PINBALL is Back In The Triad with New Place Called Lost Ark Video

Bob Buckley from Fox 8 WGHP with a report above titled Pinball comeback in the Triad interviewed me for this report. It was great talking to him about my passion for pinball. Growing up in Greensboro in the 70's and 80's and 90's there was plenty of places to play pinball and video games from Sears at Friendly Center to the bowling alley at Friendly Center to the 7- elevens around town and to the 2 biggest places in Greensboro to play that are no longer here in the PUTT PUTT on High Point Road and Battleground Avenue.

Now we have a great place located off of Spring Garden Street in Greensboro N.C. called Lost Ark Video  which has over 14 pinball machines from the greatest pinball machine ever made in Twilight Zone to a personal favorite machine of mine in Road Show. These are just a few of the well kept pinball machines available to play.

This Saturday night at 7:30pm. on 1-21-2012 they will have their monthly PINBALL TOURNAMENT come on out for the tournament it only cost $5 to enter.

Come and become a Pinball Wizard at the Lost Ark Video in Greensboro N.C. it is a great place to relax and play some PINBALL

Tripp Welborne for Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame, Next Week WIll Be The Announcement,Will He Be Denied for Third Time?

Last year for the second year in a row the selection committee for the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame have denied one of the greatest athletes to ever lace up their shoes in the triad area be nominated in 2 time football All American Tripp Welborne.

It was with great honor that Keith Brown a Grimsley Alumni Class of 1987 had nominated Sullivan Anthony Welborne III otherwise known as Tripp Welborne Page Alumni Class of 1987 to the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame.

It is time that people really know about one of the greatest all around athletes in Guilford County get the recognition he deserves. This will be a short bio of his high school days but will show you just how impressive he was as an athlete.

During his 3 years at Page High School the football team in 85 and 86 won the state football championship, and Tripp Welborne had a combined record in 3 years of football at 41-1-1 . He was selected to be a east west all star athlete in both football and basketball his senior year in 1987. He chose to play in the basketball all star game because it would be his last hurrah at playing the sport on a competitive level.He also was nominated to play in the North-South All Star football game between North Carolina and South Carolina which was a huge honor back in the 80's.

picture shows Tripp on the right #3

Now on to the big leagues of Tripp Welborne's football career. His college choice was the Michigan Wolverines where during his time in college he was awarded 2-time All American in 1989 and 1990. Sports Illustrated had a cover called "Greatest Wolverines of All Time" CLICKHERE , and guess who was one of the defensive backs picked as one of the greatest in wolverine's storied football history none other than Tripp Welborne.

Even going back to his high school days Tripp Welborne was a great punt returner as well. How do I know that it is because I was the one on the other side of ball punting to Tripp Welborne going back to our days at junior high school at Aycock and Kiser then on to our days of playing against each other at one of the best high school rivalries in the state of North Carolina in Grimsley Whirlies and Page Pirates.

Here is a quick bio of college days at Michigan from the Bentley Historical Library on Michigan Athletics CLICKHERE, and here is the bio:

Hard-hitting defensive back who also handled punt returns for the Wolverines. The Greensboro, NC., native was a two-time consensus All-American selection. Welborne recorded 238 tackles in his three years in the defensive secondary and returned 67 punts for 773 yards. During his senior year (1990), Welborne set a single-season record for punt return yardage with 455. Welborne moved from wide receiver to defensive back after his freshman year and intercepted nine passes during his career. Played on three Big Ten championship teams. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.

Now that the nomination is turned in to the Greensboro Sports Commission we will see what happens next but this nomination should get a resounding 100% yes vote because I will go on record as saying that Tripp Welborne was probably one of the greatest all around athletes to ever play sports in Guilford County History.

Now we are on to year 3 in the nomination process and we can see that the 2010 nomination class has been done and here is a post over at greensborosports.com CLICKHERE to see who was headed to the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame. You can see that they left off Tripp Welborne for the second year in a row. Will he be denied this year in 2011?


