CLT Blog

David Johnson (of Silent Images) is giving a free talk at the Art Institute of Charlotte on June 7, from 12-1 PM.

Read more about David Johnson & his recent work in Burma in a recent piece on Creative Loafing by Michael Solender.

Silent Images founder and photographer, David Johnson, recently slipped into Burma to document the more than 75,000 Kachin refugees who are caught in the cross fire of the world’s longest ongoing revolution. Since very few American Journalists have gained access into the camps, the images in this gallery offer a rare glimpse into the lives of the Kachin internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Although Burma’s government should be applauded for its recent reforms and the political victory of Aung San Suu Kyi, the international community should not overlook the continued violence and oppression of the Kachin. The Burmese army continues to loot and destroy Kachin villages leaving thousands homeless or dead. More than 10,000 have fled into China and more than 60,000 are living as IDPs within Burma.

- David Johnson

OtherScreen, a local Charlotte tech startup, is a service that lets users engage with other viewer around the shows they are passionate about. Fox News Edge, OtherScreen’s first broadcast partner, is using the power of the OtherScreen app to reach out and engage with their viewers with trivia, polls, and chat with the host. This is a great example of local media rallying behind Charlotte tech scene.

We interviewed Fox’s OtherScreen DJ and the Edge’s producer to hear how they use OtherScreen and how they engage their viewers.

Protestors are taking the street today, demonstrating uptown for the Bank of America shareholders meeting. It’s an event many Occupiers are considering a test run for protests during the DNC.

We spent some time behind the scenes with the protestors as they prepared for today, as documented by the photos and captions above.

Food trucks are on the rise. It’s becoming evident as more and more people show up at weekly food truck rallies held around town in areas like NoDa and South End.

Goody Woody’s, The Herban Legend, The Tin Kitchen, and Sticks and Cones Ice Cream are some of the trucks that gather every Friday.

The overhead of a full-blown restaurant can often be financially crippling, but food truck entrepreneurs can get their names out there and create great food, which can be difficult to do in a brick & mortar restaurant these days.

The idea of food from a truck might make some people squeamish. That’s because many people don’t know just how strict the health guidelines are on food trucks. Blake Scott and his sister Mariah run Goody Woody’s, along with Mariah’s fiancé Franklin. “You know how you go to a restaurant and they have a grade posted on the wall?” asks Franklin as he works on a fried taco, “Well, if we don’t get 100%, we don’t pass.” Blake also adds that his truck gets 4 spontaneous inspections throughout the year.

But what really matters is the food, and these food tucks deliver. Parmesan truffle french fries from the Herban Legend anybody? How about a fried taco from Woody’s truck whose menu was designed by Mariah Scott, a recent graduate of Johnson and Wales university. These are not the typical foods one would expect from a food truck, and they do not disappoint.

Currently, city of Charlotte restrictions do not allow food trucks to be out after 10pm, so if you are looking for that fourth meal late night, you are going to have to catch them early.

Follow the food truck rally in NoDa on Facebook via the Food Truck Frenzy page.

Okay, first off, there is already a law in NC banning same-sex marriages. Let’s keep this in mind throughout this post. I understand that a lot of you believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. You have every right to believe this.

Ask yourself these questions when thinking about your decision on Amendment One.

From an article I read today:

• Even if I oppose same sex marriage, do I support stripping health insurance away from same sex partners of city and county employees, who bargained with their employers for those benefits?
• Even if I oppose same sex marriage, do I support overturning legally valid wills?
• Even if I oppose same sex marriage, do I want to interfere in my fellow citizens’ personal health care decisions?
• Even if I oppose same sex marriage, do I support taking children out of loving families, and giving them to the State?
• Even if I oppose same sex marriage, do I want to increase the number of uninsured motorists driving on the highways of my State?

Speaking to Republicans, Tea Partiers, Libertarians, conservatives, constitutionalists, people against big government, and anyone else who think human rights shouldn’t be stripped away by government: why would you support this amendment?

