GCS consultant tapping superintendent’s e-mails?

The Rhino stays on the Dennis Cole story.

Cole was the Guilford County Schools “consultant” who worked the facilities department to the tune of $1.4 million over five years. GCS documents acquired by the Rhino shows that Cole “finagled” his contracts to avoid approval from the school board. Evidence also shows that Cole gained access to Superintendent Mo Green’s e-mails in to find out who was blowing the whistle on him.

This the department that controls millions in taxpayer and now says they’re going to need another $1.2 billion over the next decade.

ACC expansion good for G’boro?

Only logical, argues the N&R (unposted) given the fact that the Gate City is the league headquarters:

No one has calculated what being the site of the league’s headquarters means to the local economy. But the impact is considerable.

“In the last 30 years, what conference you are in has created a lot of leverage for the city that hosts it,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport In Society, a center at Northeastern University. It’s a consotium of academic, athletic and monetary power.”

Meanwhile, Bryan Foundation president Jim Melvin counters Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s barb about G’boro’s suitability to host the tournament compared to NYC:

“It’s a heck of a lot cheaper to go to Greensboro than it is to New York. I think the ACC is beginning to think about that in respect to its fans.

I guess the question is how much longer there will be a tournament, period. The way I see it, grouping everyone into super conferences is now the perfect excuse to expand the NCAA Tournament, making conference tournaments expendable.

Vandals hit Guilford County GOP headquarters

OK, what kinda nuts would do such a thing? They even hit a campaign sign for Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight.

About the protesting A&T students…….

…Who marched to the Melvin Municipal Building to protest the Greensboro City Council vote on Gate City’s contract to run the White Street landfill?

‘Ignite Greensboro’—who organized the march —- was set to receive funding from Greensboro’s $5 million Department of Energy grant.

Assistant City Manager Denise Turner-Roth expressed concern that “Ignite would engage in outreach of BetterBuildings while engaging in advocacy efforts regarding the landfill.”

As a result, Roth removed Ignite from the “consortium of groups headed by NC A&T University Assistant Professor Robert Powell proposing to contract with the city.”

The consortium’s proposed contract was for $214,000. The City Council unanimously approved the contract with no discussion. Sigh.

Hoping against hope

The Winston-Salem Journal hopes the city has learned a lesson after forgiving loans of approximately $2.4 million made more than 15 years ago to the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem.

Why am I skeptical?

Guv flipping on Alcoa takeover?

CJ’s Don Carrington has the story. Gov. Bev Perdue could be backing off the bid to take over Alcoa’s dams in favor of a company bringing in 250 new jobs:

Until now, Perdue was one of the obstacles to a Clean Tech deal. She wanted North Carolina to take over the Alcoa facilities, claiming the state would be in a better position to control the water, sell power from the dams, and deal with environmental issues related to the aluminum smelting operations that took place there for nearly a century.

Since Alcoa is not interested in selling the facilities to North Carolina, Perdue’s strategy was to convince the federal government not to renew Alcoa’s license to operate the dams and instead give the license to the state. Legal challenges and water quality questions initiated by the Perdue administration have stalled the relicensing process.

Yadkin Riverkeeper says via Twitter “we are trying to keep the Governor from caving into Alcoa and their false promises. If so, getting ready to go on our next offensive.”

Short message for Paul Krugman

Damn straight we’re free to die, brother, because that day’s coming for all of us, in spite of any government attempt to save us.

One final twist in the White Street landfill saga

The Rhino pronounces the White Street landfill dead and buried with Gate City’s withdrawal of its contract proposal.

Yet:

The reason the public hearing and the second and third vote would have been necessary to award the contract to Gate City was that the contract was being awarded as an ordinance. One of the attorneys for Gate City, Steve Levitas with Kilpatrick, Townsend and Stockton LLP, said that he had never seen a contract passed as an ordinance. Because the contract was an ordinance and not simply a contract, the City Council first had to vote to award the contract to Gate City, which it did.

If the council had treated this like a regular contract it could have awarded the contract to Gate City and had the city manager work out the details, which is how contracts such as this are often handled.

The fact that Gate City’s attorney raises the issue issue makes one assume that something could have been different had Gate City’s proposal been just a “regular contract.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but contracts go on the consent agenda, which requires only one council vote to pass. However, individual council members can pull an item for a separate vote, and certainly council landfill opponents would have done so. There would not have been a public hearing, although I’m certain landfill opponents would have made their voices loud and clear.

Too late now, but it’s still an interesting twist.

Two executions

Winston-Salem’s Darryl Hunt was in Atlanta speaking out against last night’s execution of convicted cop killer Troy Davis:

“I truly believe that on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, the United States of America allowed an innocent man to be put to death,” said Hunt, who was released from prison 19 years after being wrongly convicted of the murder of Winston-Salem newspaper copy editor, Deborah Sykes. “It is most disheartening that only a short time after we commemorate the tragedy of September 11, 2001 we would participate in such a heinous act.”

Another execution took place yesterday —- Lawrence Russell Brewer—convicted of brutally murdering James Byrd by dragging him behind a pickup along a Texas road—– was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection.

Protesters assembled outside the Huntsville prison where the execution was to be carried out. Among them was comedian and activist Dick Gregory, who said “(a)Any state killing is wrong…..If Adolf Hitler were to be executed, I would be here to protest … I believe life in prison is punishment. Execution is revenge.”

While Byrd’s murder sparked hate crimes legislation, the question of how to punish those convicted of hate crimes arose during the 2000 presidential campaign, when George W. Bush was asked about his position on hate crimes. I’ll never forget Bush’s response —–”The three men who murdered James Byrd, guess what’s going to happen to them? They’re going to be put to death.”

The response supposedly “produced gasps among the audience,” but I don’t think at the time anyone could accuse Bush of being soft on hate crimes.

Will Guiford County fund PART?

Guilford County Commission Chair Skip Alston says the “the county has no problem helping with PART’s budget shortfalls but the county wants to make sure the organization is first helping itself,” adding “PART should take a closer look at salaries, raises and other opportunities to tighten its purse strings.”

I certainly hope the chairman has taken a look at the recent federal audit.