Listening Tour organizers listening to a member of the crowd.

Thursday, July 16, roughly 75 people gathered at the Teamster’s Local Union, at 5000 N. Tryon St., to be part of Organizing for America‘s Listening Tour.

The purpose, said Lindsay Siler, OFA’s North Carolina director, was “to help them understand what Charlotte’s [OFA] structure should look like,” adding, “It’s about people having a say and empowering all of you to bring change to your community.”

The group is looking for community organizers who are willing to put in 10-20 hours per week to further OFA’s cause. Next month, said Siler, it’s all about heath care.

At the outset of the meeting, Siler thanked the crowd for their hard work during President Obama’s historic campaign. She then mentioned that, since his election, those who volunteered for the Obama/ Biden ticket have felt a little cut off.

“We need some fire from President Obama,” said a woman in the crowd, “There’s not the same acknowledgment of the grassroots efforts. We need him to acknowledge OFA.”

The crowd was divided into seven small groups. Each charged with discussing the following questions:

1. How should OFA look in our community?
2. How can OFA connect our national priorities with local issues?
3. What resources do we have?
4. What would volunteers like from OFA?

The suggestions?

A Web site, of course. (One man said he’s disappointed the group doesn’t have one yet.)

Some people want to see more town hall meetings and rallies.

Others miss the direct initiatives Obama’s campaign gave them.

Everyone seemed interested in having more unbiased information, straight from Washington and Raleigh.

Shout-outs from the crowd included, “We need facts, not hearsay,” and, “We don’t want he-said-she-said.”

Once everyone had a chance to air their concerns and ideas, Siler said, “Everything you mentioned is doable.” She agreed the most important aspect of the groups infrastructure will revolve around communication.

The group’s next agenda item? Putting together a state-wide plan and installing a regional director in Charlotte. Siler promised the group an e-mail with more details, saying it would arrive in 48 hours. (It hasn’t.)

So far, some small projects are already in the works. They include “Happy hour for health” on Fridays, where members are encouraged to host meet-and-greet gatherings to discuss the latest happenings in the health care debate and President Obama’s current position on the topic.

“Talk on Tuesdays” phone banks are also in the works.

While a couple members of Charlotte’s city council and one of mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx’s team made an appearance, none stayed for the duration of the listening tour stop.

Update:

Siler’s e-mail arrived Sunday afternoon. Here’s what it said:

Listening Tour Attendees,

Thank you for joining Greg and I this past Thursday; we walked away with many great ideas on how we can establish OFA here in NC and more specifically, in the Charlotte area. What we heard loud and clear was that communication must be an essential piece to our infrastructure.

We will work to ensure that your voice is heard in Washington, DC and we will provide you with the talking points, training, and opportunities you need to give voice to the change that you want to see. With that being said, this will be a process in establishing an infrastructure that can meet all of our needs and expectations, so I look forward to working with you. I am certain that together, we can make an effective and sustainable organization here in NC. As we work to incorporate all of the ideas that we gather over the next couple of weeks into the North Carolina plan, we will keep you posted on our process.

As you all know, the President’s top priority right now is health care reform. Folks, the TIME IS NOW to bring true Health Care Reform to our country!  In this pivotal time in our country’s history, we’re approaching a rare moment where the collective voice of Americans is needed to guide our country toward a health care solution that positively affects ALL Americans.

As you know, the people of North Carolina have the eyes and ears of some of the most influential policy makers in our nation, so our collective voice is vital.  Organizing for America is planning a National Week of Action and is looking to North Carolina to stand up and make their voices heard.

Please consider joining us this week as we take to the streets and the phones to ask our neighbors to join us in this effort. If you are interested in hosting a phone bank (with cell phones!), submitting a letter-to-the-editor or organizing a “Happy Hour for Health!”, please contact Greg at gregorynealjackson@gmail.com.

If you are interested in joining our  Charlotte canvass on July 25th, please register at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpf5wh

Thank you and remember, the TIME IS NOW to bring Change to America’s

Health Care!!!   FIRED UP AND READY TO GO?!!!! WE ARE!

Look forward to working with you!

