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{mosimage}“Superdrive is comprised of three hard working musicians who have seen their fair share of the road.”
An accurate description of local band, Superdrive, who is psyched and set to play the Special Forces Benefit Fundraiser Saturday, May 31, at Festival Park. The band just wants to kick it old school č they want you to rock, and they want you to have fun.
Superdrive is comprised of Bryan Shaw (bass and vocals), J.D. Shaw (drums and vocals), and Clay Singletary (guitar and vocals). All three knew at an early age what they wanted to be when they grew up. They wanted to rock. Fortunately, they are able to work as full-time musicians. JD still plays on a vintage 1963 Ludwig drum kit that his grandmother purchased for him at the sprightly age of 3. This same kit produces the thumping beats that drive their shows. Each member had their hand in music all before puberty. These are expert musicians whose musicianship should be appreciated. Shaw, lead singer of the band, was kind enough to answer a few of my questions, and explain a little bit more about why Superdrive is worth YOUR time.
If you only had two words to describe your band, what would they be, and why?
“Loud fun. Superdrive shows are fun. We enjoy getting the crowd involved. It’s great when the crowd is singing all the songs with you, at that point, you know everyone in the room is having a great time. Oh yea, did I mention we were a rock band....it can be loud.”
Name? Who came up with the name and why do you think it fits your band?
“J.D. named the band. Naming bands is our LEAST favorite thing to do. We love playing music, however, coming up with a name that best suits you or your music style....WAY too much brain work. We had to have a name. Seems you can ride through the desert on a horse with no name but clubs for some reason will NOT book a band with no name-go figure.”
Influences, and why? Do you think you live up to their legacies? How do you think you can improve?
”We are all about the same age, so we grew up listening to virtually the same music. Influences are all over the place. We really like a lot of different styles of music. We take requests a lot. I think our wide variety of musical influences helps us to pull them off. We seem to get odd requests and I mean we have taken some ODD ones, but it keeps it interesting.”
The Beatles or Led Zeppelin?
“Two different emotions, we love and cover both bands, but I would say Zeppelin.”
What fuels the intensity of the band’s songs?
“We are full time musicians, so we actually love our jobs!!”
Why should I listen to Superdrive?
“I don’t think you can walk away from a Superdrive show without having fun.”
Fun sounds good to me. Doesn’t fun sound good to you? Find out when they are rocking and rolling near you next. Check out Superdrive on their myspacewww.myspace.com/superdrivenc.
The festival kicks off at 11 a.m. nd will end after Bad Company leaves the stage at about 10:30 p.m. All this for $20 at the gate or $17 if you get your ticket at ticketalternative.com.
{mosimage}Dear EarthTalk: I really want to eat healthy and organic but am constantly traveling and on the go. How can I eat fast food without having to always end up at McDonald’s and Burger King?
- Dylan Baker, Seattle, Wash.
The latest trend in fast food is healthy and organic, and luckily for conscious consumers, several chains offering just such fare are taking root in different parts of the U.S. One of the leaders of this small but scrappy pack of fast food upstarts is O’Naturals. The small chain currently runs two stores of its own in Maine (Falmouth and Portland) and one in Acton, Mass., and franchises out additional locations in Kansas and Florida. O’Naturals’ menu contains lots of vegetarian-friendly items, including “build-your-own” flatbread sandwiches, salads, noodle stir-frys and soups. The meat the restaurant does serve is grass-fed and hormone-free, while the chickens are free-range and the Alaskan salmon is wild.
Another healthy option is EVOS, which currently runs five “quick-casual” restaurants in Florida and is planning a major expansion into the western U.S. Vegetarians can rejoice in the chain’s wide selection of vegetarian and vegan items. While its hormone- and antibiotic-free burgers are still only about as healthy as red meat gets, their soy burger satisfies without the guilt or the cholesterol. Also, EVOS uses organic field greens in its wraps and salads, organic milk in its milkshakes, and fresh fruit in its smoothies. Additionally, the restaurant air-bakes its fries and other typically deep-fried items to keep the fat content as much as 70 percent lower than the same kinds of foods found elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Seattle-based Organics-To-Go, with five locations in Washington and California, lays out a wide array of “grab-and-go” organic and natural foods so customers can make up their own meals out of a cornucopia of healthy choices. Other fast food alternatives offering lots of healthy (as well as vegetarian and vegan) options include Au Bon Pain, Bruegger’s Bagels, Noah’s Bagels and World Wraps, while Subway and Quizno’s alike can be good options for those willing to study the menu carefully.
Even though many alternatives exist, it is hard to beat the reach of the major fast food chains, several of which are making small steps toward healthier menus and will undoubtedly continue to do so if consumers bite. McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Wendy’s have reduced or eliminated trans-fats. Burger King now offers a veggie burger, and McDonald’s is testing one in California. Taco Bell offers many non-meat options, including a bean and cheese burrito, a veggie fajita wrap, and a seven-layer burrito, which can be had without the cheese and sour cream. Carl’s Jr. also has many tasty and healthy vegetarian options despite an otherwise standard fast-food menu. Vegetarians and vegans looking for more ideas about what to eat when time is of the essence should consult any number of Web sites with pages devoted to the topic, including Vegetarian-Restaurants.net, VegCooking, FitWise and Vegetarian Resource Group.
And remember, nothing beats seeking out local restaurants when you’re on the road, to soak up some of the local culture. And with trends as they are it shouldn’t be too difficult to find many that do serve healthy menus č just not quite as fast as “fast food” but probably fast enough.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
{mosimage}“What if I hadn’t shown up today?”
I asked this question to the graduates at Wingate University last Saturday as I began the commencement address that Wingate President Jerry McGee had invited me to deliver.
Many in the audience smiled, thinking that if I were not there to give my speech, things would move quickly to the part of the program when they crossed the stage, received their diplomas, and in one special moment were transformed into Wingate University graduates.
But President McGee knew that even if I cancelled, there would be a graduation address. You see, at each Wingate graduation, President McGee has a prepared speech in his pocket ready for him to deliver just in case something happens to the scheduled speaker.
What President McGee did not know was that his speech was going to be the central theme of my speech.
When I learned that he constantly revises his speech and keeps it up-to-date, even though he will probably never have to give it, I was intrigued.
For a little while I wondered if all his time and attention to constantly revising a speech that nobody will ever hear is a worthwhile activity for a busy university president.
Well, of course it is. The constant revision of that speech becomes the vehicle for him to focus on what is most important to him, on what his life is about, and on what he has learned over his lifetime that he would share with Wingate graduates if the expected graduation speaker cancelled.
