Category: Open Lines

February is Black History Month, a time to recall and honor the many positive contributions to our nation made by people of African descent.  Started as a special week 86 years ago by historian Carter G. Woodson, the observance is now a full month of activities across the country.  African-Americans number 42 million in the U.S., 13.6 percent of the total population.  By 2050, this proportion is estimated to reach 15 percent.  Although New York has the largest number of …

Former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory kicked off his gubernatorial campaign at a Guilford County meeting hall Tuesday with a plea to North Carolina voters to work against the state’s “good old boys and girls network.”  (read more) Mitt Romney won Florida’s primary, with a wide margin over Newt Gingrich.  “I stand ready to lead this party and to lead our nation,” Romney told cheering supporters in Tampa after his victory became clear.   (read more) Discuss and more on the …

Coming in from the cold and wind that now grip much of the nation, something warm to drink can be very welcome.  Many will make themselves a cup of tea, helping to celebrate National Hot Tea Month.  Not only is tea relaxing, but studies have shown it to help ward off cardiovascular disease.  Tea is the only beverage commonly served either hot or iced and in any season.  While drinking tea has been around for thousands of years, Americans made …

Weekly Address: President’s Blueprint Includes Renewal of American Values.  In his weekly address, President Obama discusses the blueprint he put forward this week in the State of the Union Address for creating an economy built to last. After focusing on American manufacturing, American energy, and skills for American workers during each of the last three days, he used his weekly address to highlight his commitment to a renewal of American values. The President is challenging leaders in Washington, DC to …

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, the first woman elected governor in the state, said Thursday she would not seek re-election this year because she believes a bid would make it more difficult to fund education.  “We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces,” Perdue said in an email to supporters. A re-election bid, she added, “will only further politicize the …

By the time you read this I’ll already be out of town on a small trip.  If you’re seeing this message, it’s because I wasn’t able to put up a open line last night.  Same goes for tomorrow, as we won’t return until the weekend.  Feel free to tear up the open lines!

Nancy Pelosi made an odd comment yesterday on CNN, regarding the possibility of Newt Gingrich becoming president “He’s not going to be President of the United States. That’s not going to happen. Let me just make my prediction and stand by it, it isn’t going to happen.”  (read more) The Daily Beast sought to determine which urban centers are havens for tolerance. Where are diverse urban populations matched by high levels of acceptance and peaceful relations? To find out, they …

Yesterday, a website promoting for the NC the constitutional amendment to define a marriage between only a man and woman launched, matching up with an existing website promoting against the same amendment. On May 8th elections, this amendment will be on North Carolina ballots for your decision.  If you care about this matter either way you must vote your preference by that date.  If you vote Yes on the amendment, that means you are against allowing gays to wed.  If …

Tonight, Henderson City Council will meet at 6pm for a Short Regular Meeting.  You can read more detail about the agenda and download the full packet on our article from last week. This weeks President’s Weekly Address: America is Open for Business  – President Obama tells the American people about a series of steps he’s taken without the help of Congress to grow the economy and create jobs — including a new strategy aimed at boosting tourism introduced this week. In …

On Thursday, January 19th, the President traveled to Disney World where he unveiled a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel, an important sector in the U.S. economy.   We’re asking Americans across the country to add their voices to the discussion on tourism in the U.S. and share what makes their city or town a great place visit.  Use the form below to tell us what’s great about where you live.  If you’re on Twitter, you can also use the …

There’s been a lot of emphasis lately on making houses that are more energy efficient — with better insulation, windows that seal out heat and cold and better weather stripping.  Many feature the use of solar panels to capture the natural heat of the sun.  The first house in America with solar heating and radiation cooling was built by Raymond Bliss and opened this week in 1955 in Tucson, Arizona.  A large, slanting slab of steel and glass converted sunlight …

Did anybody see the Mystery Machine in town today? What do you think they’re investigating? Today, some websites will be going offline in a show of protest against new bills curretly in talks SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) aimed at combating online piracy.  Wikipedia joins sites like MoveOn, Reddit, BoingBoing, Mozilla, WordPress, TwitPic and the ICanHasCheezBurger network. Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr will not be joining the day of protest, however, all have expressed their …

Raleigh Tops List of America’s Healthiet Cities for Women. Scrutinising the stats across the U.S. is Women’s Health magazine, who has compiled its latest healthiest cities for women list, naming Raleigh, North Carolina as the best place to live as a woman. Combining a wide selection of health, wellbeing and social factors across 30 categories including how often they visited doctors and obesity rates, the magazine crunched the numbers from 100 cities. (Read more) How ‘Healthy’ is Henderson?  We have …

Sunday, January 15th.  Dr. Martin Luther King would be 83 years old.  The civil rights leader, minister, and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize was born in 1929 and assassinated in 1968.  Monday is a federal holiday honoring his memory and marking his long fight for equality for everyone through nonviolent means.  King’s hopes for America’s future were embodied in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.  Today, America’s diverse population continues to work toward King’s …

Reader Michael Bobbitt sent in a good suggestion for HiH readers Thursday.   Every year, the Vance County Board of Commissioners attend an annual retreat where they discuss the year and future goals for the county.   This years retreat is January 19th, 2012 from 10am to 3pm at the Satterwhite Point Glass House. The Henderson City Countil members will hold their Strategic Planning Retreat on January 26th, 2012 at the Aycock Recreational Center. What are your concerns?  What would be on …

DPAC ranked fourth among top U.S. Entertainment venues – More than 414,000 fans attended shows and events at the Durham Performing Arts Center in 2011, placing it among the top theaters in the United States.  The ranking comes from entertainment industry magazine Pollstar, which ranked the Durham Performing Arts Center fourth, behind Radio City Music Hall, Coliseum Theater at Caesars Palace and the Fox Theatre of Atlanta. When / If Henderson ever gets its performing arts center built, what top …

Sorry, no time tonight for me to do a proper open line…  But that’s where you’re supposed to fill in anyway.  I will note that the subject of the SERVPRO employee theft by Jessie Heatherly Jacobs has posted bail on Wednesday and has been released from custody.  You can read more about the incident here.  Welcome to the open lines!

A lot of political maneuvering in the state these days, with “Late this afternoon, in a temporary restraining order issued in response to a complaint by NCAE, Wake County Judge Paul Gessner ruled NCAE “has shown a likelihood of success on the merits” of its claim that the process violated the state constitution.”  (read more) Another issue is “Dozens of Democrats and advocacy groups challenging the new Republican-drawn maps for North Carolina’s legislative and congressional districts want judges to delay …

The County’s Public Safety Committee is scheduled to meet Monday, January 9 at 2:15 p.m. in the County Manager’s Office. The purpose is to discuss Bearpond Fire Department. The County’s HR Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the County Manager’s Office. The January 2012 EDC Board meeting will be Wednesday, January 11th at 9:15 a.m. at the Bank of America Conference Room. This weeks President’s Weekly Address: Continuing to Grow the Economy in the …

Monday will see a Vance County Board of Commissioners Meeting, a Water District Board Meeting, a Board of Education Meeting and a City of Henderson City Council Meeting. We’ve already got the full agenda up for the BoC and associated Water District, it’s only 121 pages.   Download the agenda on our article page here.  We should be receiving the BoE agenda and CoH agenda Friday. I posted yesterday regarding the NC House midnight session that “The public didn’t know, the …