Lindsay Siler

Organizing for America | NC State Director

919.218.6755

lindsay.siler@gmail.com

Do you ever look around the Queen City and wonder what came before? How did College Street get its name? Have the various neighborhoods always battled for attention? What “nation” does Nations Ford Road refer to? What’s a “ford”? (Hint: It doesn’t have anything to do with cars.) Why do some NoDa houses have such big back yards? And, what’s up with all of the references to hornets?

Local author and historian Mary Kratt knows the answers to all of those questions and more. She should. She’s the author of more than a dozen books about our region’s history.

Mary Kratt at the Mountain Island Lake Library in June

Her most recent book, Charlotte North Carolina: A Brief History will open your eyes to Charlotte’s amazing past.

For instance: The frequent reference to hornets dates back to pre-Revolutionary War days when the citizens of our fair town were compared to a hornet’s nest.

That shouldn’t be a surprise since the city is credited with being the first to give England the finger by way of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Until about a hundred years ago, the date that document was signed garnered more fanfare than the 4th of July. It’s still embroidered on our state flag today.

Did you know the first female doctor in the South lived and worked in Charlotte? She sure did.

How about this: NoDa was a mill village. The backyards are big so they can accommodate a pig pen, chickens and a garden.

Ever wonder about Charlotte’s thick red mud? It may be what saved the city from being burned by General Sherman during the Civil War. He didn’t want to deal with it.

How did Charlotte handle the Civil Right’s Movement? Relatively well, all considered. You’ll have to read the book to find how how well, though.

Mrs. Kratt’s latest book is a quick, delightful read full of black and white photos to help you visualize life in one of the South’s oldest cities.

Published this year, it even includes Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch and Wachovia’s sale to Wells Fargo. Though, it doesn’t delve into the crisis that led up to it.

That’s how the book works: It gives you enough information to spark your interest and encourage you to seek more knowledge about this place we call home. So, don’t expect a boring walk through every second of the city’s history. There’s simply not enough room in the 180 pages for that much detail.

In my opinion, Charlotte North Carolina: A Brief History is a must read for newcomers and natives alike.

Available for $22-$25 at local bookstores and online, this is one title you’ll want to keep around for future reference.

This is the first in a series titled “Creative Crossroads” — where we take a look at the current state of arts and creativity in the city.

When you envision an artist, what do they look like?

I think about Carlleena Person, a Charlotte painter I’ve run into at the farmer’s market and, more recently, at Femme Fest, selling her vivid, abstract paintings.

I think of my mother and her giant marshmallow flower, seen here on display (before the ants ate it) on the campus of Auburn University at Montgomery. Today she’s excited about water painting. Last month it was print making. She, like so many, is always crafting some new masterpiece.

Students stop to inspect Debbie Summerlin’s Marshmallow Flower at AUM

I think about Grant Henry, a.k.a. Sister Louisa, scrounging around at flea markets looking for Jesus pictures and tacky portraits to paint funny, yet profound, comments on. I think about the artists on the street corner, twisting copper wire into jewelry, and the songstress on a blue-tarp covered stage, sacrificing her heart through her lyrics.

I think about Ian Reid, founder of ArtCultureOnline.com, working hard to put art supplies in the hands of Charlotte’s underprivileged youth and elderly. I think about my friend, Kristin Vickery, who earns her living selling clay flutes — made in a kiln in her home — at festivals around the country. I think about our own CLT Blog photographers, pulling the spirit of Charlotte through their lens then offering it for all to see.

Yes, I also think about the impressive talent over at Theatre Charlotte and I get that architecture is an art at it’s core, but I don’t stop thinking about the variety of creative talent in our city when I leave their business establishments.

Unfortunately, though, when calculating the impact creative talent has on Charlotte and the surrounded area, those are the types of businesses our local government and business leaders look to when they feel the need to hold up their yardstick.

It’s by earnest belief, however, that artists of all mediums are worthy, that their contribution to our local and global economy is just as important to recognize.

It’s true that they probably won’t employ hundreds of workers, but often they employ themselves and they absolutely make our world a better place to live in.

With that, I must admit: I’m not down with the presenters who strained the creative juice right out of Charlotte’s creative community at the Chamber of Commerce’s recent Inter City Visit. The “Driving Creative Economics” presentation, held at the NC Music Factory’s new Fillmore, bored the crowd with dry statistics crunched from stale data about “bricks-and-mortar” creative businesses.