When something happens that might be important enough to pass on, he makes a note and considers whether it might have a place in his speech. Thus, a part of his life is the regular, disciplined evaluation of what is really central to him. By writing these things down, scripting how he can explain their significance to others, and then honing it all into the speech, he seals their meaning as a part of himself.
All this happens even though he never gives the speech.
But this speech that is never given helps prepare him for the words he speaks and the actions he takes every day.
Whenever he is called on to tell others what he believes, what a life of service is all about, or how best to deal with life’s challenges, he doesn’t have to make it up. He has already written it down and rehearsed it.
President McGee reminded me of Randy Pausch, a young professor at Carnegie Mellor University, whoseThe Last Lecture has gained national attention and admiration. Pausch described the “last lecture” custom of some college campuses where very senior professors “are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?”
Pausch gave his own “last lecture” a few months ago, shortly after he learned that he had terminal cancer. His impending death gave his speech a special urgency and poignancy for his listeners č and for him, as he presented the lessons of his shortened lifetime.
You will be reading and hearing more aboutThe Last Lecture in the coming weeks. There will be a book and lots of news reports. Word about his speech spread though news reports, and millions of people have already found his lecture on the Internet.
As I came to realize the benefits that President McGee gained by writing and rewriting his speech, I urged the Wingate graduates to begin to write their own “graduation speeches” or “last lectures.”
Beginning today, I told them, as if you might have to give your speech tomorrow. Start revising tomorrow, and continue revising throughout life, just like President McGee.
Why am I sharing these thoughts with you, the readers of my column? It’s simple. If writing a speech is good for President McGee and the Wingate graduates, it is good for you, too.
Start writing, as if you were going to give your “last lecture” tomorrow.
{mosimage}For months now, North Carolina candidates, consultants, activists, political analysts and journalists have seen -and to some extent helped to create - a kind of political blur. On Tuesday, North Carolina voters brought several facts into crystal clarity.
First, the state’s Democratic electorate saw the candidates, watched the national news coverage, and heard the advertisements. In the end, it didn’t matter much. Demographic fundamentals among North Carolina Democrats generated a solid victory for Barack Obama, just as the basic demographics gave Hillary Clinton a win in Indiana, though a far less impressive one. Given the size of the African-American turnout, the math proved impossible for the Clinton campaign.
Second, Richard Moore ran about as good a race as anyone could have, but this was not the year for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue to be denied the Democratic nomination for governor. The Obama-Clinton race created a turnout disparity that, again, made it nigh on impossible mathematically for Moore to assemble a majority. While Moore overplayed his attack ads towards the end, he did make the race competitive for a time by challenging Perdue on various issues.
As for Moore, I suspect that the 2010 race for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will begin shortly.
Third, being from Charlotte is not a liability in Republican politics. Let me repeat just once more, in case a few folks way out east or west haven’t gotten the news yet: Charlotte politicians start out with an advantage, not a disadvantage, when it comes to winning statewide GOP primaries. Being on television and radio for years means that you’re well-known not just in Mecklenburg but in Iredell, Cabarrus, Union, Rowan, Catawba, Gaston and other counties where lots of Republicans live. This helped state Sen. Robert Pittenger of Charlotte cruise to an easy nomination for lieutenant governor. And in the most suspenseful race of the state election cycle, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory turned back a last-minute Fred Smith surge to win the gubernatorial primary outright. He performed well outside of his base region, particularly in the Triad (he grew up in Guilford County), but he blew past the 40 percent mark and clinched the nomination because he was from Charlotte and won massive majorities in those aforementioned counties.
Now comes the general election, where in recent times Republicans do best when they nominate gubernatorial candidates from Mecklenburg (I’m referring to the two Jim Martin victories and the next-best GOP showing, Richard Vinroot’s 2000 campaign). Have I made my point yet? Sorry, it’s a pet peeve.
Fourth, I was right to doubt the likelihood of lots of runoffs. There won’t be many. Janet Cowell easily won the Democratic nomination for state treasurer. Walter Dalton escaped the need to beat would-be National Guard commander Hampton Dellinger in a second primary for lieutenant governor. There will be a vote in the Democratic primary for labor commissioner again in June. There will also be a few legislative and local runoffs. Everyone else can hit the beach (or mountains, if you share my preference).
Finally, despite a massive turnout to nominate the most liberal senator in Washington as the next Democratic candidate for president, North Carolina voters didn’t suddenly lose their fiscal conservatism. Out of 24 county votes to authorize higher sales or real-estate taxes, the local-government lobby won only two votes: sales-tax hikes in Haywood and Cumberland, the latter by a fairly close margin. It wasn’t just small, rural counties saying no to higher taxes. Major counties such as Guilford, Nash, Gaston, Randolph, Orange, and Onslow rejected their tax proposals, usually by overwhelming margins. Here’s a prediction: county commissioners across the state are going to start seeing those local tax votes the way Charlie Brown should have seen Lucy’s football č as a tantalizing prize that will be yanked away at the end.
Next time, the political class won’t make the mistake of asking North Carolina voters whether they think their local taxes are too low. The question is not yielding the intended answer, so it will be rewritten or dispensed with altogether.
My boyfriend of 10 years proposed on Christmas Eve. Excited, I said yes! The truth is, financially and emotionally, he’s not at my level. He lives with his mother and hasn’t had a job the ENTIRE 10 years we’ve been together. He looks at least 10 years older than he is, and I suspect him of having a drug problem, and cheating on me, too. To cut to the point, I simply do not want him. I make $50K a year, own my home, am attractive, in shape, etc. I’m in my late 30s and smart enough to know that the problem isn’t him, it’s me. So, what allowed me to stay so long and waste so much time trying to change him? Why did I work so hard to persuade others he was a great guy when, in my heart of hearts, I knew he was garbage?
--Frankenstein’s Fiancee
This guy’s the slacker version of the Energizer Bunny, napping and napping and napping č except when he jolts awake to get high, cheat on you or yell, “Hey, Ma! Another beer!”
As total failures go, the guy’s been a stunning success. Most men can only dream of living like Hugh Hefner, who has three girlfriends, but had to build a vast publishing empire, buy a mansion and put in a zoo and waterfalls to keep them around. Granted, your boyfriend only has two women in his life; apparently, his reward for keeping his pot plants out of his mother’s begonias, opening his bedroom door when she brings up his neatly folded laundry and picking up the phone when you call to say, “Hello, this is your girlfriend, how can I provide you with excellent enabling today?”
Now, let’s say some matchmaker-type asked you, “Hey, how about a cheating, drug-abusing, prematurely aged boyfriend who hasn’t worked for 10 years and lives with his mother?” I’m guessing your response wouldn’t have been, “Wowee, stack up the bridal magazines!” But, maybe, when you met the guy, you weren’t really ready for a relationship, so the wrong guy was kinda right. And then you felt compelled to defend having spent so much time with him, which only led to you spending more and more time with him - until his Christmas Eve proposal made a certain someone the happiest woman in the world. Not you, silly. Think of the joy his mother must’ve felt at the news that sonny boy might finally leave home.
