New Direction

Association official: Recall bill would have a chilling effect

The Yadkin Valley News:  RALEIGH — A proposed bill that would provide for a special election to remove Yadkin County Commissioners from office could subvert the election process and sets a dangerous precedent by allowing state legislators to insert themselves into local policy decisions, a spokesperson for a statewide advocacy and lobbying group for county government said this morning.

Also, a Yadkin County Commissioner has contacted all 120 state legislators to voice his support for a special election to vote on the removal of county officials.

There should definitely be a recall bill for Yadkin County and the 99 others in North Carolina. But it does need some reasonable rules about when it can be used.

More on Time Warner's Internet caps in the Triad

More here about Time Warner's Internet usage caps by the Greensboro News & Record's Joe Killian. Overall, this is a pretty good informative story. It's a reason why we still need newspapers. A lot of people have Time Warner as their Internet provider, so writing about a development that could potentially effect many in the newspaper's circulation area could generate a lot of readers.
Some interesting thoughts from the story:

“I’ve gotten a lot of calls about it,” said John Gribble, franchise administrator for the city of Greensboro.

Customers were so angry they asked Gribble if the city could pull Time Warner’s cable franchise agreement for radically changing pricing.

“There really isn’t anything we can do,” Gribble said. “The FCC has made a rule that broadband is not a cable service, and so not regulated in the same way. So through our franchise agreement, the city really has no regulatory authority here.”

Gribble said the city works closely with Time Warner and will let the company know that unhappy customers have complained. That’s all the city is empowered to do.

But, Gribble said, Time Warner could soon see some serious competition. AT&T has been in talks to launch its high speed TV, DVR and Internet services — called AT&T U-verse — in N.C. cities, including Greensboro.

 Metered usage and tiered pricing might be necessary,  (News & Record columnist and local blogger Ed) Cone said, but the caps proposed by Time Warner are much smaller than their competitors. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company and Time Warner’s fiercest competition, caps use at 250 gigabytes per month.

Time Warner moves further with metered Internet usage

Time Warner Cable moves further with metered Internet usage for its Road Runner subscribers. The caps start at 5 GB a month and go to 40 GB. I guess messing with all that fancy online audio and video content just isn't meant for us all, at least if Time Warner had its way.
I just hate that there isn't a lot of choices for ISPs in my area. If the "Greensboro market", one of the places this is being tested, includes Lexington, then I think Time Warner needs to lose its franchise agreement.
Check out this post that we had earlier.
More here and here.     

16-campus UNC system to make cuts

According to this from the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., the 16-campus UNC system is planning to make cuts. The article highlights the plans at UNC Greensboro. Proposed cuts at UNCG are for 109 positions and 7,500 classroom spots.
And here is the announcement that Gov. Bev Perdue will be speaking at UNCG's graduation on May 15.
I understand she wants to make sure teacher jobs are kept in public schools, so why wouldn't the UNC and community college system fall under that as well?
Hopefully the UNC system doesn't get cut to the bone and start to fold like newspapers are currently doing.

 

Democrats to look at nominating changes for 2012

    WASHINGTON – On Monday, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, announced the 37 member Democratic Change Commission, which will recommend changes to the Democratic Party's rules for the 2012 presidential nominating and delegate selection process. Kaine also announced that he has named Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri to co-lead the commission.
    "This Commission will focus on reform that improves the presidential nominating process to put voters first and ensure that as many people as possible can participate," said Kaine. "I want to thank all the members of the Commission who have agreed to serve, including Congressman Clyburn and Senator McCaskill who have graciously agreed to serve as co-chairs."
    Kaine went on to say that he hopes to work with the Republican National Committee on a common approach that puts voters first.
President Barack Obama first announced his intention to form the Democratic Change Commission in August 2008, during his presidential campaign. Delegates to the Democratic National Convention adopted the president’s proposal on August 25, 2008.

Jobless rate reaches double digits in North Carolina

From The Yadkin Valley News:

RALEIGH — Area unemployment rates are now at their highest point since the last major recession more than 25 years ago with today's unveiling of double digit numbers throughout the Yadkin Valley region.

Unemployment increased in each of the state's 100 counties. Seventy-two of them had a rate of 10 percent or higher for January.

Below are other area county unemployment rates and jobless claims:

Alleghany County – 14.7 percent, 646 claims. January unemployment up 44 percent from 10. 2 percent.

Ashe County — 13.5 percent, 1,723 claims. January unemployment up 34 percent from 10.1 percent.

Davie County — 10.3 percent, 2,145 claims. January unemployment increased 24 percent from 8.3 percent.

Rowan County — 11.4 percent, 8,079 claims. January unemployment up 23 percent from 9.3 percent.

Forsyth County — 8.9 percent, 15,354 claims. January unemployment rose 20 percent from 7.4 percent.

Stokes County — 10.2 percent, 2,476 claims. January unemployment up 29 percent from 7.9 percent.

Wilkes County — 12.3 percent, 3,644 claims. January unemployment increased 34 percent from 9.2 percent.

Orange County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate, at 5.8 percent, in January. Dare County had the highest unemployment rate, at 17.3 percent, the ESC said.

The five counties receiving the highest amount in unemployment insurance benefits in January were: Mecklenburg, $17.7 million; Wake, $12.9 million; Guilford, $9.7 million; Gaston, $6.1 million; and Forsyth, $5.5 million.

