"To write is to think"

To write is to think.
— Peggy Noonan

It's why I love blogging and bloggers.

Higher thinking

Although they came in a critique of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, I found these words from conservative thinker Peggy Noonan to be poignant and relevant beyond her immediate subject, even applying to the myopia, rigidity and shallowness that are the lifeblood of some local blogs.

We are a big, complicated nation. And we are human beings. We are people. We have souls. We are complex. We are not data points. Many things go into our decisions and our political affiliations.

You have to be sophisticated to know that.

 This is true.

Data visualized: Timeline of City responses to public records requests

GREENSBORO, NC -- How quickly is the City of Greensboro responding to public records requests? This interactive timeline illustrates the response times to records requests submitted to the city over a recent 45-day period.

Update: An earlier version of this post mentioned a request not contained in the data provided by the city. It was, in fact, nearly identical to another request that was among the data provided by the city so it has been removed from the timeline and the averages and numbers of records updated on the timeline accordingly.

News & Record no longer providing free papers to Guilford County classrooms

As a participant in the Newspapers In Education program, The News & Record has, for years, offered free newspapers to Guilford County public school classrooms. Teachers used these papers in a variety of instructional activities in a variety of subjects and grade levels.

The News & Record's description of the program says:

Classroom papers are sponsored by local businesses at the cost of 14 cents per paper. The News & Record pays the balance of the cost per paper and does not profit from the NIE program. 

Although the News & Record's description still says that the papers are being provided "at no cost," that's out of date and schools are being asked to pay this year.

I'm wondering why. We all know times are tough for newspapers, but what drove this change? Did the business sponsors dry up? Is the N&R trying to develop a new profit center? I've emailed News & Record publisher Robin Saul a link to this post and asked him to comment.

How's Greensboro doing on transparency and access? A great idea.

GREENSBORO, NC -- I was speaking to Jeff Martin today and he had a great idea. Every Friday, the City of Greensboro Manager Denise Turner-Roth publishes Items for Your Information (IFYI), in which she provides followups to and information about current City issues. It's a great resource. A regular section of the IFYI is Call Center Feedback, that reports on citizen questions, compliments and complaints as handled by the call center.

Jeff thought it would be of great interest, and I agree, to have a weekly summary of the requests for public records and their disposition. If there was a report every week of the requests received, closed and remaining open, everybody—citizens, representatives and staff—could then see on an ongoing basis how transparent and responsive our government is.

I've requested such a weekly summary before, and the City's public information request tracking (PIRT) system is able to spit them out with ease. Here's a sample of what the PIRT system can generate and that could be included in the City Manager's weekly IFYI:

UPDATE: This blogger has created a timeline of the City's responses to records requests over a recent 45 day period from PIRT information.

Records request will put City retention and access procedures to the test

GREENSBORO, NC -- George Hartzman made the following records request of the City of Greensboro:

Please provide any City Council and City of Greensboro Government communications not directed to City Council's government email addresses since the beggining [sic] of 2012.

That's an interesting request. It will reveal the extent to which city staff and city council abide by public records law regarding private email accounts. The Government Records Branch of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, which oversees government records retention and access policies says this about such communications in their guide to the retention and disposition of email:

If a personal e-mail account is used for government business, employees are required to forward all e-mail messages to their government e-mail account. Those employees who do not have a government e-mail account are expected to print those e-mail messages following the terms of a records retention and disposition schedule.

and...

If an employee has been approved to use an alternate technology, all messages created, received, or sent using IM, Short Messaging Services (SMS), mobile e-mail devices (such as BlackBerry™) or other alternate technologies during the course of government business are to be managed with the same care as e-mail messages, which includes activating the audit log and forwarding all e-mail messages to their government e-mail account. All messages created, received, or sent using alternate technologies are subject to the rules outlined in this e-mail policy.

Obviously, there are going to be plenty of emails and text messages floating around in private hands that will serve as tests for whether or not the respondents to Hartzman's request are properly retaining and providing access to these types of public records.

From the Public Misinformation Desk: Third is the best

GREENSBORO, NC -- The City of Greensboro issued a press release yesterday announcing:

The City of Greensboro received the Savvy Award of Excellence for the best overall website at the 24th Annual City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA) Annual Conference.

The best? No. Not really. According to the 3CMA:

In addition to the coveted Savvy Award, judges designate a Silver Circle Award for second place and an Award of Excellence for third place. 

Greensboro received the third place Award of Excellence. The first place Savvy Award went to Austin, Texas and second place Silver Circle was awarded to Frisco, Texas. No word on how many cities paid the required fee to enter the competition.

News & Record scrubs race from police descriptions of robbery suspects

GREENSBORO, NC -- Why does the News & Record remove race from descriptions of criminal suspects provided by the police?

