures there is nothing sinister here. If that's true, the answers to these questions should be forthcoming and found acceptable before council even begins to consider approving this.

Greensboro to give $1,564,000 to airport?

Does anybody know the details of item #13 on the agenda for tomorrow's Greensboro City Council meeting?

"Resolution authorizing the use and appropriation of $1,564,000 of voter approved Economic Development Bond Funds on an Economic Development Incentive Grant to Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. (roll call vote) (Attachment #13 to Council members) "

The referred to attachment is not online and a Google search for details comes up empty.

Naw, Greensboro doesn't have a police shortage

Aggregated local videos on Greensboro101 continue to illuminate. Two street fights in downtown Greensboro within two minutes of each other.

Video: Protester's encounter with GPD

One of the things I've long liked about local blogs is getting from them a better understanding of individuals' perspectives on life in Greensboro. Now that Greensboro101 is aggregating local video, I am finding that window opening even wider.

I always admire people who know and stand up for their rights as the guy behind the camera does at this anti-abortion gathering.

Candidate has secret plan

One of the downsides of being a hardass for the facts is that you sometimes end up having to scold people you find quite likable. I've done it before with the always friendly Cyndy Hayworth and today I am going to do it again.

Previously, my complaint of Cyndy was about a letter to the N&R in which Cyndy got her facts wrong. She has another letter today, this one in support of at-large candidate Danny Thompson in which she writes of Thompson:

"He has a plan for Greensboro that will lay the groundwork to bring jobs and growth and at the same time eliminate some of the excess in the budget."

A plan? Really? A desire, maybe, but a plan? I'd sure like to read it. I don't see it on his website. So what is Thompson's plan and can the rest of us be let in on it? And if the man doesn't have a plan, don't say he has one, okay, Cyndy? Because that is like, you know, fibbing.

Getting to know you...

Tony Wilkins writes about Greensboro City Council district 4 candidate Joel Landau removing the name of a supporter from his web site and draws his conclusions. Candidate Landau replies. This is the way it should work: Give and take, questions answered, misconceptions cleared up. Good work Tony and Joel.

[Title changed: The original title of this post was "Getting to know you... (or, speculatively, Burckley smear attempt stymied)." I have updated this post to remove the speculative alternative. In a post about a matter that involved, to a significant degree, getting the facts right, there is no place for that kind of speculation. I know that Bill Burckely has been hired by Landau's opponent and I know he takes a gloves-off approach to campaigning, but I have no evidence whatsoever that he was involved in this and since I try to promote a fact-based approach to issues, capitualting to personal suspicions is hypocritical. I shouldn't have done it and I am sorry I did.]

When I'm 64

I hope I remain this cogent when I am "older." District 2 City Council candidate Nettie Coad makes the case of why her age is a benefit, not a disadvantage as some appear to think. Missing from Coad's defense is the most obvious to me, that she is activley engaging in the vivacious new media, blogging and posting YouTube videos, while her younger opponent Jim Kee is the fuddy duddy, apparently unable to even handle his own email.

New garbage cans flawed

Our old garbage can went kaput several weeks ago. The city replaced it with one of the new variety. The new cans are flawed: The lids flop open when the truck puts them back down -- making for a nasty soup in the bottom on rainy days like today.

As you can see from this picture, the lid closes on the old style cans but on the same terrain, the lid on the new can stays open when it is returned to the curb. In addition to making the cans messier during rainy weather, I have to wonder if these new cans won't become breeding pools for mosquitoes in the summer. If there is a reason why these new cans are better, I'm not seeing it. They are inferior as far as I can tell.

Fact checking candidates

This is the kind of thing I think of as good journalism, doing the follow up non-reporters don't have the time to do for the purpose of holding those who would represent us accountable: The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record Gerald Witt fact checks district four city council candidates. I hope we'll see more of this.

Faking it

Ryan Shell finds Moses Cone faking it. On its web site, it looks like Moses Cone is participating in social media but, click on the Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Linkedin icons and, eh, not so much. Still, those icons must look neato to the kids, right?

Fractured Fairytales Haunted House 2009

If the haunted house is as scary as the video...



Mary Foust Residence Hall at UNCG is having its annual Haunted House. The theme is Fractured Fairytales. It will take place on October 17th from 8pm to Midnight. Admission is $5 and $3 with a canned good. All proceeds will go to Newcomer School (of Greensboro) and the canned goods will go to Greensboro Urban Ministry.

Fur real

The aggregated video on Greensboro101.com continue to yield interesting glimpses into Greensboro.

For example, did you know Greensboro recently hosted a bowling night for the Carolina furs? The video is quite boring, but I did not previously know there was a community in the area dedicated to furries. Not for me, thanks, but hey, to each his own.

Science Center Vid

Digging the new video aggregator on Greensboro101.com. This popped up this afternoon:

Proposed hotel has my spidey sense tingling

I am not hearing alarm bells, seeing red flags or smelling something fishy... but my spidey sense is tingling.