Luke 6:37 says

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven
You have NO RIGHT to condemn someone based on their beliefs, based on their choices, based on how they live their life, or based on who they love.

Acts 10:34-35 says

34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons
35. But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

If God is no respecter of persons, we shouldn’t be either.

Romans 9:15-16

15. For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
God delivers his mercy and his grace at HIS will, not ours.

John 1:11-13

11. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
12. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
13. children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Who you are, where you came from, your outward appearance/what you choose to do, nothing makes you more likely to be saved than anyone else.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

26. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
27. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
28. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,
29. so that no one may boast before him.

God doesn’t care about those things that make one man different from another. His grace is not attracted by anything good in a man, and his grace isn’t turned away by anything evil in a man. So IF you think that loving another HUMAN is wrong, then that’s okay. Just don’t force your beliefs onto someone else.

Galatians 2:16

Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

You can’t get salvation by doing good works, and you may think that voting yes to this amendment is doing God’s work, well, you’re wrong. If salvation came by human works of righteousness, then Christ died in vein. If works contribute to salvation, grace would be null and void. If we were saved by works, then it means God is paying a debt, which is false. He owes us NOTHING. Since grace is a gift, freely given by God, works get you nowhere.

Now to quote a very good friend, chosen brother, brother in Christ, and pastor, Jonathon Hughes:

“This is not a religious thing. it’s about our rights being taken from us. as a married, heterosexual man many would say that I would be unaffected by this amendment, but any man who stands idly by while rights are removed from other people is no man at all.”

I hope this changes some minds. Ignorance is not bliss. Stupidity is killing us all. Bigotry is hate. And thinking you’re better than someone, and moreover have the right to take their rights from them, is one of the biggest sins of all.

Inform yourself.

Make your own decisions.

Don’t follow the crowd.

Stand up for your brothers and sisters.

I am a Christian, and I do not support this amendment.

For our first episode back from a break, we’re talking about Amendment 1, and the May primary. Plain and simple.

The North Carolina primary is May 8. The issue that’s been drawing a lot of attention for several months is Amendment One, which is a proposed bill to amend the North Carolina Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, which would, in effect, ban same-sex marriage. Let’s discuss the sides that are for and against this bill, what kinds of grassroots efforts are there, what are the civic organizations and faith-based groups saying, what have the Republican and Democratic leaders said, is voter turnout at this primary expected to be larger than in years past because of Amendment One, etc.

Secondly, in regards to the May 8 primary, are there any particular races we expect to be hotly contested or a blowout? Is the controversy over Amendment One overshadowing the public’s attention on educating themselves on the candidates running for office? For more info, visit the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections site, and see a list of the candidates running.

North Carolina is a battleground, a.k.a. swing state, in the 2012 presidential election, and the intensity has increased after a Democrat (Barack Obama) won the state in 2008, the first time since 1976. As the largest city in North Carolina, Charlotte seems to be greatly impacted. There are obvious things like the Democratic National Convention selecting Charlotte as its 2012 host city. But there are several other political organizations, conventions, and conferences setting up shop here. The Democratic and Republican parties have expanded their offices here and their national party leaders are visiting often; the Hip Hop Caucus has leadership teams in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham for its Respect My Vote Campaign; BlogCon, put on by D.C.- based FreedomWorks, recently brought hundreds of conservative bloggers to Charlotte for a two-day conference; to name a few examples. Let’s discuss what the climate is going to be like over the next few months as the election nears.

Carlton is joined this week by the following panel:

• Ashlei Blue: Charlotte Regional Field Director for The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families
• Bruce Carroll: Gay Patriot
• David Swindell: Associate Professor of Political Science at UNC Charlotte, and director of the Ph.D. in Public Policy Degree Program

Want to get involved in this week’s episode? We’ll put you on air! Tune in to cltblog.com/live and hit us up with your questions and comments on @282tv or the #282tv hashtag.

Special thanks to Charlotte in 2012, whose support make this and other posts on CLT Blog possible.

