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October 31, 2005

That pesky thing called an election...

Yup. It's coming up soon. And since North High Point's Ward 6 doesn't currently have a city council representative, it should be of interest.

Our election guide to the High Point races ran on Sunday. I can't link to it because it didn't make the Web and the file would not reproduce well in the blog. So I'm sorry about that. But if you missed Sunday's paper and are interested in the election go find one, either at the library or on the shelf somewhere. Edit: Or Here . Apparently I just didn't know where to look on the Web site.

Being new to the area I found it somewhat useful. It seems to me that a lot of the candidates who are facing each other have an awful lot of the same ideas. Of the folks running, I've only met a handful. (Three to be exact and I've exchanged e-mails with a fourth.) So for me, the voter guide was a chance to learn about each of the candidates.

Looking at the answers, and hearing a lot of the same things over and over again, it made me wonder if those kinds of election guides help a whole lot. I think they probably do, since anything you can learn about candidates before voting is important.

Outside the mayoral race, I'm not sure I saw any clear distinctions between the candidates aside from how well reasoned their answers were. Then I thought about one in particular who rushed to turn in his survey at 5 o'clock the day it was due. I was the only reporter here and he handed it off to me. We chatted about it for a bit. Politicians get tons of those questionaires from various groups, newspapers, League of Women Voters, etc. etc. I know filling them out can be a hassle when you're trying to run a campaign, hold down your day job, and respond to all the inquiries. So when you see short answers, you have to wonder, is that what the person really wanted to say, or only found the time to say.

In the end I think it's an important service.

I know that if I were going to vote, the guide would've helped me make my decision. (Here's a little secret: many reporters don't vote. I'm among them, at least when it comes to local races involving people I cover or can reasonably expect to cover. Even though you're the only person who knows what happens when you get into that little booth, it feels awkward to take part in the decision on whom you'll have to work with, especially when you do your darndest to maintain objectivity.)

Anyway, I thought I'd ask for your thoughts on the voter guide. What could we do to improve it next time? Did it help you make up your mind?

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 11:16 AM | Comments (16)

October 26, 2005

At the mall

Steve & Barry's opened up this week in the old Goody's shop at Oak Hollow Mall. I've been amazed by their rapid expansion in the last few years. This is the third community in the last three years that I've been in where S&B came in and snapped up an anchor space being vacated by a more traditional department store.

My experience with old Steve & Barry goes back a decade or so when I was a college freshman. They had a shop in West Lafayette, Ind. where I did my first three semesters of college. If my memory serves me well, it was more of a traditional college bookstore and clothing shop. But over here I see that there isn't even a shop at Purdue anymore. Anwyay, it was interesting the first time I set foot in one of their new, large stores that carry like 5,461 different college logos.

I'm not sure who buys all that college apparel. But it's nice to know that I can run to the mall and pick up an IUPUI sweatshirt -- I went there for a few classes in high school -- if I want. And it's only $9.99 ...

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 3:41 PM | Comments (23)

In case you missed it...

A fairly sizable development was given the green light by the planning commission last night.

It's an interesting dilemma. The people who live downstream didn't cause the stormwater run-off problem. But they have to live with it. If you look at a topo map you can see that mistakes were made when Midview Road and Meadowlark Drive were developed. The road goes right through the 100-year-flood plain. You don't need to be an engineer to understand that speeds up the water movement.

I talked to several folks this morning though who read the article and wanted to voice their concerns about the traffic volume that's already hitting Skeet Club Road and Eastchester Drive in that neighborhood.

Thoughts?

Addendum: Oh yeah, I'm sorry the Blog has been so quiet. I've spent much of the last week experiencing my first furniture market. It was interesting to say the least.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 3:34 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

Council round-up...

For those who want to keep tabs, here's what happened at last night's Jamestown Council meeting.

The board:
> Set a public hearing for a 44 acre, planned urban development special use permit request located at Harvey Road and Oakdale Road. The hearing will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 15, Jamestown Town Hall, during the council's monthly meeting.

> Approved contract work for some sewer line replacement and re-lining. The approval of the line replacement contract, worth $77,000, is contigent on the contractor's references checking out.

> Listened to a report from Assistant Town Manager Kathryn Billings about using Greensboro's inspections office instead of Guilford County's to handle building permits and inspections. Billings said the town is happy with Guilford County's services, but wanted to see if it is cheaper to use Greensboro. The numbers aren't in yet.

> Also listened to Billings talk about giving town employees a chance to set aside pre-tax money to pay for co-pays on things such as prescription drugs and doctor visits. The final report isn't ready.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)

Jamestown taxicabs?