According to the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record, there is a "group" that wants the city of Greensboro to give them four acres out of the ten slated for redevelopment at the South Elm/Lee Street area so that they can build a hotel with federal stimulus funds and have the revenue go "into the hands of Ole Asheboro residents..."

This is where the time and reources of the mainstream media (i.e. The News & Record) need to be put to their highest use, as a watchdog on behalf of the public. Questions that need to be answered:

• Who are the principles who will manage the proposed hotel and what is their track record? Have they done this before and how have their previous projects fared?
• What does it mean that the revenue from the proposed hotel will go "into the hands of Ole Asheboro residents?" How?
  
• What will be the criteria for revenue participation and who will be the decision maker? Will the residents' participation in the revenue be through employment or through some other means of profit-sharing? Will people be "in" solely based on the location of their abode? If so, what are the geographical boundaries?
  
• Is it appropriate for the City to make a donation to a for-profit project where a stated objective is to selectively include and exclude participants by some currently vague and potentially unfair criteria?
  
• Are this group's expectations fiscally realistic? Reports thus far mention as the only source of funding government grants. Can and will a project of this size be entirely funded by government funds? If not, from where will additional funding come? Who will underwrite cost overruns or additional liabilities?
• Who will fund the considerable start-up and operational costs beyond what grants may fund construction? Is there a business plan?
  
• How and to what degree are the people who are advancing this proposal vested in its financial outcome?
• Is this the highest and best use of this public land and federal stimulus funds? What other options would be sacrificed for the sake of this project?
  

Unmitigated gall

Ed Cone brings this snippet from a Rhinoceros Times article to our attention.

Commissioner Mike Winstead [...] said he was less excited about Arnold's revised plan than he was when the original plan was first presented. The original plan Arnold wanted included tax breaks for those who added to the tax base by building houses, apartment complexes and even additions to homes, and that no doubt had some appeal to Winstead, who is developer. However, the final version of Arnold's plan did not include those tax breaks.

"It's not going to do all that I was hoping it would do," Winstead said.

Roger Greene responds at Ed's with a comment that reflects my sentiments:

"I don't know how to embellish the 'fox guarding the henhouse' analogy any better than the fact that Winstead was enamored with a proposal that boosts his own business interest without a hint of irony, in that he never mentions the words 'recusal' or 'conflict of interest', etc."

Bill O’Reilly Fact Checks Jon Stewart

Sam Spagnola:

"CNN fact checked last weeks Saturday Night Live Barack Obama opening skit for accuracy, marking the first time a news network fact checked a comedy sketch."

Yes, the first time -- this month.

Last month, however:

What if it's not made of cheese?

Could the recent rapid rise in gold suddenly deflate? What if a new source is discovered?

Air Uterus City, we are

My Greek is a little rusty, so someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't aerotropolis mean "air uterus city?" If we want to coin "air city" from Greek, isn't it correctly "aeropolis?"

(Although, if the spinmeisters intend to convey that we are a place of motherhood and airport jobs, maybe aerotropolis is intentional.)

Councilor Mike Barber hitting the road

Judging from the number of names in the recipient list of his email announcement, this will probably be widely known in, oh, about five minutes, but Greensboro attorney and City Council representative Mike Barber announced today that he is closing his law practice in December and taking an eighteen month sabbatical to explore opportunities and travel with his family. He did not run for reelection this year and his term expires in December.

Good for him. My first from-afar and mistaken impression of Mike was that he was as kind of a cheese loaf of a politician when he was a county commissioner. I have since come to admire him as a business man and employer; and, most admirable to me, as a superb public servant. During his tenure on City Council, Mike was an independent thinker with the emphasis on thinking. His allegiance was first and foremost to the facts and his ability to evaluate them with reason. He was not out to make friends or to advance the interest of a particular group or district. He was motivated, it appeared to me, simply to exercise his best judgment. That's a rarity and very much appreciated.

Have fun, Mike.

Election analysis

Some thoughts on the Greensboro city council primary election results.

1. Low minority turnout
Turnout in the predominantly black districts one and  two was very low. In district one, the 1,376 voters were nearly 25% fewer than the number who voted in the 2007 primary; and in district two there were only 1,115 voters (there was no D2 primary in 2007). Districts one, two, three and four all had competitive primaries, but in predominately white districts three and four there were 3,457 and 3,318 voters respectively. Which leads to...

2. A new mayor?
Mayor Johnson will have a real challenge to her reelection. In 2007, the year she was elected as mayor, Johnson won by getting a majority in district four. Without it, she would have lost to barely-visible Miltion Kern.

Three factors could give Johnson trouble in November: If interest remains low in districts one and two; If Mary Rakestraw's supporters, more likely aligned with fellow Republican and mayoral challenger Bill Knight, turn out big and diminish or eliminate Johnson's 2007 district four majority; and if new voters from Knight's home turf of The Cardinal*, voting in a Greensboro municipal election for the fist time this year, turn out in significant numbers.

3. Squeaky close at-large race
We've got a good old fashion horse race in the at-large race. The second and sixth place at-large finishers were separated by a mere 493 votes out of 29,153, or only 1.7% of the total votes cast. (Compare to a nearly 1,700 vote spread in 2007, when even fewer votes were cast).

