EdCone.com

Hoggard on the impending curb market decision:

Monday night's vote is now looking like a landslide toward sanity.

I'm hearing that Councilman Thompson also supports awarding the contract to the GFCM group. If this plays out, Danny is to be commended for recognizing that their proposal represents a great next step for the future of the Market in a manner that is respectful of its past and promising for its future.

Mary R. is probably too entrenched in her position and allegiances to back the Craft/Brummitt group, but there is still time for the Mayor and Dr. Wade to take another look at the proposals and see what the selection committee saw: a clear choice.

A lopsided vote would be the best thing in terms of healing wounds, because it would show that the matter has been settled decisively and allow people to move on.

Hoggard's earlier point about the customers being an overlooked constituency is a good one to remember. My guess is that most customers honor and respect the farmers and want very much for them to remain a core element of our great urban curb market.

N&R wants people to start paying for its online edition, but I can't find anything at the subscription page that tells me about prices or lets people sign up for the product.

And if they're going to sell their content online, they really should put it in a better wrapper.

UPDATE: Thanks to alert reader Fred Gregory, who scanned an insert to his morning paper. This part should really please the delivery crowd: "...the News & Record will no longer redeliver missed and damaged papers Mondays through Saturdays."

If our garbage really is an economic asset, and Guilford County has an 800-acre parcel ready for a new use, why not build a state-of-the-art landfill on the old prison farm property?

There may be obvious reasons why this cannot or should not happen, so fire away.

A car wash to benefit the family of Marissa Shelton, the eight-year-old killed recently on US 29, today from noon til three, Oakwood Forest mobile home park, 4200 U.S. 29 N. Donations also can be made through Brandt Oaks Baptist Church.

Five Guys, explained.

The app sounds primo, and I might enjoy one of those "extravaganzas of toppings and condiments" once a year or so. In fact, I would like to meet Liv there one day soon and go to town.

But can a burger that derives its glory from non-beef components really be called the best burger in town? That's crazy talk.

WFMY dials back the sensationalism: "Police say over the past few weekends, they've had problems with large gatherings of teens. Some of those problems have led to fights and vandalism."

No mention of flash mobs or beatings by mobs. Best practice here for the Digtriad site editor is to put a brief clarification atop the original story, which otherwise will haunt the internet forever.

That said, it sounds like downtown crowd control has become an issue in these hot summer weeks. A smashed car window on Elm Street is bad, and the unprovoked beating of a man minding his own business in the park is frightening.

And in other cities, marauding teenagers have done terrible things (although Emily Guendelsberger makes a point of debunking the flash mob angle, saying that the kids who attacked her "were not gathered together to wreak havoc via some inane Twitter call."

So there's a problem downtown. It should be addressed immediately and with due seriousness, and covered responsibly by the media.

Manager's report says, "it remains the case that we believe private management of the Farmer's Market would be ideal," and details policies for City management under a possible (although perhaps unlikely) Coliseum regime.

Also: Grant requests and GPD budgeting, the latter reminding me to apologize for barking about crime stats when reporting last week's triple homicide; the crime stats were indeed soft-sold, and the press release I published didn't include the horrific personal details of the killing, but that's not an excuse for my lack of sensitivity to the situation at hand and the people involved.

Berger may have a point about Skip Alston not living up to his end of the deal.

Meanwhile, the state redistricting process has proved the unremarkable fact that neither party can be trusted to do anything but play politics with these maps.

Hood and pre-empowerment Phil Berger are right, there's got to be a better way.

Sensationalistic reporting and its consequences.

As Roch and JR both point out, "bad things do happen" is not a suitable rejoinder to "this bad thing seems not to have happened."

Local teevee news is still influential enough to merit some fact-checking, but I just can't make myself watch it.

This post on limiting anonymous commenters at local sites made me think about a new local blog "dedicated to exposing the gross mismanagement of Guilford County Schools."

I've hesitated to link to the site because its repeated attacks on GCS COO Andy LaRowe are made by an anonymous writer. I know nothing about LaRowe and little about the situation at hand, but I'm uncomfortable with the way the blog targets an individual without telling us more about the author.

Whistleblowers deserve protection, but so far GCS Uncovered has relied heavily on reporting by other news outlets rather than providing real inside dope. Online reputation is not always tied to a person's real name, so more meat on the bone could earn the site added credibility.