As for your excitement, it was probably part generic wedding lust and part bragging rights: “A man asked me to marry him!” (Yeah, but which man?) More than anything else, getting engaged gave you the perfect justification for why you stuck around doing all that justifying for 10 long years. Yeah, you were dumb. But, you had help. It seems our brains are wired for self-justification. In “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me),” social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson explain that most people, when confronted with evidence that their beliefs or actions are harmful, immoral or stupid, “do not change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously.” Recognizing that you have this tendency is the best way to avoid succumbing to it - along with forcing yourself to be ruthlessly honest about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Admitting your mistakes should keep you from marrying them, tempting as it must be when a man gets down on one knee, holds out a twist-tie with a chunk of rock candy glued to it, and says, “Hey, Babe, how’dja like to take over my weekly allowance payment from Mom?”
Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA╩ 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)
(c)2008, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.
{mosimage}So, you finally joined a gym, paid the membership fee, and even bought one of their “workout” shirts. Now what? After the initial feel-good thoughts of belonging to a health club fade, where do you start and more importantly at the starting-out stage, how do you fit in? Here are a few tips to help you get on your way.
First off, go to the gym again and get a feel for it before you go for your first workout. Get to know the place so you can walk around like one of the “regulars.” Find out where everything is and how the facility is laid out. Where’s the water fountain? Restrooms? What services are offered to help you get started? Two of the biggest questions to answer are, “When is the gym crowded?” and “What are the hours of the day care?”
Be sure that the clothes you have for the gym are appropriate. Always wear athletic shoes č not sandals or flip flops. While athletic shoes won’t protect your toe from a dropped weight, it will give you good support and some level of protection. Next, make sure that your clothes are clean, fit you and cover what needs covered. A lot of times, people will lay on a bench or the floor to do an exercise, and their shorts are so loose that they show everyone more than they need to see. For women, a good support top is essential too.
Next, be honest and ask yourself if you know what you’re doing. One of the best things to do if you are unsure about the equipment or how to get started is to enlist the services of a professional trainer. Many clubs offer floor staff or staff trainers, these are not the same. A personal trainer should be truly interested in helping familiarize you to the club and getting you started on the best program for where you are at. If they try to “hard-sell” you a year of training and you’ve either never worked out before or had a trainer before... run! All they are going to do is take your money and leave you with a bad experience. Truly though, getting a trainer for a few sessions can save you months or years of wasted time and energy.
OK, you’re on the right track to fitness and have been showing up regularly č congratulations! Now, as you start to get into the routine, do yourself a favor and, bring a towel. Yes, a towel; a lot of people do not wipe off the piece of equipment they were using and you don’t need to put your head on a big wet patch of sweat. Enough said.
When you’re working out and someone is on the equipment you need, don’t simply walk away or feel intimidated. Simply wait until they’re finished with their set and ask if you can “work in” with them. It’s that simple. Most people will let someone work in with them between sets, and the ones who don’t, you don’t want to be around anyway.
Lastly, and most embarrassingly, be keenly aware of personal hygiene. While it may sound funny or like common sense, that can be one of the most embarrassing moments for everyone involved. Always wear clean clothes and use deodorant when you get ready to work out č some gyms even have complimentary toiletries to use. Use them.
There you are, some simple tips to make your gym experience a little more pleasurable and comfortable. While they won’t help you lose 10 pounds or build bigger biceps, it will give you a sense of confidence so that when you do go to the gym, you “look” like one of the regulars.
Now, the rest is up to you.
E-mail your questions to John Velandra at: john@designsinfitness.net. Or call him at (910) 306-3142. John is a certified personal trainer and the owner of CrossFit Cape Fear and Designs In Fitness Personal Training Services in Fayetteville.
Rated: 3 Stars- Rated: 5 Stars for fans of the comic.
{mosimage}How doesIron Man (126 minutes) compare to other comic book-inspired movies? Much better than the last X-Men sequel, better thanFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, better thanSpiderman 3, better than Bryan Singer’sSuperman, and better than Ang Lee’sThe Incredible Hulk.Iron Man told a decent, updated, single hero origin story, focusing on the technical development of the suit, throwing in lots of explosions and cool gadgets. This is a movie with good source material and a practiced lead (Robert Downey Jr.) that tons of people will see more than once in the theaters.
Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) inherited Stark Industries from his father, who started the company during World War II. Obadiah Stane (The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges) handles the business side of the company, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, looking so pretty with freckles) takes care of Tony, and Air Force Lieutenant Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) acts as Tony’s friend. While Tony drinks, gambles and enjoys the kind of lavish lifestyle that Bruce Wayne would envy, the company exploits his genius for engineering weaponry. Some creative storytelling is employed for the first half of the movie, and Tony ends up in Afghanistan to show a new weapon to the U.S. Air Force. There, a terrorist group led by the clichÄd Raza (Faran Tahir) captures him, and rather than make the weapon they want, Tony manufactures an armored suit in order to escape. After returning to America, Tony makes a surprise announcement and retreats to his laboratory to work in secret. Much of the remaining plot involves Tony learning which of the first billed cast he can trust.
A ton of writers worked on the final version, which is usually a flashing red danger sign. However, there are surprisingly few plot holes, and some witty dialogue. Downey Jr., unlike many of the newcomers who suit up to play comic characters, can really act. Jon Favreau displays a light hand with material that could easily turn campy. He deftly updates an origin story, trimming away the soap opera fat that so frequently bogs down such classic Stan Lee material, without sacrificing main character development or comic book style fun.
So why the three-star rating? Well, the villain, although well played, is not given enough to do. The character just doesn’t seem all that tough, and plays his hand a little too early in the film. Perhaps the writers or the director didn’t give the audience credit for intelligence enough to follow the plot and character development. Rather than letting the actor work the material, the character just lingers in corners laughing evilly. Go watch how Bryan Singer developed Magneto in the originalX-Men movie! And is it too much to ask that Rhodes, the single nonwhite character, get something to do other than set up Downey Jr. for his one-liners? We won’t even get into Paltrow’s version of Pepper Potts, true to the original character as she may be. Couldn’t the writers empower Pepper? She crushes on a guy who sleeps around with random women and can’t even remember her birthday, runs around in high heels and can’t seem to make decisions. The worst kind of female sidekick! All in all, I’ve seen worse. A note to the mega-fans ╔ watch the credits. You won’t be sorry.
{mosimage}Mike Mushok, lead guitarist for Staind, doesn’t believe in standing still.
