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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Operation Homefront of North Carolina
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Sunday, July 29, 2012
NBC's Olympic Size Fail
NBC has paid big bucks 4 billon of them to own broadcast rights to the 2012 London Games as well as 2014 winter games and 2016 games, which means you can watch their coverage when they say you can. But they didn't seem to anticipate Twitter.
Americans who are die hard sports fans don't care to put their lives on hold and devote hours to watch a long drawn out commercial filled "production" interlaced with tearful back stories to eventually learn that Micheal Phelps took 4th place in the 400 IM.
Twitter is serving as news source for followers of sport much the same way the Egyptian citizens followed the Arab spring.
It is clear NBC is running in circles, because for weeks they have used Brian Williams to "hype" the "upcoming" Olympic coverage, yet Saturday's NBC Nightly News which is normally not anchored by Williams began with Williams sans a spoiler announcing that of "shock waves" were being felt around the world because of Michael Phelps' 4th place finish.
@LexWalk: How is CNN predicting all of these #Olympics winners?! It's spooky. It's like they have a sports almanac from future. #NBCfail
@robin_talley
Americans who are die hard sports fans don't care to put their lives on hold and devote hours to watch a long drawn out commercial filled "production" interlaced with tearful back stories to eventually learn that Micheal Phelps took 4th place in the 400 IM.
Twitter is serving as news source for followers of sport much the same way the Egyptian citizens followed the Arab spring.
It is clear NBC is running in circles, because for weeks they have used Brian Williams to "hype" the "upcoming" Olympic coverage, yet Saturday's NBC Nightly News which is normally not anchored by Williams began with Williams sans a spoiler announcing that of "shock waves" were being felt around the world because of Michael Phelps' 4th place finish.
Then Bob Costas opened Saturday's NBC prime-time broadcast by noting that prime-time
coverage is taped, and that there will be no warning to viewers that the network is about to report event results.
Clearly NBC is struggling with the twitter and live stream question. It is not hard to imagine NBC's management wringing their hands over viewer numbers while trying to keep the peace and avoid a twitter meltdown, like they saw over the opening ceremony coverage.
But NBC's effort to "live stream" events is pretty much a failure given some rather notable tweets:
Reuters' Anthony De Rosa: "NBC will air Phelps v Lochte as
soon as they find their Netzero dial up password #OLDmedia"
"Modern Family" writer/executive producer Danny Zuker:
"'Tape delay events rest of the world watches live? Check! Website info?
Limited! Hire Seacrest. Done! It's show time, boys!' - NBC"
Former NBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell: "Context:
NBC's ideal viewer is someone who doesn't get sports text alerts, doesn't
appointment stream or get on Twitter."
Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe: "NBC's Olympics coverage is
underway again! Really, really nervous for Michael Phelps!
#tweetsfromthestoneage"
Some other fav's on NBC's Coverage:
We interrupt our tape-delayed Olympics to bring you breaking news: Michael Jackson has died. #NBCFail
And Cedar's personal fav:
Omg the commentators did not just spend the entire entrance of Kazakhstan talking about Borat. #NBCfail
In Case You Missed It - Charlotte's Fire Truck Pull
This afternoon July 29, 2012, firefighters and police officers will lug a firetruck by a rope along an uptown Charlotte street – for fun a for a cause.
It’s all part of the “Pink Lady Fire Truck Pull,” an event to raise money for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Cops 4 the Cure group and the Charlotte Fire Department’s “Fight to Extinguish” campaign. Both raise awareness about cancer and support people battling the disease.
Organizers said they’ll be pulling “the biggest, pinkest thing we could find,” a Charlotte Fire Department firetruck dubbed “the Pink Lady.” It was painted pink to raise awareness about breast cancer.
More about the "Pink Lady" ftom the Charlotte Fire Department here.
Teams made up of six to eight people can compete in three categories: all male, all female or co-ed.
Teams will be timed as they pull the firetruck 50 feet. Winning teams in each category will receive prizes.
More than 20 teams are expected to compete.
The truck pull will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday along the 900 block of Hamilton Street, near the NC Music Factory.
People who haven’t registered but want to participate can sign up on-site starting at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Those who can’t find friends willing to pull a firetruck in late July can sign up individually, and they’ll be placed on a team with others.
The cost for a team entry is $150, and individual entry is $25.
There is more information about the event here.
And more photos of the "Pink Lady" Engine 90 are here.
 |
| “The Pink Lady”made its official debut at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on October 1, 2011. Photo Courtsey Charlotte Fire Department. |
Organizers said they’ll be pulling “the biggest, pinkest thing we could find,” a Charlotte Fire Department firetruck dubbed “the Pink Lady.” It was painted pink to raise awareness about breast cancer.
More about the "Pink Lady" ftom the Charlotte Fire Department here.
Teams made up of six to eight people can compete in three categories: all male, all female or co-ed.
Teams will be timed as they pull the firetruck 50 feet. Winning teams in each category will receive prizes.
More than 20 teams are expected to compete.
The truck pull will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday along the 900 block of Hamilton Street, near the NC Music Factory.
People who haven’t registered but want to participate can sign up on-site starting at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Those who can’t find friends willing to pull a firetruck in late July can sign up individually, and they’ll be placed on a team with others.
The cost for a team entry is $150, and individual entry is $25.
There is more information about the event here.
And more photos of the "Pink Lady" Engine 90 are here.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
London Olympics Tweet of the Night
“@TVMcGee: "The vast number of athletes you see here will not win a medal." --Matt Lauer, Motivational Speaker #Olympics”
Friday, July 27, 2012
Friday Wrap-Up
CP Flash Back - October 1997 and Charlotte's Chief Rodney Monroe was the "Assistant Chief" at the nation's largest police department, Washington DC Metro.
But all was not well within the ranks. "The picture painted of the District's police department in confidential consultants' reports obtained by The Washington Post last week had some talking of an agency fallen into chaos."
Questions about police vehicles - "A 1995 city audit found that police officials "did not maintain an accurate inventory" of the fleet and could not find cars, and that thieves routinely stole and stripped seized autos kept in police parking lots."
Questions regarding funds - The same 1995 audit discovered that the mayor's grants office and the corporation counsel had overcharged the police for administering its drug forfeiture money. And it found that the police had not deposited $1 million worth of forfeited drug money in a city bank account, as allowed by law. The cash instead sat in boxes in a police vault.
Rodney Monroe's Response - "Nothing has come out in the Booz-Allen reports that has not been noted over the years as far back as I've been in the department," said Assistant Chief Rodney D. Monroe. "We led them to these areas."
The Bottom Line - Several national police consultants, former chiefs nationally and in Washington, and congressional and D.C. Council officials now say the control board erred by trying to reform the department from the inside.
They say police chiefs in New York City, New Orleans and Boston have brought new thinking and strategies to bear on urban crime, with impressive results.
"Do we need someone from the outside for police chief? On Monday, please," said Murphy, of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "I don't care how badly the chief says his hands were tied. He has a responsibility. "This department," he said, "is in scandalous shape."
Monroe would later become upset with the department and resign only to withdraw his resignation but would later leave to become Chief of the Macon, GA department, then Richmond and in 2008 Charlotte.
You can read the entire October 1997 Washington Post story here.
WBT's Stacy Simms - Early morning listeners to WBT Radio have been concerned about the ongoing absence of Stacey Simms. Given the continual staff changes at the Charlotte's oldest radio station many suspected that Simms was on her way out.
But Thursday evening Simms surfaced via a tweet and blog post.
June was going so well. My children were having fun at camp, my husband and I had a bit of time to ourselves and we had the whole summer stretching ahead. My prescription-medicine-induced- liver problems seemed to be in the past and I was feeling good. I even cleaned out closets! But the very last week of June, something starting changing. I went to work, took some great meetings and looked at some new social media projects (while vowing to keep my schedule slow). But my stomach wasn't cooperating. My body wasn't feeling right. I will spare you all the gory details here, but the end of June meant a horrible beginning of gastro-intestinal maladies that put me in the hospital. I was admitted on July 3rd and didn't come home until the 15th.
The bottom line is she is ok, and hopes to return to work soon.
The rest of Stacey's blog post is here and Cedar Posts of course wishes her a speedy recovery and return to the air.
CMPD To Install Shot Spotter - Deputy Chief Harold Medlock says the city will deploy the system in one neighborhood with a high rate of violent crime.
The 50 thousand dollar project is expected to be rolled out in one of Charlotte's more notorious for drive by neighbor hoods.
The system is pretty simple, get some people to agree to have listening devices and antennas placed on their rooftops in several places over a one square mile area. When a gun shot is heard the computers measure the sound, triangulate the location and alert police dispatch.
During Charlotte City council discussion some members voiced concern that the system could eavesdrop on citizen conversations. Medlock said the system cannot identify or record conversations.
CP hears other wise but lets move on.
Council approved $50,000 for a one-year test of the system. The money will come out of the CMPD asset forfeiture fund. To cover the entire City of Charlotte with the ShotSpotter System would cost 14 million a year. Even to cover just the "trouble spots" would cost inexcess of $3,000,000.00 per year.
About the same time as Charlotte was approving the trial run of the Shot Spotter system, across the country in Seattle their city council was voting to approve the same purchase.
The pitch was much the same and the police department cited the City of Boston who began using the technology in 2007.
A couple of interesting facts emerge, first Boston's homicide data from 2008 through 2011 might suggest that this technology hasn’t prevented murders.
Boston recorded 63 murders in 2008, 50 in 2009, 72 in 2010 and 63 in 2011. Seattle where the Shot Spotter system will be given a much larger test over several miles in the southern half of the city.
The population of Boston, Seattle are about the same yet the largest city in Washington state had only 19 homicides in 2010 compare that to Chicago with over 300 so far this year.
Cedar's Take: Chicago's West and South sides would be the ultimate proving grounds, so why won't Shot Spotter donate a year's worth of the service?
I expect that the system will work and will in fact produce results. Will it stop violent crime Charlotte? Of course not, the only way to stop violent crime is to permanently incarcerate violent offenders, but if we did that we wouldn't have any room for the crack and meth heads.