Meanwhile, our schools and their spending habits deserve close coverage. Morgan Glover says GCSU whiffs on some facts, yet there are legit questions about GCS management on some issues. 

MMB says 1925 saw many more days over 90°than we're likely to get this hot year (GPV link).

I guess my grandfather wasn't exaggerating about the heat that licentious summer.

This form makes it simple to tell Trader Joe's that a great location has opened up in the Golden Gate shopping center (link via the Brown Town newsletter).

UPDATE: Zack Matheny has contacted the company personally, and is urging people to make contact via the link above.

Something that has been lost in all of this is the fact that the customers of the market seem to like the place just as it is.

Hoggard reports that five votes for the Craft/Brummitt group seem to be in hand as the curb market process lurches toward resolution.

As a North Carolinian, a taxpayer and a lifelong Carolina fan, I feel better about UNC athletics today than I have in a while.

They should have axed Davis at the end of last season. Better late than never. Letting him continue to coach would have compromised something more important than football.

That said, it would be especially nice to beat State College this year.

Stan Bingham makes his priorities clear.

Hard to fault an article that puts the Peachoid on the front page of the New York Times, but one of the examples of intra-South rivarly threw me: "North Carolina and Tennessee battle over barbecue."

Really? I'm an NC 'cue homer and I relish a good pig-cooking argument, but I can honestly say I've never heard of any such rivarly with Tennessee.

But, anyway, peaches. I know first-hand that Jersey tomatoes and corn are quite great, but I didn't realize the Garden State produces more peaches than NC.

"Please do not forsake the Montagnards who have a long relationship with Americans."

Y Hin Nie, pastor of United Montagnard Christian Church, on the N&R letters page.

Coliseum/curb market deal dead?

Richard Beard comments at Robbie Perkins' FB page: "As a member of the War Memorial Coliseum Commission, I am opposed to the Coliseum staff managing the farmers market. This is not something they should be drawn into. It is time for City Council to step up with some leadership and vote to let the non-profit board operate the market."

I hear the No, Thanks sentiment is running pretty strong on Lee St.

Where's Tony?

Bye-bye, Butch.

Thorp said in the release that the probe had begun to “chip away at this University’s reputation.”

Yeah, we noticed a while ago.

More from the WWL.

And the bottom dropped out before we even got to enjoy the spoils of wrongdoing. What fun is that?

I remembered to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce pot today. Nice.

Made too much, ate it all.

Only thing missing was Bobby Darin.

You know what a pretty good revenue raiser would be?

Jobs.

Yep.

But when "industries that usually hire early in a recovery—construction and small businesses—were crippled by the credit bust," where do jobs come from?

And in some sectors, we're looking not just at a jobless recovery but a jobless economy (thnx to JS for the pointer), even as hope dwindles for the long-term unemployed.

Other sectors look more promising, but even success there won't solve Guilford County's problems, so I'm excited that my idea for alt incentives is spreading like wildfire although our elected officials seem content with business as usual.

Nancy Vaughan on the zany curb market process, via FB: "I think it's unfortunate that the Coliseum was brought into the discussion. It's just another way to avoid making a decision. A year ago the Council voted that we did not want the City running the market and that we would find another entity to take it over. Now we're back right where we started."

A couple of thoughts from the previous thread:

If City management really is about compromise, then the group that wants no compromise loses in any case.

The status of the huckster law, and a clear understanding of who might benefit from its return, is a key outstanding question.

"Jeff Lebowski is the Vladimir Lenin of contemporary anti-Eagles sentiment."

And as a card-carrying member of the party, I was ready to argue with this reappraisal of their loathsomeness...but the guy's not even trying. By limiting his time frame to the Greatest Hits: 1971-75 era, he deliberately excludes some of their worst work and much of their worst behavior.

So, sure, before they were the worst band ever they were a slick pop-country/rock band that made some nice songs that even I will turn up on the radio.

I still know the words, too.

Council session on the curb market reveals City plan to turn it over to...Coliseum management.

Ridiculous. Matt Brown and team are talented, but they've got other stuff to do.

Listen to your designated committee, Council. They made a choice, and that group is the one willing to work with others.

Vote is Monday night.