Mushok promises an “evolution” on the group’s new, though as-yet-untitled CD, which the band is touring in support of. The band will visit the Crown Coliseum on May 16 for the front leg of its tour.
“We should be finished with the CD by the time we get to Fayetteville,” said Mushok. “It’s definitely a step ahead for us. The songs really came together.
“And even though it’s different, it still rocks,” added Mushok, “and I don’t think our hardcore fans will be disappointed.”
Mushok cites the presence of producer Johnny K. for the slightly new direction of the CD; this was the first time Johnny K. produced Staind, though he has worked with a diverse group of musicians, including Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, the Plain White T’s and Finger 11.
“He brought some innovations to the studio,” said Mushok.
One should expect innovation from Mushok, who definitely breaks the preconceived idea of the guitar hero when you learn that he graduated from Western New England University with a degree in electrical engineering, which makes him perhaps the first or second most educated rock guitarist in the world č when you throw Queen’s Brian May and his degree in astrophysics into the mix.
Mushok started Staind when he met current lead singer Aaron Lewis at a Christmas party in 1993.
“It was fate because I’d been trying to find a lead singer for so long,” said Mushok. “Of course, it was like, ‘Here’s a another guy at a party who thinks he can sing,’ but obviously, the kid could, and can, sing his ass off.”
Mushok brought in drummer Jon Wysocki and Lewis knew a bass player (who has since been replaced) and Staind was off and running.
Or rather, Stain was.
“Yeah, our original name was Stain,” said Mushok, “but we found out there was another band with the same name, so we added the ‘d.’”
Four years after that 1993 meeting between Mushok and Lewis, Staind began building its rep in the music world... thanks in large part to a would-be showdown between the band and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit over the choice of cover art employed by Staind on their first, self-released CD,Tormented.
Staind was opening for Limp Bizkit in 1997 when Durst became irate at what he called the “satanic” cover art and threw the disc at the band and walked away.
But after he heard them play a 45-minute set, Durst changed his tune and helped get them a record deal and a spot on the Vans Warped Tour. Their first album for Elektra,Dysfunctional, was well received when it was released in 1999, but the band’s real breakthrough came with the 2001 follow-up,Break the Cycle, which hit No. 1 on the charts and produced such hit singles asIt’s Been Awhile,Fade,EpiphanyandFor You.
Since then, the group’s 2002 MTV DVDUnpluggedwent gold and two subsequent albums,4 Shades of Grey andChapter V, both topped the charts.
Local fans of Staind are lucky in that they are catching the band at the very front of its tour, before the group gets worn down by the constant touring č touring which Mushok says can last between 18 and 20 months.
“After awhile, all the towns we play become one big blur,” Mushok said. “And even though I know Fayetteville is in North Carolina, because I have a friend who lives there č his dad is in the military č and we’ve played there twice, I got a little confused when someone mistakenly told me we were playing in Fayetteville, Ala.
“I’m looking forward to playing in the North Carolina version of Fayetteville,” said Mushok. “I think we’re going to give the fans a great show.”
The concert is May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, $42 and $45; members of the military get a $5 discount with ID.
{mosimage}Indie Band “The Never” is set to play at the Fayetteville Museum of Art for their premiere party “Fused & Divided, Life & Art.” The shindig is Friday, May 16th at 6 p.m. The event is free, includes swanky snacks, adult beverages, fantastic art č and the best yet č The Never. Daytrotter.com called them a “spry vigor band with much wisdom” with the interview as evidence below. Jonny, rhythm section and singer in the band, decided to delve deep into The Never’s history, their mission, and their passion for music & our homečEarth.
If you only had two words to describe your band, what would they be; why?
“Folk Art. It’s really hard to describe what we do. We add a lot of theatre ideas into our shows č whether it’s a light show or performing at an outdoor movie theatre with artwork from our last record projected behind us on the silver screen. Our new record will have a ‘lil bit of a folk feel with loud bombastic moments bursting thru the quieter parts.”
Who came up with the name and why do you think it fits your band?
“Finding a name for your artistic outlet is a really awkward thing to do.╩ Especially for us because we don’t really have a set idea for what our band is musically and there’s so many other things that we’d like to do under that name. But the definition of “The Never” is from a Stephen King novel and is reference to “the time before time began.” It’s kind of epic in a way. Seemed to fit what we do but also not limit us to your expectations upon first hearing it.”
Give me a “The Never” history lesson, how did you guys get started?
“We’ve got a long history... the short of it is... Joah my brother, and we were in a group called Vibrant Green with our oldest brother and we began doing shows with a friends who were also from Pittsboro. Our bands fell apart within the same month so we kind of formed like voltron and it worked! Vibrant green is still an active band on our label! We first signed to Morisen Records out of Charlotte and released one record with them and dropped them after that because they wanted rights to our publishing. We didn’t feel comfortable with that so we kind of mutually dropped one another. We then signed with Trekky Records in Chapel Hill and releasedAntarctica, our story book record, and have worked with Trekky Records ever since. We are completely content and have been touring for past two years.”
Who does The Never look to for inspiration č who do you think did it better before you?╩
“So many people deserve our respect... Arcade Fire is doing great things right now musically while also inspiring a whole new generation to better their living conditions č whether that be politically or just as simple as supporting your local farmers that you buy your food from. We also take heed of older artists like Harry Nilsson and Elvis Costello. A lot of my friends think it’s cheesy but I love U2 and what they stand for. They try to teach people through their art and challenge them to think. Seriously, Africa needs our help, but it seems we’d rather “liberate” countries who don’t even want to be liberated.”
The Never has an obvious connection with art č the album Antarctica was released with an illustrated storybook. Can you detail more about this relationship and how it affects the band’s work?
“Our guitarist is an amazing painter and Joah and I would love to see him do more work. Our records are a great way to include that talent and in the future we’d like to have more of what we can offer brought into our group’s work č all three of us have been involved in theatre at some point and would like to bring that aspect of teaching thru art to our performances.”
Can you explain the Anarctica concept and theme, if there is one?
“It’s a storybook album: a full length CD literally coupled with a fully illustrated storybook by guitarist Noah Smith. The story is centered on a young, naive boy named Paul and his journey to find the owner of a large bomb he finds near his home in the country. Antarctica is a plea for everyone young and old to remember the simple things of childhood. The book also serves as a reminder to appreciate our world and the beauty it has to offer.”
Why should people get off their butts and check out the Never at the FMoA?
“First off you’ll be supporting a great local arts venue like the FMoA. Secondly we like to chill with cool people! Thirdly, there’s alcohol... and that’s always fun. Music, good vibes, and art!”