But all was not well within the ranks. "The picture painted of the District's police department in confidential consultants' reports obtained by The Washington Post last week had some talking of an agency fallen into chaos."
Questions about police vehicles - "A 1995 city audit found that police officials "did not maintain an accurate inventory" of the fleet and could not find cars, and that thieves routinely stole and stripped seized autos kept in police parking lots."
Questions regarding funds - The same 1995 audit discovered that the mayor's grants office and the corporation counsel had overcharged the police for administering its drug forfeiture money. And it found that the police had not deposited $1 million worth of forfeited drug money in a city bank account, as allowed by law. The cash instead sat in boxes in a police vault.
Rodney Monroe's Response - "Nothing has come out in the Booz-Allen reports that has not been noted over the years as far back as I've been in the department," said Assistant Chief Rodney D. Monroe. "We led them to these areas."
The Bottom Line - Several national police consultants, former chiefs nationally and in Washington, and congressional and D.C. Council officials now say the control board erred by trying to reform the department from the inside.
They say police chiefs in New York City, New Orleans and Boston have brought new thinking and strategies to bear on urban crime, with impressive results.
"Do we need someone from the outside for police chief? On Monday, please," said Murphy, of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "I don't care how badly the chief says his hands were tied. He has a responsibility. "This department," he said, "is in scandalous shape."
Monroe would later become upset with the department and resign only to withdraw his resignation but would later leave to become Chief of the Macon, GA department, then Richmond and in 2008 Charlotte.
You can read the entire October 1997 Washington Post story here.
WBT's Stacy Simms - Early morning listeners to WBT Radio have been concerned about the ongoing absence of Stacey Simms. Given the continual staff changes at the Charlotte's oldest radio station many suspected that Simms was on her way out.
But Thursday evening Simms surfaced via a tweet and blog post.
June was going so well. My children were having fun at camp, my husband and I had a bit of time to ourselves and we had the whole summer stretching ahead. My prescription-medicine-induced- liver problems seemed to be in the past and I was feeling good. I even cleaned out closets! But the very last week of June, something starting changing. I went to work, took some great meetings and looked at some new social media projects (while vowing to keep my schedule slow). But my stomach wasn't cooperating. My body wasn't feeling right. I will spare you all the gory details here, but the end of June meant a horrible beginning of gastro-intestinal maladies that put me in the hospital. I was admitted on July 3rd and didn't come home until the 15th.
The bottom line is she is ok, and hopes to return to work soon.
The rest of Stacey's blog post is here and Cedar Posts of course wishes her a speedy recovery and return to the air.
CMPD To Install Shot Spotter - Deputy Chief Harold Medlock says the city will deploy the system in one neighborhood with a high rate of violent crime.
The 50 thousand dollar project is expected to be rolled out in one of Charlotte's more notorious for drive by neighbor hoods.
The system is pretty simple, get some people to agree to have listening devices and antennas placed on their rooftops in several places over a one square mile area. When a gun shot is heard the computers measure the sound, triangulate the location and alert police dispatch.
During Charlotte City council discussion some members voiced concern that the system could eavesdrop on citizen conversations. Medlock said the system cannot identify or record conversations.
CP hears other wise but lets move on.
Council approved $50,000 for a one-year test of the system. The money will come out of the CMPD asset forfeiture fund. To cover the entire City of Charlotte with the ShotSpotter System would cost 14 million a year. Even to cover just the "trouble spots" would cost inexcess of $3,000,000.00 per year.
About the same time as Charlotte was approving the trial run of the Shot Spotter system, across the country in Seattle their city council was voting to approve the same purchase.
The pitch was much the same and the police department cited the City of Boston who began using the technology in 2007.
A couple of interesting facts emerge, first Boston's homicide data from 2008 through 2011 might suggest that this technology hasn’t prevented murders.
Boston recorded 63 murders in 2008, 50 in 2009, 72 in 2010 and 63 in 2011. Seattle where the Shot Spotter system will be given a much larger test over several miles in the southern half of the city.
The population of Boston, Seattle are about the same yet the largest city in Washington state had only 19 homicides in 2010 compare that to Chicago with over 300 so far this year.
Cedar's Take: Chicago's West and South sides would be the ultimate proving grounds, so why won't Shot Spotter donate a year's worth of the service?
I expect that the system will work and will in fact produce results. Will it stop violent crime Charlotte? Of course not, the only way to stop violent crime is to permanently incarcerate violent offenders, but if we did that we wouldn't have any room for the crack and meth heads.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Warren Cooksey Busted?
WBTV's See, Click, Fix segment normally solves bothersome local issues that neighbors just don't seem to make any progress on.
Imagine WBTV's surprise when they learned that the homeowner they were targeting for an unkempt lawn was Charlotte City Councilman Warren Cooksey.
In the above Mecklenburg County photo all looks pretty tidy. But a drive by via Google street view shows a yard in need of some work.
WBTV's report can be found here.
WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC
Warren Cooksey didn't re-turn calls to WBTV regarding his property. The video from the WBTV segment shows a lawn with grass that is nearly a foot tall. The WBTV report also details more than half a dozen letters sent to Mr. Cooksey by the city regarding his lawn.
Cedar's Take: Wow, and I thought my yard looked bad. But wait, 1404 Lyon Court is in district 1, and Mr. Cooksey represents District 7 where he lives in an apartment.
So he owns a small house in District 1 but lives in an upscale apartment in Ballentyne?
I imagine there is some reasonable explanation, perhaps this home is just rental property and the current tenant is susposed to mow the lawn. It happens, I've had some lazy tenants myself. But one letter from the city would be enough.
Imagine WBTV's surprise when they learned that the homeowner they were targeting for an unkempt lawn was Charlotte City Councilman Warren Cooksey.
 |
| Warren Cooksey Photo Courtesy: City of Charlotte |
 |
| 1404 Lyon Court |
In the above Mecklenburg County photo all looks pretty tidy. But a drive by via Google street view shows a yard in need of some work.
WBTV's report can be found here.
WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC
Warren Cooksey didn't re-turn calls to WBTV regarding his property. The video from the WBTV segment shows a lawn with grass that is nearly a foot tall. The WBTV report also details more than half a dozen letters sent to Mr. Cooksey by the city regarding his lawn.
Cedar's Take: Wow, and I thought my yard looked bad. But wait, 1404 Lyon Court is in district 1, and Mr. Cooksey represents District 7 where he lives in an apartment.
So he owns a small house in District 1 but lives in an upscale apartment in Ballentyne?
I imagine there is some reasonable explanation, perhaps this home is just rental property and the current tenant is susposed to mow the lawn. It happens, I've had some lazy tenants myself. But one letter from the city would be enough.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Monday Odds and Ends
Did You See Them? - CMPD Officers did. Turns out the DNC 2012 anarchists are already in Charlotte. CMPD has more than a dozen officers watching and photographing people who are apparently checking out Charlotte's Uptown in advance of the DNC 2012.
Word on the street is that elements of groups known to generally impede traffic and wish to cause general chaos, have been spotted in the Uptown area.
Those observed have not been confronted, only watched and photographed. Officers have reportedly spotted some known trouble makers as well as other individuals writing notes, making sketches and taking photos as well as videos of the area.
CMPD plainclothes, uniformed and civilian employees are all part of a team assembled to "watch" for suspected anarchists as well as terrorists threats. As one Officer told CP, "we definitely know that are planning on causing some trouble".
The End of Penn State Football - Early Sunday morning workers removed the iconic statue of JoePa from Beaver Stadium, as a small group of onlookers gathered chanted "We are PENN STATE" and the Joe Paterno era came to a very sad and still stunning end.
The university announced at 7 am Sunday that it was taking down the monument in the wake of an investigative report that found the late coach and three other top Penn State administrators concealed sex abuse claims against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The statue, weighing more than 900 pounds, was built in 2001 in honor of Paterno's record-setting 324th Division 1 coaching victory and his "contributions to the university."
Cedar's Take: There is a certain uneasiness regarding the erection of statues to living people. The photos of the statue being removed are reminiscent of the pulling down of the giant Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad years ago, a process that climaxed with the head of the statue being dragged through the streets.
This entire PENN State mess has been much like the removal and execution of Saddam Hussein. The sudden resignation and subsequent death of Joe Pa, the Sandusky Bob Costas interview, the fast track trial, and guilty verdict. The entire process has been unseemly, unpleasant, and messy.
Throughout all of this the statue which represented Paterno leading Penn State on to the field his right index finger symbolically proclaiming Number 1 held high, has been a lightning rod and media focal point.
Penn State President Rod Erickson said he decided to have the statue removed and put into storage because it "has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing."
"I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," Erickson said in a statement released at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Which brings us to this:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;— Exodus 20:4-6 (KJV)
And should the 3rd of 10 commandments be a little too deep, then perhaps George C Scott, as George S. Patton can provide some timeless advice and wisdom.
For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.
The PENN State Football program will not recover from Jerry Sandusky's perversion for decades. The NCAA while not likely to give the Nittnay Lions the death penalty, is expected to hand down some heavy fines and actions that shuts down bowl games, scholarships and recruiting efforts. But in the end these sanctions will only extract the highest price from those who are already co-victims, the students.
Danica Patrick on Fifty Shades of Grey - Patrick admitted on Twitter recently that she had, to her disappointment, reached the end of the first of E.L. James' best-selling mainstream erotica trilogy.
"I finished the 514 pages that were in that first book. It's sad I even know that, but it felt like a victory for me."
Patrick tells ESPN "I didn't put it out there, exactly, in the first place, although I wasn't … I gave it up pretty easily," she conceded. "I basically just made a statement the worst part about a great book is finishing it. You get there and don't want it to end. 'Maybe I'll save a little bit.' Somebody right away chimed in on Twitter, like the third tweet that came in, 'Let me guess, 'Fifty Shades of Grey,'' and I was like 'How did you know?"
Cedar's Take: There is something very intoxicating about a woman who handles her sexuality the same way she drives a car, that is to say with reckless abandon.