Boehner can't control his own caucus. The United States is being held hostage by a small group of extremists.

Bad web design at newspaper sites.

Brad Miller, via FB: "We've cut the taxes on 'job creators' by more than a third in the last decade. So where are the jobs?"

He links to this post from Forbes: "The 400 richest Americans used to pay  30% of their income on the average to Uncle Sam. Today, they pay 18% on the average...

David Craft reports via FB that Greensborough Coffee on State Street is closing.

Starting to feel like an epidemic.

Fortunately our elected leaders in Washington are doing all they can to avoid further shocks to the economy.

Bellamy-Small is known as a maverick who charts her own course and surprises during the filing period in Guilford County politics are not uncommon.

Even so, wow.

Protecting North Carolina landowners from bad lease deals should be part of any plan to allow drilling for natural gas.

[Swofford] said college athletics is at a "tipping point" with an explosion of interest and revenue that may have led to compromising quality and integrity...

"...we've got to slow down, back up, re-evaluate and find better ways to do things."

Yes, commissioner, the ACC sold its soul for TV money and football glory. You should find the guy who was running the conference at the time and give him a piece of your mind.

I have come up with a plan for raising the debt ceiling: Raise the debt ceiling.

It's not a very original plan, as that's what's been done, 89 times over the past seven decades, with minimal muss or fuss.

This is the wrong moment for a radical and risky change in the way we pay our bills.

A Facebook page for supporters of the Greensboro Farmer's Curb Market.

More.

From GSO to Norway, too many horrible stories last week.

If you're feeling contemplative, this might help. And for more raucous affirmation:

NYT print edition wins today's headline award for its review of a new book on Freud and cocaine: Blow to the Ego.

Big project won't stink up the town, promoters tell worried neighbors, but trust is hard to come by after a deeply flawed permitting process.

There are significant differences between the proposed  sulfur plant in Morehead City and Greensboro's undead dump, but some of the contours look pretty similar.

The Carteret County News-Times broke the story and has stayed on it, all the way to Bev Perdue's deus ex machinations; today's roundup in the N&O.

A memorial page for Josh Prago.

More arrests in the triple murder case.

GPD press release:

Update: Additional Arrests Brandonshire Triple Homicide

GREENSBORO, NC (July 23, 2011)

As previously released, on July 21, 2011, the Greensboro Police Department responded to 1501 Brandonshire Court regarding a shots fired call. As a result, three persons died from their injuries and two others were seriously injured. Mr. Honah Rcom was charged with three counts of First Degree Murder and two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury.

Today, regarding this event, Greensboro Police Detectives made additional arrests, they are: Fnu Angu A/M/04/24/85 of 508 Greenbriar Rd (city), Ayun Y A/M/01/01/1983 of 1407 Mayfair Ave. (city) and Polly Rcom A/M/07/27/1985 of 1217 Park Ave. (city. All three have been charged with three counts of First Degree Murder and two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to kill Inflicting Serious Injury. All three have been confined in the Guilford County Jail without bond.

On Monday, July 25, 2011, at 2 PM a press conference will be held at The Greensboro Police Department, Eastern Division Substation located at 1106 Maple St. Greensboro N.C. It is requested that the media representatives hold their inquiries until the press conference.

And a reader comment from Andrew Young: "The details of the story so far suggest a very complicated picture that is familiar to those like myself who've worked with refugee and immigrant populations but is virtually unknown to everybody else in the area."

Manager's weekly FYI, including a look at the issues framing Tuesday's curb market bake-off, and the farmer's group plan.

It is time join together to take immediate action to stop the unacceptable and unethical use of our neighborhoods as landfills by the Ramallah Municipality...

Thanks to alert reader TL for pointing out that our problems are not unique.

"This decision has enormous implications not only for university art museums but all public institutions that hold objects in the public trust."

Brandeis won't be closing the Rose Art Museum or selling off artwork, after all.

Anil's right about commenting culture, although, as Ben Hwang (politely) comments, personal blogs have some resource constraints.

Adding a bunch of good jobs would be a good thing for Guilford County, whether or not many of the positions are filled by people who move here to take them.

I don't know if Billy Yow is correct about the level of education required for the prospective HondaJet expansion, but he's right that people who don't have college degrees are feeling the brunt of the ongoing employment crisis.