Sounds like reason enough to me. Be sure to check out The Never at the Fayetteville Museum of Art, May 16th, from 6-8pm. Get more information about the band at www.thenever.org and about the art at www.fayettevillemuseumart.org.
Dear EarthTalk: What is the “cleantech” business sector and why have I been hearing that term so much lately?
-Andrea Newell, Denver, CO
{mosimage}Cleantech is a loosely defined category of businesses dedicated to creating cutting edge technologies that address the world’s environmental problems. These high flying companies, most of which began small with the hope of ascending to publicly traded status č are the new darlings of Wall Street, attracting billions in venture capital and public funding in what many financial analysts are calling the next big thing since the burst of the dot-com bubble.
Venture capitalists poured more than $3 billion into the cleantech sector in 2007 alone. Whether this cleantech boom will lead the rest of the economy down the green path for the long term or go bust in a couple of years like its dot-com predecessor remains to be seen.
In the thick of the movement is Cleantech Network LLC, a research firm and clearinghouse for cleantech companies and investors that also publishes the online information clearinghouse, Cleantech.com. The firm defines its budding industry as “new technology and related business models offering competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges.”
The firm interacts with a network of 8,000 investors, 6,000 companies and 3,500 professional organizations involved in alternative energy and energy efficient transportation, wastewater management technologies, air pollution control innovations, sustainable materials production and sourcing, environmentally responsible industrial and agricultural applications and waste recycling and management.
Some examples of the thousands of companies that consider themselves part of the cleantech movement include: Finavera Renewables, a firm that is developing underwater turbines and buoys to generate power from the ocean’s tides and waves; 3TIER Group, which uses advanced computer modeling to help energy companies and utilities figure out where best to site wind, solar and hydro-electric projects; Avalence LLC, which is developing high-pressure hydrogen generation and storage equipment that will dispense hydrogen for use in transportation, home power and industrial applications; and, Infinia Corporation, which is developing a utility-scale system to harvest solar energy.
Over and above the cleantech sector’s potential for addressing crucial environmental problems, analysts see it as a bright spot in the darkening picture of the recession-bound economy over the next few years.
Marketing research and consulting firm Fuji Keizai USA expects the global market for cleantech products and services to grow from the $284 billion is it is generating today to over $1.3 trillion within a decade. The value of the companies in the sector is also expected to grow from today’s $104 billion to some $467 billion in the same 10-year time frame.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
{mosimage}We began theAmerican Idol journey in January full of hope. The singing competition promised that this would be the year of deep talent č no silly Sanjayas in the final 12. At first blush, most of the contestants did look solid. But it soon became clear that they weren’t much more than that. None of them could make your hair stand on end, ł la Fantasia Barrino. So each week you’d vote for your favorites with an uneasy sense of their limitations.
The parallels with this year’s presidential race are inescapable. As primary season grinds on, people seem to be having qualms about those contestants too, no matter how impressive they once seemed.
I suppose I’ll rouse myself to vote for David Cook in this week’sAmerican Idol finale (Tuesday & Wednesday, 8 p.m., Fox). As for Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama and John McCain, I’m waiting to see who can sing the best version ofI Will Always Love You.
Big Medicine
Saturday, 7 p.m. (TLC)
This series features a father-and-son surgeon team who deal with obese people. In this week’s episode, a patient loses 600 pounds through diet and swimming. Unfortunately, he still weighs 400 pounds when his regimen is finished.
Wouldn’t it be a drag to lose 600 pounds and have your doctors tell you it’s “a good start”?
Academy of Country Music Awards
Sunday, 8 p.m. (CBS)
The recent CMT Awards felt about as southern as South Hollywood. You barely heard a pedal steel or fiddle all night, but rather slickly produced pop and rock that clashed with the cowboy hats and boots the performers presumably found in some costume shop. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and New Jersey’s Jon Bon Jovi were unlikely award winners, and Snoop Dogg was an unlikely presenter. Gone were the picket-fence and hay-bale props of past years, replaced by slinky backup dancers and glittering sets. Most stunning of all, none of the winners evoked God or patriotism at the podium. Since the Lord works in mysterious ways, today’s country stars apparently need someone who’s more on-task č say, an agent or manager č to create showbiz miracles for them.
Don’t expect anything different at this week’s Academy of Country Music Awards. If a homespun genius like Hank Williams Sr. tried to make his way on stage, I bet the security guards would draw their guns on him.
Masterpiece
Sunday, 9 p.m. (PBS)
WatchingCranfordfeels like stepping into a real English hamlet from the 1840s. The miniseries, based on novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, paints a large cast of characters on this charmingly small canvas. It makesCranfordcome alive with provincial splendor: the fears, the hopes, the cruelty, the kindness. And, of course, the gossip, which never ceases.
Cranford’s rhythms are slow, but the production pulls you in thanks to fabulous acting by Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis, Imelda Staunton and others. By this week’s finale, you’ll be clucking over the latest tempest in a teapot, just like the town’s biddies in their bonnets and shawls.
{mosimage}Here is my nomination for every college or university that sponsors a campus-wide book for students and faculty to read and discuss together:Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age, a new book by Arthur Herman.
The new book is perfect for campus-wide discussion, and sadly, few, if any, campuses will pick it.
Gandhi & Churchill tells how the lives of these two very different inspirational figures intersected during the turbulent times that led to the breakup of the British Empire č and left us, their successors, with a host of challenges.
Some example discussion topics are: racism and racial pride; benevolent colonialism and the oppression that accompanied it; nonviolence and hard-nosed big power politics; the dangers of appeasement and the strategic advantages of accommodation to the reasonable aspirations and demands of opponents; the conflicting imperatives of global economic development against the spiritual advantages of local village life.
All of these important topics, and the different opinions we have about each of them, are part of the history of the first half of the 20th Century as seen through the roles Gandhi and Churchill played.
There is more: the clash of cultures; the role of accidents and luck in the course of history; good and evil men č and the enormous influence of powerful leadership in shaping events.
When Churchill was born in England’s Blenheim Castle in 1874 and Gandhi on the west coast of India in 1869, India was the jewel of the British colonial possessions. Of all of Queen Victoria’s subjects, two-thirds of them lived on the Indian subcontinent. British rule had brought stability and order to a people of more than 250 million inhabitants composed of an untold variety of languages, castes and religions. To a certain degree it had imposed its systems of laws, culture, economics and education.
Churchill believed that India was an essential part of the British Empire. Without India, he thought, Great Britain could not be a great power. He also believed that without British oversight, India would fall victim to disorder and violence as its various groups competed for domination. He proudly believed in the superior qualities of the Anglo-Saxon peoples and the importance of stern and forceful rule.