Word on the street is that elements of groups known to generally impede traffic and wish to cause general chaos, have been spotted in the Uptown area.
Those observed have not been confronted, only watched and photographed. Officers have reportedly spotted some known trouble makers as well as other individuals writing notes, making sketches and taking photos as well as videos of the area.
CMPD plainclothes, uniformed and civilian employees are all part of a team assembled to "watch" for suspected anarchists as well as terrorists threats. As one Officer told CP, "we definitely know that are planning on causing some trouble".
The End of Penn State Football - Early Sunday morning workers removed the iconic statue of JoePa from Beaver Stadium, as a small group of onlookers gathered chanted "We are PENN STATE" and the Joe Paterno era came to a very sad and still stunning end.
 |
| A ghostly reminder of the bronze mural that represented decades of winning football. |
 |
| Early Sunday morning workers moved quickly and quietly remove the 7 foot tall statue. |
The university announced at 7 am Sunday that it was taking down the monument in the wake of an investigative report that found the late coach and three other top Penn State administrators concealed sex abuse claims against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The statue, weighing more than 900 pounds, was built in 2001 in honor of Paterno's record-setting 324th Division 1 coaching victory and his "contributions to the university."
Cedar's Take: There is a certain uneasiness regarding the erection of statues to living people. The photos of the statue being removed are reminiscent of the pulling down of the giant Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad years ago, a process that climaxed with the head of the statue being dragged through the streets.
This entire PENN State mess has been much like the removal and execution of Saddam Hussein. The sudden resignation and subsequent death of Joe Pa, the Sandusky Bob Costas interview, the fast track trial, and guilty verdict. The entire process has been unseemly, unpleasant, and messy.
Throughout all of this the statue which represented Paterno leading Penn State on to the field his right index finger symbolically proclaiming Number 1 held high, has been a lightning rod and media focal point.
Penn State President Rod Erickson said he decided to have the statue removed and put into storage because it "has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing."
"I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," Erickson said in a statement released at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Which brings us to this:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;— Exodus 20:4-6 (KJV)
And should the 3rd of 10 commandments be a little too deep, then perhaps George C Scott, as George S. Patton can provide some timeless advice and wisdom.
For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.
The PENN State Football program will not recover from Jerry Sandusky's perversion for decades. The NCAA while not likely to give the Nittnay Lions the death penalty, is expected to hand down some heavy fines and actions that shuts down bowl games, scholarships and recruiting efforts. But in the end these sanctions will only extract the highest price from those who are already co-victims, the students.
Danica Patrick on Fifty Shades of Grey - Patrick admitted on Twitter recently that she had, to her disappointment, reached the end of the first of E.L. James' best-selling mainstream erotica trilogy.
"I finished the 514 pages that were in that first book. It's sad I even know that, but it felt like a victory for me."
Patrick tells ESPN "I didn't put it out there, exactly, in the first place, although I wasn't … I gave it up pretty easily," she conceded. "I basically just made a statement the worst part about a great book is finishing it. You get there and don't want it to end. 'Maybe I'll save a little bit.' Somebody right away chimed in on Twitter, like the third tweet that came in, 'Let me guess, 'Fifty Shades of Grey,'' and I was like 'How did you know?"
Cedar's Take: There is something very intoxicating about a woman who handles her sexuality the same way she drives a car, that is to say with reckless abandon.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Obama's Storm Troopers - Ashley Judd Comes to Charlotte
Obama's final option "celebs" are beginning to invade Charlotte. Word from the Charlotte Observer is that actress Ashley Judd will host a "Women For Obama Summit" in Charlotte today. The event, which will be from 3 to 4 p.m. at Central Piedmont Community College, is free and open to the public.
Judd, who is the third rail of the seriously dysfunctional Naomi, and Wynonna family, will address her concerns about family matters and women's reproductive health. Judd will also return in September as a member of the Tennessee delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
Cedar's Take: Judds are the poster girls for self centered egos. When Wynonna wed longtime boyfriend Cactus Moser last month, two guests who didn't show were mom Naomi and sister Ashley. Keep in mind that both mom and sister have homes on the same Tennessee farm where the wedding took place.
Wynonna explained about the absence: "Ashley's probably so busy with [husband] Dario [Franchitti] having won the Indianapolis 500, she probably doesn't even know"
"We're getting ready to sit down with our life coach and re-evaluate what we want out of (our) relationship . . . We (Naomi, Wynonna and Ashley) just don't have a lot of contact right now, if any, because we're all doing our own thing."
"I'm getting ready to have a meeting with Ashley, and re-do our family contract, and re-set our boundaries," Wynonna added "It's just really healthy."
Seriously, do we really want the direction of our country decided by women who have life coaches to help navigate the complexities of mother/daughter/stepsister relationships?
Cedar's Favorite Quote on Ashley Judd: "Ashley is a stupid, arrogant, raging egomaniac. She's one of those insufferable "new-agey" people who think there's something fundamentally spiritual about every dump she takes." - Indy race car driver Milka Duno
Judd on Obama: "I think that he is a powerful leader, I think that he is a brilliant man I think that he has an incredible devotion to our Constitution, and that he is now able to flower more as the president I knew he could be."
Judd on Obama's support of gay marriage: "I was extremely proud of his statement about gay marriage, for example, because he didn’t need to do that. He was just displaying his values and his belief in equality. And that moved me to tears."
Judd on Mitt Romney: "To be perfectly honest, I haven't paid that much attention to him because I'm so into my guy,"
Judd on being a DNC delegate: “My experience in 2008 was pretty life-changing,” she said. “It was glorious in Denver. I’m looking forward to an equally provocative and meaningful experience in Charlotte.”
Cedar Update: Ashley Judd at CPCC's Pease Auditorium. Where at least 100 women stopped by to listen to the actress and activist.
 |
| Ashley Judd making "Cat" calls. |
Cedar's Take: Judds are the poster girls for self centered egos. When Wynonna wed longtime boyfriend Cactus Moser last month, two guests who didn't show were mom Naomi and sister Ashley. Keep in mind that both mom and sister have homes on the same Tennessee farm where the wedding took place.
Wynonna explained about the absence: "Ashley's probably so busy with [husband] Dario [Franchitti] having won the Indianapolis 500, she probably doesn't even know"
"We're getting ready to sit down with our life coach and re-evaluate what we want out of (our) relationship . . . We (Naomi, Wynonna and Ashley) just don't have a lot of contact right now, if any, because we're all doing our own thing."
"I'm getting ready to have a meeting with Ashley, and re-do our family contract, and re-set our boundaries," Wynonna added "It's just really healthy."
Seriously, do we really want the direction of our country decided by women who have life coaches to help navigate the complexities of mother/daughter/stepsister relationships?
Cedar's Favorite Quote on Ashley Judd: "Ashley is a stupid, arrogant, raging egomaniac. She's one of those insufferable "new-agey" people who think there's something fundamentally spiritual about every dump she takes." - Indy race car driver Milka Duno
Judd on Obama: "I think that he is a powerful leader, I think that he is a brilliant man I think that he has an incredible devotion to our Constitution, and that he is now able to flower more as the president I knew he could be."
Judd on Obama's support of gay marriage: "I was extremely proud of his statement about gay marriage, for example, because he didn’t need to do that. He was just displaying his values and his belief in equality. And that moved me to tears."
Judd on Mitt Romney: "To be perfectly honest, I haven't paid that much attention to him because I'm so into my guy,"
Judd on being a DNC delegate: “My experience in 2008 was pretty life-changing,” she said. “It was glorious in Denver. I’m looking forward to an equally provocative and meaningful experience in Charlotte.”
Cedar Update: Ashley Judd at CPCC's Pease Auditorium. Where at least 100 women stopped by to listen to the actress and activist.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Friday Wrap Up - Rainbow Edition
Gay Mural on Central - You might have suspected, but just for the record the rainbow themed wall on Charlotte's Central Avenue is a project by the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte.
The project features a rainbow horizon, large bookend profiles of a transvestite, and a couple of street walkers.
According to Matt Comer editor of QNotes, the project is titled “Our Lives, Our Culture, Our Time,” and focuses on a message of love, equality and peace, and is meant to bring awareness to the local LGBT community.
The painting is located at the White Rabbit building at 920 Central Avenue which Comer goes on to note, "White Rabbit is the only LGBT-specific bookstore in the state. The building also houses the offices of this (QNotes) newspaper. Organizers say that the mural’s presence on Central Ave. will highlight Plaza Midwood and surrounding areas known for their LGBT-inclusive and friendly atmosphere and high concentration of LGBT residents and small business owners."
Cedar's Take: If you paint a wall on a "Gay" bookstore and newspaper office and it has a LGBT theme, then it is not a community project, it is an advertisement. And therefore it probably violates Charlotte's zoning ordinances.
Have a look for yourself:
Eastland Mall - Looks like Charlotte City Council will once again venture into the real estate business when on Monday they consider buying Eastland Mall for $13.2 million.
When Eastland opened in 1975 it was the center of East Charlotte, a once thriving and vibrant area of the city. Over the last 15 years the area has been in a steep spiral towards ghettodom, as the demographics have shifted from white middle class to black low income as well as Asian and Latino immigrants.
The property now sits vacant, a stalemate of economic reality and crazy redevelopment ideas, including a Latino themed discount shopping complex, and turning it into a television and movie studio.
Charlotte much like Fort Mill is impotent when it comes to abandoned property. As we have seen with the former PTL tower to the south of Charlotte there is little that can be done to force property owners to do the right thing. Eastland Mall needs to meet the wrecking ball. The direction the city wants to take is "mixed use" redevelopment, but the truth is no amount of "capital investment" will change the perception of Eastland Mall.
While some city council members see a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, $13 millon is just the start of the costs taxpayers will absorb. Lost tax revenue, and demolition costs are only the tip of the iceberg, there are interest expenses and lost time value of money. Meanwhile the businesses who profited from Eastland Mall over the last 40 years are singing all the way to the bank.
