UNCA’s Mossbauer Data Center and Environmental Quality Institute were shut down, but the reasons are unclear. University officials cited lack of student participation. The state had to balance its budget, and the university system had to make cuts. The latter tested water quality, and the latter analyzed “ancient Egyptian [...]
Us drive-by media types are faulted for writing about “he-said-she-said.” That may not be a problem for long. The mere existence of this article indicates there is significant support for stopping him and her from saying.
[...]Musing 1: The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Some of you may have noticed I did not blog last night. I could make the excuse that it was time to claim some of that liberty I’ve been buying. Surrounded by exciting papers on Coulomb gauges, possible Machian propellantless propulsion, [...]
There is freedom of religion and freedom from religion. Some believe the original intent of the First Amendment was to guarantee religious tolerance. Now, the First Amendment is interpreted as a right for people to be offended by and entitled to shut down the free exercise of any religion but [...]
Swain County is so poor, it has to borrow $84,300 from the federal deficit to buy a truck. The truck will be used for emergency services, such as deployment in the event of an earthquake in Mexico. The increased national debt is made possible through the Department of Homeland [...]
The Don and Rick Show came to Asheville today. I was not in attendance, so if anybody who was would care to share any great policy insights that will actually budge government in a better direction, you’re more than welcome to share them here.
[...]Another reason for the dwindling success of newspapers occurred to me today. On the front page of the Asheville Tribune was an ad for Carter’s Homes with a $10,000 off coupon. Their business will be adversely affected by Buncombe County’s new zoning ordinance since un-grandfathered mobile homes are now [...]
In light of the wicked economy, the Jackson County Commissioners endowed developers with some of the alienable property rights they took away with a growth management ordinance in 2007. This upset environmentalists. Saith the Smoky Mountain News:
[Western North Carolina Alliance director Julie] Mayfield recognized Jackson County as “a regional [...]
While working on another assignment, I chanced upon the very official highlights from the federal government’s budget for 2010. The two most shocking things are the permeation of departmental budgets with funding to address climate change. Even HUD and the Department of Labor are not immune. The other weirdness [...]
Imagine. People built big, expensive houses the market wouldn’t buy. In Buncombe County, average house prices tripled in less than twenty years. The average home selling price last October was $328,350. This October, it is $261,982. Since zoning won’t let people convert McMansions into duplexes, the federal government had to [...]
This is only news because a famous person uttered something. State Senator Martin Nesbitt considers the state’s 1-cent tax increase and acceptance of portions of the federal deficit essential. He is claimed the state’s budget is so lean, teachers are the most expendable item. Joe Coletti, who has applied [...]
Buncombe County was zoned tonight on a second reading of the proposed ordinance. Only Bill Stanley voted against the measure. No public comment was taken, but unlike the first reading, the commissioners attempted to defend their positions for the public this time.
Chair David Gantt took the lead. In [...]
This Thursday, the Don and Rick show will visit Asheville’s Renaissance Hotel to talk about criminal investigations associated with former Governor Mike Easley. The program will start at 6:30. As far as I’m concerned, most of what government does is criminal, anyway. As Asheville city councilman for one more [...]
UNCA tuition may increase 5.5% next year. The increase is needed to support an unprecedented number of students who cannot afford tuition.
Funds might also be used to keep the library open long enough for students to conduct research, remove the germ-ridden carpet from the sports medicine clinic, move the [...]
The Town of Boone is considering a smoking ban. Unlike most Lockers, I am supportive. I harbor a personal agenda based on a rational selfish interest to be able to:
See. I cannot continue to wear contact lenses in cigarette smoke, and often removal does not alleviate the stinging [...]The Macon County Commissioners approved a 1.5-cent tax increase. The county needs the money to build a new elementary school. The new school will replace one existing school and allow the county to shut down another. The consolidation is estimated to save the county $250,000/year in operation costs. Nothing was [...]