Seated (L-R): Eric Caratao, Social Research Specialist at UNCC, along with Anthony Radich and Ryan Stubbs of WESTAF, preparing to speak before the ICV crowd.

Nothing against their work, I’m sure they’re on top of their game. I’m just saying, when I think about creative types, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t what they called “brick-and-mortar” establishments or calculations you need a college class to compute.

In fact, I was so miffed that they totally ignored people like Ian, seated behind me during the presentation, Carlleena and the rest, when I sat down to write this post last week, I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have anything nice to say.

That’s when I noticed the story in The Charlotte Observer stating that art funding would be cut in the Queen City, effective immediately. That news didn’t fit the number-cruncher’s announcement, the day before, that 75 percent of -Charlotteans support local government funding for the arts.

Since then, we’ve been hit with story after story after story about how the creative community’s funding is being slashed and the impact that lack of funding will have.

Sure, Robert Bush, the Arts and Science Council Sr. VP of Cultural and Community Investment, was also in attendance at the ICV’s creative economics meeting with good news: A new “creative Charlotte committee” will be forming … and, guess what?, they’ll need you to volunteer.

But, since it’s unclear what the committee will be up to, who will be on it, how they’ll fund it and, most importantly, how it will benefit Charlotte’s creative community — all of it, not just the “brick-and-mortar” businesses — I’m still pretty depressed about the whole deal. (Note: Mr. Bush hadn’t respond to an interview request by the time I hit “publish”.)*

Fortunately, CLT Blog is on the case. We’re planning to highlight different aspects of Charlotte’s creative community with our “Creative Crossroads” series, so stay tuned. Over the coming week we will give a rundown of the arts projects Uptown, review grassroots art galleries and events, and profile some of Charlotte’s creative artists.

We might not be able to tell you how one individual artist effects the bottom line of the surrounding 13 counties, but we can definitely help you gain some insight into what every day artists are doing to survive this crappy economy, how they’re staying inspired and what they’re doing to make our city great.

Now, let me ask again: What does “creative” look like to you? When you envision an artist, who — or what — do you see? How do you measure their contribution to society?

photo: James Willamor; view this photo on Flickr

Most years the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce goes on a tour, but usually it’s of other cities. For instance, last year they visited Chicago where they checked out the city’s roof top gardens and mass transit system.

In each city they tour, they try to figure out what makes those cities great, in the hope of bringing that information home to the Queen City in an effort to improve life for Charlotteans. This year — facing budget cuts like everyone else — the Chamber decided to stay home, take a good look at our blossoming urban landscape, and ask: What’s working for us? What isn’t? What can we improve?

That means the CLT Blog crew will be able to join them on their journey. And, you can too. The official Twitter hashtag is #ICV09 and you can count on us to post updates here, with pictures and video whenever possible.

So, what is the Chamber planning to do for the next three days while they tour the Q.C.?

Wednesday: They’ll kick off the tour with Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers and Wells Fargo President and CEO John Stumpf at an Uptown breakfast, right before a ride on the LYNX Line. Next, it’s off to the airport.

Gene Conti, North Carolina’s Secretary of Transportation and Keith Parker, Charlotte’s outgoing Director of Public Transit and CATS CEO, will be among the next round of speakers on — you guessed it — transportation.

After lunch at the EpiCentre, Hugh McColl will discuss the “Vision for Center City” right before a walking tour of several Uptown cultural centers.

Next, it’s on the NC Music Factory where the topic will shift to “Driving Creative Economies.” The Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), of Denver, Colo., will present alongside the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.

Thursday: The schedule of events kicks off at Johnson C. Smith University where university president, Ron Carter, and mayoral candidates Anthony Foxx and John Lassiter, among others, will speak.

The focus of the day is education, from kindergarten through college. Gov. Bev Perdue and Dr. Phil Dubois, Chancellor of UNC Charlotte, will also address the group of local business people, dignitaries and media.

The day’s events will end with dinner and a walking tour of the North Carolina Research Campus.

Friday: The NASCAR Hall of Fame and “Redevelopment of the Urban Core” are on the agenda. After lunch several speakers will discuss the many areas of Charlotte that the tour wasn’t able to cover and recap what the group learned during their Inter City Visit.