DNC 2012 - What was sold as a cash cow for Charlotte has fast become a black hole of empty promises. Democratic leaders Harry Reed and Nancy Polisi have publicly encouraged their members to stay away from Charlotte. Fun raising has fallen short, small business contracts have failed to materialize and time is running out.
Meanwhile protest groups planning to converge on Charlotte seem to have a solid plan and even interest by the news media has waned. The expected windfall many Charlotte homeowners expected may have been just wishful thinking.
By the time the convention starts most uptown small businesses will have shuttered their store fronts, accepting that security restrictions and lack of customers make running a business impossible during the shortened event. They only rainbow Charlotte will see is after the DNC moves on.
The project features a rainbow horizon, large bookend profiles of a transvestite, and a couple of street walkers.
According to Matt Comer editor of QNotes, the project is titled “Our Lives, Our Culture, Our Time,” and focuses on a message of love, equality and peace, and is meant to bring awareness to the local LGBT community.
The painting is located at the White Rabbit building at 920 Central Avenue which Comer goes on to note, "White Rabbit is the only LGBT-specific bookstore in the state. The building also houses the offices of this (QNotes) newspaper. Organizers say that the mural’s presence on Central Ave. will highlight Plaza Midwood and surrounding areas known for their LGBT-inclusive and friendly atmosphere and high concentration of LGBT residents and small business owners."
Cedar's Take: If you paint a wall on a "Gay" bookstore and newspaper office and it has a LGBT theme, then it is not a community project, it is an advertisement. And therefore it probably violates Charlotte's zoning ordinances.
Have a look for yourself:
When Eastland opened in 1975 it was the center of East Charlotte, a once thriving and vibrant area of the city. Over the last 15 years the area has been in a steep spiral towards ghettodom, as the demographics have shifted from white middle class to black low income as well as Asian and Latino immigrants.
The property now sits vacant, a stalemate of economic reality and crazy redevelopment ideas, including a Latino themed discount shopping complex, and turning it into a television and movie studio.
Charlotte much like Fort Mill is impotent when it comes to abandoned property. As we have seen with the former PTL tower to the south of Charlotte there is little that can be done to force property owners to do the right thing. Eastland Mall needs to meet the wrecking ball. The direction the city wants to take is "mixed use" redevelopment, but the truth is no amount of "capital investment" will change the perception of Eastland Mall.
While some city council members see a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, $13 millon is just the start of the costs taxpayers will absorb. Lost tax revenue, and demolition costs are only the tip of the iceberg, there are interest expenses and lost time value of money. Meanwhile the businesses who profited from Eastland Mall over the last 40 years are singing all the way to the bank.
DNC 2012 - What was sold as a cash cow for Charlotte has fast become a black hole of empty promises. Democratic leaders Harry Reed and Nancy Polisi have publicly encouraged their members to stay away from Charlotte. Fun raising has fallen short, small business contracts have failed to materialize and time is running out.
Meanwhile protest groups planning to converge on Charlotte seem to have a solid plan and even interest by the news media has waned. The expected windfall many Charlotte homeowners expected may have been just wishful thinking.
By the time the convention starts most uptown small businesses will have shuttered their store fronts, accepting that security restrictions and lack of customers make running a business impossible during the shortened event. They only rainbow Charlotte will see is after the DNC moves on.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Former Slave Letter Signed "Brother Jourdon Anderson" A Hoax or is it?
The Brother Jourdon Anderson letter has surfaced again, this past weekend, with the AP claiming it as a recent discovery. Thankfully unlike the Observer's Slave Children photo, they have apparently elected not to fill their new columns with the hoax.
The story of the slave telling his former owner where to put his offer of employment and security has again appeared with seemingly authoritative support as to its authenticity. Except, there is something overly convenient about the letter and the commentary.
First there is the census validation that proves that all the named parties in the letter appear as detailed and to where their residence was described as well.
Second while there is support that the letter could have been written, there is not a copy of the letter itself or a copy of the letter from his former "master".
The letter is not a new find, recently in February of this year it made an appearance on Huffington Post, and prior years of 2007 and 2009. It has been traced as far back as 1979 (Pre-Internet) when it was included in the Pulitzer winning book "Been in the Storm So Long" by Leon Litwack.
A copy of the reported scan of the paper is here and the letter follows:
Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.
As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.
In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.
From your old servant,
Jourdon Anderson
PS. Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.
Cedar's Take: It is a hoax, while sentiments might be real and the players named are actual people who lived during that period one thing stands out. Why would Mr. Anderson pen or even dictate such a letter?
In my opinion he would not have. Today's sense of dry humor and wit, wasn't common place in the mid 1800's. It could be that someone at the paper tried their hand a little Mark Twain style of humor, but Twain wasn't well known until after his "Jumping Frog" story which was written until November of 1865.
Nevertheless, a recently freed black man, would not have done anything that would have even the slightest hint of sarcasm, for fear of risking his freedom and safety.
So, as to the possibility that the letter was created by the paper to promote the editorial abolitionist slant of the Ohio press at that time, I'll concede.
The story of the slave telling his former owner where to put his offer of employment and security has again appeared with seemingly authoritative support as to its authenticity. Except, there is something overly convenient about the letter and the commentary.
First there is the census validation that proves that all the named parties in the letter appear as detailed and to where their residence was described as well.
Second while there is support that the letter could have been written, there is not a copy of the letter itself or a copy of the letter from his former "master".
The letter is not a new find, recently in February of this year it made an appearance on Huffington Post, and prior years of 2007 and 2009. It has been traced as far back as 1979 (Pre-Internet) when it was included in the Pulitzer winning book "Been in the Storm So Long" by Leon Litwack.
A copy of the reported scan of the paper is here and the letter follows:
Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.
As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.
In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.
From your old servant,
Jourdon Anderson
PS. Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.
Cedar's Take: It is a hoax, while sentiments might be real and the players named are actual people who lived during that period one thing stands out. Why would Mr. Anderson pen or even dictate such a letter?
In my opinion he would not have. Today's sense of dry humor and wit, wasn't common place in the mid 1800's. It could be that someone at the paper tried their hand a little Mark Twain style of humor, but Twain wasn't well known until after his "Jumping Frog" story which was written until November of 1865.
Nevertheless, a recently freed black man, would not have done anything that would have even the slightest hint of sarcasm, for fear of risking his freedom and safety.
So, as to the possibility that the letter was created by the paper to promote the editorial abolitionist slant of the Ohio press at that time, I'll concede.
In Case You Missed It - WalMart Riot
A huge Saturday-night house party broken up by police in a North Jacksonville, Florida subdivision ended with one man shot in the leg as he and hundreds of other partygoers fled the officers' arrival. But the party didn't stop at the home in the 12000 block of Sampson Road, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Hundreds of its teenage partyers ignited a flash mob about 90 minutes later at the Walmart Supercenter at 12100 Lem Turner Road. They took over the produce section and caused havoc that was recorded and posted on YouTube.
Hundreds of its teenage partyers ignited a flash mob about 90 minutes later at the Walmart Supercenter at 12100 Lem Turner Road. They took over the produce section and caused havoc that was recorded and posted on YouTube.
Another Harris Teeter Store Held Up
WSOC is reporting that CMPD detectives are reviewing video from a July 17, 2012 Aldie, Virginia Harris Teeter robbery to figure out if it is connected the robbery of four Harris Teeter stores in the Charlotte area.
The store is located, just outside Washington D.C.
A video released by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department shows two black men, one armed with a hand gun raiding the "U-Scan" self-service check out registers.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police told Channel 9 detectives know about the Virginia crime, but can’t say if they are the same robbers who held up stores in Charlotte, Cornelius, Union County and in South Carolina.
Interesting to note that the WSOC report fails to mention the five reported robberies of the Harris Teeter stores in the Greensboro area.
Harris Teeter has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of the duo from $50,000 to $75,000.
Cedar's Take: Expect these two will end up in a pool of blood. They are increasingly brazen and reckless, and continue to target the one store they are familiar with.
The store is located, just outside Washington D.C.
A video released by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department shows two black men, one armed with a hand gun raiding the "U-Scan" self-service check out registers.
Interesting to note that the WSOC report fails to mention the five reported robberies of the Harris Teeter stores in the Greensboro area.
Harris Teeter has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of the duo from $50,000 to $75,000.
Cedar's Take: Expect these two will end up in a pool of blood. They are increasingly brazen and reckless, and continue to target the one store they are familiar with.
Anthony Foxx' Former PR Manager Found Dead
Erica Johnson, 39, was found dead late Monday in her mother’s High Point home. Johnson was Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx’s communications manager but resigned effective Dec. 2, 2011, shortly after she returned from a medical leave.
Johnson graduated with honors from Howard University and worked as a media relations coordinator at Walt Disney World and as an assignment editor at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem before she joined the Charlotte Chamber as vice president for public relations.
Johnson joined the mayor’s office in the winter of 2010, shortly after Foxx was elected in November 2009, to help coordinate events and work with media and city residents. Some Republicans on city council, and even some in Foxx’s own party, criticized the hire, accused the mayor of wasting tax dollars at a time when the city, like the rest of the nation, was mired in an economic slump.
In an email announcing her departure last year, Johnson thanked Foxx for a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” “It has been an honor and privilege to serve you and the citizens of Charlotte as communications manager in the Office of the Mayor,” she wrote.
It was during Johnson's medical leave that the mayor's other assistant, Tracy Montross, went on the attack seeking reimbursement from Charlotte International Cabinet for the mayor's China trip.
There was no word on Johnson's cause of death or the nature of her previous medical leave.
Hat Tip to QCityMetro for breaking this story.
Update July 20, 2012: The Charlotte Observer has published Ms. Johnson's obituary which is here. Cedar Posts has no information that Ms. Johnson's death was due to drugs or anything else other than natural causes. Comments stating otherwise are pure speculation.
Johnson graduated with honors from Howard University and worked as a media relations coordinator at Walt Disney World and as an assignment editor at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem before she joined the Charlotte Chamber as vice president for public relations.