Another interesting conversation held by Asheville City Council concerned a proposed gun buyback. Something there is about these programs that appears to run counter to the Second Amendment. Members of council admitted violent criminals usually aren’t the most ambitious to turn in their weapons. Instead, they said the greatest [...]
I sometimes wonder if this country would be better off if the use of caffeine and harder stimulants by Congress critters and their aides could be banned. Then, rather than churning out thousands of pages of bills, legislators could know how it feels to be unable to lift their foreheads [...]
Just Economics succeeded in getting the City of Asheville to pass a living wage ordinance for city hires. It now wants the living wage to extend to persons contracted by the city. In her staff report, Brenda Mills said such an ordinance may be in violation of statutes [...]
My mother had to explain this one to me. I couldn’t understand why Organizing for America was so afraid of Sarah Palin they felt they needed to raise $500,000.
If you need some local flavor, she came to town Sunday to visit with Billy Graham’s family. Reportedly, [...]
One of the major recommendations of Goody Clancy, the consulting group hired to prepare Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan, was that the review process for new development adhere to the rule of law. Too many developers were complaining about having sunk thousands of dollars into giving the various review boards what [...]
One annoying thing about the healthcare debate is Democrats tell us what it is supposed to do, rather than what it says. They act as if they have never heard of an unintended consequence. That is why their legislation has so many. I would expect legislation that provides healthcare to [...]
Macon County residents are resisting another attempt to create a comprehensive land-use plan. The stated reason is they mistrust government’s outreach for buy-in because it has never listened to them in the past. Visioneers who moderate community forums have a way of knowing what the outcome will be and [...]
Dr. Mumpower wants public safety officers in the City of Asheville to undergo fitness tests. The dumbest thing about it is I actually bothered to read his supporting documents. One gave a statistical analysis of fat rolls pinched on officers over 12.5 years. In Charlotte, where the study was [...]
The Swain County Commissioners declared their county a Recovery Zone. County Manager Kevin King wanted the declaration so the county could be eligible for a $1.9 million interest-free loan from the $12 trillion national debt. The loan would pay for job creation. Said King:
We don’t know right now if [...]
According to some accounts, the national debt is now in excess of $12 trillion. Heath Shuler’s debt clock, however, has not yet broken the $12 trillion mark. It is, of course, understandable that the federal government would not be able to track its finances with a tolerance tighter [...]
The Citizen-Times provided extended coverage of the Buncombe County zoning hearing. I disagree with the concept that fair reporting means if about thirty people speak in opposition and four speak in favor, then the pros and cons get equal coverage. I was also amused at how, after the commissioners [...]
Like clockwork, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners took public comment from dozens of persons opposed to countywide zoning and approved the amended ordinance, anyway. Comments included typical complaints about investing large sums of money in land only to find 5/7 of it is unbuildable; the only place to [...]
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners is expected to adopt countywide zoning today. A public hearing is being held, but the commissioners seldom respond to public comment unless somebody is airing a personal grievance. Matters of political philosophy (e.g., Respect for the right of individuals to own and control property [...]
John Hood wished to call attention to a couple state legislator score cards. Civitas Action developed its Conservative Rankings by counting the number of bills on which each senator and representative voted “conservatively.” They then posted each legislator’s percentage of conservative votes and the ranking this earned them. Buncombe [...]
Perri Morgan of Capitol Monitor, Inc. has created a “Stimulus Watch” page for the state. Listed are eighty-some-and-counting pages of grants with unspecified jobs to be created. Morgan features several articles relating the fuzzy accounting reports associated with the grants. If you’re into local flavor, you can see if [...]
A big story today concerned ethics investigations into Heath Shuler’s alleged use of his power to obtain a special deal on TVA property. I only care because I’m tying my brain in pretzels trying to figure out why Republicans want to give Speaker Pelosi power by creating public will in [...]
Recent rock slides have obstructed commerce in Western North Carolina. To address the issue, Governor Bev Perdue came to look at the first rock slide. Now, the state’s Division of Tourism “has several strategies to make sure tourists continue visiting WNC.” Perdue has asked the FHA to help the [...]
