Mobile
Thursday, June 27, 2013
News Foxx appointed Secretary of Transportation
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 3:45 PM
Congratulations are in order for Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, who the Senate unanimously confirmed as Transportation Secretary, on Thursday. Foxx, who has been mayor since 2009, rose to national prominence after the Queen City hosted a seamless Democratic National Convention.
Read our past coverage of Mayor Anthony Foxx, including a longer piece on the mayor's veritable "coolness," here.
News The Charlotte Observer goes Groupon
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 9:58 AM
Noticed today that the deals site Groupon is offering a special on the Charlotte Observer for a 26- or 52-week print subscription for the Sunday edition, plus full digital access.
That's an interesting marketing move that speaks volumes. Why do businesses use Groupon anyway? According to a Small Business Trends article, a couple of reasons are to attract a younger demographic and to create some buzz around a product. Definitely two things the Observer is lacking right now.
The whole thing reminds me of a story writer Jarvis Holliday did back in 2010: The headline on the cover read, "Remains of the Daily" and the piece looked at what the newspaper had endured during the recession and where it was going. Here's the link if you're interested.
By the way, both the print and digital editions of CL are still free. Ya can't beat that.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 9:13 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 27, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Berberian Sound Studio at Crownpoint Stadium 12
* Atlas Road Crew at Evening Muse
* The Pajama Game at Davidson College's Duke Family Performance Hall
* Gladys Knight and The O'Jays at Belk Theater
* Reception for Self Portraits Inspired by Alberto Giacometti exhibit at CPCC
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
News Fingers snaps for Wendy Davis
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 5:15 PM
Tonight, ladies, as you go home after a hard day at work, I urge you to swallow your complaints. Whether you sat on your ass in an air-conditioned office dealing with a monster of a boss or you stood on your feet all morning serving ungrateful customers, let's think about Texas senator Wendy Davis, who truly inspired the nation last night. Her 11-hour filibuster helped derail the passing of a ridiculous anti-abortion-rights bill.
From the Washington Post:
Davis was on her feet for more than 12 hours Tuesday - actively speaking most of that time - as Democrats sought to use her one-woman marathon speech to derail a bill that would have closed nearly every abortion clinic in the nation's second most populous state.
Here's to hoping someone gave her a foot massage when she got home last night. She deserves it.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina ...
News Coal ash pond closures 'on hold' in N.C.
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn on Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 4:29 PM
An online petition on Causes.com that's aimed at encouraging Duke Energy to clean up its two unlined, high-hazard coal ash ponds at its Riverbend coal plant caught my attention last week. The two ponds in question drain into Mountain Island Lake (aka Charlotte's drinking water).
I brought the petition to the attention of Duke Energy so it could correct some false information on the petition website - the plant is 83 years old, not 100 years old, for example - and to find out how things were going with the well-publicized plan to shut down Riverbend. To answer the last question I also called the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
"The pond closure process is on hold right now because of litigation and also [because of] some legislation that's moving through," according to a voicemail department spokeswoman Susan Massengale left me Monday.
"What? What? What?," I thought.
News Struck down: DOMA, a big ol' license to hate
Posted By Erin Tracy-Blackwood on Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 3:24 PM
Some news stories are so great, I feel honored to write about them.
This morning's Supreme Court ruling is one of those stories.
In a 5-4 ruling, the SCOTUS struck down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, giving same-sex couples who are legally married in their state the right to federal marital benefits like Social Security, veteran's benefits, health insurance and retirement savings.
The ruling says the federal government must recognize any marriage made lawful by the authority of the states. In addition, because Prop 8 was basically turned away from the SCOTUS' front door, same-sex marriage is now recognized in 13 states (hello, California!) and the District of Columbia.
Arts Animal Grossology may cause queasiness
Posted By Bo McMillan on Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 2:14 PM
There are times when I really appreciate not having kids, and Discovery Place's Animal Grossology exhibit is one of them.
The exhibit, which features attractively-named highlights such as "Dookie Lovers," "Slime Makers," and "Vomit Munchers" is an easy and effective way to get the clearly targeted audience of young children into a learning environment. But as an adult, it's not the most appealing thing to do.
I remember when I was in elementary school and the book Grossology (the origin of the soon-to-come exhibits, TV series, etc.) by Sylvia Branzei came out. Everyone who wanted to be anyone in the microcosm of the school playground had to have it. A delightful ode to the world of pee, poop, blood, puke and anything else that would make normal people cringe, the book was essentially my education on how to be an annoying, "Why the hell would you tell me that, and in public?" kind of child.
In retrospect, I think that Branzei, must have written the book with a wicked sense of humor (there's no way she couldn't know the torture she'd inevitably be putting parents through). Don't get me wrong; I applaud her for coming up with a subject (despite its putrid nature) that draws kids to reading, quite appropriately, like flies to ... shit. But I'm also old enough now to feel the nausea that comes with thinking about such subject matter. Exhibit continues through Sept. 2. Museum admission: $10-$12. Discovery Place, 301 N. Tryon St. 704-372-6261. www.discoveryplace.org.
-
Question the Queen City: Charlottetown Mall and its nearly forgotten time capsule
A child's coffin contained relics of the past that stood neither the test of time nor the elements
-
Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
-
Question the Queen City: The unsolved death of Delette Nycum 2
The trial that followed was nothing short of a Charlotte version of the O.J. Simpson spectacle.
