EdCone.com

A couple of questions about the Greensboro College-Warnersville dispute:

*What is the funding strategy through which the neighborhood group will carry out any plans it may have for GC's private property?

*How close is GC to having the funds to develop the site?

Just a guess: there isn't one, and not very.

Alabama/USC/TheOtherUSC 120, Clemson/UVA/NCSU 17. ECU beats VA Tech.

Wasn't expansion supposed to improve ACC football?

UPDATE: Reviews from around the country are predictably unkind.

Heraclitus and the TVA aside, I felt a strong sense of place and a connection to my great-great-grandfather as I stood by the Watauga River today. Herman Cone farmed along the Watauga during the Civil War, near Elizabethton, TN, which the locals pronounce with an emphasis on the "beth."

Prior to the war, Herman had been a prosperous merchant in nearby Jonesborough. That was Union country, though, and he was a Confederate sympathizer, which made things very uncomfortable in town. He and his partner, his cousin Jacob Adler, traded their store for adjacent farms on the river. Shortly after my great-grandfather, Sydney, was born in 1869, Herman and his wife, Helen, moved their family to Baltimore.

The store, called Cone and Adler, was on Main Street in Jonesborough, across from the Chester Inn. The building and the adjacent house in which my great-great-grandparents lived are gone, but the inn is still there, so Lisa and I saw the view Herman and Helen would have seen out their windows every day. We saw a lot of other sights that would have been familiar to them, including the Jonesboro (sic) Presbyterian Church, the spire of which you can see in the photo at left, and the Blair-Moore house on the left side of the street in the picture, and the Eureka Inn on the right.

Herman moved to Jonesborough from Richmond, taking the railroad to Big Lick (since renamed Roanoke) and then proceeding by wagon. Jonesborough was kind of a big deal back in the day. It had been the capital of the short-lived State of Franklin, and thrived as traffic boomed along the Great Stage Road (which ran from what is now Winston-Salem to Nashville). You can see from the 1840 Cunningham-Clayton home, at left, that at least some folks were living large.

Jonesborough is marketed as a tourist destination, complete with a storytelling center and festival, but it was quiet on this Labor Day Saturday. I hear there is good eating there and the venerable Eureka Inn boasts free wifi. We stayed a few minutes away in Johnson City at an O. Henry-like hotel called The Carnegie, just across from ETSU; it was quite nice, although you can do better than breakfast at the restaurant. The drive from Boone into Tennessee is beautiful, and of course the mountainous vista heading back toward GSO from Boone is as pretty as it gets.

It was an easy and worthwhile 27-hour vacation, and the dog was glad to see us when we got home.

I missed Bill Clinton's convention speech, but you never really miss anything anymore, what with the YouTube. Krugman professes "professional jealousy: nobody, but nobody, has his ability to translate economic wonkery into plain, forceful English."

I've noticed an uptick in comment spam around here. Nothing like the great spam wave of '07, but enough to make me wonder how TypePad's much-improved defenses are being breached.

Here's an explanation: there's a growing industry devoted to solving the little test that keeps out the robots.

"The bottom line - is text based CAPTCHA dead? It's definitely in pain thanks to evil marketers recruiting low-waged Indian data processing workers, who according to some of the statistics obtained, earn over ten times more while solving CAPTCHAs, than through their legitimate data processing jobs."

Killian looks into the single most important issue of the campaign.

JR wonders how to cover the 7th anniversary of 9/11.

McCain picks Palin for veep, just as I had predicted for months.

An odd 72d birthday present to himself, this undercutting of the Obama-is-inexperienced meme.

Headed into campaign season, the usefulness of social networks in terms of performance at the polls was an open question. Obama seems to have answered it in the affirmative.

Friends of New Garden Road is a neighborhood group opposing the rezoning of a 4.69 acre tract on that historic and once-bucolic street.

The area under discussion.

The issue will come before City Council on Sept. 16.

Seems to me a blog would be a useful addition to the website. That would allow members to post pictures, video, news, and personal statements, fleshing out the case against rezoning and keeping the story fresh over the next couple of weeks.

Transcript of Obama's convention speech. "It's not because John McCain doesn't care, it's because John McCain doesn't get it." Analysis, more analysis.

Why did we spend the last three decades absorbed in the lives of the most boring people in Canada? Maybe it's meant to be a puzzle, an emotional Sudoku. Truly understanding "For Better or for Worse" requires more subtextual skill than, say, loathing "Cathy" or "The Family Circus" -- where nothing ever changes, where nobody ever ages. "FBOFW" kept evolving, as did its magnificent ability to irritate.