Get involved:

If you could speak to any of these decision makers, what would you ask? What would you like them to know about our fair city?

Let us know in the comment section. We’ll do our best to pass along your questions and concerns and report back.

photo: Rhi Bowman; view this photo on Flickr

Concrete Generation, part of Charlotte’s two-time national award winning Slam Charlotte poetry team, participated in this week’s ongoing Once Upon a Festival events at Theater Charlotte last night.

The poets covered topics ranging from humorous bits about life in the South to pleas for everyone to sing their own song to weighty comments on organized religion and 9/11. The six-year-old group’s performance served as a hometown preview of the poems they will use to defend their title at the National Poetry Slam this August in West Palm Beach, Fla.

That’s not the only goal the group has their sights set on, though. They are also raising money for a trip to Edinburg, Scotland, where they hope to perform “Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.),” a production created by Concrete Generation and promoted by On Q Production.

They encourage supporters’ to donate to their cause through the “I’ve got five on it” campaign where they suggest folks offer five dollars toward their cause. (You can donate via PayPal by following a link at the bottom of this page.)

Charlotteans can see the group perform Miles & Coltrane: Blue June 27 at Booth Playhouse. They hope the show will eventually make its way to Broadway.

But that’s not all: The Fairies are five dollars off!

That’s right, Once Upon a Festival continues tonight with a performance of “The Fairy Tale Chronicles.”

And, as a friend of CLT Blog, you can get $5 off at the door … if you know the code.

CLT Blog’s own Crystal Dempsey worked out a deal with Donna Scott Productions. To take advantage, all you have to do is say, “I’m an FoC,” at the door. The coupon is good for Friday, June, 12, show.

So far, Donna Scott says the festival and play are a great success. The idea, which sparked with her, was quickly shared with area writers. Now, the production is proud to say that every part of it is locally produced.

Scott says one measure of their success are the theater’s schedules near the entryway. “We’ve had to refill the schedules twice this week,” she said, proud to be part of many local resident’s first exposure to the theater.

The festival isn’t over yet.

“The Fairy Tale Chronicles,” billed as satirical, re-envisioned fairy tales, will take the stage three more times this week: Tonight through Saturday. The shows starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 for children, $19 for seniors and students, $21 for everyone else … before the FoC* coupon.

Also, 12 teens will share their views and observations about Charlotte’s future on Sat., June 13 at 2 p.m. as part of The Crossroads Teen Theatre Project. This event is free.

Check out some photos from last night’s slam:

*FoC stands for “Friends of Crystal” or, as the case may be, CLT Blog.

photo: Rhi Bowman; view this photo on Flickr

Didn’t make it to the second annual Femme Fest in NoDa Saturday? No worries, you know we’ve got your back.

On the street, it looked like the crowd was light, but once you entered any one of the venues it became clear that NoDa is the perfect place for Femme Fest to host her celebration of all things feminine.

Artisans had plenty of space to share their wares, music fans could get their boogie on or rest their tootsies in a chair and the crowds didn’t spill into the busy street. Walking from stage to stage, you may have even run into one of the featured performers, like Jill Dineen-Scott, Jocelyn Ellis or The Bowmans (no relation).

Oh, and the Charlotte Roller Girls were there, too!

The crowd, made up of a variety of colors, sizes, ages and orientations, wasn’t for women only; plenty of men were in attendance.

Check out the scene – slideshow after the page break:

photos: Rhi Bowman; view these photos on Flickr

Further reading: Jeff Hahne, did a fantastic write up about Femme Fest for Creative Loafing.

Saturday, Haywood Rankin invited the community to his 750-acre farm on Redlair Lane, about 30 minutes west of Uptown, near Gastonia. His family connection to the land dates to the early 1800s.

In the 1940s, his father, Forney “Red” Rankin began to re-piece together his ancestor’s estate. The Catawba Land Conservancy, a local group focused on permanently preserving North Carolnia lands for future generations, emerged from Red’s land-gathering.

Saturday’s free festival, complete with bouncy castle obstacle course and Bruster’s Ice Cream, attracted dozens of young families.