Here is how the News & Record describes two robbery suspects from a re-purposed police pres release:

Both suspects were described as having average builds and being about 20 years old. One suspect was about 6 feet tall and wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, police said. The other was about 5-foot-10, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Here is how the suspects were described in the press release.

Suspect #1 is a black male, 6’, average build, approximately 20 years old, last seen wearing a red hooded sweatshirt.  Suspect #2 is a black male, 5’10”, average build, approximately 20 years old, last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. 

The police provide build, age, gender, clothing and race. The News & Record provides everything but race.

Former News & Record staffer Lex Alexander says that the newspaper's style guide dictates that descriptions include a sufficient number of details before they are published. Clearly that criterion, however questionable to begin with, was met—descriptions were published, so it can't be that. 

What benefit is derived, what value does it provide to the consumer, for the News & Record to remove race from the suspect descriptions? 

I've emailed News & Record editor Jeff Gauger a link to this post and asked him to comment.

On 9/11 WFMY jumps to unfounded conclusion: Terrorists strike local town!

GREENSBORO, NC --

Turkish Terrorists Hack Town of Yanceyville's Website

So read the headline of the WFMY story that begins "Yes, you read correctly, Turkish terrorists hacked into a Triad town's website."

"Once again, Caswell County is being connected to terrorism," anchor Frank Mickens says in introducing the video report.

Terrorists?

Google translates the Turkish as "We can not separate the two us wrapped in a flag of a universe."

As WFMY tells it, the town of Yanceyville's website was defaced with a new home page. It happened two weeks ago, but WFMY reported it yesterday, 9/11.

The hacked webpage attributed the hack to "Turkish Muslim hacker," and included the message "Real Terrorist ABD and Zionist Israel - Russia - France - BOYCOTT! Down with Israel & US & Russia & France!" Disturbing, but the work of terrorists?

The word "terrorist" on the hacked page is an accusation against others, not a claim of self-identification. How WFMY came to know the hack to have been the work of terrorists, they don't say. They just assert it without substantiation. Which terrorists? They don't say. Who, exactly, they don't say.

Call me old fashioned, but I think the word terrorist should be reserved for people who commit or plot to commit acts of terror—as the Office Of the Coordination for Counterterrorism defines them, acts of violence intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or government. That sounds about right. Does, WFMY know such a group to have been responsible for the hack? They don't say.

Even without evidence of who committed the hack, it sure makes for a great headline to say it was terrorists—extra special to report it that way on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks. Maybe WFMY has some more convincing information that didn't make it into this report that they'll be sharing with us soon. I just hope this doesn't turn out to join the Great Downtown Flash Mob Beatdown and the Police Black Book stories among the ranks of over-sensationalized untruthful garbage from WFMY.

Civitas poll: 30% of black N.C. voters favor Romney

According to the results of a poll by Civitas/SurveyUSA released today, Mitt Romeny leads Barack Obama in North Carolina by 10 points. The poll reports that 30 percent of black voters will vote for Mitt Romeny and 66 percent support Barack Obama. The poll also found Romeny making inroads among another Obama constituency, having Romeny the preference of 60 percent of 18-24 year-olds.

Another poll of North Carolina voters released today, conducted by Public Policy Polling, has Obama up 1 point over Romney. It has 8 percent of black voters favoring Romney and 89 percent supporting the president; and 53 percent of 18-24 year-olds favoring Obama with 45 percent supporting Romney.

The PPP poll surveyed 1,087 likely voters from September 7-9. The Civitas poll surveyed 500 registered voters from September 4-6.

Today's plagiarism at WFMY part II

For the second time this morning, a WFMY staffer puts his name as the author of something he did not write. Although the article says, "Written by John Wright," it was mostly not. The story borrows heavily from a story written by Anne D'Innocenzio of the Associated Press and joins an exploding list of articles plagiarized by WFMY here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Here is the article as it appeared on WFMY's website under Wright's byline, the highlighted portions are identical to D'Innocenssio's.
-------------------
New York, NY -- After an overwhelming response to its free-haircut-for-kids program last month, J.C. Penney will be making the offer permanent every Sunday, starting Nov. 4.

Penney says 1.6 million children received free haircuts in August.

The decision underscores the extent of new CEO Ron Johnson's efforts to re-energize the chain and transform every aspect of its business, from pricing to a new shopping experience.[sic]

The move comes as the Plano, Tex.-based company grapples with two straight quarters of losses and severe sales drops as shoppers, accustomed to sales signs, have been turned off by a new pricing plan. The strategy, implemented Feb. 1, involves eliminating hundreds of sales events in favor of every day prices. [sic] Penney has also started to launch new branded shops within its stores.