Charlotte gets compared often to other cities. Usually the person making the comparison is focusing on quality of life, cultural or entertainment amenities, or specific industries. Charlotte isn’t as exciting as Atlanta, some say. Thank God Charlotte doesn’t have the traffic of Atlanta, others say. I wish my city was as clean as Charlotte, or my downtown looked like this; and so on.

I’ve always felt it’s unfair and unnecessary to compare two cities, unless you’re talking about their sports teams—that’s one of the only ways two cities can actually compete. Otherwise, if you don’t like where you live, move. And lots of people have moved to Charlotte. From 2000 to 2010, the Charlotte area was the fastest growing urbanized area with a population of 1 million or more, increasing by 64.6 percent, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census.

To showcase why it’s so great to live in Charlotte and the Carolinas, the Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee has been releasing videos in a series it calls Carolina Stories. The Host Committee, whose mission is to promote the city in preparation for the Democratic National Convention, started the video series two months ago and is releasing new videos each week leading up to the September event.

CLT Blog has been commissioned to produce some of the videos, and the first one we’ve done debuts today. This two-minute video highlights Charlotte’s technology sector and startup community.

We visited Josh Oakhurst, creative director at Skookum Digital Works, at the company’s Uptown office. Skookum builds and packages mobile apps, webapps, and custom software for companies around the country. The day we dropped in, Skookum was hosting its biweekly tech talk, where it invites tech professionals in for lunch and a presentation by one of their colleagues.

We sat down with Paul Solitario, managing partner at Cerium Capital, president and founder of Charlotte Regional Technology Executives Council, and founder of Wed3, Inc., an angel investor-networking group. He’s been instrumental in pairing venture capitalists and angel investors with tech companies and startups. There’s a lot of money in Charlotte, and access to capital is the key to success for startups.

We also ventured over to The Ben Craig Center in University City, where Paul Wetenhall, the center’s president, took us on a tour of the facility and discussed the work they do. The nonprofit organization supports startups and early-stage entrepreneurs through its business incubator and by providing office space and other services in its 50,000-square-foot building. The Ben Craig Center currently houses more than 20 companies, including tech startups. We were able to peek into the offices of Appian International Research, which provides consulting and operational support in pharmaceutical product development; and Calyptix Security which provides Internet security to businesses through a device it developed.

As you can see, there are plenty of factors at play that are pushing Charlotte’s tech community forward. This weekend, coincidentally, is Charlotte Startup Weekend. During this annual event, taking place May 4-6 at Packard Place, developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts are coming together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups.

Charlotte isn’t the next Silicon Valley—no city is, so why compare it? But the tech community here has grown tremendously, fueled by innovative startup companies, talented developers, and generous investors.

Renfrow Hardware in downtown Matthews has been a general store since the 1900′s selling groceries, fertilizer, plants and hardware. It’s found a huge new interest, however, in the selling of baby chicks.

“We have been purchasing and selling baby chicks for the past 25 years now, but saw a grow in popularity in the last two years, said store owner David Blackley. “Almost every Friday we have an order arrive of chicks. 8 a.m. there is a line wrapped down the block for the chicks are purchased at first come, first serve basis. Last week, we went through 100 chicks in 17 minutes and sold out!”

So why all of a sudden such a demand for baby chicks?

“I just want the chicks for the eggs,” said Mark Anthony, 52, of Matthews. “The eggs taste better and are cheaper than purchasing them at the store. I plan to raise a flock one day, because it is fun to watch them grow.”

Michelle Lindsey, another Matthews neighbor, was at Renfrow’s for chicks with her three daughters. “This is our first time purchasing chicks and I told the girls we can start out with three.” So she not only needed chicks but also proper supplies in raising the chicks.

Blackley suggested a few necessities for Lindsey and others interested in making backyard chickens a new hobby:  ”A heat source to keep the chicks warm, water and feeder designed for chicks so they wont drown in any water bowl, a container which cycles heat on one side and shade on the other, and lastly chick feed for the first five months.”