Johnson joined the mayor’s office in the winter of 2010, shortly after Foxx was elected in November 2009, to help coordinate events and work with media and city residents. Some Republicans on city council, and even some in Foxx’s own party, criticized the hire, accused the mayor of wasting tax dollars at a time when the city, like the rest of the nation, was mired in an economic slump.
In an email announcing her departure last year, Johnson thanked Foxx for a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” “It has been an honor and privilege to serve you and the citizens of Charlotte as communications manager in the Office of the Mayor,” she wrote.
It was during Johnson's medical leave that the mayor's other assistant, Tracy Montross, went on the attack seeking reimbursement from Charlotte International Cabinet for the mayor's China trip.
There was no word on Johnson's cause of death or the nature of her previous medical leave.
Hat Tip to QCityMetro for breaking this story.
Update July 20, 2012: The Charlotte Observer has published Ms. Johnson's obituary which is here. Cedar Posts has no information that Ms. Johnson's death was due to drugs or anything else other than natural causes. Comments stating otherwise are pure speculation.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
In Case You Missed It - Charlotte Teen Given Probation in Attempted Kidnapping
WSOC reported on Friday that a Charlotte teenager who tried to take a 7-year-old girl from her north Charlotte apartment complex would not go to prison.
Prosecutors agreed to a plea deal with Matthew Cruz, 18, that puts him on three years probation and requires that he undergo mental health evaluation and treatment.
Cruz had picked up the girl at an apartment complex near Northlake Mall in April and put her over his shoulder before she was able to break free and run for help. He was charged with kidnapping and assault but the charges were reduced to attempted child abduction as part of his plea deal.
"Prosecutors in our office, myself included, had considerable discussion with CMPD about how to handle this case," said assistant district attorney Jeff Davis.
Davis said they agreed to the reduced charge because Cruz only had the girl for a matter of moments and it would have been difficult to prove what he intended to do with her.
"With kidnapping you have to be able to show that there's a specific purpose in mind," Davis said.
As part of his probation, Cruz has been banned from the apartment complex and from having any contact with the girl or her family.
Prosecutors agreed to a plea deal with Matthew Cruz, 18, that puts him on three years probation and requires that he undergo mental health evaluation and treatment.
Cruz had picked up the girl at an apartment complex near Northlake Mall in April and put her over his shoulder before she was able to break free and run for help. He was charged with kidnapping and assault but the charges were reduced to attempted child abduction as part of his plea deal.
"Prosecutors in our office, myself included, had considerable discussion with CMPD about how to handle this case," said assistant district attorney Jeff Davis.
Davis said they agreed to the reduced charge because Cruz only had the girl for a matter of moments and it would have been difficult to prove what he intended to do with her.
"With kidnapping you have to be able to show that there's a specific purpose in mind," Davis said.
As part of his probation, Cruz has been banned from the apartment complex and from having any contact with the girl or her family.
Charlotte City Council Members and Zombies
On Monday night Charlotte City Council Member Warren Cooksey tweeted:
“@WCooksey: News from the closed session: "ask" continues to be used as a noun by #cltcc members.”
No, Mr. Cooksey wasn't cracking on Charlotte City Council's diversity, it was not a question of pronunciation, but rather use. The councilman had noticed that some members have taken to using the word "ask" as a noun vs a verb.
ie: We have an "ask" on the table. vs We have a "request" on the table.
Ask as a noun isn't new, the Microsoft crowd was over using "ask" during corporate meetings with, "I have an number of simple asks" or "Our ask is not unreasonable." as far back as 2009.
Apparently this is some sort of effort by the user to not seem so demanding or petty, a way to tone down a request, or to diminish the perceived difficulty in granting the "request" errr or should I say "ask"?
Note to Charlotte City Council members who feel they are being trendy or hip by using "ask" as a noun, you just look silly. Silly in much the same way some marketing genius coined the term "reach out" a few years back, as in you need to "reach out to your clients".
Honestly, I don't like people I don't know well, "reaching out" to me, it tends to make me suspicious and gives me the impression that they might be some sort of zombie.
Finally, a quick google of ask as a noun, turns up this little tidbit, ask the noun has been around longer than the french derived word request. Yep, it is not new or trendy, in fact it is pretty dead.
“@WCooksey: News from the closed session: "ask" continues to be used as a noun by
No, Mr. Cooksey wasn't cracking on Charlotte City Council's diversity, it was not a question of pronunciation, but rather use. The councilman had noticed that some members have taken to using the word "ask" as a noun vs a verb.
ie: We have an "ask" on the table. vs We have a "request" on the table.
Ask as a noun isn't new, the Microsoft crowd was over using "ask" during corporate meetings with, "I have an number of simple asks" or "Our ask is not unreasonable." as far back as 2009.
Apparently this is some sort of effort by the user to not seem so demanding or petty, a way to tone down a request, or to diminish the perceived difficulty in granting the "request" errr or should I say "ask"?
Note to Charlotte City Council members who feel they are being trendy or hip by using "ask" as a noun, you just look silly. Silly in much the same way some marketing genius coined the term "reach out" a few years back, as in you need to "reach out to your clients".
Honestly, I don't like people I don't know well, "reaching out" to me, it tends to make me suspicious and gives me the impression that they might be some sort of zombie.
Finally, a quick google of ask as a noun, turns up this little tidbit, ask the noun has been around longer than the french derived word request. Yep, it is not new or trendy, in fact it is pretty dead.
MSC Flaminia 2 Crew Men Dead Others Recused
Nothing causes stress to a boat captain more than a fire as sea.
A week ago Cedar Posts gave guests aboard for a Charleston Habor tour a close up look at the arriving container ship MSC Flaminia.
On Saturday July 14, an explosion in hold #4 started a fire onboard the ship after it had left Charleston in route to Antwerpen Belgium. The crew fought the fire beforebeing forced to abandon the ship nearly a 1,000 nautical miles from land in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Several news sources are reporting the following:
DS Crown, a German-owned, Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, was the first to arrive at the scene and rescue 22 crew members and two passengers from a lifeboat and a liferaft. One member of the crew is missing and feared dead. Later MSC Stella changed her course to take onboard four injured crew members to the Azores, one of whom later died from the burns he had sustained while fighting the fire.
After the crew had abandoned the ship, MSC Flaminia was left drifting in mid-Atlantic. Dutch salvage company Smit International has signed a salvage contract for the stricken vessel, but the extent of the fire is not known as the first salvage tug, Fairmount Expedition, is not expected to arrive at the scene until late Tuesday, 17 July. Another salvage tug, Anglian Sovereign, is being equipped with Cobra cutting extinguisher capable of piercing the containers and extinguish the fire within, and will arrive in the last known position of MSC Flaminia by Friday, 20 July. Ships in the region have reported a large plume of smoke rising from the burning ship.
The fire onboard MSC Flaminia has again raised concerns about the dangers of incorrect or falsified cargo manifests when volatile materials are shipped in containers as they are not supposed to be stowed inside the cargo holds. A similar fire seriously damaged Hyundai Fortune, a 5,551 TEU container ship, in 2006. The shipping company has confirmed that according to the cargo manifest the ship was not carrying calcium hypochlorite, a chemical compound responsible for several container ship fires in the 1990s, but due to the possibility of misdeclared cargo in some of the 2,876 containers onboard the ship it can not be ruled out yet.
A week ago Cedar Posts gave guests aboard for a Charleston Habor tour a close up look at the arriving container ship MSC Flaminia.
On Saturday July 14, an explosion in hold #4 started a fire onboard the ship after it had left Charleston in route to Antwerpen Belgium. The crew fought the fire beforebeing forced to abandon the ship nearly a 1,000 nautical miles from land in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Several news sources are reporting the following:
DS Crown, a German-owned, Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, was the first to arrive at the scene and rescue 22 crew members and two passengers from a lifeboat and a liferaft. One member of the crew is missing and feared dead. Later MSC Stella changed her course to take onboard four injured crew members to the Azores, one of whom later died from the burns he had sustained while fighting the fire.
After the crew had abandoned the ship, MSC Flaminia was left drifting in mid-Atlantic. Dutch salvage company Smit International has signed a salvage contract for the stricken vessel, but the extent of the fire is not known as the first salvage tug, Fairmount Expedition, is not expected to arrive at the scene until late Tuesday, 17 July. Another salvage tug, Anglian Sovereign, is being equipped with Cobra cutting extinguisher capable of piercing the containers and extinguish the fire within, and will arrive in the last known position of MSC Flaminia by Friday, 20 July. Ships in the region have reported a large plume of smoke rising from the burning ship.
The fire onboard MSC Flaminia has again raised concerns about the dangers of incorrect or falsified cargo manifests when volatile materials are shipped in containers as they are not supposed to be stowed inside the cargo holds. A similar fire seriously damaged Hyundai Fortune, a 5,551 TEU container ship, in 2006. The shipping company has confirmed that according to the cargo manifest the ship was not carrying calcium hypochlorite, a chemical compound responsible for several container ship fires in the 1990s, but due to the possibility of misdeclared cargo in some of the 2,876 containers onboard the ship it can not be ruled out yet.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Charlotte's Segregated Past - Not So Simple
The Charlotte Observer's Elizabeth Leland added to her series on the South with Sunday's installment which was offered up as a testament to our segregated past.
"When President Barack Obama makes history in Charlotte by accepting the Democratic Presidential Nomination for a second term, Nellie Ashford hopes we won’t forget there was a time when our city might not have welcomed a person of color."
Leland goes on to say; "In her pretty folk art paintings, Ashford reminds us of the ugliness in our past. Nellie Ashford, 68, is a self-taught folk artist who began painting about 15 years ago. Her pictures are a delightful and historical recollection of Charlotte in the 1940s and 1950s"
I first saw her work during a tour of the Democratic National Convention Committee headquarters uptown, where nine of her pieces are on loan. One painting in particular captivated me. She calls it “So Near But So Far.”
From a distance, it looks like a cheerful piece of folk art with a big yellow-orange school bus filling most of the canvas.
