Jason Lonon is one of the finest producers of art and graphics it's been my pleasure to know. Here he's working on the interior logo for the downtown coffee shop. NOTE:He says the typo in the word Burlington will be corrected. That's why artists need wordfolks around.

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Talk about a trial by fire.

Saturday, as it turns out, will be the day when the new coffee shop mentioned in a previous post will open its doors in downtown Burlington. The owners selected an interesting time to get started. There’s nothing at all happening downtown on Saturday — unless you count the annual Burlington Christmas Parade.

So let’s see, there could be a few hundred ready-made customers all set to advance on the Perk-O-Later, which is located on Davis Street not far from the also brand-new Pizza Corner, which is on the parade route. If there’s any kind of chill in the air at all — and odds are there could be (although all bets are off in a fall that has been decidedly unfall-like) — coffee will be in demand.

“It’s going to be a circus in that place,” said my friend Jason Lonon, whose wife Kelly Vines is a co-owner of the shop. Jason, a talented artist who used to work in the Times-News advertising department, is also applying his hand toward getting the business up in time. The interior artwork and signs are unmistakeably  his. Lots of back-breaking labor has gone into getting the site ready for customers. Jason did want it noted that a typo contained in the sign and interior painting of the logo will be fixed.

Again, it’s good to see new signs of life downtown. Anne Morris of the Downtown Corporation told me the other day that eight new ventures have opened over the past few months and one is about to expand.

Best of luck to all. And may Kelly, Jason and Stephanie have a smooth and eventful opening on Saturday.

Post from: Madison Taylor

Here’s our editorial about it that was published in today’s newspaper.

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Where do we start when it comes to listing the nettlesome questions that follow news over the weekend that a high school student with alleged gang affiliations was jailed by Alamance County authorities after making threats of mass violence to those on the campus of Alamance Community College?

For starters, why did it take so long for investigators to find out about Markise Antonio White, 18, a student at Alamance-Burlington Middle College, a non-traditional high school under the Alamance-Burlington School System but located on the main campus at ACC? The sheriff’s department alleges that on Oct. 19 and 20 White stated that he “was gong to come to ACC with a bunch of his guys and start killing a lot of people,” according to a warrant for his arrest. It is further alleged that White also said, “You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. My friends and I have a bunker and weapons. Wait and see in 2010.” Investigators also say he made a more direct threat toward a specific middle college teacher.

Note the dates of the alleged threats. According to a spokesman for the sheriff’s department, Graham police weren’t notified about the incidents by campus security until Nov. 12. White turned himself in to authorities on Nov. 14 — almost a month later. This came after Graham authorities handed the case over to the City/County Gang Task Force. Because of the “magnitude of the threats,” the FBI Safe Streets Violent Crimes Task Force was also contacted.

“Magnitude of the threats” … roll that around on the tongue.

White, who investigators contend is affiliated with a gang known as the Neighborhood Mafia, is now under $100,000 bond in the Alamance County jail on charges of making a false report of mass violence on educational property and with communicating threats. It’s where he should have been placed weeks ago.

Why it took so long for authorities to hear of the matter provides another troublesome question: Can two organizations that occupy the same turf communicate more unsuccessfully?

It would be hard to imagine.

Monday, community college president Martin Nadelman said his office and campus security did not hear about the incidents until early November but thought it was the role of the Alamance-Burlington School System to handle it. Nadelman also said that the threat appeared to be for 2010, and posed no immediate danger.

The latter explanation is a particularly dangerous assumption. Someone volatile enough to make threats of mass violence so publicly isn’t likely to pay much attention to a calendar.

Charles Monroe, an assistant superintendent with the Alamance-Burlington School System, said middle college officials felt the need to utilize ACC’s security procedures for handling the threats.

In effect, no one could determine who was in charge.

While no one wants public school leaders to overreact to such situations, under-reaction is a much riskier proposition. After all, the well-being of thousands of students, teachers and employees is at stake.

It’s clear that better communication between the community college and school system in cases such as this one is not only a matter for discussion but action as well. A chain of command should be established between ACC security and the middle college with clearly marked paths for all to follow.