Gandhi trained as a British lawyer in London. He believed that the principles of English law required that Indian subjects of the British King be entitled to equality, self-government and their own superior culture. He thought that the most effective weapon to gain those objectives for India was through nonviolent resistance.
Both men, in their very different ways, were amazing examples of courage and character.
Ironically, each of them first proved these qualities, not in England or India, but in South Africa during the Boer War in the early 1900s. Gandhi had come there as a lawyer and became a leader of the Indian community’s demands to be treated equally. During the same time, Churchill, although theoretically a news reporter, was actually an active combatant whose heroism made him a celebrity.
Later, as the two men became leaders of their respective peoples, the conflict between Gandhi’s determination to achieve self-government and equality and Churchill’s belief that India must remain subject to British rule led to their bitter rivalry. Although I would be delighted if UNC-Chapel Hill chooses this book for its summer reading program next year, it is a long shot. The author’s politics tilt conservative. For instance, he is an articulate supporter of the war in Iraq. So his book, as genuinely “fair and balanced” as it is, would be a tough sell in Chapel Hill and in many university communities.
I hope I am wrong. Churchill & Gandhi would be a great book for campus-wide discussion.
{mosimage}It’s hard not to play along when your children come up with cute untruths.
For example, for a time one of my kids used to tell me confidently and matter-of-factly that if he didn’t go to bed, the moon would not rise. It was a reasonable conclusion based on his personal experience at the time (he was about two or three). Later, of course, his bedtime changed, he began to notice the moon in the sky even during some days, and concluded differently.
Unfortunately, many politicians have yet to grow out of the toddler phase when it comes to spotting and discarding spurious correlations. They insist, confidently and matter-of-factly, that without their favorite spending program or regulation, some huge chunk of the economy would cease to be or that ever-improving health and safety trends would suddenly reverse themselves.
The most naĢve and destructive examples of such thinking stem from misusing the concept of the multiplier effect. You’ve seen or read this many times, I’m sure. A politician will say that for every dollar spent on such-and-such a project, the public will receive multiple dollars back in economic activity and thousands or even millions of jobs. In virtually every case, the statement isn’t just invalid. It’s idiotic. And yet it just gets restated by the next earnest-sounding politician.
Most of the time, such politicians are citing an economic-impact study that takes the amount spent and runs it through a model that estimates the local expenditure on labor and materials and the resulting employment implications. While such data can be useful ą particularly if you are thinking about going into the business of supplying the labor or materials in question ą they don’t speak at all to the net economic benefits.
Getting to the net requires that you estimate the benefit of using those dollars on some alternative. Economists call this the opportunity cost. Basically, all costs are opportunity costs, whether they are denominated by dollars, time, or some other means. If you spend $8.50 eating lunch at Jersey Mike’s (highly recommended, by the way) you can’t spend the same $8.50 on some other meal, or on buying socks at the store after having skipped lunch. More broadly, the resources you consumed getting to and from the sub shop, including the minutes, can’t be devoted to something else. What you didn’t consume ą the alternative meal, the socks, the extra time at the office ą constitute the opportunity cost.
In public finance, the opportunity cost comes at two stages. Certainly, the tax dollars you spend on, say, highway construction can’t be spent on public schools or law enforcement. But there is also an opportunity cost to converting private dollars, earned through voluntary means, into tax dollars. When people keep more of what they earn, that money doesn’t disappear just because it no longer shows up in the government’s balance sheet. It is devoted either to current private consumption or to net private investment, both of which have economic impacts, too.
The only real justification for a government program is that private individuals, spending a given amount of money through voluntary exchange, won’t get as high a return on that money as the government would by taxing the money from them and devoting it to a public purpose.
The case isn’t that hard to make when it comes to basic governmental services such as law enforcement and the courts. Beyond that, you have to argue that policy makers are likely to know better than citizens how best to spend the citizens’ own money. There are such cases, I would submit. But these cases are rare.
Those who assert the magic of multiplier effects to justify their pet programs may be dissembling. But it is my experience that most of the time, they don’t know enough about the matter to be lying. They are just repeating what they’ve heard, or spotting spurious connections on the basis of limited experience.
It’s their business if they choose, Peter Pan-like, not to grow up. But they should keep their hands out of the wallets of the grownups.
Every song must come to an end. For 17 years, Alan Porter has led the Cumberland Oratorio Singers. In fact, Porter created the COS, over which he has presided as conductor for its entire history. But on May 18, Porter will exit stage left as he performs his last concert with the choral group. “It’s time to go,” said Porter, who now lives in Kure Beach. “I’ve commuted for six years from here to Fayetteville to conduct the COS. It’s time for some new blood.” That “new blood” is Michael Martin, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities and music education at Methodist University. Martin will begin conducting the COS in the fall. \But before he passes the baton to his successor, Porter has a sensational sendoff scheduled for his last hurrah with the COS. Among the pieces to be performed at the concert — which will be a retrospective of the group’s past work — will be Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Holocaust Cantata. The COS has about 55 members — a number that has fluctuated and seen many different faces fill the chairs. Former member Gina Harvey, who is traveling from South Carolina to accompany the choir on violin, is particularly excited about performing Handle’s Messiah, a longtime crowd favorite, and Brahm’s Requiem. But she also finds the performance bittersweet because it is Porter’s last time on the conductor’s stand. “He is one of the most passionate and talented musicians I have ever known,” said Harvey, who joined the COS 14 years ago and has been driving all the way from the Palmetto State just to prepare for this show. “Even though they’re getting an excellent replacement, things will never be the same with the COS — Alan built this choir, it’s his baby.” Another musician hand-picked by Porter for the performance is Fayetteville cellist Zack May, who, like Harvey, conjured the term “bittersweet” in describing the performance. “It is kind of sad because he (Porter) has been with us so long,” said May, who has played cello at COS performances for four years. “But I am very excited about this show, especially the playing of the Holocaust Cantata.” May has a five-minute cello solo in the Holocaust Cantata. A current member of the COS, Su Vick — the section leader for the altos — said she too is saddened to see Porter go, but feels the COS is being left in good hands. “Allan has been a friend of mine for a long time,” said Vick. “He’s been a wonderful conductor. And we’re fortunate to have an excellent replacement in Michael Martin. “I will say that the good part is that even though we’re losing a conductor, we’re gaining a place to stay at the beach,” Vick said wryly, in reference to Porter’s Kure Beach home. Porter himself says he plans to enjoy his beachside retirement, though the COS will never be far from his thoughts. “It’s been a great run,” said Porter, who will stay on the COS’s board of directors. “This is my baby — I created it. But now I must step away. “But at least I know I leave it in the capable hands of Michael Martin,” said Porter. {mosimage} Martin has conducted large choral groups of 120, directed a semiprofessional group set up by audition, and conducted men’s barbershop chorus — singing for 18 years in professional barbershop quartets. Martin has said he plans to increase the size of the COS and its fans through advertising and by playing more venues in addition to the COS’s home, Methodist University’s Reeves Auditorium. Porter’s final performance will be May 18, 4 p.m., at Reeves Auditorium.