Up close, Ashford’s message becomes clear. Inside the bus are white children, being driven to school through a neighborhood of lush green lawns and a tidy picket fence. Walking in the opposite direction are barefoot African-American children who were not allowed to study in the same schools as white boys and girls. A chain-link fence separates the two.
“You always walked in a group because you didn’t want to be out there alone,” Ashford said about black schoolchildren in the segregated 1940s and ’50s of her childhood. “Sometimes people would throw things at you. Sometimes the bus would go by fast and splash water. They may take a dog and let the dog get to you. There was no regard to the little people walking to school.”
“I paint about things I remember as a child,” she said. “It’s a part of history that made us who we are. Without those humble people that I paint about, there would not have been a Harvey Gantt or a Mayor (Anthony) Foxx or a President Obama even.”
The trouble is that Nellie Ashford is 68, while the article also says she is 69 but nevertheless we can assume she was born in 1944. So she was an infant in the 1940's and a toddler in the early 1950's. Then in 1962 she apparently left for New York during what has often been termed the great northern migration.
Now before I point out the obvious, let me say that I think Nellie's art is entertaining and in many ways it expresses the feelings so many have about the south. But frankly the article sensationalizes at the expense of the artist segregation that she was either too young to remember or wasn't in Charlotte during a time to experience.
Leland continues; "She left Charlotte in 1962 for New York City and the promise of a better life, part of a great northern migration of African-American men and women. “I didn’t want to work in the kitchen scrubbing floors,” she said. “I knew that I wanted something better.” "
In order for our President to "show" the world how far we have come the DNC must build the proper stage. Enter Nellie Ashford, as well as Tavis Smiley who has a retrospective of the south on display in Charlotte as well. Smiley's exhibit includes an eerily lit Ku Klux Klan robe and photos of cross burnings and lynchings.
But Charlotte, isn't now and wasn't then, Selma, or Memphis, or Montgomery or Atlanta of the early 1960's. It wasn't the "Jim Crow" South of the 1950's or 1940's.
Charlotte was such a non-issue in the civil rights movement, that Dr. King made only one trip to Charlotte, where he made a short and polite speech that had the beginnings of his famous I had a dream speech and left town the same day.
It wasn't that Charlotte didn't have a segregated past, it was just so far ahead of so many other cities that we were just small potatoes compared to Detroit, Chicago and Atlanta.
Soon after 1945 Charlotte was on a progressive fast track to racial equality. Charlotte's business leaders were smart enough to understand that Jim Crow was bad for business.
Charlotte began to integrate public schools in 1957, it wasn't without a measure of controversy but it was a start. And by 1963 while George Wallace was claiming allegiance to "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" most of - if not all of Charlotte's businesses and public venues were already fully integrated.
Which might explain why Charlotte avoided the riots and murders that plagued other cities in the 60's. But Nellie Ashford wasn't a Charlotte resident then and so she would not have known.
Nellie Ashford wasn't in Charlotte in 1968, she didn't see how this community came together both black and white in a solid show of unity after the death of Dr. King. She wasn't here to see hundreds fill Oven's Auditorium, or Charlotte's Mayor Stan Brookshire walk up the steps of St. Paul's Baptist Church along with the future Governor Jim Martin to attend a memorial service for Dr. King at the African-American church.
While fires where burning in the streets of Chicago and Detroit, Charlotte was quiet as a Sunday morning in the days that followed the murder of Dr. King in Memphis.
There is no valid point in embellishing Charlotte's segregated past, there is no reason to sensationalize the negative aspect of Jim Crow except to build upon some twisted need to shame Charlotte's citizens in some perverted effort to build upon the Obama movement.
What Leland and even Ashford fail to point out is the Charlotte is as progressive now as it was back in the earliest days of the civil rights era.
Leland might do well to point out that there was a time when our city would have "welcomed a person of color" when other cities might not have offered the same.
You can read Elizabeth Leland's complete story on Charlotte's segregated past here. Read about Tavis Smiley's exhibit at Creative Loafing here, and read Elizabeth Leland's rebuttal to criticism of her series here.
"When President Barack Obama makes history in Charlotte by accepting the Democratic Presidential Nomination for a second term, Nellie Ashford hopes we won’t forget there was a time when our city might not have welcomed a person of color."
Leland goes on to say; "In her pretty folk art paintings, Ashford reminds us of the ugliness in our past. Nellie Ashford, 68, is a self-taught folk artist who began painting about 15 years ago. Her pictures are a delightful and historical recollection of Charlotte in the 1940s and 1950s"
I first saw her work during a tour of the Democratic National Convention Committee headquarters uptown, where nine of her pieces are on loan. One painting in particular captivated me. She calls it “So Near But So Far.”
From a distance, it looks like a cheerful piece of folk art with a big yellow-orange school bus filling most of the canvas.
 |
| Nellie Ashford and her work, "So Near But So Far". |
Up close, Ashford’s message becomes clear. Inside the bus are white children, being driven to school through a neighborhood of lush green lawns and a tidy picket fence. Walking in the opposite direction are barefoot African-American children who were not allowed to study in the same schools as white boys and girls. A chain-link fence separates the two.
“You always walked in a group because you didn’t want to be out there alone,” Ashford said about black schoolchildren in the segregated 1940s and ’50s of her childhood. “Sometimes people would throw things at you. Sometimes the bus would go by fast and splash water. They may take a dog and let the dog get to you. There was no regard to the little people walking to school.”
“I paint about things I remember as a child,” she said. “It’s a part of history that made us who we are. Without those humble people that I paint about, there would not have been a Harvey Gantt or a Mayor (Anthony) Foxx or a President Obama even.”
The trouble is that Nellie Ashford is 68, while the article also says she is 69 but nevertheless we can assume she was born in 1944. So she was an infant in the 1940's and a toddler in the early 1950's. Then in 1962 she apparently left for New York during what has often been termed the great northern migration.
Now before I point out the obvious, let me say that I think Nellie's art is entertaining and in many ways it expresses the feelings so many have about the south. But frankly the article sensationalizes at the expense of the artist segregation that she was either too young to remember or wasn't in Charlotte during a time to experience.
Leland continues; "She left Charlotte in 1962 for New York City and the promise of a better life, part of a great northern migration of African-American men and women. “I didn’t want to work in the kitchen scrubbing floors,” she said. “I knew that I wanted something better.” "
In order for our President to "show" the world how far we have come the DNC must build the proper stage. Enter Nellie Ashford, as well as Tavis Smiley who has a retrospective of the south on display in Charlotte as well. Smiley's exhibit includes an eerily lit Ku Klux Klan robe and photos of cross burnings and lynchings.
But Charlotte, isn't now and wasn't then, Selma, or Memphis, or Montgomery or Atlanta of the early 1960's. It wasn't the "Jim Crow" South of the 1950's or 1940's.
Charlotte was such a non-issue in the civil rights movement, that Dr. King made only one trip to Charlotte, where he made a short and polite speech that had the beginnings of his famous I had a dream speech and left town the same day.
It wasn't that Charlotte didn't have a segregated past, it was just so far ahead of so many other cities that we were just small potatoes compared to Detroit, Chicago and Atlanta.
Soon after 1945 Charlotte was on a progressive fast track to racial equality. Charlotte's business leaders were smart enough to understand that Jim Crow was bad for business.
Charlotte began to integrate public schools in 1957, it wasn't without a measure of controversy but it was a start. And by 1963 while George Wallace was claiming allegiance to "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" most of - if not all of Charlotte's businesses and public venues were already fully integrated.
Which might explain why Charlotte avoided the riots and murders that plagued other cities in the 60's. But Nellie Ashford wasn't a Charlotte resident then and so she would not have known.
Nellie Ashford wasn't in Charlotte in 1968, she didn't see how this community came together both black and white in a solid show of unity after the death of Dr. King. She wasn't here to see hundreds fill Oven's Auditorium, or Charlotte's Mayor Stan Brookshire walk up the steps of St. Paul's Baptist Church along with the future Governor Jim Martin to attend a memorial service for Dr. King at the African-American church.
While fires where burning in the streets of Chicago and Detroit, Charlotte was quiet as a Sunday morning in the days that followed the murder of Dr. King in Memphis.
There is no valid point in embellishing Charlotte's segregated past, there is no reason to sensationalize the negative aspect of Jim Crow except to build upon some twisted need to shame Charlotte's citizens in some perverted effort to build upon the Obama movement.
What Leland and even Ashford fail to point out is the Charlotte is as progressive now as it was back in the earliest days of the civil rights era.
Leland might do well to point out that there was a time when our city would have "welcomed a person of color" when other cities might not have offered the same.
You can read Elizabeth Leland's complete story on Charlotte's segregated past here. Read about Tavis Smiley's exhibit at Creative Loafing here, and read Elizabeth Leland's rebuttal to criticism of her series here.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Senior Master Sgt Robert Cannon
You might have noticed the three NC ANG C-130s that flew most of Sunday afternoon over South Charlotte. The aircraft were "on station" honoring Senior Master Sergeant Robert S. Cannon who was killed Sunday, July 1, 2012, while fighting the White Draw Fire in South Dakota.
The planes flew a race track pattern during the funeral that was held Carmel Baptist Church, beginning at 4PM and they continued as the funeral procession made its way along Highway 51, Interstate 485 and then 77 towards uptown.
At one point the motorcade led by a dozen Mecklenburg County Sheriff Deputies and the Patriot Guard Riders stretched from Providence Road all the way to Pineville and I-77
At 6:30 the aircraft departed station for the fly over at the Forest Lawn East Cemetery just west of Uptown Charlotte.
All total the aircraft spent more than 4 hours in the air.
Sgt. Cannon was born June 5, 1962 the son of Robert F. Cannon and the late Ruby L. Cannon. He attended Harding High School and entered the North Carolina Air National Guard on May 14, 1983.
In the late 1980's he deployed numerous times to Panama in support of Operation Coronet Oak.
He was deployed multiple times in support of the Liberation of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn. His active duty deployments took him to a variety of locations around the world and Southwest Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.
He was last assigned to the 145 Operations Support Flight.