We live in a dangerous world where little, if anything, can be taken for granted. That’s especially true when it comes to campus safety.

Post from: Madison Taylor

My print columnn for today is about, perhaps, renewed hope for downtown …

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I was corresponding the other day with an acquaintance who used to work at the Times-News a few years ago. Like a lot of great people who come and go at our office, he’s incredibly talented — the kind of person who leaves a crater behind when they move on to other pursuits.

In many ways that gigantic hole has never been filled.

Anyway, he’s working this weekend with his wife and her partner on a new venture coming to downtown Burlington. I gathered from his writing that a lot of remodeling has already been accomplished on the site that will one day be a coffee shop called, The Perk-O-Later. After all, the buildings downtown are hardly new. Little things such as bathrooms accessible to the handicapped can take weeks of pocketbook-draining labor to get in shape.

But he assured me that the venture, which will offer the same kind of coffee stylings as the late and much lamented Roasters Café near May Memorial Library, would be open soon enough.  I, for, one, am seriously looking forward to seeing the promised mural of Elvis in the bathroom.

While they’re obviously stoked about starting a new business downtown, I might say the same of myself. After all, I work there just as more than a thousand others do Monday through Friday. I like the idea of a wide variety of places within walking distance for lunch or a mid-morning or afternoon break. Because I often stay at the office into the early or even late evening, it would be tremendous to see more after-dark kind of stuff going on there. It’s hard to imagine anything cooler than having some place to stop by, have a quick drink and hear some music or watch an ACC basketball game on TV for a few minutes.

My friend feels the same way.

“I’ve been hearing people talk about a downtown revitalization since I first moved here back in 1995,” he said. “People have told me that’s it’s been tried, and has failed miserably. But I really feel like something is happening now. I don’t feel this way just because we’re involved. Cool things are happening, and I’m pretty excited about it.”

Now obviously my friend is a pup when it comes to the history of Burlington’s downtown. But I’m only a pup and then some myself. When I arrived here the first time in 1984 downtown was already past the decline from its mid-century heyday and deeply into its failed incarnation as a pedestrian mall and its frustrating system of blocked streets. Burlington was hardly alone when it came to succumbing to this 1970s trend, which did more to damage downtown redevelopments than it ever helped.

 By the time I left in 1992 Burlington had reopened Main Street and put parking back in. Still, only a handful of businesses remained and the migration that shifted west Burlington nearly into Guilford County was firmly into its period of manifest destiny.

When I returned to Burlington in 2007 I was immediately struck by how much more prosperous downtown looked than it did in ’92. LabCorp was the biggest reason, sure, but lots of nice pieces were also there. The Depot renovation, completed before I left, was still intact and obviously of interest. The Paramount Theater was thriving. A handful of arts businesses were starting to emerge. But there were still a lot of empty buildings.

Last Saturday, though, my wife and I came downtown to celebrate “Novemberfest” at the site of the planned Company Shops Market Co-Op, which is in the former A&P store on Front Street. A few hundred people showed up to sample bratwurst from Cane Creek Farms and beer from Red Oak Brewery. The event was part of the fund-raising effort to bring the market to downtown and a way to encourage more investors to support the endeavor to have a store specializing in locally produced products.

The Company Shops Market is the kind of signature gathering place downtown has sought for three decades. It was easy to see the potential last week as a few hundred people gathered in the chilly autumn air to hear a band and enjoy themselves for a couple of hours.

After seeing that I had to agree with my friend. Cool things are happening downtown. I’m pretty excited about it.

Post from: Madison Taylor

Post from: Madison Taylor

It’s not hard to stop and remember the contributions of the military on a day like today — Veterans Day. That’ is, after all, what Nov. 11 is for.

But with wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and the potential for international problems always a cross word or misplaced piece of military hardware away, the contributions of veterans past and present are something Americans really should consider every day.

That’s what my brother-in-law does.

