Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx ran strongly in all areas of the city other than the heavily Republican south and southeast. Why is that? Well, besides the usual reasons for winning a mayoral race — solid financial backing, strong grassroots organizing, a fairly dull opponent — I get the sense that Foxx’s victory reflected a deep, underlying concern with the way the city has been run.

John Lassiter is part of the Uptown/Chamber/development crowd that has run the city for so long, and it hurt him. Simply put, many Charlotteans are tired of seeing their part of town being neglected in favor of Uptown and southeast Charlotte; or even if their part of town is fine, many don’t like the fact that formerly vibrant parts of Charlotte have been allowed to seriously deteriorate. This may be hard to imagine if you haven’t been in Charlotte long, but back before all the money started flowing Uptown and toward the southern 'burbs, the east side of town, North Tryon St., and the Independence Blvd. corridor were all solid, lively areas with strong businesses and safe, well-maintained neighborhoods. The Wilkinson Blvd. and Freedom Drive corridors, although less-populated and perhaps a little grittier, were also thriving areas.

The kind of deterioration that has taken hold in these formerly vital parts of Charlotte didn’t have to happen; it was the result of lousy planning and a thoughtless rush toward sprawl. It’s time to pay attention to the rest of Charlotte, and voters saw Foxx as the more likely candidate to do that. In this economy, there’s no way to predict whether the new mayor will be able to help revitalize the neglected parts of Charlotte, but no one can deny that it was “the rest of Charlotte,” which is, of course, most of the city, that voted to put Anthony Foxx in office.

Yep, he's back. Rep. Joe “You lie” Wilson (R-SC) would be better off keeping his neo-Confederate-by-way-of-the-Chamber-of-Commerce mouth shut now and then, but don't count on it. Instead, less than two months after heckling the president during an address to Congress, Wilson once again opened his pie hole and spoke without thinking. Actually, maybe that is his way of thinking. Anyhow, Wilson is going around claiming that the delay in getting swine flu vaccine to everyone who wants it is the fault of President Obama.

“The current administration is solely responsible. They can’t blame this on any prior administration,” said the Low Country Wise Man. “This is the responsibility of the current administration. They’ve put the lives of Americans at risk.”

Joe, Joe, Joe. First of all, the delay in producing the H1N1 vaccine, as has been explained over and over, is due to the slow manufacturing process that requires growing the virus in chicken eggs. Not too much Obama can do about that, sad to say, although the Prez has said he's "extremely frustrated" about it.

But secondly, and more importantly, Joe, do you remember the month of June? You do? Good. Now, do you remember when a supplementary appropriations bill containing special funding for H1N1 preparation came before the House of Representatives? You do? Great. Now, would you happen to remember how you voted on that bill? You don’t? Well, here’s the bad news, Joe: you, along with 95 percent of House Republicans, just said “no,” and voted against funding for fighting the H1N1 pandemic. Now, will you please shut up, Joe? No, I didn’t think so. We also understand your wife has H1N1 these days. How's she feeling about your anti-vaccine vote?

Yesterday, Chapel Hill elected its first openly gay mayor, Mark Kleinschmidt. He ran a strong grassroots campaign to become the third openly gay man to hold mayoral office in the state, in addition to Carrboro’s Mike Nelson and Franklinton’s Elic Senter.

Two steps forward, a step back, a step forward, a step back. So far, that’s been the story of the struggle for gay rights, with a slow, gradual movement toward equal treatment. The most publicized gay rights vote in the nation took place in Maine, where voters repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. It was a tough loss for gay rights advocates, particularly in a section of the country that has, overall, been supportive of LGBT issues. Frank Schubert, chief organizer for the repeal forces, said, "The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation." No, Frank, the institution of marriage has been preserved for the use of straight people in Maine. That’s all.

Meanwhile, in a less publicized referendum, voters in Washington state approved an expansion of the state's domestic partnership law, which grants registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples, such as using sick leave to care for a domestic partner, and rights related to adoption, child custody and child support. Activists in that state called it the “everything but marriage” law. And, also, a gay rights anti-discrimination law was passed by voters in the Midwestern city with the great name, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

As The Man once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

• New Chapel Hill mayor Mark Kleinschmidt