UPDATE
Here is a complete bio of Tripp Welborne's High School Career at Page High School from the years of 1985 to 1987 with football being a fall sport in his senior year of 1986

-NC vs SC All-Star football (1986 Shrine Bowl)

-NC Football State Champs '84 & '85

-1st team All-State '85 & '86 ('86...selected in 2 positions WR & DB - only one other player in state history had accomplished this... "Choo Choo Justice")

-1986 NC Player of the Year (Football)

-1986 Guilford County Player of the Year (Football)

-1986 Parade All American (ranked #1 WR in nation)

-1986 Shrine Bowl (NC vs SC All-Star football)

-1987 East -West All-Star Football game (selected but did not participate)

-1987 1st team All-State (Basketball)

-1987 Guilford County Player of the Year (Basketball)

-1987 McDonalds All American basketball nominee

-1987 East-West Basketball All-Star game

We will see what happens next week at the Greensboro Grasshoppers game where they will announce the Class of 2011  and hopefully we will see Tripp Welborne in this class .

New Word for The Day = RETROGRESSIVE, It WIll Be Used Often After Redistricting on State Level

New word for the day

RETROGRESSIVE =

World English Dictionary

retrogress (ˌrɛtrəʊˈɡrɛs)
— vb
1.	to go back to an earlier, esp worse, condition; degenerate or deteriorate
2.	to move backwards; recede
3.	biology to develop characteristics or features of lower or simpler organisms; degenerate
[C19: from Latin retrōgressus having moved backwards, from retrōgradī ; see retrograde ]
retro'gression
— n
retro'gressive
— adj
retro'gressively
— adv We will be seeing this word used often in regards to redistricting on the state level and wanted everyone to understand the word.

Triad Food Review , Darryl's Wood Fired Grill

Had a chance to eat with the family for Easter Weekend and wanted to share with you the food at a establishment that has been resurrected from the abyss to a delighfully great place to eat and to see the nostalgic of the past from a person who remembers back in the day when Greensboro N.C. had 2 of these restaurants, one in the location now on High Point Road and the other on Church Street down below Moses Cone Hospital.This place is called Darryl's Wood Fired Grill web site CLICKHERE

Upon arriving to our table walking pass the jail cell and seeing all the mug shots of the famous people was fun to see. The menu from the waitress was huge but what caught my eye was the massive menu for the BEER on tap and a huge selection to choose from. below is a picture of the beer menu.

There was something that i have never done before but having worked in the beer industry for awhile it was interesting to hear about having a BEER FLIGHT. A Beer flight is when you can sample multiple draft beers on tap without breaking the bank paying for a full glass they come in small glasses to your table and you get to pick the beers you would like to sample with out breaking the bank paying for a full glass. My beverage of choice was these 4 beers carolina copperline, new belgium seasonal, highland gaelic and a local favorite in Red Oak from right outside greensboro with a brewery off of I40 going towards Burlington N.C. . My favorite was Highland Gaelic from Asheville N.C. very good amber beer just to my tasting.

While i was sampling the beer flight the family wanted a appetizer and we had to have the famous Darryl's Original Crackers with ranch dressing.

These crackers hit the spot waiting on the main course to come. Having these crackers brought back plenty of memories from the past especially alll the time we spent as a family going to the Darryl's on Church Street in Greensboro.

My wife and daughter wanted to share a meal and decided on this one below

this is the rib and rib combo which is a combo of beef ribs and baby back pork ribs and seeing my daughter devour the whole plate of beef ribs with the great sauce on the beef was a sight to see all she could say was yummy. My wife like the meat on the pork ribs and it fell off the bone which is a great sign for a good meal.

I decided to try the reserve burger i am a burger nut and this burger was real good. I like my burger well done with no red in it and this burger was made to perfection. No complaining from me on this burger and one of the best parts of having this signature burger was having a beverage to help me out in this process. I like to have a beer before the meal but want a non alcoholic beverage during my meal. This is one of the few places who likes to stick to their roots in North Carolina and what a better way to drink to the Tar Heel roots is to down the reserve burger with a glass of CHEERWINE. Having a burger with a glass of Cheerwine made for a great Easter weekend.

Now onto the dessert for the day and the kids wanted to have this

Smores was a great topping to a great meal and if you want to experience a great restaurant please check out Darryl's Wood Fired Grill. The only thing that they might want to change is to add a grilled cheese on the kids menu or even on the main menu because if there are kids like my son he loves a grilled cheese sandwich and would have gotten one but got the chicken tenders instead.

Looking for Summer Camp Information in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Triad, Look No Further

Greensboro Summer Camps CLICKHERE and also Winston-Salem Summer Camps CLICKHERE are looking for some kids in the triad area to enjoy their summer participating in a camp setting.