Economic stimulus

Yadkin Valley News: Yadkin Valley schools will receive $14 million from the federal economic stimulus plan.

In other economic news, we could certainly use the jobs as the Greensboro News & Record reports that hundreds turned out for a job fair Wednesday at Four Seasons Town Centre.
I just had a stretch of being jobless for nine months, and the job I have, I got the information about it at a job fair.
With job fairs it seems that you can pursue multiple leads in person, a lot faster. And it can seem like a lot of things in life, a gamble.
But, it beats visiting/phoning individual employers.

Wrongful death lawsuit against Jonesville to begin

By Andy Matthews

www.yadkinvalleynews.com

Amatthews2007@yahoo.com

YADKINVILLE — More than six years after a Jonesville man brutally stabbed his estranged wife and killed her daughter, a wrongful death lawsuit against the town was expected to get underway Tuesday in Yadkin County Superior Civil Court.

Vernetta Cockerham-Ellerbee is suing the Town of Jonesville and its police department, accusing them of negligence in the death of her daughter in November 2002. In May, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that Ellerbee was entitled to a new trial.

The appeals court made the ruling, reversing a May 2007 ruling made in Yadkin County Superior Court. The appeals court ruling means that Vernetta Cockerham-Ellerbee can now pursue punitive damages in her claim that the town and police department — which are defendants in a 2004 lawsuit filed by Cockerham-Ellerbee — are guilty of "willful or wanton conduct." The lawsuit alleges that police failed to enforce a protective order against her estranged husband, Richard Ellerbee, who killed 17-year-old Candace Cockerham and stabbed Cockerham-Ellerbee before later committing suicide in New Jersey.

Read more here.

East Bend shops for Food Lion store

$2 million investment would create jobs, increase tax base

By Andy Matthews

Editor

www.yadkinvalleynews.com

Amatthews2007@yahoo.com

EAST BEND — Food Lion, the largest retail grocery store chain in the Southeast, has expressed interest in building a new supermarket here on a vacant commercial tract on East Main Street, sources tell The Yadkin Valley News.

Food Lion is looking at a portion of a 35-acre tract bisected by N.C. 67. The retailer has talked with East Bend officials about building a small supermarket that would include a Food Lion store and some retail spaces next to the East Bend Post Office.

Real-estate representatives for Food Lion would like to build the new store on a 4-acre tract that would give the company access to East Main Street and one of the area's most popular thoroughfares — N.C. 67. The 4-acre strip is part of a larger 35-acre parcel owned by George A. Benbow, which adjoins the East Bend Industrial Park and DAC Products Inc.

Although not directly tied to the outcome of November's alcohol vote in the town limits, local officials have said that putting the sale of beer and mixed beverages on the ballot was done in part to give Food Lion an economic incentive to build here. In addition to wine — which was approved in a 2005 county-wide referendum — Food Lion could also sell beer and liquor if voters approve the measure.

Town residents appear to have mixed feelings about another major retailer building in this community of about 650 people. In 2007, Dollar General build a new 9,000-square-foot store on a one-acre tract at Main and School streets. The lot and building, which are valued for tax purposes at $407,996, are part of a larger commercial area that includes a nearby Wilco Hess convenience store, a Yadkin Valley Bank & Trust branch, a laundry mat and a new restaurant.

Although the new development has brought sorely needed tax revenue to the area, local preservationists note that the town has lost two historic structures — The Yadkin Valley Hotel and the T.D. Smitherman General Store — in the process. The hotel was demolished to make way for two new prefabricated metal buildings, and the T.D. Smitherman store was razed for what many believe may be a new auto parts store.

Local residents who commute to Winston-Salem often shop at a major retailer such as Food Lion before they return to town, saying they can save money on large purchases. But a Food Lion store, which would be built less than one-half mile from The East Bend Shop Rite, would almost certainly mean fewer customers at the town's oldest supermarket, which was built in the early 1960s.

With an estimated $2 million investment, a new Food Lion would generate about $10,000 a year in property taxes for the town and create more than 100 full-time and part-time jobs, proponents say.

But there’s no guarantee how the current economic downtown might figure into Food Lion's East Bend equation. Although it would be the only Food Lion store within a 15-mile driving radius, Food Lion already has 32 surplus properties on the market, including a 29,000-square-foot store in Mocksville.

Ironically, it appears that East Bend may have a shot at a similar $2 million investment that Food Lion proposed in Boonville about six years ago. Even though the land was rezoned by the town’s planning board and commissioners, a group of residents and businesses put together a petition opposing the new store. Food Lion eventually dropped its plans for the supermarket, which would have been built behind The Dollar General Store on West Main Street.

Ex-reporter keeps tabs on his old shop

I've never met Jim Hopkins, nor have I ever worked for a Gannett property, but, I, have enjoyed reading
Gannett Blog. It seems to have the inside information about the McLean, Va.-based company.
But don't just take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog has this about Hopkins' blog and other blogs that cover the inside news of other companies.
I especially like seeing blogs about what's happening with media conglomerates. Since many of those companies do their best to keep their bad news from being exposed, it's high time someone steps up.
Kind of ironic since most editors and reporters do their very best to nail politicians to the wall for the most minor of screw-ups. But, hey, if it gets an award, it has to be great.
Also check out the links for Ford, Starbucks, and McClatchy blogs that are on the WSJ site.