4. Mayor Pro-tem Vaughan?
I suspect Nancy Vaughan is too smart to take anything for granted, but finishing first by getting a vote from one out of every two voters is a good indication of strong popularity. Of course, Mary Rakestraw did nearly the same thing in 2007 and ended up coming in third in the general election. We'll see.

5. Win some, lose some
For what it's worth, I cast three votes in the at-large race and one of my choices did not finish in the top six. I'll send that person a private thank you, but really, all the candidates who did not make it through the primary deserve a heartfelt thank you for their time and effort and for giving us a real variety of options.

* UPDATE: Alert reader "N" notes that, while Bill Knight is president of the Cardinal Golf & Country Club, he actually lives in Sunset Hills in district four.

Primary results

With 6% of registered voters having voted, the results of the Greensboro city council primary are in. My predicted order of finish for each candidate is in parenthesis next to the at-large candidates.

At-Large
========
1. (1) Nancy Vaughan -- 5,020
2. (4) Robbie Perkins -- 3,829
3. (5) Sandra Anderson-Groat -- 3,781
4. (3) Danny Thompson -- 3,752
5. (8) Gary Nixon -- 3,432
6. (2) MariKay AbuZuaiter -- 3,336
7. (9) Ryan Shell -- 1,693
8. (7) DJ Hardy -- 1,667
9. (6) Julie Lapham -- 1,519
10. (10) Jorge Cornell -- 689
11. (11) Max Benbassat -- 435

District 1
=======
1. T. Dianne Bellamy-Small -- 597
2. Luther T. Falls, Jr. -- 232

Blogger Ben Holder finished out of the money with 146 votes.

District 2
========
1. Jim Kee -- 576
2. Nettie Coad -- 332

District 3
========
1. Zack Matheny -- 1,893
2. George Hartzman -- 1,127

District 4
=======
1. Mary Rakestraw -- 1,631
2. Joel Landau -- 1,172


There was no primary in district 5 where incumbent Trudy Wade will face Art Boyett and no primary for mayor where incument Yvonne Johnson will face Bill Knight. Complete election resutls are here. The general election is on November 3rd.

Election results and last minute voter info

Results for the Greensboro municipal primary will be online here.

Polls close at 7:30. If you need last minute candidate information, check out the News & Record's election web site. If you are not sure what district you are in, see this. If you are not sure where to vote or have any other voting related questions, call the Guilford County Board of Elections at 641-3836.

City Council at-large predictions

These are simply my expectations for the outcome of tomorrow's Greensboro City Council at-large primary race. They are not endorsements. If you like what you see, you will have to vote to bring it to fruition. If my predictions disappoint you, then vote and make me wrong.

The predictions are based on funds raised and spent, endorsements, candidate exposure (positive and negative), buzz and what I think I know about who will constitute the Greensboro electorate tomorrow.

1. Nancy Vaughan
2. MariKay AbuZuatier
3. Danny Thompson
4. Robbie Perkins
5. Sandra Anderson-Groat
6. Julie Lapham*
7. DJ Hardy*
8. Gary Nixon*
9. Ryan Shell
10. Jorge Cornell
11. Max Benbassat

* I found it really difficult to put 6, 7 and 8 in order. I think it will be really tight here, with the real possibility that any of these three could make it through the primary.

District 3 council candidate Hartzman reneges on campaign financing promise

[Disclosure: District 3 candidate Zack Matheny is a paid advertiser on web sites operated by this blogger]

Greensboro city council district 3 candidate George Hartzman on campaign contributions:

"Hartzman has said that he will not take money from political action committees or accept campaign contributions of more than $100." -- Yes!Weekly, 8/12/2009

"I’m not taking more than $100 from anyone." -- George Hartzman, News & Record, 9/8/2009

According to George Hartzman's campaign finance report filed with the Guilford County Board of Elections, he has accepted individual contributions of $1,000 and $500, the $1,000 contribution coming more than a week before the News & Record reported him saying that he was "not taking more than $100 from anyone."

More yummy goodness. Greensboro101 adds local video

Local videos now aggregated on Greensboro101.com -- and still fat free!

Looking for some thoughtless and immature voting advice? My cronies and I recommend Yes! Weekly.

Yes! Weekly published its anonymous endorsements for city council this week. In addition to endorsing more candidates than voters can vote for in each race, they (he? she?) explained the endorsements with some rather questionable reasoning, including saying they (he? she?) support at-large candidate Robbie Perkins "for his staunch support of former City Manager Mitchell Johnson."

That prompted me to ask in the comments:

"Can you explain why being a staunch supporter of Mitch Johnson is a plus in your book?"

To which an anonymous commenter on behalf of Yes! replied:

"Roch: We do not agree with you and your cronies about Mitch Johnson and you damn well know it. We have a long body of work, thousands of words, stating our reasons. Feel free to hit our archives."

If you are looking for thoughtless immaturity as a guide for your voting decisions, Yes! is for you.