 Some of the more popular or small camps fill quickly, so savvy parents know to plan ahead to get the best for their children. There are camps that focus on Arts, Sports, Church, Academics, Residential (where you stay overnight), and other specialty camps!

Time is now to start looking for your camp experience.

Rocco Scarfone as Deney Terrio with Opening of Allure, video embedded

hat tip Digtriad and News 2 CLICKHERE  with the title of post "Allure Nightlife Opens Up with Strict Rules and Security".

Not much commentary just a little laughter, check out the 1:52 mark of embedded video and maybe Rocco Scarfone needs to unbutton another button or try out for a remake of Saturday Night Fever with help from Deney Terrio of Dance Fever.

Also Joe Killian had this to say in his article in the Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE out today

"His own outfit would work, Scarfone said — shoes polished to a high gloss, slim jeans and a tight black short-sleeve shirt unbuttoned to his sternum to show off a large gold crucifix."

Neighborhood Fights Annexation While City Threatens To Cut Off Water ,Developers Not Telling Homeowners, Does This Sound Familiar?

HAT TIP WCNC in Charlotte CLICKHERE

It looks like other cities in South Carolina are having problems with the developers signing agreements to be annexed without the knowledge of the homeowners. Check out the embedded video above and also look and see who the local reporter is because she was a part of News 2 in Greensboro if i am not mistaken.

This issue of forced annexation was also a local issue in Greensboro back in the beginning of the year with some neighborhoods out near Mcleansville  were being forced to annex into Greensboro but with a court order CLICKHERE these neighborhoods are still out in the County of Guilford.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #5 Yes Weekly!

Yes Weekly Bartering Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE
Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE
Part #4  Barter Agreement with Our State Magazine CLICKHERE

Part #5 Barter Agreement with Yes Weekly!

This barter agreement between the Greensboro Coliseum and the weekly triad newspaper in Yes Weekly! is for a 2 year agreement which started on August 1, 2009 and runs through July 31, 2011 .
If you would like to see the agreement click on the scribd version above and here is what is in the agreement.

Yes Weekly! gets:

6 VIP Carlyle Club memberships
2 back lit signage panels located in the arena concourse (40" by 60")
4 Broadway Gold Circle season tickets valued at $1,160 and $1,840 worth of various other tickets for events at War Memorial Auditorium(based on venue availability from event contracts)

Greensboro Coliseum gets:

52 full page ads in Yes Weekly! to run as one ad per week for 52 weeks with a total of $56,420 with it being a value based on the 2007 rate card.

We also found out that Yes Weekly! is also in talks with the Greensboro Coliseum on naming rights at the new amphitheatre that is being built along with the new VIP room, CLICKHERE with a editorial title "Nature of the Business". You will also see this in the editorial

" Currently at issue is an ACC VIP lounge, approved by council last week, to be funded by a grant from Ovations as part of a deal for securing concession rights in the arena. Some seem to feel that the money should have been used against the $1.8 million or so subsidy afforded the venue by the city."
This grant money as the editors at Yes Weekly! state should go back and pay down the $1.8 million subsidy the Greensboro taxpayers pay each year. It would be interesting to see if the Greensboro City Council signed off on this million dollar contract with Ovations or does Matt Brown have complete control over everything and every contract because as we have seen with the Brady Trane barter agreement it might just be illegal to have a barter agreement like that one on a construction job for a state of the art HVAC system which might need to be bidded out and not bartered out.


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:
• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections
• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat
• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events
• VIP parking and private Club entrance
• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.
• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #4 Our State Magazine

Our State Mag Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum



The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE
Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE

Part #4 Our State Magazine

Our State/ North Carolina Magazine in this barter agreement with the Greensboro Coliseum agrees to trade $5,000 worth of print advertising in their publication to be utilized from January 8, 2010 to January 7, 2011 in exchange for two (2) Carlyle Club seats in Section 210, Row A, Seats 15 & 16.

Our State Magazine is a great publication and highly recommend a subscription to this magazine here is a link to their web site CLICKHERE . This looks like a simple barter agreement and if you are a local publication or a state and regional magazine publication maybe you could get in touch with Matt Brown the coliseum director and say you would like to give $5,000 worth of advertising and get 2 tickets for a year to the "The Club".  Surely it isn't that easy but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Is there a formal process to barter with the Greensboro Coliseum?