Renfrow’s purchases the chicks from a well-reputed hatchery, Ideal Hatchery, that is based out of Camden, Texas. Ninety-eight percent of the chicks are females so they can lay. Selling at $3.50 a piece, the most popular type of chick they bring in are the “Rhode-Island Red.”

A rise in popularity of purchasing and raising chicks have increased in the last two years. This past year at Renfrow however, has been the busiest. Blackley says he has seen a majority of children coming to raise the chicks as another ‘family pet’ however, most farmers are raising the chicks to lay eggs.

Charlotte rapper Royal-Tee will be unavailing his much anticipated second album Voice of Reason during a listening party/meet-and-greet at Velocity Sneaker Boutique (8925 JM Keynes Drive, Suite 3) on Wed. May 9th. The event will be hosted by the regal rapper himself, DJ Skillz and DJ Dexter Dynamite.

Hip-hop fans, support Charlotte-breed hip-hop by attending Velocity Sneaker Boutique’s 3rd Year Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday May 9th from 7-9pm. See above flier for full details.

Related Articles

• The Charlotte hip-hop republic: meet your 2012 representatives
• A musical wonderland tale for Record Store Day, this Sat Apr 21

If you’re an “adult”, Charlotte certainly has its fair share of organized sports to join like softball, basketball, flag football, heck…even kickball.

But for some reason, it’s lacking anything dodgeball related. You’re probably thinking one of two things…the over the top Ben Stiller movie or your middle school gymnasium.

Well, it’s time to bring old school dodgeball tournament to Charlotte this Saturday – at the newly built (and probably under-utilized) gymnasium in the Bette Rae Thomas Rec Center off Tuckaseegee Rd. this Saturday at 10am.

Did you cringe at the thought of getting beaned in the head with an old school rubber dodgeball? Guys, it hurts no matter how tough you are. Check this out. There’s now foam-core balls, which give you just as much satisfaction when hurling, yet don’t leave a mark when you get tagged in the face. Dodgeball innovation!

The only catch is that you’ve got to be over 21. There won’t be alcohol served, but we wanted to keep the kids away.

You can roll up with your own full team (of 8 people), with a couple friends or solo and you’ll get picked gym class style…with a twist…you’ll be picked in groups, so you can play on the same team as your friends.

If you want to play, meet us at the Bette Rae Thomas Rec Center (2921 Tuckaseegee Rd.
Charlotte, NC) at 10am – you can sign up online or at the day of for $10 – however the tournament is limited to 16 teams of 8 – and it’s first come first serve.

For more info, check out CharlotteDodgeball.com

It’s been over 10 years since my family began volunteering with Room in the Inn, a program that houses
the homeless at area churches during the winter months. I have also helped with a Christmas Eve
homeless outreach event just outside the gates of the Urban Ministry Center, but I had never actually
been to the Center and seen all that happens there before being referred there as I sought a community
house project for a large grant from a mystery sponsor.

Yes, the Urban Ministry Center is a busy place with over 400 people coming through its doors daily to
take a shower, pick up mail, wash laundry, visit with a nurse, eat a meal, or speak with a counselor,
but the heart of the Center is its array of programs that focus on connecting neighbor to neighbor.
Volunteers from the community at large come to the center to teach art, coach street soccer, teach
gardening at the community garden, lead a community choir, or hold counseling groups. These
innovative programs have received national recognition and are now being modeled across the country.

In the art program alone, over 300 participants have been involved in painting, ceramics, photography
and writing classes inspiring many to re-attain self-sufficiency. Sales from the art shows have grossed
almost $50,000 to date. The StreetSoccer 945 team has represented the United States at the Homeless
World Cup for the past three years, and 75% of team members have moved off the streets. The organic
vegetable garden has added fresh nutritious food to Urban Ministry’s soup kitchen, with harvests
bountiful enough to also sell at local farmers’ markets.

The astonishing success of these programs and the need to renovate the depot building to better suit
the CommunityWorks program is what spoke to the heart of the Rebuilding Together of the Carolina’s
board of directors when they decided to nominate the Urban Ministry Center for the Maxwell House
Drops of Good $50,000 Makeover. Maxwell House and Rebuilding Together desire to bring change to
communities in need and also inspire hope from the ground up so the Urban Ministry Center was the
perfect fit as they focus on giving hope for a new life to the homeless in Charlotte.