I remember when it was good. Now I'm a hater, although I've got nothing on her. 

Went to an event announcing the creation of The Public Art Endowment for Greensboro. The idea is to establish a permanent, privately-funded source of money for public art in the city; the goal is $2 million by 2010. Run through the Community Foundation.

It would be good to see the City step up to do its part for public art.

There is no health insurance problem in this country, says McCain advisor*.

Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance...

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said.  "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured...

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

That wasn't so hard after all, whiners.

*Advisory status in dispute; stay tuned.

Some good economic news. We need a sustained run of good news, but you've got to start somewhere.

Reports of Steve Jobs' death are greatly exaggerated.

I talked recently with Vint Cerf about the need for a national technology policy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the guy behind the internet protocol isn't a big fan of highly-centralized solutions.

"You want some locally sensible decision making that's driven in part by technology and economics," he says. "My concern about centralizing things is that you don't get very good solutions."

More here.

My big book idea.

It's just dumb enough to work.

When our children were younger, Lisa and I thought that the parents of high-school kids were really old. 

Now that we have two high-school students ourselves, we realize that we were right.

The Monti had a full house for its Greensboro debut last night. The story-telling series goes to Durham next month. Founder Jeff Polish says it will be back in GSO before long.

One of last night's raconteurs was today's GoTriad cover girl Molly McGinn; this this the place where I would link to that cover article if I could find it online.

UPDATE: Here's the article.

Nielsen has a ratings blog for political events, including the Democratic convention.

I feel asleep with the teevee on just as Hillary was taking the stage, not sure how that shows up in the numbers.

Left, a photo of flooding at Yanceyville and Cornwallis, taken by Elaine Tricoli of the City's public affairs office (click image to embiggen). All city streets are now open.

Some great flood photos by Brandon Pierce.

More from Jordan Green.

A flood map from the City (PDF file).

Globalization vs globality. This has implications beyond tech and business.

Things hetero couples don't have to think about when they take their kids to the doctor.

Sullivan:

"John McCain is making it quite clear what his foreign policy will be like: tilting sharply away from the greater realism of Bush's second term toward the abstract moralism, fear-mongering and aggression of the first. Not just four more years - but four more years like Bush's first term. If the Democrats cannot adequately warn Americans of the dangers of a hotheaded temperament and uber-neo-con mindset in the White House for another four years, they deserve to lose. If Americans decide they want a president who will be more aggressive and less diplomatic than the current one, then they should at least brace for the consequences -- for their economy and their security."

Let me save you the trouble of crafting a response: MuslimRezkoWeatherman! Also, McCain was a POW.

Buffalo Creek used to flood Latham Park pretty much every time there was a decent rain. I remember paddling across the park in a canoe when I was a kid. The City has done extensive work in recent years to ameliorate the problem, and those efforts seem to have met with some success. The current rains, though, have overwhelmed the flood abatement measures, and homes in the area are flooding again. Below, Latham Road at Meadowbrook Terrace, this morning. The sprinklers were on in the front yard of a house just down the street.

City press release: "Continued heavy rains have caused significant flooding along the Wendover Avenue and Interstate 40 corridor, including Wendover's intersections with Big Tree Way, Bridford Parkway and Landmark Center Drive. Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area, police said. In addition, significant flooding has been reported along Wendover Avenue at Cridland Road and Latham Drive. Other flooded areas include East Cone Boulevard at Sands Drive and Alamance Church Road at Sharpe Road."

Also, traffic lights are out at Spring Garden Street at Holden Road and Wendover Avenue at Holden Road.

UPDATE:

Heavy rains and rising water continue to cause flooding problems for roadways in Greensboro. Police said additional areas are now experiencing flooding, including: Yanceyville Road at Cornwallis Avenue, with one lane open northbound; Friendly Avenue at Rodman Place; Murrayhill Road at Crestridge Road (closed to traffic); and the 1600 block of Pinecroft (closed to traffic); Ballinger Road near Leonard Recreation Center (closed to traffic).

Police Lt. Dennis Willoughby said police are evacuating residents in the 3500 block of Carrington Street due to significant flooding. In addition, the Fire Department is responding to Creek Ridge Road to assist residents whose homes may be in danger of being flooded.

Homes in the Latham Park area are also experiencing flooding, as well as homes in the 2400 to 2600 blocks of Murrayhill.

Residents in the Maplewood Lane Apartments are sheltering-in-place, with residents in lower level apartments being asked to move to higher ground.