Charlotte Parent Magazine sponsored an art contest: A Greener City – A Greener World. Craft tables were set up throughout a large field for youngsters to express their love for the environment and local artisans sold items like homemade soap and quilts.

Environmental groups also set up displays to educate festival goers on topics like clean air, poisonous snakes and the Carolina Thread Trail, an organization with close ties to the Conservancy.

Rankin, himself, lead groups on hikes and Boy Scout Troop No. 49 provided lunch, for a small charge.

It was a gorgeous day for a festival and a peaceful place to celebrate North Carolina’s majesty.

Check out some photos and see for yourself:

Read more about the Rankin family and the history of the Conservancy at the Observer.

It’s official, the U.S. National Whitewater Center’s solar roof stats are available for anyone who’s interested. Serious. Check it out.

The stats are real-time and, so far, only a couple week old. Anyone can log in — anytime — to see how the roof is performing.

For more information about the installation, check our our May 9th post “USNWC’s solar installation is for the community.”

footage from a July 2007 Briar Creek flood by Rustman911 on YouTube

We, as a society, have created this problem through centuries of poor planning. That’s right — centuries*.

With the advent of parking lots and urban sprawl, the problem has only gotten worse. Remember the 2003 Charlotte floods? How about the ones from last summer?

This problem isn’t going away, it’s getting worse. But, have no fear. The solutions are simple. All they need are funding, support and volunteers. The question is: When do we get started?

Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote for The Mountain Island Monitor (now the Mountain Island Weekly) in October 2008 about the storm water issue in the Queen City:

Mountain Island Lake provides drinking water for more than half a million people while sustaining area industry and power production. The lake is part of the Catawba River system—a river named this year by American Rivers, a national advocacy group, as “the most endangered river in the United States.”

The watershed, nature’s drainage system, is much larger than the 2,788-acre lake. Storm water from Gaston, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties drain into the lake through a vast network of tributaries, many of which are unhealthy due decades—perhaps centuries—of poor planning by development and government officials.

Everyone knows development leads to fewer trees and more pavement and that rainwater will always follow the path of least resistance. What people may not realize is when rainwater pours off the pavement, it travels through gutter systems and into streams that are not capable of handling the increased volume of water.

How does development lead to an increase in water volume?

Well, before developers, the water would soak into the ground and be absorbed by trees and other woody plants, which also absorb pollutants. The plants’ root systems also help pull rainwater down into the groundwater system—a slow moving underground water system that provides 50 percent of our drinking water, according to Richard Roti, an attorney and advocate with American Forest, an environmental group whose mission is to “grow a healthier world.”

“One inch of rain can generate 27,000 gallons of run off from one parking lot,” says Roti. Twenty-seven thousand gallons of water—per average sized lot and average summer storm—looking for the easiest path to the lake.

The area’s surging population brought with it mighty transformative powers. As census figures swell, so does the demand for development, demand for energy and demand for clean, drinkable water. Without sound ecological planning, however, those goals may float out of reach.

Many residential areas are growing grass right up to the streams,” says Roti. “That’s bad. Fertilizers from yards and silt from developments are deadly to the water system. We have to do a better job of protecting the watershed.”

According to Roti, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area has lost 33 percent of its trees since 1984 due to population growth and the widespread development that followed. He also says taxpayers have paid an estimated $5,328,127,117.00 “to manage the increased volume of storm water, which doesn’t include the cost to convert the water into healthy drinking water.” Not to mention the 37,315,749 pounds of pollution those trees could have removed from the atmosphere, he says.

Currently, the county has a $1 billion dollar budget for retrofitting storm water systems and, as of July 1, 2008, citizens within Charlotte’s city limits are required to pay 7 percent more in storm water fees. Those fees, according to the county’s Web site, are for reducing flood risks and water pollution.

Though 70 percent of Mountain Island Lake’s shoreline is protected land, 80 percent of the tributaries that funnel water into the lake are not—and development is occurring all along the edges of those already fragile waterways. Fortunately, Kroening says, developers are beginning to realize that eco-friendly developments are not just good for the planet; they are also good for their bottom line.

To prove his point, he led the September citizens’ meeting on a tour of CPCC North’s rain gardens—an environmentally friendly parking lot that, as it turns out, is not only less expensive for developers to build, it will also help prevent flooding during heavy rains.