In addition to his father Robert F. Cannon, SMSgt. Cannon's family includes Melanie Russ Cannon, his wife of 22 years; his son, Alex, and his daughter, Madeline; sister, Teresa Wrenn (Eddie), mother-in-law, Alice Whel-chel (Rick), father-in-law, James Russ (Sandy), and sister-in-law, Jennifer Nix (Michael); as well as his nieces and nephews, Stephanie Fowler, Richie Fowler, Abigail Nix and Addison Nix.
 |
| NC ANG C-130s over South Charlotte |
The planes flew a race track pattern during the funeral that was held Carmel Baptist Church, beginning at 4PM and they continued as the funeral procession made its way along Highway 51, Interstate 485 and then 77 towards uptown.
 |
| Member of the Patriot Guard Riders escort SMSgt Cannon |
At 6:30 the aircraft departed station for the fly over at the Forest Lawn East Cemetery just west of Uptown Charlotte.
All total the aircraft spent more than 4 hours in the air.
 |
| SMSgt. Robert S. "Robbie Cannon |
WBTV was also on hand and provided additional coverage of the funeral.
Sgt. Cannon was born June 5, 1962 the son of Robert F. Cannon and the late Ruby L. Cannon. He attended Harding High School and entered the North Carolina Air National Guard on May 14, 1983.
In the late 1980's he deployed numerous times to Panama in support of Operation Coronet Oak.
He was deployed multiple times in support of the Liberation of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn. His active duty deployments took him to a variety of locations around the world and Southwest Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.
He was last assigned to the 145 Operations Support Flight.
In addition to his father Robert F. Cannon, SMSgt. Cannon's family includes Melanie Russ Cannon, his wife of 22 years; his son, Alex, and his daughter, Madeline; sister, Teresa Wrenn (Eddie), mother-in-law, Alice Whel-chel (Rick), father-in-law, James Russ (Sandy), and sister-in-law, Jennifer Nix (Michael); as well as his nieces and nephews, Stephanie Fowler, Richie Fowler, Abigail Nix and Addison Nix.
Long Hot Summer
Suddenly Charlotte is in the middle of a "long hot summer" as the sound of gunfire again fills the night air in East Charlotte. Another homicide, the fifth murder in a week having occurred just minutes into Sunday.
According to CMPD, Officers responded to several 911 calls reporting shots fired at 6008 Timbertop Lane just off Harrisburg Road. Responding Officers found three men suffering from gunshot wounds. Medic responders declared one victim Kevin Washingston age 18 dead at the scene and transported the others Garrett Hall and Tevin Horton both also 18, to CMC. Horton was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and was released. Garrett who was reportley shot in the leg is still at CMC.
CMPD reports that a large party was underway when two groups of people began fighting. CMPD has not released the name of the deceased.
After 3 years of reporting ever declining crime stats CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe's world of numbers and compstat reports is crumbing just weeks before the DNC puts Charlotte on the national stage.
Through June 30, 2012 CMPD had reported 25 homicides a 40% increase over last year, the shooting now being reported puts that increase closer to 50%
Chief Monroe's goal of "Preventing The Next Crime" seems pointless when the department can hardly keep up with the body count. Charlotte has endured other long hot summers in years past. Back in the 90's several weeks saw an average of one murder a night.
The truth is there is little Chief Monroe can do to prevent the next murder, just as nothing he has done during the past three years prevented homicides despite his claim to the contrary.
Cedar's Take: But perception is the reality, and suddenly Charlotte finds a "long hot summer" of nightly shootings is not a good lead-in to a national convention with an incumbent president. Chief Monroe would do well to prepare to defend his command of CMPD as the national media turns up the heat.
You can expect Charlotte's growing pains to be part of the national story.Will the recent shooting of a black suspect by CMPD figure into the summer perception? Will the national media pick up on a department that is suffering from fatigue and stress? Or will the national media buy into Chief Monroe's mantra of Preventing The Next Crime? Stay turned.
According to CMPD, Officers responded to several 911 calls reporting shots fired at 6008 Timbertop Lane just off Harrisburg Road. Responding Officers found three men suffering from gunshot wounds. Medic responders declared one victim Kevin Washingston age 18 dead at the scene and transported the others Garrett Hall and Tevin Horton both also 18, to CMC. Horton was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and was released. Garrett who was reportley shot in the leg is still at CMC.
CMPD reports that a large party was underway when two groups of people began fighting. CMPD has not released the name of the deceased.
After 3 years of reporting ever declining crime stats CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe's world of numbers and compstat reports is crumbing just weeks before the DNC puts Charlotte on the national stage.
Through June 30, 2012 CMPD had reported 25 homicides a 40% increase over last year, the shooting now being reported puts that increase closer to 50%
Chief Monroe's goal of "Preventing The Next Crime" seems pointless when the department can hardly keep up with the body count. Charlotte has endured other long hot summers in years past. Back in the 90's several weeks saw an average of one murder a night.
The truth is there is little Chief Monroe can do to prevent the next murder, just as nothing he has done during the past three years prevented homicides despite his claim to the contrary.
Cedar's Take: But perception is the reality, and suddenly Charlotte finds a "long hot summer" of nightly shootings is not a good lead-in to a national convention with an incumbent president. Chief Monroe would do well to prepare to defend his command of CMPD as the national media turns up the heat.
You can expect Charlotte's growing pains to be part of the national story.Will the recent shooting of a black suspect by CMPD figure into the summer perception? Will the national media pick up on a department that is suffering from fatigue and stress? Or will the national media buy into Chief Monroe's mantra of Preventing The Next Crime? Stay turned.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Friday Wrap-Up Homeless Edition
Homeless in Charlotte - The Charlotte Observer points out the obvious, that the main library has become a summer haven for Charlotte's homeless.
The surest way to mingle with Charlotte’s homeless is to stand outside uptown’s Main library just before the doors open at 10 a.m.
Odds are, many of the people in line ahead of you are homeless, and their numbers only grow as the day gets hotter.
It’s a fact that has caused some conflict in the past, including complaints of homeless people stripping naked to bathe in the restroom sinks.
More from the Observer here and a short film by Dwayne Royall, below.
CMPD's Crime Numbers - Late Thursday CMPD Deputy Chief Kerr Putney gave the gathered media the grim news, homicides increased nearly 40 percent during the first six months of 2012, a jump from 18 to 25, when compared with the same period last year. Robberies were up 17 percent, and aggravated assaults were up nearly 14 percent.
At Thursday’s press conference, the department highlighted its three-year average, which Putney said provides a better view of crime trends in Charlotte. Over that period, most crimes declined, though aggravated assaults were up more than 12 percent.
Cedar's Take: On the eve of the largest public event in Charlotte's history CMPD reports that 2012 has started off with some ugly crime numbers. Is anyone surprised? As the saying goes, live by the sword, die by the sword, which after three years of bragging about how crime was down year over last, seems to ring true.
Cleve Wootson's report on Thursday's CMPD presser is here.
Matthew Hawkins Shooting now a Murder - Hawkins was shot during an apparent robbery attempt in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood on Tuesday. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said 39-year-old Matthew Hawkins succumbed to his injuries on Thursday evening.
Hawkins was shot Tuesday as police said he and his girlfriend were renovating a home on East 17th Street near the intersection with North McDowell Street. Police said a man entered the home and demanded money. Hawkins walked outside to get his wallet, police said, but at some point, the suspect shot him. He was rushed to Carolinas Medical Center for surgery. His girlfriend was not injured.
The suspect was described only as a dark-skinned black male who was wearing a dark t-shirt and long dark shorts. The man was last seen walking toward North McDowell, police said.
They continue to ask that anyone with information about the shooting to call 704-432-TIPS and speak with a homicide detective or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Luke Bryant National Anthem Dust Up - Seems some folks are upset the Country Music star Luke Bryan needed a little help remembering the words to our National Anthem.
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Cam's Scam - According to Scott Fowler Panther's Quarterback Cam Newton will be signing autographs Saturday at SouthPark Mall. There's just one catch, an autograph will cost you.
Fowler says the going price is $125 if he’s signing a photo, $150 if he’s signing a football and $175 if he’s signing a jersey. If you want an inscription like “To John, Best Wishes” added to the signature, that costs an extra $50. Geeeze.
Cedar's Take: I've never been a picture or autograph hound. I've been around plenty of celebs, sports stars and politicians. All nice folks, but I never wanted their signature, unless it was on a credit card receipt or check.
I admit I have a small golf ball collection with Master's Champions while Arnold Palmer is most notable and Tiger's signature is missing I think Bob Goalby is the one I like the most, never paid a dime for any of them.
I'm sure they will line up to hand over the cash for a Cam Newton signature, but what if he bombs this season? Maybe Cam can donate some of the loot to help Charlotte's Homeless?
More from Scott on Cam Newton here, and Cedar's Bonus on Bob at the end of this post.
Kate Upton - Cedar Posts had to laugh when I noticed the July cover of GQ.
The subject of Miss Upton's affection is of course a "Bomb Pop" the Cherry, Lime, and Blue Raspberry original flavor that has been around for more than fifty years. At just 35 calories Kate can wipe out an entire box and have nothing to worry about. Bomb Pops a summer staple that reside in Cedar's freezer,
CMPD DNC Spending - Thanks to the Charlotte Observer for doing all the FOIA filings, CMPD released Thursday a summary of what it has purchased, though much of the information was redacted. CMPD had previously said it wouldn’t disclose its DNC purchases until after the convention.
Here are some of the expenses released by CMPD:
• $1.03 million: Additional workers compensation insurance.
• $937,852: Lodging for visiting police.
• $704,795: CMPD Command Center upfit.
• $473,611: Helicopter enhancements. Rest of information redacted.
• $305,994: Lodging for visiting police. Number of hotel rooms redacted.
• $303,596: “Mobile Field Force” (bicycles and equipment).
• $157,348: Motorcycle emergency equipment; communications and rider equipment.
• $60,915: Software. “Provide CMPD ability ... to identify safety and security threats.” Rest of information redacted.
• $53,676: 2012 Chevy Tahoe.