AP

Today's plagiarism at WFMY

In what is now almost a daily occurrence, a WFMY staffer puts her name to a story she did not write. Although it says, "Written by Wendy Gatlin," it was not. The story was written by Matt Sedensky of the Associated Press and joins a slew of articles plagiarized by WFMY here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Here is the story as it appeared on WFMY's website, the highlighted portions are copied word-for-word from the original.
--------------------
(West Palm Beach, FL)  --  A motorcycle police officer who was part of President Obama's motorcade to a campaign event in Florida died Sunday after being struck by a pickup truck.

Officer Bruce St. Laurent, 55, was a 20-year veteran of the Jupiter Police Department and one of several officers from agencies across Palm Beach County helping with security for the president's visit.

He was ahead of the motorcade on Interstate 95 preparing to shut down the highway when he was hit by the Ford F-150, Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. He was taken to nearby St. Mary's Medical Center and was pronounced dead.

Jupiter Police spokesman Sgt. Scott Pascarella, told The Palm Beach Post he trained St. Laurent when he was a new officer.

"We didn't lose a co-worker. We lost a friend," Pascarella told the newspaper. "He would do anything for anyone."

Barbera said an investigation was ongoing and no charges had yet been filed against the driver.

Obama was on the second day of a bus tour through the key swing state and made a campaign appearance Sunday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president didn't see the accident, but he was notified of the officer's death and said "our thoughts and prayers are with the officer's family."

The Post also reported that St. Laurent had been a motorcycle officer for 18 years and in 2005 he earned a Distinguished Service Award by the Traffic Safety Committee of the Palm Beaches.

The newspaper reported that tn 2001, he was injured when a vehicle he was chasing suddenly stopped and he rammed into it. The two occupants were later arrested, one on a charge of driving with a revoked license and the other for having an outstanding warrant for reckless driving.

[Note: From here copied portions are repeated but are not reproduced here.]

It's becoming a daily occurrence; more plagiarism from WFMY

The following story appears on WFMY's website with the byline "Written by WFMY News 2." It was not, it was copied from an article written by Jason Nguyen of WKYC adding to WFMY's ever growing list of plagiarized articles (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

 Here is the article as it appears on WFMY's website, the copied portions are highlighted.
----------------------

Parma, OH-- A Parma teen is now out of the hospital and after getting swept into a storm drain.

Jeffrey LaPorta, 13, was riding his bike with a friend through large puddles when he fell into a creek on York and Pleasant Valley roads on Tuesday.

"It was scary I didn't know what to do," said LaPorta, "This whole [note: error in original and copy] is covered. I couldn't even see and it was moving so fast."

He was carried 1500 feet away from the entrance of the pipe.

"I started praying to Jesus to help me and good-bye to mom and dad because I thought I was going to die," he added.

As emergency crews got to the scene they started taking off sewer lids, yelling into the sewers waiting for a sign of Jeffrey.

"I didn't want to die, I didn't want to give up," says LaPorta.

After at least half an hour trapped in the sewer, rescue workers pulled him above ground.

LaPorta was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center where he was treated for six stitches [note: error in original and copy] and some scrapes and bruises.

"It was scary. I didn't know what to do," said LaPorta. "I didn't want to panic because if I panicked I would have probably died. I am very lucky to be alive."

The City of Parma told WKYC in a statement, "the City departments of Law, Service and Engineering are meeting to assess the site to see what remedial measures should be taken."

Something LaPorta thinks should be done sooner than later. [note: errors in original and copy]

More plagiarism at WFMY

WFMY posts an article that claims to be "Written by Tracy McCain." It was not, adding to the growing examples of plagiarism at WFMY here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Here is the article as it appears under McCain's byline, the highlighted portions are copied word-for-word from a press release.
--------------
Greensboro, NC - The Greensboro Fire Department is hosting the second annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at 9:00am, Saturday, September 8 to honor the 343 firefighters who were killed at the World Trade Center in 2001.

The theme for this year's event is "Remembering the fallen as we walk for the wounded." Residents are invited to participate in the event at the Bellemeade Parking Deck, 220 N. Greene St.
Participants will have the option of climbing the flights of stairs at the Bellemeade Deck 10 times, which represents approximately 78 flights of stairs - the equivalent of the highest floor New York Fire Department firefighters reached on 9/11.

While the event is free, donations will be accepted and presented to the Wounded Warrior Project which helps support troops who have been wounded in combat since September 11, 2001.

According to Greensboro Assistant Fire Chief Skip Nix, the event provides residents with a way to honor those firefighters. "We had a great turnout last year and the support for the event was overwhelming," says Nix. "Our goal this year is to have even more residents come out to help honor those who lost their lives on September 11."

Registration begins at 7:30 am on September 8. Specially designed event t-shirts will be available at the event for $10 while supplies last. For more information or to learn how to donate, please contact Leslie Lippa at 336-574-4088.