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only



Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #3The Rhinoceros Times

Rhino Times Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE

Part #3 The Rhinoceros Times

This barter agreement is one of the simple ones but with our request for information they dug this one out of the cob webs because this agreement is from 2003 which as you can see from the above scribd pdf file it also talks about the Greensboro Generals and the Greensboro Prowlers being a part of the agreement.

We tried to get in touch with John Hammer from the Rhino Times but didn't get a call back before this post but looking at the paper on a weekly basis in 2010 they still run a full page ad for the Greensboro Coliseum.

This agreement from 2003 consists of

4 Carlyle Club seats at $3,500 per = $14,000 trade value

In the agreement which you can see above there was some hand writing on the agreement talking about a full page ad for $840 times 52 weeks =$43,860. It also hand written  with the coliseum to pay $21,840 with the club seats are $14,000.Hopefully they have a new agreement with the Rhino Times for 2010 but if they don't then this is the one for them from back in 2003.


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Business on Highway 68 Finally Got Around To Change This!

Driving down Highway 68 between High Point and Greensboro near the humongous Sheetz Convenience Store there is a local business by the name of  Butler Lighting CLICKHERE . For the past several months they have a sign out front promoting the business but something was off on the sign and below is what you would see when you drive down Highway 68 into greensboro near the gallimore dairy road intersection .

This has been a running joke every time we drive by this business but would like everyone to know that it has been fixed and the L has been added.WOO HOO 

Nightmare on Old Battleground Road in Greensboro, Repost from 8-23-2008

This below the red fold post was on Triadwatch 8-23-2008 talking about the Greensboro Landmark Project which was also in today's Greensboro News and Record front page but you can only be a subscriber to the online edition and receive it electronically.

 Also, this project was in the Greensboro Parks & Recreation fall and winter 2008 Leisure magazine which was linked in the post but the newer Leisure magazines doesn't have it in the book and online as well. Just wanted everyone to know the ramifications of this massive project and what is going to happen to Old Battleground road for all those 11,000 riders on this road.

Fox 8 also had a report here is that .

 




__________________________________________________________________________________

The newest addition of the Leisure magazine which is a guide to the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department for the Fall-Winter 2008 has a interesting article on page 39 but it has been removed from the internet but here is a link to a pdf from the city of greensboro CLICKHERE

The project in question is called "Greensboro Landmark Project" , this is trying to make the Guilford National Military Courthouse, Tannnenbaum Historic Park, and Jaycee Park all inclusive with no drive through traffic.

Upon looking at the map it shows how this project would like to see Old Battleground Road closed to through traffic past British Lake Drive before the entrance to the National Military Park. This road in question gets about 11,000 cars a day that cut through the National Military Park to get to their homes and some like to use the park as a running and biking facility. The nightmare is looking at where all these 11,000 cars would go if this road is closed. This would mean more traffic down regular Battleground Road and if you have ever been down that road towards Horse Pen Creek Road it is over capacity at this time and to add more to the mix would be a NIGHTMARE.

Triadwatch contacted both Adam Fischer from the Greensboro Transportation and also Superintendent Cranfield from the Guilford National Military Courthouse to ask them about this project and to see if they were aware of this closing of Old Battleground Road.

Mr. Cranfield from the Military Courthouse stated that this was a proposed project. It was a long term idea to try to get back the integrity of the battlefield. As you can see from the map in that they want to get grants and funding to make all of this area enclosed and to also have a combined visitor center where it would be more towards Tannenbaum Park along New Garden Road. Some of the ideas that Mr. Cranfield talked about was to try to maybe have a major crossing on Old Battleground where they could have railroad crossings come down at a certain location so that people could cross Old Battleground Road without worrying about safety but in long term future close it all in. There are a lot of puzzle pieces missing to this project and in regards to the urban loop that will be near the Lake Brandt Road intersection with Old Battleground Road.

Mr. Fischer from the Greensboro Department of Transportation was somewhat aware of this but didn't know that it was being published in the Leisure guide of Greensboro for Fall 2008. He wanted to say that there are a lot of things that need to happen before the city can close a certain street and to close a street like this with 11,000 cars a day would mean a lot of public input before this happens and probably a lot of upgrading to the existing roads for this to happen, especially getting the urban loop done also.

It is great to see long term goals for places like the Guilford National Military Courthouse , but when you travel down Old Battleground Road and have lived at Lincoln Green Apartments and know just how many people rely on this road to get to and from places of destination, it is hard to imagine it being closed to through traffic.