Residents whose homes are in danger of flooding may go to the Glenwood Recreation Center, 2010 Coliseum Boulevard.

Flooding continues to cause problems in the Wendover Avenue and Business 40 corridor, and along Wendover Avenue at Cridland Road and Latham Drive. Other flooded areas include East Cone Boulevard at Sands Drive and Alamance Church Road at Sharpe Road. Police are asking motorists to avoid these areas. For more information about flooding and storm preparedness, visit www.greensboroready.com.

LPGA refocuses to become tour for best English-speaking women golfers.

A lot of native-born Americans don't talk the English so good, but I guess that's another issue.

Empty shell: The Sacramento Bee "offered voluntary buyouts to the majority of its full-time employees Monday as its advertising slump continues and the newspaper scrambles for additional ways to cut costs."

Editor Melanie Sill, late of the N&0, says the cuts will force the paper to continue to "prioritize" its coverage. At least she didn't say they'd do more with less. I don't envy the editors in these situations, but comparisons to the Black Knight are inevitable.

In addition to the problems facing the newspaper industry, McClatchy papers, including the N&O and Charlotte Observer, have to deal with their parent company's big debt burden.

That scenario may not bode well for the future owners of the News & Record.

The asking price for our local daily is rumored to have dropped sharply over the summer, but any deal is likely to involve significant leverage. Adding debt service to the already-deteriorating financials seems like a bad bet, especially with staff on Market Street already reduced and the need for new investment in online markets.

Tomorrow night, the story-telling series The Monti is coming to Greensboro.

From the email: "The Monti is a Chapel Hill-Durham based organization that invites interesting people from the community to tell personal stories in front of a live audience. There are four rules that every teller must follow: they must tell a true story; each narrative must follow a publicized theme; all stories should be under twelve minutes; and no notes or scripts are allowed during the telling of a story."

The evening's theme is "Firsts."

The local storytellers include:

Justin Catanoso, author of My Cousin The Saint
Melissa Delbridge, author of Family Bible
Molly McGinn, musician and actress
Quinn Dalton, author of Stories from the Afterlife
Catie Braly-Sellars, musician and semi-professional muse
Jeff Polish, host and founder of The Monti

Wednesday, August 27th, 7:30pm
The Underground, 1720 Battleground Ave
$7 admission, students $5.

From the email: "The Monti is a Chapel Hill-Durham based organization that invites interesting people from the community to tell personal stories in front of a live audience. There are four rules that every teller must follow: they must tell a true story; each narrative must follow a publicized theme; all stories should be under twelve minutes; and no notes or scripts are allowed during the telling of a story."

The evening's theme is "Firsts."

The local storytellers include:

Justin Catanoso, author of My Cousin The Saint
Melissa Delbridge, author of Family Bible
Molly McGinn, musician and actress
Quinn Dalton, author of Stories from the Afterlife
Catie Braly-Sellars, musician and semi-professional muse
Jeff Polish, host and founder of The Monti

Wednesday, August 27th, 7:30pm
The Underground, 1720 Battleground Ave
$7 admission, students $5.

Not always what you expect: the celebrity candidate, the guy who crossed party lines to speak at a convention.

From the transcript of Leach's speech:

The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts...

...This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians. Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same. America needs new ideas, new energy and a new generation of leadership.

"The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said its 'problem list' of banks increased 30 percent in the second quarter to the highest total in five years."

But we'll be through this mess soon enough, right? "'Quite frankly, the results were pretty dismal, and we don't see a return to the high earnings levels of previous years any time soon,' FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said."

McCain, Obama, and Vint Cerf on network neutrality, beyond the bumper stickers.

PPP credits the DSCC ad campaign for Hagan's narrow lead over Dole in its latest poll.

The caveat at the end of the post: "Elizabeth Dole has plenty of money and a lot of time to recover but this race has moved itself firmly into the tossup category over the last month, a designation that would have once seemed unthinkable."

UPDATE: Hoggard explains in the comments that there are two different reports. The one for the City is linked here by the Rhino, alongside this article. Hoggard says, "I've  not been able to track down when the City study was approved and funded... and by whom." The essence of the original post (below) remains true; in fact, it's now multiplied by two. We need more transparency from the City and the downtown power-brokers.

UPDATE: Hoggard on the "Great White Fathers" who know what's best for you.

The N&R and BizJournal have written about a consultant's report commissioned by Downtown Greensboro Inc. 

Action Greensboro is quoted in the news articles, so I guess they've got a copy.

The report, by H. Blount Hunter Retail & Real Estate Research, The cultural-district report will be "unveiled" today at a City Council briefing.