City of Greensboro/WFMY News 2

City removes broken staff directory from website

GREENSBORO, NC -- The City of Greensboro's previously broken staff directory web page has been removed from the City's website. There is no message directing users to alternate facilities or any indication if the directory will be coming back in a functional form.

Today:

Previously:

Mayor's company is leasing downtown restaurant space

GREENSBORO, NC -- Yesterday I asked Mayor Robbie Perkins if his company was leasing any downtown restaurant properties and, if so, if that might present a conflict of interest for him on city council's consideration of allowing food trucks downtown.

This was his reply:

We have a kitchen space at Spring Garden and Edgeworth.  We have several restaurant spaces available in other areas of Greensboro.

No conflict in voting on food trucks. 

As it turns out, that's not accurate. The mayor's company, NAI Piedmont Triad, is the leasing agent for at least two downtown restaurant properties.

Here are the listings from NAIPT's website:

Here are photographs of the properties with NAIPT signs in front:

Mayor: No food truck conflict

[UPDATE: It turns out, the mayor's company is leasing some dowtown restaurant space.]

GREENSBORO, NC -- I've come to loath the practice of some bloggers to use their ignorance as grounds to cast aspersions on people. It goes like this:

How many baby seals has the council woman clubbed? You don't know? I don't either, but should we have a baby seal killer on city council?

I despise it because it's lazy, it's dishonest and it makes it very difficult for bloggers who legitimately try to reveal important information to be taken seriously—not to mention being remarkably unfair to the targets of the practice. It also does its practitioners no favors (see boy, wolf).

So when a post at Ed Cone's blog about city council considering allowing food trucks downtown prompted a commenter to speculate that Mayor Robbie Perkins might have a conflict of interest because his real estate company might be the leasing agent for some downtown restaurant properties, I decided to cut to the chase and just ask the mayor about it.

I emailed:

Is NAIPT leasing any restaurant space downtown? If so, do you think you have a conflict of interest voting on something that would control food truck access to downtown?

They mayor replied:

We have a kitchen space at Spring Garden and Edgeworth.  We have several restaurant spaces available in other areas of Greensboro.

No conflict in voting on food trucks.

City of Greensboro public relations an embarrassing disgrace

Somebody needs to take a hands-on approach to improving the quality of service and the level of competence the City of Greensboro staff exhibit in dealing with public relations.

Here are some recent examples of how low the standards are:

• Atrocious grammar in communications with the media.
• Records request stymied because staff did not understand "guidelines" and "protocols" to be synonymous.
• An online staff directory that remains out-of-order for weeks since this blogger first noticed.
• Embarrassing misspelling appended to every email from the public information desk for a month after it was brought to their attention:
  

Signature attached to emails from the City of Greensboro public information desk

These examples are small compared to the experiences I've had over the past few months with employees colluding to keep public records hidden, promising action then not following through, ignoring inquiries and exhibiting ignorance of the requirements of public records law, but they are all of a piece: a lack of quality preparation and competence among staff in handling public affairs.*

* There are a few individual exceptions whose high professionalism does not go unnoticed, but they are, unfortunately, overshadowed by the predominate incompetence.

WFMY, IQ reducer

[WARNING: Regular consumption of WFMY material can cause a significant reduction in IQ. Proceed at your own risk.]

All this from a single article at WFMY:

But just because these fans weren't at home watching the man who may be our next president formally except the nomination...

"I would say two things - the economy, the national debt, and jobs," explained Tom Fosheiser, a customer at Kick Back Jacks.  

"The most important topics for me are definitely to economy and healthcare reform," said Elizabeth Bullard.

Other various goodies from today's stories:

This one pool shows the gap between republicans and young people. (Link)

It looks like their mixing business with pleasure.  (Link)

So we went to the experts at Acme Comics in greensboro to find out the deal. (Link)

They also believe a cat and human was exposed to the rabid animal.  (Link)

The law include animals that are confined in outdoor fenced areas should have current rabies vaccinations... (Link)

Another day, another plagiarized story at WFMY

The plagiarism continues at WFMY. Here is a story with the byline "Written by John Wright," the highlighted portions are copied word for word from the original source, written by Robert Burns. It joins the ever growing list of WFMY's plagiarized articles here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Washington, DC -- The Pentagon's top lawyer has informed the former Navy SEAL who authored a forthcoming book describing details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets and that as a result the Pentagon is considering taking legal action against him.

The general counsel of the Defense Department, Jeh Johnson, wrote in a letter transmitted to the author on Thursday that he had signed two nondisclosure agreements with the Navy in 2007 that obliged him to "never divulge" classified information. Johnson said that after reviewing a copy of the book, "No Easy Day," the Pentagon concluded that the author is in "material breach and violation" of the agreements.

Johnson said the department is considering pursuing against him "all remedies legally available to us."