His name is Ross Gould and he lives in Newport, a place few know about that’s situated between Havelock and Morehead City along the Newport River. He was born there, raised there and now has a family of his own there. He likes the water, but doesn’t make his living on it as many down that way do. He puts down carpet and flooring. On weekends he works on and races cars. If anybody needs a favor he’s the first to offer a hand.

He’s one of the best people I know.

Over the past dozen years or so when he encounters Marines and sailors from Camp Lejeune or Cherry Point Air Station he’s quick to offer a handshake and say, “thank you for your service.” He doesn’t just do so on Veterans Day or Memorial Day. It’s usually any day.

When we used to work for our father-in-law on his Christmas tree lot it wasn’t uncommon for Ross to offer his thanks several times a day. I even heard him say to spouses, “tell your husband thanks for his service.”

And then a funny thing happened. I heard Ross say it so much that I began to do it too. Now if I meet someone in the military our conversation almost always includes a “thanks for your service.”

It’s a little thing, but an important one. And thanks to Ross for making this clear — at least to me.

Post from: Madison Taylor

OK, I just got in today and my mind’s a little fuzzy because I”m three cups of coffee down on a 10-cup Wednesday but this story was an eye-opener. I saw it on the Associated Press, which provides the truncated version. It was originally in the News and Observer.

GOLDSBORO — A central North Carolina middle school is selling grades to students to raise money for the school.

   The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro has come up with a novel fundraising plan after last year’s chocolate sale failed to meet expectations. The school will sell 20 test points to students in exchange for a $20-dollar donation.

   Students can add 10 extra points to each of two tests. The extra points could take a student from a “B” to an “A” or from a failing grade to a passing grade.

   Rosewood’s principal Susie Shepherd says it’s wrong for one poor grade to change nine-weeks worth of work.

   Officials at the state Department of Public Instruction say exchanging grades for money teaches children the wrong lessons.

Excuse me for saying so but, “duh.” What’s this school thinkin’?

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This just in, signs of intelligent life found among Wayne County educators. The News & Observer posted a fresh story just now updating that school administrators are now nixing the grades for cash program.

But shouldn’t they have known better to start with?

Post from: Madison Taylor

Whenever Marines are scheduled to deploy from Camp Lejeune, where the troops are headed and when is among the worst-kept secrets in Jacksonville. Family and friends talk about it openly. Plans can be overheard at the Jacksonville Mall or the nearby IHOP. It’s what people discuss at Wal-Mart.

The same is true about when the Marines and sailors are coming home, too. Only this time add in every fire station in two counties where plans are usually made to welcome the troops home from a job well done with a roadside show of signs and flag-waving residents.  Outside the main gate to Lejeune, famiies of those deployed put up a display of colorful personalized “Welcome home” signs.

So yes, literally everyone knows when the troops are coming or going — except the local media. Base officials release no information to TV, radio or newspapers for reasons of security. When I was at the Daily News we would frequently receive telephone calls from fire departments or rescue squads asking that we put a notice in the newspaper asking people to line up along N.C. 24 to greet the troops at a specific time and place. They often became irritated on those occasions when we would not.

Camp Lejeune really didn’t want us to do it, mainly because it’s dangerous  for the scheduled arrivals or departures of military forces to be published anywhere publicly. It was a way of protecting troops as they advanced upon the North Carolina State Port in Morehead City or loaded LCACs off Onslow Beach. Lejeune or the DoD didn’t want the information in the hands of enemies who might use it against the military.

And even though there are holes in this security blanket the size of Oklahoma, the goal of the military makes perfect sense. Times of arrivals and departures are when forces are at their most vulnerable — packed and at ease — often with their spouses and children nearby.

This hit home again last week when news filtered out about the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas in which 13 American soldiers were killed and 29 other people were wounded by an Army psychiatrist. The reason Maj. Nidal Hasan went on his deadly rampage isn’t clear. The FBI is still retracing its steps in its background and fitness checks of Hasan, a U.S. native but practicing Muslim who became increasingly radical as his own deployment date drew near.

The shootings took place at a deployment readiness center — though not at the time of actual departure. Still, it was seen as a safe area aboard the Army installation. It was perhaps the last place our service members were expecting an attack, particularly one from one nestled so inside the military.