Contact Tim Wilkins: tim@upandcomingweekly.com
{mosimage}A sure sign that summer is on its way in Fayetteville is the arrival of Fayetteville After Five. This third Thursday event brings the community together in a celebration of art, music and fun. What could be more fun? Sponsored by the Fayetteville Museum of Art and some of its community friends (Cumulus Broadcasting, Distributors of Bud Light, The City of Fayetteville, The Fayetteville Observer, Up and Coming Weekly and Time Warner Cable), the event is fun for the whole family. As in years past, the event will feature food vendors and adult beverages. The Young at Art Tent, which allows children of all ages to engage in hands-on activities and art projects FREE of charge. The Visual Artist Tent will feature artists creating on-site as well as displaying and offering for sale unique, hand-crafted items. So it’s more than just music and dancing — it’s educational, it’s cultural — heck, let’s cut to the chase, it’s just fun. The kick-off event, slated for Thursday, May 15 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at Festival Park will feature the beach sounds of the Craig Woolard Band. Those new to the area might be asking themselves what is this “beach music” and even a bigger question — what’s the shag? We’ve got some answers for you. Certain regions in the country are linked with certain kinds of music. You think New Orleans and jazz pops into your mind. You think Seattle — grunge. You think Memphis — Elvis-style rock ‘n’ roll. Nashville — country. You get where I’m going with this? You think North and South Carolina and beach music should (after you spend some time in the two states) and will pop into your head. Beach music is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.The styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly and old-time rock ‘n’ roll. It’s music that reaches deep down inside you and gets you on your feet, which, by the way can’t stand still. Your feet literally start itching to move — and that’s where shagging comes into play. The shag is the state dance of North and South Carolina. It’s a close cousin to swing dancing — but there isn’t as much throwing in the air and the steps are a little more low key. The shag is more of a shuffle than a bop. It’s something best done in the sand — but Festival Park will do just fine. So, now that you know what beach music is, and you know how to dance to it, you need to know that when it comes to beach music, the Craig Woolard Band is beach music royalty. For 27 years, Woolard was the front man for the Embers, perhaps the premier beach band in the land. When the band broke up in 2006, Woolard found himself in an odd place. He still had a love and passion for music — but no one to play it with. Thanks to a group of great friends and fans, Woolard found his way and formed a new band. The band has been entertaining countless thousands for the past couple of years and has quickly earned its place in the Beach Music Hall of Fame. The band’s latest release, Come and Get This, is heating up the airwaves. The CD has produced several hits and has people hitting the floor any time it’s played. Woolard and company are favorites on and off the beach. They can frequently be found playing events like Fayetteville After Five, or more recently, fraternity and sorority parties across the state. Woolard plays the kind of music that makes you long to dig your toes into the sand and grab your favorite guy or gal and hit the dance floor. Woolard is a Fayetteville favorite. He has been performing since he was 14 years old, and has become quite the showman. He explained that he isn’t content until the audience is having as much fun as he is. And, well, since he loves what he does, Fayetteville After Five is looking to be one jumping place. Woolard and his band are committed to giving his audience more than their money’s worth. When you attend a function with the band they don’t just want you to watch, they want you to be caught up in the fun! And while beach music may have been born in the Carolinas years ago, its appeal, and so the band’s appeal, really doesn’t have any boundaries. Children and adults love the band and its music — so introduce your kids or your grandkids to some classic beach sounds at Fayetteville After Five. Don’t forget — it’s free, it’s at Festival Park and it’s going to be fun!
So You Want to Shag by STAFF REPORTS
So, you’re new to the area and you keep hearing about this thing called the “shag.” No it’s not a hairstyle and it’s not British slang. The shag is a form of swing dancing that evolved from the jitterbug and jump blues of the big band jazz era and originated along the strands between Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington, during the 1940s. It is most often associated with beach music, a genre of rhythm and blues-based songs that lends itself to this dance form. According to Bo Bryan, a noted shag historian and resident of Beaufort County, the term was coined at Carolina Beach. Today, the shag is a recognized dance in national and international dance competitions held across the United States. In the dance, the upper body and hips hardly move as the legs do convoluted kicks and fancy footwork. The man is the center of attention and the woman’s steps either mirror steps of the man’s or a sort of marking time while he does spins and other gyrations. The shag is the state dance of North Carolina and South Carolina, and is still popular among residents of both states. Thousands of people are members of shag clubs throughout the region. Fayetteville has its own Shag Club. The clubs meet on a regular basis and throw some of the best parties around. Dancing reigns at the parties — where people are only too happy to show off their fancy footwork. Most shaggers make a the spring and fall pilgrimage to Ocean Drive at North Myrtle Beach to participate in the annual SOS, a veritable shaggers paradise. For one weekend, OD is filled to overflow of dancers going from club to club — places like Duck’s and Fat Harold’s (no, we’re not making these names up) and the holy of holies — the OD Pavilion — for a weekend of dancing that is the staff history is made of. So, grab your weejuns, get a partner and head down to Festival Park. If you don’t know how to shag, someone will be glad to teach you — and if that fails, simply grab a partner, swing them around and shuffle your feet — you’ll get the hang of it.