“We’ve been over-building,” says Kroening who explained that, instead of mounding heaps of earth in the middle of parking lots, when builders build narrow, grassy valleys throughout parking lots—then fill them with trees and small shrubs—rainwater is more likely to drain into the islands and be absorbed by the vegetation. During heavy rains, a drain allows the water a quick escape. Any water not absorbed is filtered through an underground pipe system—a system all parking lots already have in place, by the way—to a holding pond that prevents the water from rushing into nearby streams and allows pollutants and silt an opportunity to sink, making it easier, and less expensive, to clean the water for public consumption.

Kroening says developers, concerned about the affects of their work on water pollution and urban flooding (and their profits), are beginning to call the county and ask how they can help. “This is a very positive development,” he says, “because we’re not going to be able to crack the problem unless we’re able to work with private land owners.”

“We’re moving in the right direction,” he says,” but it takes volunteers. It takes community members getting involved. It doesn’t take a lot (of effort), but we have to get involved to win this battle—and it is a battle everyday.”

*One example: To keep Civil War-era soldiers busy, they were often put to work digging ditches and creeks in an effort to help farmers with irrigation and to control the creek system in the area with little thought about how those changes would affect the watershed and no knowledge of what future demands would be placed on the same land.

UPDATE:

Storm Water Fee Public Hearings
As part of its consent agenda, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners has scheduled public hearings for May 19 on proposed changes to the storm water fees for Mecklenburg County, City of Charlotte and Town of Davidson.  The hearings will be held in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center as part of the Board’s May 19 regular meeting that begins at 6 p.m.

Second Update:

The Charlotte City Council is expected to vote on $1,772,006.35 in stimulus funding to help with two storm water projects on Monday, June 8, 2009.

It’s true. Though the Whitewater Center is excited about their new gift and interested in being eco-friendly — and the cost savings they’ll realize — they’re hoping today’s installation of solar film on the roof of the complex’s main building will allow them to spark community interest in green living and help citizens better understand the benefits of solar energy.

Soon, a state-of-the-art monitoring system will feed real-time statistics — like kWh generated, the number of trees and barrels of oil saved, and pounds of carbon offset — to a touch screen monitor in the USNWC lobby. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to poke around the easy-to-use interface.

All of the materials for the project were donated from local and national companies, like BestBuy, Kesco Electric and Wilmington’s Winlectric Company. Who’s providing the labor? Most of the men on the roof today are executives from those same companies, according to Kelli McCallum, a spokeswoman for Cyclone Roofing.

Solar film is quite different from solar panels. It’s thin, flexible, durable (think thin rubber car mats) and — most importantly — captures the full spectrum of light. According to Tim Munson, from Cyclone Roofing, he’s tested the film under florescent lights and even moon light. Both produced electricity.

The film is guaranteed for 20 years, but Munson says it will last 30. It’s easy to maintain (a garden hose or rain will keep it clean) and difficult to damage. The cost of installing the film versus traditional glass and metal solar panels is roughly the same: the film is currently more expensive but easier to install (thus a lower installation fee). It uses low light technology and produces more electricity per watt than any other systems currently on the market.

Whitewater staff say they can’t wait to show off the new system and that they hope, eventually, the entire USNWC system — which requires massive amounts of electricity — will be off the grid, though that’s a long way down the road. For today, throwing the switch on the new solar film system will make an immediate difference in the center’s energy bill and will begin to offset its impact on Charlotte’s environment.

The official unveiling will be at a May 21 ribbon cutting ceremony. Several members of the Charlotte City Council and Mayor McCrory are expected to attend.

The Charlotte Observer‘s Rick Rothacker reported, from inside Bank of America’s much publicized annual meeting via Twitter, that “Evelyn Y. Davis is in the house. She gives Ken Lewis her full support.” She even gave him a hug.

According to shareholders exiting Bank of America’s annual meeting, Evelyn Y. Davis talked more than “Teflon Ken.”

So who is Evelyn Y. Davis? Glad you asked.

She is widely known as a shareholder advocate, is a stockholder in at least 80 corporations and the editor of Highlights and Lowlights, a newsletter that covers corporate governance issues, like executive compensation. Rothacker also Tweeted, “Audience is drowning out Evelyn with clapping” and “The crowd is getting tired of speeches, but Lewis is staying patient.”