It will be interesting to see the future of this project but the needs of the citizens and the integrity of the courthouse need to get together to make a great place to live , work and play.

The video below is the Battle of Guilford Courthouse a Animated Video, if you would like to see a great video , or CLICKHERE check out this 8 minute video.

Where Americans Are Moving , Interactive Map of The United States, Neat Tool

HAT TIP: The Seventh Sense CLICKHERE

Forbes.com has a new feature and a interactive map that allows you to click on any county in the USA and actually see where the people migrated both to and from.

CLICKHERE to see the map of Guilford County N.C.

Interesting stuff out there on the web.

Call for Racial Unity in Greensboro N.C. by Mickey Atkinson, Video Embedded and Transcript

The embedded video above is from the June 1, 2010 meeting where during the speakers from the floor segment some citizens  made a call for racial unity in Greensboro N.C. .  Below is the transcript of the embedded video. After Mickey Atkinson spoke you will also see that Marcus Brandon spoke as well here is the link to that post CLICKHERE.


Mickey Atkinson, 4028 Bluebonnet Drive , Greensboro


Maya Angelou wrote, “We are more alike than different.” I am not a politician. I despise the polarizing of our country, and of our city. I am a retired HS teacher who every day for the last 8 years of my career had these words on my board: “Love, forgive, and be a blessing.” It frustrates me that some of my students continue to see a few adults try to polarize our citizens, especially racially.

I am one small voice, but I am compelled to speak out. We are tired of the racial and political polarizing, and of the one percent being the loudest voice in race matters. Those who would hold press conferences to demand an investigation of an over-investigated police department, those who would coach others to declare that the city council is not doing its job, you are self-serving in your perpetual rants. You are feeding off the fear, paranoia, and bitterness that you create. It’s your M.O.

The solutions to our polarized race relations? Leaders, black and white, need to lead in speaking out, as Zack Matheny did recently. We must dialogue. People of all races need to drop the paranoia. Just because a few hold a press conference, or just because one voice on the school board is always harping about race, we cannot believe that all of a certain race feel that way.

Likewise, just because some anonymous beeps in the Rhino say white supremacist things, quit believing that the vast majority of white people feel that way. Well over 99% of us want an end to the racial polarization. Sadly, that 1% will always be among us, black and white.

The enemy of the black community is not the city council; it’s the absence of strong mentors in education. It’s not the police department; it’s the preaching of discord instead of the gospel in some churches. It’s not our prison system; it’s the self-imposed prison of the high school dropout. It’s not inequality at society’s hands; it’s inequality from the crippling effects of fatherless homes. It’s not that fraction of a percent of white extremists; it’s those voices that perpetually deflate with a paranoid attitude of blame. To those of you who say we have a culture of corruption, no, we have a culture of self-serving discord by a few.

Likewise, the enemy of the white community is not the extremist voice of self-serving black “leaders”, it’s not affirmative action, and it’s not taxes. It’s the greed of Wall St and Main St that’s destroying the moral fabric of our values system. It’s the paranoia fueled by false prophet white extremists. It is the mentality that “we” are doing all of the giving and “they” are doing all of the taking.

Let’s quit listening to these divisive voices and recognize Greensboro for its positive leadership and growth. Let’s quit publicly vilifying a police department filled with modestly paid public servants who protect and serve daily. Let’s bury the race-related paranoia by recognizing that the outspoken 1% does not speak for the rest of a group, black or white. I do believe that 99% of us live in a city where we are not judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. Let’s all move forward. I call on Greensboro ’s leaders to create more open dialogue on unity.

Reverand Cardes Brown Please Tell Us Where You Got This Information about Ex Police Chief David Wray Video Embedded

At the Greensboro City Council meeting on 4-6-2010 during the speakers from the floor Reverand Cardes Brown had this to say video embedded.Please tell us how you got this information?

Free Tickets To The Circus Handed Out By Greensboro City Council Members, Is This Legal or Ethical or Conflict of Interest?

The video from above is from the Greensboro City Council meeting on 2-16-2010 where Greensboro City Council member Danny Thompson was thanking other council members Perkins,Kee,Wade and Mayor Knight for donating their Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus tickets to his church to take some deserving montagnards family for a night out.

How many other events do Greensboro City Council members get tickets for?
Is this a perk for being a elected official?
Does this perk go against state law of gift giving?
How many GGO tickets do local elected officials get to hand out?
Should this be reported on campaign contribution forms?