Today, WWNC 570AM’s Matt Mittan told of Asheville City Councilman-Elect Cecil Bothwell’s priorities. They included legalizing all drugs and prostitution and getting local police officers out of immigration enforcement. Councilman-Elect Gordon Smith’s priority is securing benefits for domestic partners of city employees. The link from Mittan’s web site pertaining [...]
I was invited to participate in a RiverLink survey. I am not going to provide a hyperlink to the survey, because its crafters were smart enough to block email addresses that attempted to access it twice. In short, it asked what kinds of development I wanted along the river, and [...]
The Mountain Xpress reports the following from Asheville City Councilman-Elect Cecil Bothwell’s celebration on election night.
Bothwell, meanwhile, celebrated while urging his supporters to look to the 2011 Council elections for further progressive advances. Leaning on his agenda of local solutions to global climate change, he told Xpress that [...]
The Citizen-Times announced today an architectural firm has been contracted for designing Asheville’s performing arts center. The basic reaction to the article was, “What performing arts center?” A group has been around for a long time lobbying for it, but the general public was unaware of any land transaction [...]
Downtown Maggie Valley may become a theme park. The aldermen will soon have to vote on new design standards intended to replace the town’s 1950s look with a “mountain look.” Only subdued colors and natural materials will be allowed on building exteriors, flat roofs will be outlawed, and property [...]
Some people are of the opinion that Congressmen cast their votes on the healthcare bill in manners that would increase their chances for re-election. Rhetoric about helping people with pre-existing conditions or capping profits of insurance companies are tossed to the public to give them some dots to connect.
[...]Cynthia Wadsworth of Keepers of the Blue Ridge asked that I post an advert for two events. They will be held November 11 at 6:00 pm at Owen Hall, UNCA and November 12 at 6:00 pm at Maryland Community College in Spruce Pine. The Keepers have reportedly fought very hard [...]
Are you tired of unresponsive government? You may stand around and get counted like a dork, and maybe even talk to a legislator by joining the Taxpayers’ March on Raleigh this Saturday. Also, Senator Richard Burr will be in Asheville Thursday and Friday.
[...]One of the first items to be addressed by the new Asheville City Council is likely to be the extension of benefits to committed homosexual partners of city employees. This is being billed as “gay rights.” No mention was made about extending the “right” to fringe benefits to heterosexual [...]
The federal government continues to encourage irresponsibility. It wishes to redistribute earnings, confiscated from taxpayers too poor to hire accountants to find tax loopholes, to persons naïve enough to suppose if they can’t make a down payment on a house they will somehow be able to keep up with [...]
Two more people have resigned from the Jackson County Economic Development Commission. Reasons cited did not include the realization that governments do not create wealth. Rather, members of the board felt the Jackson County Commissioners were not cooperating with their attempts to meet statutory requirements for things like audits [...]
A Tea Party was hosted at noon today outside Representative Heath Shuler’s office in south Asheville. I bothered to take off work and combine the two hour round trip with some errands so I could stand around like a dork and be counted. While there, I was informed that the [...]
The ability of people, not government, to own land was once equated with freedom. It still is. That’s why the Land-of-Sky Regional Council has been partnering “to identify how we can be more proactive about maintaining a network of these natural systems to maintain the valuable services nature provides to [...]
Congressman Heath Shuler cosponsored a bill that presumed to increase tourism by raising the price. More specifically, the bill would charge foreigners $10 to enter the United States (through official ports of entry, that is). The perverse incentive is supposed to work because the funds collected would pay a [...]
61.1% of Swannanoa voters opposed incorporation. This is likely due to strong campaigning against the measure, telling voters incorporation meant a tax increase to pay for little more than another layer of government. The initiative to incorporate was construed by City of Asheville staff to be defensive against involuntary [...]