Contact Janice Burton at: editor@upandcomingweekly.com
In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the theme song Happy Days Are Here Again to jump start his presidential campaign and lift the country’s spirits on the heels of the Great Depression. Each member of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners may very well be humming the same tune after voters approved a 1/4 cent sales tax increase last week that will generate about $8 million for the county to help pay for a new public library and health department, as well as cover other costs. The sales tax referendum was approved by 30,817 votes to 20,246 — 60.4 percent to 39.6 percent. This was a much higher turnout of Cumberland County voters than usual, and some commissioners say Democratic presidential nominees Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a huge say in the sales tax approval. “I expect the turnout was because of the presidential election,” said Commissioner Diane Wheatley. “I was a little concerned that some just came out to vote in the presidential election and didn’t know what the tax was about.” {mosimage} Dr. Jeannette Council, vice chairman of the board of commissioners, also gave a shout-out to Hillary and Barack for the passage of the sales tax increase. “I think one of the reasons we got this passed was because of the large turnout of voters,” said Council. “And I absolutely think the interest in Obama and Clinton was the reason for the turnout. “I am ecstatic about the passing of the sales tax,” added Council. “It means we can meet our budget for the year. We were facing a shortfall.” The county faced a $4 million budget shortfall if the tax had not been passed. While the new sales tax does initially add up to about $8 million a year in extra revenue for the county, the overall numbers come to $4.8 million a year, as the tax increase included an incentive to lower property taxes by 2 cents — which most of the commissioners, including Wheatley, believe was a key selling point for the approval of the tax increase. “This will give the property owners some relief,” said Wheatley. “It will also help fund the new health department, which we desperately need, and the new public library to be built on the same location as the new elementary school planned for the western part of the county.” The new health department will be on Ramsey Street adjacent to the Department of Social Services, and will be a three-story, 108,000-square-foot building. The planned public library will actually be a part of the campus of the planned elementary school, something that is fairly unique for North Carolina, said Sarah Vanderclute, director of public information for Cumberland County. “It’s not completely unheard of to have a public library and a public school in the same complex, but it is rare,” said Vanderclute. “Our spirits are very high and we are very pleased with the vote. It is a major plus for the county and it will help us build the kind of county we want.” According to Vanderclute, the health department will cost $28-$30 million, while the library will be $6-$7 million. Breeden Blackwell, chairman of the commissioners, cited three reasons for the approval of the tax increase: the voter turnout; the work of the Cumberland County Citizens for Fair Taxes, which raised about $40,000 for billboard ads and performed various other campaigns in support of the sales tax; and the decision by the commissioners to lower property taxes. However, Blackwell said he had initial concerns about the approval of the tax as the voting went late into the night. “I was there until the final returns came in,” said Blackwell,”and we worried when those first returns came in. But it turned out all right.” While the commissioners and folks involved in the county government were overjoyed, not everyone heralded the sales tax increase. James and Bonnie Craven, who live just off Hwy. 87 in the western part of the county, said it will cost them more in a time of economic uncertainty. “We don’t own property, we rent,” said Bonnie Craven. “So it’s just going to cost us more to buy the things we need when we go shopping. We just might have to go over the county line into Bladen County for some things we need.” The 1/4-cent tax increase would amount to about a penny on a $4 dollar purchase, or 25 cents on a $100 purchase. The tax would not be applied to food purchased at a grocery store. Election night was a double win for Commissioner Kenneth Edge, who not only saw the approval of the sales tax, but won the District 2 Democratic primary and will face three Republican challengers in November. “It’s just a great honor for me,” said Edge. “Obviously, the voters have confidence in what I’ve done for them and the county, and they have confidence I will continue to do a good job as commissioner.”
{mosimage} From blinking cocktail glasses to quick lube offers, Fayetteville’s roadways play host to a veritable cornucopia of signs, whose growth until 1997, were virtually unregulated. On May 5, The Fayetteville City Council got a first look at a proposed new sign ordinance designed to further regulate signs on the city’s roadways. Jimmy Teal, the chief officer for planning, presented the proposed ordinance to the council during its monthly work meeting. The sign ordinance is based on a similar ordinance in Cary. Cary, the seventh largest metropolitan city in the state, is known for its controlled growth and planning. In 1971, Cary adopted zoning and other ordinances on an ad-hoc basis to control growth and give the city structure. Passing a Planned Unit Development zoning ordinance to accommodate population growth related to the growth of Research Triangle Park, Cary’s local government placed a high value on creating an aesthetically pleasing town. A PUD allows a developer to plan an entire community before beginning development, thus allowing future residents to be aware of where churches, schools, commercial and industrial areas will be located well before such use begins. Fayetteville is putting a new emphasis on the aesthetics of the city and on planning in general. Teal said as the city moves forward with the Unified Development Ordinance, it is looking at all aspects of city development. The UDO does not address signs, Teal explained, so the council directed city staff to pull together information on sign ordinances and bring a proposal to the table. Teal said the staff took a look at sign ordinances from across the state. A recent study by the City of Winston-Salem rated municipalities on their ordinances — Cary was the most restrictive, while Fayetteville was one of the least restrictive. Teal said the city’s goal probably is to fall somewhere in the middle of the two, but used the Cary ordinance as a starting point. “The ultimate goal is to make Fayetteville a more attractive city,” said Teal. While the proposed ordinance deals with three types of signs — pole signs, wall signs and ground signs — the main concern is on pole signs. Pole signs are a fixture in the city, particularly along thoroughfares like Yadkin Road, Bragg Boulevard and Ramsey Street. Teal pointed out that in these heavy commercial areas, pole signs have been placed on relatively small lots and are located one after the other. Under the proposed ordinance, both the number and size of pole signs will be regulated. The Cary ordinance does not allow any pole signs. The current Fayetteville ordinance allows businesses to have three kinds of signs: a pole sign, no more than 25 feet high, with 150-square-feet of copy space; a ground sign, no more than 8 feet high, with 150 feet in copy space; and a wall sign. Under Fayetteville’s proposed ordinance, pole signs will only be allowed on major thoroughfares, which will be designated by the council. Only one pole sign will be allowed per site. The maximum copy size is down to 50 feet and the maximum height is down to 17 feet, with a 10-foot minimum. Roads not designated as thoroughfares would not be allowed to have any pole signs at all. For the city’s purpose, a thoroughfare is a road with more than four travel lanes and a turn lane. Teal said people looking for a business would be looking across four or five lanes of traffic and might have difficulty seeing a ground sign. The council discussed the amount of time businesses would have to bring their signs into compliance if the ordinance is adopted. The planning staff recommended a five-year amortization period for pole signs, three years for wall signs and two years for ground signs. If a business’ sign is not in compliance, they must take the sign down and pay a permit fee to construct a sign to replace it. Councilman Charles Evans suggested waiving the permit fee if businesses bring their signs into compliance during the first year of the amortization schedule. Another key point in the ordinance is defining what is and what a ground sign isn’t. When the first sign ordinance was passed in 1997, many portable signs were converted to ground signs by anchoring them into the ground. Under the new ordinance, these converted ground signs will not be allowed. City Manager Dale Iman said the ground signs were the “most egregious” offenders. “The portable signs that were allowed to be converted — signs that are propped up, signs with lights burned out — these are all problems that the ordinance will address and by addressing those it’s a major improvement in our city,” said Iman. Teal said between 75 and 80 percent of the businesses in the city will be affected by the ordinance if it is approved. Councilman Keith Bates urged the council to seriously consider adopting the ordinance noting that failure to adopt the ordinance would result in “playing 40 years of catch up again.” Bates said failure to act on the proposal would result in future councils looking back and saying the council should have done something about it. In other business, the council also took a look at billboards, with the staff bringing a proposed ordinance to ban the placement of any new billboards within the city limits. The transfer ordinance will remain in effect, under which sign companies can replace one sign as long as they take one sign down. There are currently 180 billboards in the city limits.
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