Shareholders exiting the bank’s Charlotte headquarters echoed Rothacker’s observations. One man said of Lewis, “He only grimaced twice, he just listened.”

The same man, who chatted with me while walking to his car and enjoying a smoke, reported another shareholder flew all of the way from San Francisco for the meeting and called for Lewis to step down after saying his airline ticket cost more than the BofA dividends he’ll receive this year. But, mostly, he said, everyone was very professional and the meeting was a big snooze.

Those looking for the excitement protesters bring will be disappointed to know the media on the street far outnumbered protesters for most of the morning. Hours after the protesters, shareholders, and board went home, the results of the incredibly close vote — 50.34 percent to 49.66 percent — were announced: Ken Lewis is no longer the chairman of Bank of America.

He does, however, remain president and CEO. Walter E. Massey will take over the position of chairman.

Shareholders narrowly voted at the bank’s annual meeting Wednesday to split the jobs following months of rancor over the Merrill Lynch acquisition. After the deal was sealed Jan. 1, Merrill Lynch reported $15 billion in fourth-quarter losses and it was learned that Bank of America had approved the early payout of billions of dollars in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees.

Read the rest of this Associated Press, via MSNBC.com, article here.

Who is Walter E. Massey? Find out at Forbes.com.

Ever wondered what a “green” house looks and feels like? Now’s your chance to find out. Schreiner Custom Homes, Habitat for Humanity, Horne Heating and Air Conditioning* and Channel 36 — among others — have teamed up to give you a glimpse into the world of residential green.

Now through May 10, the $800,000, 4,200 square foot home is open to the public from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Thurs. – Sat. and from noon until 5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $5 and benefits Habitat for Humanity. It’s located roughly 10 miles from Uptown in Mountain Island Lake’s Overlook community, but don’t follow your GPS to the final turn.

Once you’re in the community (here’s a map), itself designed to be earth-friendly, follow the blue “Home Tour” signs and park in the community parking lot. There, you’ll need to pick up the blue sign trail once more. Hike the steep sidewalk, between houses, to the cul de sac where the “green” house sits on it’s manicured lawn to your left. Stick to the walkway, the yard is soggy due to a recent installation of sod — drought-resistant sod, of course.

What makes this home green? It is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, for starters, meaning it meets the highest standards for efficiency and sustainable construction. It’s estimated this home will use 30-40 percent less electricity and be 30 more water efficient than other comparable homes.

The living spaces are decorated with non-toxic paints, wood floors and carpets and most rooms enjoy a beautiful, natural view. Visitors are welcome to inspect the heavily insulated crawl space and attic — both major players when it comes to energy efficiency — snoop through each room in the family home and ask questions.

Don’t miss: Rainwater is captured in a holding pond at the end of the driveway, funneled into a giant underground tank then reused for landscaping purposes. And, don’t forget the garage, that’s where you can find out more about the neighborhood, the house’s special features and the eco-products used throughout the project. That’s also where you can gain access to the crawl space.

Think you have to be a millionaire to live green? Untrue. Habitat for Humanity incorporates many of the same eco-products and practices when building their homes for charity.

Interested in visiting? Be one of the first three people to e-mail me at rhiannon@cltblog.com with your name and smail-mail address, and I’ll send you two $2-off coupons.

Want to see more, but don’t have time to take the tour yourself? We’ve got you covered:

photos: Rhi Bowman; view these photos on Flickr

*Jon Horne owns Horne Heating and Air and the home.

Duke Energy calls their new Cliffside Steam Station (a.k.a. coal fired power plant), which is roughly 30 percent complete and 60 miles due west of Uptown, “a bridge plant to a lower carbon future.” They also say, “it will be the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the nation” and “to suggest that Duke Energy is not pursuing renewables or that renewables can provide baseload [sic] needs is simply inaccurage [sic].”

Besides beating the corporate drum, Duke Power has some other things going for them. For instance, the state recently downgraded the new plant from a major emitter of hazardous air pollutants to a minor emitter of hazardous air pollutants.

Several hundred protesters publicly disagreed that the downgrade was good news in Uptown today, many of whom arrived ready to be arrested.