These tickets were given to the Greensboro City Council members by Ringling Brothers. We have seen from Governor Bev Perdue that she did a executive order for state level employees back in the fall , below is part of the executive order.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 24
REGARDING GIFTS TO STATE EMPLOYEES


WHEREAS, those in State government who do the work of the public must continuously ensure that their actions reflect the ethical standards that are essential to maintaining the public’s trust; and


WHEREAS, N.C. Gen. Stat. 133-32 makes it unlawful for a State employee to willfully receive or accept any gift or favor from a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier of the State agency if the State employee is involved in (1) preparing plans, specifications, or estimates for public contracts; (2) awarding or administering public contracts; or (3) inspecting or supervising construction; and


WHEREAS, N.C. Gen. Stat. 133-32 applies to a limited group of State employees; and


WHEREAS, no State employee should be permitted to accept gifts or favors from contractors working or seeking to work with the employee’s agency; and

Below is from the North Carolina Board of Ethics back in 2001 with a little Google research, CLICKHERE

TICKETS


Should a Public Official accept free tickets from an agency vendor to a sporting event, play, or fundraising event?


Answer: Generally, no. It is generally not proper for Public Officials to accept gifts or services from someone whom the official regulates, contracts with, or otherwise does business with as part of his service as a Public Official. At a minimum, this can cause the appearance of a conflict of interest.


Does it make any difference if the tickets to a sporting event are season tickets or tickets the vendor received as part of its sponsorship of the event so that there was no purchase made specifically for the Public Official?


Answer: No. It does not matter how the vendor got the tickets.


Can a vendor take a Public Official to entertainment events when the Official has traveled to the vendor’s home city or when both vendor and Official are out of town (like at a non-vendor sponsored seminar)?


Answer: Not if it is otherwise prohibited. Ethics requirements do not end at the border.

Who knew that Greensboro City Council members get tickets to events and is this a perk of the job. But in this day and time in North Carolina where people are wanting to curry favors with plenty of local officials and we might see where local officials might want to do the same thing and maybe curry favor with getting tickets for a group of people to want their vote in the upcoming elections . It might be time to look at this program of giving out free tickets and am probably certain that the GGO golf tickets are floating out there for local elected officials to give out as they please. This post is not about who received these circus tickets but was a post about who got to give out these tickets. If ringling wanted to personally give them to a group home or some deserving group it is totally fine but having it go through a local elected official sure does raise some red flags.

Climate Summit Junket? Government Waste from D.C. to Copenhagen Part 2

Watch CBS News Videos Online

CBS News has a follow up to the reporting of our congressmen and women who went to Copenhagen for the climate summit. Here is a link to the first post CLICKHERE . Now CBS News reports on their expense report where they were charged well over $2,000 a night. Don't you just love your tax dollars at work. It is great to see someone besides John Stossel CLICKHERE doing reports like this . Part 2 is embedded above.

Public Records Request from Weaver-Quaintance to the City of Greensboro

gsopublicdocumentrequest


HAT TIP: DIGTRIAD News 2 CLICKHERE

The above is the public document sent from the attorneys of Weaver-Quaintance on the request for transparency in local government that is sorely needed in Greensboro and Guilford County N.C.

Transparency Meeting Closed To Public , I Kid You Not Thanks To V.P. Biden

The Los Angeles Times has a headline on 1-14-2010 titled Joe Biden Update: He meets on transparency today but the meetings are closed CLICKHERE . Now that is funny and the article is amazing to read as well. Take a look at the Vice Presidents itinerary in the article.

Hat Tip: Right Angles CLICKHERE

Disbursements made by City of Greensboro with the Usual Suspects

Looking at the City of Greensboro agenda for 12-15-2009 there are some disbursements that need to be shown and for all the citizens to know what your tax money goes to. Here is a partial list of disbursements made by city treasurer.

- Greensboro News & Record $15,716.62
- Action Greensboro from 10-12/09 $87,500
- Bryan Park Golf payment for the 4th installment, 3rd term per contract $31,250
- Downtown Greensboro Improvement Corp.-2nd quarter contribution for municipal service district services $120,000
- East Market Street Development Corp. 2nd quarter contribution $10,000
- Greensboro Sports Commision 2nd quarter contribution $18,750
- Sit-in Movement - 3rd year commitment funding for International Civil Rights Center and Mueum $250,000

Your tax money at work locally.