A lady walks into Town Hall and wants to start a cab company in Jamestown. The staff does some research, discovers its regulations governing cabs are way out of date. It hasn't mattered because, well, Jamestown hasn't had anybody looking for a hackney license in a long time.

The town asks her to wait until it can bring its rules into the 21st Century.

In the process of doing research, Town Clerk Martha Wolfe discovers a few things. If Jamestown gives a license to the lady, then it would be a franchise. That would limit her to doing business only in Jamestown's corporate limits. It would also keep out the High Point cab companies that already serve the town. Read: No trips to the airport. Jamestown would also need to have its own taxicab inspector. And the Guilford County Sheriff's Office would be asked to make sure the wrong taxi companies aren't in the wrong municipalities...

So what's a town to do? The council will hold a public hearing at its Nov. 15 meeting to update the taxi regulations. The board will also consider the license request at the same time, although council members seemed lukewarm to the idea at Jamestown's meeting last night.

"We've been served well by High Point (cab companies)," Mayor Billy Ragsdale said.

"I think it's a lot of work for nothing," Mayor Pro Temp Emily Ragsdale said.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 9:13 AM | Comments (2)

October 14, 2005

Jamestown Council on the move

Jamestown's next town meeting will be in a new spot. The council opted to have its October meeting in the Jamestown Public Library's newly renovated auditorium. It's not a permanent move. They are coming at the request of the Friends of Jamestown Public Library.

Keep reading for the agenda

Items of note after the public comment period:

>Setting a public hearing for special use permit request for the property at Harvey Road and Oakdale Road consisting of 44.4 acres.

>Jamestown Public Library presentation

>Building and inspections contract

>Presentation of an ordinance regulating the operation of taxicabs providing for the issuance of certificate of convenience and necessity and other matters

>Discussion of employee insurance benefits

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2005

Terry's Deli

I checked it out today. Not bad at all. It's in the Shoppes at Deep River, in the same section that the Food Lion's in. It was T.J.'s Deli when it opened. But they changed the name. I can't tell you if the menu changed cause I never tried the old place. But the sandwich I had was pretty good, although most of the stuff on the menu seemed a little heavy for my liking.

So some folks might not care about posts like this. But I thought that as I discover North High Point I'd share my thoughts on the things I encounter.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 5:15 PM | Comments (23)

The sweat smell of ....

... sewers.

This is just a reminder that the state is holding a hearing on its pending agreement with High Point to upgrade the sewer lines in the city. (For those of you interested in development, High Point has to avoid a state issued moratorium in order to continue growing).

Where: City Hall
When: 7 p.m., Tonight
What: Public Hearing on sewer line replacement program.

I meant to put this up yesterday, so I'm sorry for that. More info on what it means can be found here.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 2:49 PM | Comments (5)

October 7, 2005

The Shoppes at Deep River... what's coming?

Developers have filed plans for a couple fo new stores up at The Shoppes at Deep River. So I thought I'd share.

Plans were filed for a Bruster's Ice Cream shop a couple of weeks back. If you're not familiar with Bruster's there's one on N. Main Street (just a block up from the N&R bureau). I've never actually had their ice cream, so I can't tell you if it's good or not. I can tell you it's a 16-year-old chain from Pennsylvania. You can learn more about the company here.

Carolina Bank put in plans this week to build a shop at The Shoppes (Do developers know how much it pains us journalists to write a word like that? Hey I guess they have to name it something.) Carolina Bank is based here in the Triad. The new branch would face Wendover Ave, but be accessed from one of the interior roads in the development.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 4:31 PM | Comments (8)

October 4, 2005

On Target

So a while back one of you wonderful readers posted a comment about the possibility of the Target store at Oak Hollow Mall closing. I promised to look into it, and I have. Sort of.

As far as I know, the rumor is false. But there's a big piece missing in the information gathering process.

You see, sometimes it's a bit difficult to get those big corporations on the phone and let you know what is going on. I've been buggin' 'em regularly, but haven't gotten through yet.

UPDATE: Target spokeswoman Aimee Sands called me this morning and, drumroll please, the rumor is false.

"No, we don't have any plans to close the store at this time," Sands said.

So there you go.

In the meantime, Oak Hollow Mall General Manager David Pierson told me last week that there is no truth to the rumor.

"No, we're not losing one of our anchors out there," Pierson said of the stores on the lots along Mall Loop Road. A caveat though, the mall doesn't own most of those lots.

The Wachovia branch out there is closing and there will be more on that in Friday's High Points column.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at 1:47 PM | Comments (16)