As we reported yesterday, some of the protesters were trained to use non-violent techniques and instructed to bring proper identification and at least $100 in cash (presumably for bail). What did they have to do to be arrested? Cross the florescent pink line spray painted on the sidewalk in front of Duke Energy’s offices. The charge? Trespassing.

Though CMPD ran out of metal handcuffs, resorting to plastic ties instead, they did not run out of room in the paddy wagon. Four vans were used to haul the protesters to jail. No one resisted arrest and some were led to the vans without being bound. One of the first people to be arrested? A grandmother.

The nearly four hour protest began in a city park at 10 a.m., made a quick stop outside of Gov. Beverly Perdue’s Charlotte office and then wound through town, beating their own drums — some made out of five-gallon green buckets– to Duke Energy’s corporate headquarters.

What do the protesters want? Ultimately, to save the Earth. One organizer, speaking pre-march said, “Jim Rogers, stop lying to us. Let us be committed to the health and beauty of this planet.”

FYI: Jim Rogers is Duke Energy’s CEO.

Another said this was a human rights issue, adding, “Coal is not the most important resource, water is.”

Want more? Check out my report at Creative Loafing.

Meanwhile, here are some of the people behind the protest:

photos: Rhi Bowman; view these photos on Flickr

Tomorrow’s a big day for protesters hoping to convince Duke Energy to halt construction on their new Cliffside Coal Plant, or “steam station” as the power company likes to call them. To prepare, the group gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sharon Amity Road for food, fellowship and a little non-violent protest training.

The protesters will gather again for a peaceful rally at Marshall Park Monday morning at 10 a.m. to take in a few motivational speeches — including one by Gloria Reuben — before marching to Duke Energy headquarters an hour later.

While organizers say this is a “symbolic line crossing” and that they’re “not actually trying to disrupt business, we’re just trying to make a statement and bolster the movement,” they are preparing protesters to be arrested, asking them to bring a photo ID and at least $100 in cash just in case the CMPD aren’t on the same wavelength.

But, why should you care?

Did you know Duke Energy’s Riverbend Steam Station, build in 1929, is still fully operational, on the bank of a Queen City water reservoir and less than a dozen miles from the heart of Uptown?

Here’s a view of the “steam station’s” smoke stacks from across Mountain Island Lake, which provides drinking water to more than half a million Charlotte residents:

Ever wondered why people are so concerned about coal plants? Check out the Sierra Club’s “The Dirty Truth About Coal” brochure. To sum up: coal plants are wasteful, the CO2 coal plants produce antagonizes global warming, the plants are too expensive (wind and solar are cheaper says Grant Smith, Executive Director of Citizen’s Action Coalition), and — don’t forget — the pollution they produce can make you very sick and even kill you.

See who was at the training, what they were up to, and a few more pictures of the Riverbend Steam Station:

photos: Rhi Bowman; view these photos in Flickr

For more information on tomorrow’s planned protest, which will go on rain or shine, visit StopCliffside.org.

photo: Rhi Bowman

Did you hear the good news? The U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) changed their rate structure and added a new attraction, the Mega Zipline. If you didn’t, you can read all about those details over at Creative Loafing.

But, the deals and the attractions are only part of the story. The real scoop is this: not only is the USNWC a great place to hang out, get some exercise and try something new, it attracts major, youthful talent from around the world. Sure, the pull is on alternative and extreme sports enthusiasts and Olympic Kayak teams, but did you know some of those athletes are mathematicians?

Meet Nathan Davis, who relocated to Charlotte from Canada in April 2008 while training at the USNWC for the Bejing Olympics, “Because this was the best place in the world to train.”

He’s in love with Charlotte. He’s also a graduate student at UNC Charlotte trying to decide which university to attend for his Ph.D. “I spend half my time at the University and half my time [at the USNWC] training,” he says.

Of course, Davis is looking at other schools, like M.I.T. and Harvard, but says he is considering UNC Charlotte because of  the USNWC. “Vancouver has mountains, Boston has M.I.T. and Charlotte has this place,” he said.

You can listen to Nathan address the media and goverment officials at a recent USNWC VIP day, in his Kayak skirt, at The Word Trade.