As one of 10 community centers selected from across the nation, Urban Ministry Center will compete
for a $50,000 makeover to be awarded to the top 3 vote getters in a nationwide voting campaign. This is
where we need your help to win!

It’s Easy!

• Vote for Urban Ministry Center in the Drops of Good contest at www.maxwellhouse.com.

• Vote today and every day through June 8, 2012.

• Ask your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to vote every day.

• Votes are calculated by unique email addresses, so everyone can vote each day with personal and
business email address. Email addresses will be counted but not used or shared in any way.

• Post messages about the project on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

“The impact of this grant would be tremendous on our ability to grow these programs,” says Trish Fries,
Community Development Manager for Urban Ministry Center. “It will allow us to remake our Art Studio,
grow our Gardening program, and reduce current program costs through improved energy efficiency of
the building.”

The Charlotte Bobcats are bad. Historically bad. Like so many others, I’ve criticized their direction after bad trades, bad drafts, and worse management.

But today, I read this article in Grantland about the scene in Charlotte as the Bobcats attempt to, um, make history. The article’s not necessarily wrong, but it makes the Bobcats a punchline, their fans a spectacle, and the city of Charlotte just an ugly place on Interstate 85 south of Chapel Hill.

And that’s when it hit me.

I’ve been wrong in criticizing the Bobcats. Not because they’re good. They’re definitely terrible, but this isn’t about that. In fact, this isn’t even about the Bobcats.

I came to Charlotte in August 2004 for college. I enjoyed it so much, and never thought about moving anywhere else, that I’ve been here for nearly eight years.

By Charlotte standards, I’m almost a native. So many have come in the last three years, recent transplants eager to adopt the city but slow to change their cultural allegiances from homes in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, or Buffalo.

Charlotte is, perennially, a city in transition. Now that’s not a bad thing – but we haven’t really found an identity. Banking, sure. Until the market crashed. NASCAR, sure. Until that sport never took off nationally like everyone thought it would fifteen years ago.

I’m not saying the Bobcats are our identity — nor should they be. But I am saying that if we want a Charlotte that has a deep-rooted authenticity, like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or Chicago, we have to own the Bobcats.

And it’s more than the Bobcats.

We have to own that I-485 might not get finished. Ever. We have to own that God-forsaken train that crosses Central Avenue and makes me late for everything in Plaza Midwood. Happens every time. We have to own that complicated, almost comical Knights uptown stadium issue with Jerry Reese’s injunctions.

We have to own the terrible unique traffic patterns on I-77 north of town, I-85 northeast of town, Independence Boulevard east of town, and whatever is going on at the Providence/Providence/Queens/Queens intersection in Myers Park. I still haven’t figured that one out.

Look, it’s very, very easy for the national media to criticize the Bobcats. After all, who’s going to step up and defend them? To listen to some folks in town, none of us want the NBA anyways; we’re too scarred by Shinn’s move a decade ago. And we don’t have the guts to push back on that message like they would in New York, or Boston, or Pittsburgh. So it becomes easy — almost infectious — to pick on the lowly Bobcats.

Beware, though. That attitude creeps. We start criticizing the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Whitewater Center, the proposed Charlotte Knights stadium uptown, the DNC, every public figure from both political parties. The list goes on.

I live in Charlotte. So it’s time to own Charlotte — Bobcats included. That doesn’t mean they (or other institutions in town) are free of criticism; in fact, it’s just the opposite. But that does mean it’s time to lay stakes down in my city, and own the place that I call home.

Charlotte’s not perfect. Here’s a fun fact: it will never be perfect. And another one: if you leave, the new city you live in won’t be perfect, either. But considering where we are, where we’ve come from, and what Charlotte represents, I’d say we’re doing a pretty good job.

I love Charlotte. I was wrong about the Bobcats. And I bet you were, too.