Progressives won the Asheville City Council race by a landslide. Conservative Dr. Carl Mumpower collected only 13.9% of the vote, just more than write-in Progressive Robin Cape. The three winners garnered 17, 18, and 19% of votes. Affordable housing, domestic partner benefits, and green jobs were some of the main [...]
After years of delays, the NCDOT has re-engineered plans for the popular Alternate 4B for the I-26 connector. Given more time, those who show up at public meetings will prevail upon the DOT to modify their highway plans until they’re sound. Those who have idled and needlessly carbon-footprinted in [...]
Even as we speak, a crowd of conservatives are smoking cigars at the Grove Park Inn. It’s all part of the 17th Annual Meeting of the State Policy Network. Quite under the radar, representatives of conservative think tanks from forty-eight states converged in Asheville for a four-day strategy meeting. Tonight, [...]
Boone held a meeting Thursday to solicit public input on its long-range agricultural plan. Measures that might prevent farmland from disappearing include agricultural zoning, allowing Christmas tree and cattle farming on steep slopes, and “taking outside money.”
According to the Watauga Democrat, “The project is funded by a grant given [...]
Today, I read a transcript from an insightful talk I heard earlier this month. It was religious in nature, and so as not to offend anybody, I will leave off the reference and excerpt only secular comments:
The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation [...]
Because entrepreneurs don’t have what it takes anymore, the federal government is making up the difference with expenditures for synergy and rapid product realization. University centers can partner with economic development communities to provide consulting, mentoring, and engineering services.
[...]A lot of headlines this week concerned improper actions taken by legislators. The object in mentioning that here is not to throw the first stone, but to share the public’s outrage. Persons are being found guilty of things against which their consciences should have warned, while they are participating in [...]
The Spruce Pine town council approved a master plan, though they’re not calling it that. Dr. Gary Cooper is given credit. Cooper is not an elected official, but he was contracted to oversee the project. It followed the normal pattern of holding lots of visioning meetings. Not astonishingly, the people [...]
WBT, News Talk 1110 FM out of Charlotte, this evening hosted an interview with Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform. Ellis discussed the 1990 page “Affordable Healthcare Bill” unveiled today by Nancy Pelosi.
Ellis said he didn’t read the entire bill, but he’s been reading bills for ten years, so [...]
I recently received a spam claiming persons accepting Cash for Clunkers got taken for a ride. It claimed automobile dealers raised the price of green vehicles they traded out by about $3000. Dealers had been discounting the cars because the free market wasn’t taking them, but raised the prices back [...]
The public has been in commotion about a Bible book burning. Marc Grizzard, pastor of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Bethel, announced his intentions, claiming only the King James Version contained the unperverted word of God. Grizzard was informed by the Haywood County fire marshal that the burning was [...]
Some do not think government must play an integral role in healthcare. The merged Haywood Regional Medical Center and WestCare does not want a county commissioner on its board of directors. Commissioners want a seat at the table, claiming they were blamed when HRMC was shut down for [...]
In accordance with expectations, Asheville City Council six-oned three opportunities to receive donations from the federal deficit to assist local public safety efforts. The dissenting votes came from Dr. Carl Mumpower who pulled the items from the consent agenda. Disappointingly, he didn’t flag the item where the contributions from [...]
Eighteen people showed up to address Asheville City Council about contaminated water in Buncombe County. The item wasn’t on the agenda because Asheville has no jurisdiction over something like that happening outside its boundaries.
Now, I am not a scientist. There is nothing scientific about me. I did, however, get a [...]
On the consent agenda for Asheville City Council’s meeting tomorrow are:
• Receipt of $357,000 from the Department of Homeland Security for a “geographically located medical ambulance bus” to transport or shelter large numbers in the event of a disaster or inclement weather.
• Receipt of $250,000 from the Department [...]
Some people don’t want to work for what they get. They would not resort to violence or even bluntly state, “Give me your money.” Instead, they need to sweetly guilt-trip their prey. We’ve all been told Thomas Jefferson has no credibilty because of his scandalous relationship with Sally, whose name [...]