The clear signal from the tragedy at Fort Hood is that protecting our troops as they go about routine business on military bases is a paramount issue. It’s time to rethink our security measures, how we evaluate our military personnel, how much information should be available to the public and what families should talk about outside their homes.

It’s matter of national security.

Post from: Madison Taylor

With the city and town elections now just a handful of hours in the rearview mirror there’s only one thing left to do.

Start speculating about the 2010 races.

Yes, candidates on the local and state levels are already positioning themselves for 2010. In fact, there was more buzz about elections still a year away than the odd-year races at hand. Turnout in Burlington and elsewhere met historically low expectations.

But over the past few weeks, most of the talk has been about races candidates won’t begin filing for until February. Consider:

Alamance-Burlington Board of Education chairman Tom Manning announced that he was handing over the gavel — but not his seat — to concentrate on another bid for the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. It was the right thing to do, by the way. He avoids the potential for political conflict of interest and removes himself from a potential hot seat.

Robert Sharpe stepped up in October and said he would be pursing the Republican nomination to run for the position of district attorney now held by Democrat Rob Johnson. Johnson, meanwhile, will be leaving that position early to become a superior court judge as appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue. It’s a job he will have to run for as well. He could face a load of opposition there.

A massive pileup of Democrats has collected as possible replacements for Johnson. That position is also appointed by the governor. The winner of the appointment would hold the job but still face a primary in May and potentially a November general election.

Donnie Compton, who ran unsuccessfully against Sheriff Terry Johnson in 2006 said at the end of 2008 that he intends to run for that job again in 2010. Other Democrats may join him. I don’t see any Republicans challenging Johnson at this point — but you never know.

And Cary Allred called me last week and mentioned that he would be seriously considering a bid to serve on the Alamance County Board of Commissioners — a position he held in the late 1980s and early 1990s before becoming a state representative.  He resigned that post this year under inquiry over his conduct during a Monday night session. He said he would not run for the General Assembly again.

Allred’s Republican House replacement Dan Ingle is up for election, though as is Democratic Rep. Alice Bordsen and Democratic Sen. Tony Foriest. Look for Rick Gunn, who lost to Foriest in 2008, to perhaps lock horns again.

A poll conducted by Elon University last week indicated that incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem could face an uphill battle in a bid in 2010 to keep his seat. The same poll also showed his Democratic counterpart, U.S. Sen Kay Hagan, is also pretty unpopular with voters but she won’t face the electorate again until 2014.

And the election wheel keeps spinning …

Post from: Madison Taylor

For Celo Faucette Tuesday night had to be sweet. The retired LabCorp employee and frequent political candidate snared his first outright electoral victory with a narrow 8-vote win over Larry Sharpe in the race for Burlington City Council.

It was a long time in coming for a candidate who has pursued a council seat before, and a spot in the state General Assembly and on the county board of commissioners. Faucette, who was denied a council seat two years ago by cruel fate and the misguided votes of the then-city council members when it came to filling a vacancy, probably still doesn’t feel completely comfortable. After all, there are 18 provisional votes left to tally at the Alamance County Board of Elections and a canvass of votes to navigate before he can be officially be declared the winner and join top-vote-getter Steve Ross on City Council in December.

And let’s face it, Faucette’s luck hasn’t been good when it comes to getting on elected boards.

Sharpe, however, didn’t seem in a mood Tuesday to contest the results should the canvass fail to change the outcome. The longtime county commissioner faced his first council race after being appointed to the seat following the death of Councilman Don Starling. He took Starling’s post with the promise that he had no interest in running for the seat, but later changed his mind.

Faucette’s election brings a new voice to a council certainly in need of one and gives east Burlington an active player in the city’s power structure. And his victory over a slate of strong candidates offers a mandate for Faucete to make his presence felt right away.

So now Faucette has what he has coveted for quite some time. I wish him the best of luck. He may find that wanting elected office is much better than actually holding one.

Post from: Madison Taylor

“Mr Taylor:

Post from: Madison Taylor