Where's my copy? Where's your copy? If the report is online, I can't find it.

The poohbahs get their copies in advance, the information is filtered through the corporate media, and then a small group discusses it.

Maybe we'll see a copy online after the folks behind the velvet ropes have all been served.

I tend to hate all redesigns until I forget the previous designs a couple of weeks later, so maybe I'll be OK after a while with the abrupt shift in colors over at Romenesko.

But the changes go beyond the palette -- the page is now harder to read.

Romenesko's site was never a thing of beauty, but it was clean and efficient and focused on content. Now they've crammed a big left-hand bar onto the page to promote other stuff from Poynter, which means the old  left-rail content is smushed into the center with the main posts.

I go to Romenesko for the media blog, but the media blog is now deemphasized. The redesign is meant to help Poynter, not me.

Examples of web design I like include Google and the NYT.

Obama assassination plot.

I guess the physical courage of presidential candidates is probably underrated.

Pat McCrory drew a crowd yesterday at an appearance in GSO.

The Big Lebowski turns ten.

It no longer abides on Hulu, which is a shame. Also, my rug was stolen.

Trees for an Urban Future, the first annual North Carolina Urban Forestry Conference, September 9 - 11, Marriott Hotel, downtown GSO.

ConvergeSouth is shaping up as an interesting event. Scoble's back on the bill, along with some other nationally-known folks and a lot of local talent. Just a couple of opening sessions, then it's how-to stuff in the breakout rooms until the end-of-day wrap up.

The free web-user conference is October 17 at NC A&T, here in Greensboro. You can register here.

Ged lists 100 strikes against John McCain.

Whatever, dude. At least he's not a crypto-Muslim. Also, in case you hadn't heard, he was a POW.

A split decision on NBC's online coverage of the Olympics.

"Riding the tire swing" refers to the establishment media's chummy relationship with McCain, as made clear in this video. I guess "bringing flowers" would be too obvious.

And don't tell me the McCains aren't regular folks -- just listen to their daughter referring to the domestic staff as "good friends."

One year into the financial crisis, central bankers and scholars at the Federal Reserve's annual retreat this weekend couldn't agree on how to prevent a repeat...

...At stake is the shape of financial regulation as governments and legislators draft new laws in response to the crisis...Too many new rules may hobble financial innovation, while a hands-off approach could create more bubbles after a series of asset-price busts over the past decade.

I'm sure they'll get it exactly right. Meanwhile, "It was clear from what was said that most people here don't believe the financial crisis is necessarily over or close to being over."

Something else to worry about: the komodo dragons are getting nasty.

American natural gas production is rising at a clip not seen in half a century, pushing down prices of the fuel and reversing conventional wisdom that domestic gas fields were in irreversible decline.

The new drilling boom uses advanced technology to release gas trapped in huge shale beds found throughout North America — gas long believed to be out of reach. Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, releasing less of the emissions that cause global warming than coal or oil.

The map accompanying the NYT article (color version on p. 12 of this PDF report) shows a large shale basin across westernmost North Carolina. As with offshore drilling, there will be real environmental concerns.

Olympic basketball, a great story greatly underplayed by NBC.

Some thoughts on the tax policies of McCain and Obama, and their impact on McCain and Obama.

Obama would raise McCain's taxes by roughly $800,000; McCain would cut them by about $200,000...Obama's proposals would raise his own taxes by hundreds of thousands of dollars, in order to cut the taxes of people who are less fortunate than he is. McCain would cut his own taxes even further than they've already been reduced.

I don't believe that McCain's position is based on self-interest, just a serious disconnect from the economic realities facing most Americans, and a misguided belief that we can continue the ruinous borrow-and-spend approach of the last eight years.

LA Times visits Alamance County:

Marxavi Angel Martinez was a child of small-town North Carolina. She grew up here, in the rolling Piedmont region, and was a high school honor student and cheerleader before settling into a job at the Graham Public Library. At 23, she lived in a tidy white trailer at the Cedar Creek Mobile Home Park with her husband and 16-month-old son.

Her carefully tended life came crashing down in July when she was accused of using a phony Social Security number and lying on her job application.

Martinez's parents had brought her to the United States from Mexico on valid visas when she was 3 years old. But they never left the country, in violation of the law. That made Martinez an illegal immigrant, and so she was placed in federal detention, facing deportation.

Her arrest outraged many Graham residents and drew harsh criticism from immigration reform advocates.It also put a spotlight on the sheriff's office, which denied that it was waging a campaign to round up illegal workers.