To balance its budget after state cuts, UNCA funded administrative positions with student activity fees. This is in violation of the UNC Policy Manual. UNCA officials would not cooperate with a request from the student newspaper to divulge how many administrative positions were funded by student fees. Legal counsel [...]
I tend not to like candidate debates because answers appear to cater to expectations about the audience. Surveys posted in newspapers tend to leave the same impression, albeit less so. This week’s Asheville Disclaimer, however, provided very good insights. I find web sites to provide the best indication of [...]
Hendersonville will be holding an instant runoff election again. The instructions are said to be very simple, but those I saw a couple years ago weren’t. The article in the Times News does not explain how the votes will be counted. I remain suspicious of IRV because the elected [...]
The Smoky Mountain News ran an article on how local governments in the region control public comment. The article was written in response to the conservative element that has been clamoring for property rights and limited government on a consistent basis. Author Bibeka Shrestha concluded televising the comments serves [...]
You and I might believe it is fair to say that the rules applying to the federal government are listed in the US Constitution, the changes taking place are socialist concentrations of power, and what is needed is respect for the rule of law. Vice President Joe Biden, however, appears [...]
Perhaps you would like to visit FreedomWorks’ Virtual War Room. It lists ideas you can use to convey your misgivings about ObamaCare to your representatives. For the lazy among us, the site has a form letter that can be emailed to the appropriate Congresscritters with a few flicks of [...]
Swannanoa is decorated in posters telling citizens to vote no in the November 3 referendum on incorporation. Big yellow posters dot the highway, tiny signs abound, and some business owners have even posted “vote no” messages on their letter boards. The impetus behind the drive to incorporate was allegedly a [...]
The magnanimous generosity of Father Christmas in Washington, DC, and his elves in Raleigh, is big enough for the arts, is big enough to pave decently-paved roads, is big enough to plant flowers by the highways, is big enough to keep robo-calling me at work to see if my business [...]
Last week, the Town of Black Mountain’s Board of Aldermen unanimously decided to vie for porkulus to change the shape of Lake Tomahawk to reduce silting. The project would cost $412,840, and the aldermen would like to pay half with a grant and half with an interest-free loan repayable [...]
JLF Policy Analyst Terry Stoops visited Asheville to discuss trends in North Carolina K-12 education. In short, more money is going to pay more bureaucrats, and kids aren’t getting smarter or staying in school longer. On the bright side, Stoops mentioned that NC students have performed substantially better [...]
My sister the genius is fighting the obesity crisis by handing out pocket Constitutions for Halloween.
[...]Chairman of the Board of the Cato Institute Robert Levy gave another presentation for local 9-12ers today. This speech was presented at Hendersonville High School. Levy repeated many of the jokes shared with 9-12ers at Haywood Community College August 22. In Haywood County, Levy provided an overview of his book, [...]
Haywood County spent $211,000 to contract for a more detailed property revaluation. In government math, only $115,000 was spent because the county appraisal office has been functioning with four instead of five staff members. According to the Smoky Mountain News:
The project will more precisely hone in on characteristics that [...]
Have you ever read the Asheville City Schools’ budget from cover to cover and felt you hadn’t read a thing? Do you wonder why the kids in private schools outperform kids in public schools, when public schools get funds from the Education Lottery and porkulus? Do you ever wonder where [...]
The City of Asheville is accepting bids for porkulus to landscape the medians and roundabout by city hall. The area has been re-landscaped twice in recent history already. In Synergese, Transportation Director Ken Putnam explained:
The landscaping project was funded as an enhancement to the downtown transportation network, beautifying the area [...]
Organizing for America is asking supporters of the unknown, unread, and as yet undrafted healthcare reform plan to call their friends and ask them to call their Congresscritters on October 20. Perhaps you would like to ask your friends to tell their Congresscritters what they do or do [...]