A well-structured deal that rewards Honda for creating hundreds of new jobs doesn't bother me much, especially because the numbers are relatively small.

But let's follow Yow's logic a bit further: If jobs for non-college-grads are his economic development goal, what's the plan there?

A couple of small-business owners have commented on this post about another proposed tax break for huge companies -- I wonder what they and other regional employers think $775K might do for local businesses and local workers.

UPDATE: Some recent stats on the grim climate for small-business lending. Oz says, "Net job creation at small businesses is zero this year."

It's a truism that small companies power the economy, but they don't operate in a vacuum. How much small-business activity is powered, directly or indirectly, by big companies?

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Here's the GAO report, and a press release from Bernie Sanders; referring to Sanders as a socialist seems quaint in light of the more contemporary definition of the term reflected in the report.

Alert reader Jack sent along the links, along with a note concluding, in reference to this post, "I...........think Barack knew."

Yes, but you have to play dumb when your strategy is based on backdoor bailouts and clapping for Tink.

The Euros are still at it, too. Their game of pretend requires us to nod solemnly about austerity for those profligate Greeks as the bankers save themselves.

I took this pic last summer at Grady's Barbecue in Dudley, NC.

Kay Hagan considers a big tax break for corporations; Matt Taibbi is unimpressed.

For those who don’t know about it, tax repatriation is one of the all-time long cons and also one of the most supremely evil achievements of the Washington lobbying community, which has perhaps told more shameless lies about this one topic than about any other in modern history – which is saying a lot, considering the many absurd things that are said and done by lobbyists in our nation’s capital.

Thanks to alert reader Bill Bush for the pointer.

Honda has deep pockets, apparently a great deal of patience, and the corporate culture to bring a successful business jet to the market and create a superior customer experience. So far, everything on display seems to indicate the company is on schedule for a 2012 certification.

Let's hope so. GSO needs this project to succeed, and while private jets are nothing new, this market segment is.

Thnx to DW for reminding me to post this.

Dr. Hayes took T-Square's advice and dined at Grady's while visiting points east. His review, with further counsel:

Grady's was great--particularly with the cracklins in the barbecue, like you find in the best cornbread. In addition to the blackeyes, they had sweet potato pie on the menu but were out of it :(. Also took a much longer detour on the way home to this place, near Greenville, NC. Just about a toss-up but I give slight edge to Grady's. Advice:avoid BBQ/chicken combo plates at eastern NC joints. Chicken is consistently mediocre, whether Grady's or Wilber's. If you want serious BBQ chicken, go west, young man!

Even beyond the costs of permawar, maintaining an empire is expensive -- often needlessy so:

The new spending involves considerable waste, the report says. The Pentagon has spent nearly $50 billion since the 9/11 attacks on weapons systems that it never used due to technological failures or cost overruns, according to the study.

Via a link from Sykes.

Recently-released GSO crime stats soft-pedaled the homicide rate, but the truth will out...

Press release:

Three Persons Killed, Two Injured in Shooting

GREENSBORO, NC (July 21, 2011) – At 12:01 a.m. today, Greensboro Police responded to a 9-1-1 call of shots fired at 1501 Brandonshire Court. The first officer arrived within three minutes and attempted to block the exit of the apartment complex when his vehicle was struck head on by a pickup truck attempting the leave the area. As the officer exited the vehicle through the passenger window, he was met by a neighbor who helped the officer take the operator into custody within minutes. The officer sustained minor injuries.

Read the whole thing after the jump.

UDPATE 11:25 AM Thurs:

Pronounced deceased at the scene was Joshua Samuel Prago, age 43, 3511 Dogwood Drive, a friend of the family.

Pronounced deceased at Moses Cone Hospital was 6 year old Jason Rcom. He is the son of Hli Wie, 29, who is at Baptist Hospital with a gunshot wound to a hand. Both resided at 1501 Brandonshire Court, apartment 303.

Hdingh Nie, (date of birth unknown), a friend of the family who resided at 3104K Summit Avenue, was also pronounced dead at Moses Cone Hospital.

The subject, 34 year old Hoanh Rcom, is the father of the deceased six year old boy. Rcom is charged with three counts of first degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Rcom was served a 50-B protective order prohibiting contact with Wie on Jul 7.

He is confined in the Guilford County jail without bond.