• $43,895: DNC-related travel, to Chicago, Oakland, Calif., Washington D.C., Alabama.
• $40,481: Public Address Systems. “... to provide clear communications in a large crowd ...” Steve Harrison
Cedar's Take: Why does none of this surprise me? $40,000 for a PA System? Sure why not? But nearly $500k for "Helicopter Enhancements"? This being on top of last year's helo upgrades, makes me wonder what kind of weapons does $500k buy. Also looks like CMPD paid top dollar to have those new Harley's. Makes you wonder if there is a relocation of homeless item in the CMPD DNC 2012 budget?
Pittenger vs Pendergraph - Cedar Post's is so repulsed by these two jackasses that I'll probably vote for Jennifer Roberts in November. While Pittenger now has the endorsement of former Republican Governor and Davidson Grad Jim Martin, and Mike Huckabee, Pendergraph doesn't have the money connection, nor the land deal baggage.
A 2003 vote and promise made by Prittenger is at issue:
Republican Robert Pittenger’s vote on a bill that involved property he owned, and his separate promise to donate other land to the town of Waxhaw for a park.
Pittenger voted for a bill that annexed into Waxhaw some Union County land in which he had an ownership interest. Looser zoning regulations in Waxhaw helped increase the land’s value.
The bill passed overwhelmingly. Pittenger’s partnership sold the land in stages, the last portion in 2005.
What really should make people ask is why has Pittenger spent more than 2 million dollars of this own money to win this election? The salary for the two year gig is only $174k per year. Clearly he is expecting a big payoff. Pengergraph on the other hand claims he is nearly homeless, and spending about 10% of Pittenger's 2 million.
Cedar's Bonus:
On Bob Goalby - At the 1968 Masters Tournament, Goalby tied Roberto DeVicenzo at the end of 72 holes of regulation play, and would have had to face an 18-hole playoff the next day, had there not been a mistake on DeVicenzo's scorecard.
In the final round, DeVicenzo's playing partner Tommy Aaron marked a par-4 on the 17th hole, when DeVicenzo had in fact made a birdie-3. DeVicenzo failed to catch the mistake and signed the scorecard.
The rules of golf state that the higher written score signed by a golfer on his card must stand. As such, the error gave Goalby his one and only major championship. Goalby, playing in the group behind DeVicenzo, was not personally at fault for anything in the incident.
The story received overwhelming attention at the time, and has remained high in public consciousness since. It was recounted in great detail in the 2005 book "The Lost Masters: Grace and Disgrace in '68" by Curt Sampson. The personal relationship between Goalby and DeVicenzo was unaffected by the difficult situation, and the two players formed a partnership years later, for a team event on the Champions Tour.
The surest way to mingle with Charlotte’s homeless is to stand outside uptown’s Main library just before the doors open at 10 a.m.
Odds are, many of the people in line ahead of you are homeless, and their numbers only grow as the day gets hotter.
It’s a fact that has caused some conflict in the past, including complaints of homeless people stripping naked to bathe in the restroom sinks.
More from the Observer here and a short film by Dwayne Royall, below.
At Thursday’s press conference, the department highlighted its three-year average, which Putney said provides a better view of crime trends in Charlotte. Over that period, most crimes declined, though aggravated assaults were up more than 12 percent.
Cedar's Take: On the eve of the largest public event in Charlotte's history CMPD reports that 2012 has started off with some ugly crime numbers. Is anyone surprised? As the saying goes, live by the sword, die by the sword, which after three years of bragging about how crime was down year over last, seems to ring true.
Cleve Wootson's report on Thursday's CMPD presser is here.
Matthew Hawkins Shooting now a Murder - Hawkins was shot during an apparent robbery attempt in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood on Tuesday. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said 39-year-old Matthew Hawkins succumbed to his injuries on Thursday evening.
Hawkins was shot Tuesday as police said he and his girlfriend were renovating a home on East 17th Street near the intersection with North McDowell Street. Police said a man entered the home and demanded money. Hawkins walked outside to get his wallet, police said, but at some point, the suspect shot him. He was rushed to Carolinas Medical Center for surgery. His girlfriend was not injured.
The suspect was described only as a dark-skinned black male who was wearing a dark t-shirt and long dark shorts. The man was last seen walking toward North McDowell, police said.
They continue to ask that anyone with information about the shooting to call 704-432-TIPS and speak with a homicide detective or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
Luke Bryant National Anthem Dust Up - Seems some folks are upset the Country Music star Luke Bryan needed a little help remembering the words to our National Anthem.
"Oh say can you see" ... my cheat sheet? was CNN's Jeanne Moos take on the performance.
"Some keywords to the National Anthem ended up on the hand of Luke Bryan, the star who performed at Tuesday night's Major League Baseball All Star game. Jeanne Moos added that video of the had the performer caught red, white and blue-handed.
Moos' report when on to show clips of Sarah Palin with notes written on her and and then Christina Aguilera and Roseanne Barr butchering the song.
Luke Bryan later tweeted that he only wanted to do his best, and that he really did sing the song from his heart.
Interesting to note that CNN's own little darling Robin Meade sang the National Anthem as well this past weekend, all the while holding her iPhone. Which no doubt had the words to the song just a click away.
Cam's Scam - According to Scott Fowler Panther's Quarterback Cam Newton will be signing autographs Saturday at SouthPark Mall. There's just one catch, an autograph will cost you.
Fowler says the going price is $125 if he’s signing a photo, $150 if he’s signing a football and $175 if he’s signing a jersey. If you want an inscription like “To John, Best Wishes” added to the signature, that costs an extra $50. Geeeze.
Cedar's Take: I've never been a picture or autograph hound. I've been around plenty of celebs, sports stars and politicians. All nice folks, but I never wanted their signature, unless it was on a credit card receipt or check.
I admit I have a small golf ball collection with Master's Champions while Arnold Palmer is most notable and Tiger's signature is missing I think Bob Goalby is the one I like the most, never paid a dime for any of them.
I'm sure they will line up to hand over the cash for a Cam Newton signature, but what if he bombs this season? Maybe Cam can donate some of the loot to help Charlotte's Homeless?
More from Scott on Cam Newton here, and Cedar's Bonus on Bob at the end of this post.
Kate Upton - Cedar Posts had to laugh when I noticed the July cover of GQ.
The subject of Miss Upton's affection is of course a "Bomb Pop" the Cherry, Lime, and Blue Raspberry original flavor that has been around for more than fifty years. At just 35 calories Kate can wipe out an entire box and have nothing to worry about. Bomb Pops a summer staple that reside in Cedar's freezer,
CMPD DNC Spending - Thanks to the Charlotte Observer for doing all the FOIA filings, CMPD released Thursday a summary of what it has purchased, though much of the information was redacted. CMPD had previously said it wouldn’t disclose its DNC purchases until after the convention.
Here are some of the expenses released by CMPD:
• $1.03 million: Additional workers compensation insurance.
• $937,852: Lodging for visiting police.
• $704,795: CMPD Command Center upfit.
• $473,611: Helicopter enhancements. Rest of information redacted.
• $305,994: Lodging for visiting police. Number of hotel rooms redacted.
• $303,596: “Mobile Field Force” (bicycles and equipment).
• $157,348: Motorcycle emergency equipment; communications and rider equipment.
• $60,915: Software. “Provide CMPD ability ... to identify safety and security threats.” Rest of information redacted.
• $53,676: 2012 Chevy Tahoe.
• $43,895: DNC-related travel, to Chicago, Oakland, Calif., Washington D.C., Alabama.
• $40,481: Public Address Systems. “... to provide clear communications in a large crowd ...” Steve Harrison
Cedar's Take: Why does none of this surprise me? $40,000 for a PA System? Sure why not? But nearly $500k for "Helicopter Enhancements"? This being on top of last year's helo upgrades, makes me wonder what kind of weapons does $500k buy. Also looks like CMPD paid top dollar to have those new Harley's. Makes you wonder if there is a relocation of homeless item in the CMPD DNC 2012 budget?
Pittenger vs Pendergraph - Cedar Post's is so repulsed by these two jackasses that I'll probably vote for Jennifer Roberts in November. While Pittenger now has the endorsement of former Republican Governor and Davidson Grad Jim Martin, and Mike Huckabee, Pendergraph doesn't have the money connection, nor the land deal baggage.
A 2003 vote and promise made by Prittenger is at issue:
Republican Robert Pittenger’s vote on a bill that involved property he owned, and his separate promise to donate other land to the town of Waxhaw for a park.
Pittenger voted for a bill that annexed into Waxhaw some Union County land in which he had an ownership interest. Looser zoning regulations in Waxhaw helped increase the land’s value.
The bill passed overwhelmingly. Pittenger’s partnership sold the land in stages, the last portion in 2005.
What really should make people ask is why has Pittenger spent more than 2 million dollars of this own money to win this election? The salary for the two year gig is only $174k per year. Clearly he is expecting a big payoff. Pengergraph on the other hand claims he is nearly homeless, and spending about 10% of Pittenger's 2 million.
Cedar's Bonus:
On Bob Goalby - At the 1968 Masters Tournament, Goalby tied Roberto DeVicenzo at the end of 72 holes of regulation play, and would have had to face an 18-hole playoff the next day, had there not been a mistake on DeVicenzo's scorecard.
In the final round, DeVicenzo's playing partner Tommy Aaron marked a par-4 on the 17th hole, when DeVicenzo had in fact made a birdie-3. DeVicenzo failed to catch the mistake and signed the scorecard.
The rules of golf state that the higher written score signed by a golfer on his card must stand. As such, the error gave Goalby his one and only major championship. Goalby, playing in the group behind DeVicenzo, was not personally at fault for anything in the incident.
The story received overwhelming attention at the time, and has remained high in public consciousness since. It was recounted in great detail in the 2005 book "The Lost Masters: Grace and Disgrace in '68" by Curt Sampson. The personal relationship between Goalby and DeVicenzo was unaffected by the difficult situation, and the two players formed a partnership years later, for a team event on the Champions Tour.
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