Downtown Developments

Deconstructing Industry Hill

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From the folks that gave us the term “Ramkat” now comes the term “Industry Hill.” Industry Hill-were history meets marketing. Industry Hill-a new name for a place that you probably never knew had a name. Its name is now Industry Hill!

Industry Hill, we are told from the developers who recently created it, stretches from Seventh Street to Northwest Boulevard and from Martin Luther King Drive over to Trade Street.*

The name Industry Hill has many flaws. First, there isn’t … Read the rest

Cleveland Avenue Homes

HAWS Is Making Life Difficult For Cleveland Avenue Residents

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Monday I sat down and interviewed a resident of the Cleveland Avenue Homes. Tuesday I stumbled upon an old copy of The Black Panther newspaper dated March 1970. It’s the one with the Winston-Salem chapter of the Black Panther Party on the front page.*

The black power newspaper has an image of local Panthers, led by Larry Little assisting Miss Polly Graham. Graham had been unjustly evicted from her home. The Winston-Salem chapter of the Black Panther … Read the rest

Housing

Charlottesville: Fascist Thugs Will Assault Black Folks In The Streets, But White Liberals Will Take House And Home

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This weekend is the one-year anniversary of Battle of Charlottesville. Everyone reading this article remembers the events of last August in Charlottesville; a college town that will forever be associated with Thomas Jefferson, like Winston-Salem will always be associated with R.J. Reynolds.

Gun-toting nazis and fascist white supremacists of various stripes in the streets of Charlottesville were a reminder of how relatively little progress our country has made combatting racism. America is still a violent and racist nation. God bless … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

Southeast Gateway Development Moves Forward Long After Happy Hill Was Gentrified

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Monday night’s city council meeting was the first meeting of our city’s elected body in over a month. At Monday’s meeting, a bakery/wine shop on Reynolda Road was approved, a property on Northwest Boulevard was rezoned, as were two churches.

The rezoning of the Burger King on MLK Drive was postponed yet again. The BK on MLK will likely stay closed until BK lets the City have it their way.

Speaking of the City of Winston-Salem having it its way, … Read the rest

Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett Tacitly Admits Newspapers Are More Difficult To Produce Than Bottles Of Ketchup

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Media just announced a partnership with Lee Enterpises Inc.

The Oracle of Omaha, the billionaire that it’s okay to like-if you don’t look too closely, Warren Buffett knows how to cut deals. But clearly, he doesn’t know how to run newspapers.

Buffett’s life work has been relentless acquisitions; transforming Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textile company into a Wall Street mega-conglomeration of unrelated companies and stock portfolios.

He’s great with numbers, corporate earnings reports, etc. … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

The Winston-Salem City Council Merry-Go-Round: June 4, 2018

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Monday’s city council meeting was brief. In just over an hour the Winston-Salem City Council meeting ended. That’s the Allen Joines’ machine at work. Little debate, no contentious arguments, and no public comment-except where prescribed by law! That’s what rule by the rich looks like in Winston!

The principal topic before the council Monday was a zoning petition in Ardmore. A developer wanted to convert a former goat farm on the corner of Ebert and Silas Creek into a townhome/office … Read the rest

Arts Scene

Winston-Salem Light Project Shines Light On The Horrors Of World War I

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The Winston-Salem Light Project just completed its 10th annual outdoor lighting installation. The Winston-Salem Light Project has become a tradition, a must-see exhibition of public art.

This year’s WSLP returned to its original home, the Millennium Center, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. While the WSLP focused primarily on WWI, they used the “great war,” the “war to end all wars” as a starting point to explore the wider topic of war.

Eight large-format projectors blended … Read the rest

WS Police

Edward McCrae’s Death Overshadows Winston-Salem’s City Council Meeting

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Monday was Councilmember D.D. Adams birthday. But it wasn’t a day for celebrations. After quickly wishing Adams a happy birthday Winston-Salem Alliance president and Winston-Salem mayor, Allen  Joines took a more somber tone as he addressed the shooting of Edward Van McCrae by a Winston-Salem Police Department officer.

Mayor Joines essentially repeated what he and Councilmember James Taylor said at a press conference earlier in the day:

“We will, as a city be diligent in releasing the all information possible,

… Read the rest
Winston-Salem City Council

The W-S City Council Flip-Flops, Awards Marketing Contract To Wildfire

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Monday night’s city council meeting witnessed a flip-flop that won’t soon be forgotten. Over the last few months, the Winston-Salem City Council has turned the relatively routine matter of partnering with a local ad agency to market the Dixie Classic Fair into a soap opera.

To be fair Wildfire deserves its share of the credit for the controversy. Wildfire is a local ad agency on Liberty Street that has worked with some big corporate/non-profit clients. None of Wildfire’s 32 current … Read the rest

Activism

Protests At Richard Burr’s Office Past And Present

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Wednesday, March 14, 2018, will be remembered as a day of action against gun violence. It was the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida that took the lives of 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Across the country, students walked out of their classrooms to protest Congress’s failure to pass sensible gun control measure that would decrease the frequency and severity of mass shootings. Locally student walkouts varied from school to school. … Read the rest

Downtown Developments

Ramkat Ramblings: As Downtown Winston Creeps East It Must Embrace East Winston

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The Ramkat hosted its first concert Friday night. The Vagabond Saints Society, an amazing collection of the city’s best musicians had the honor of reopening Downtown Winston’s premier music venue.

It’s been just over two years since the club that Jay Stephens opened in 2011 on the corner of 9th and Trade closed. It’s nice to see large-scale live music return to Downtown Winston. The hope is that The Ramkat will succeed where Ziggy’s failed.

Over the last couple of … Read the rest

W-S Business

Subsidies Go From Main Street Winston-Salem To Wall Street

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Monday night the city council was happy to approve $147,834 in subsidies to The Clearing House over 5 years. Earlier in the month, the Forsyth County Commissioners approved  $179,038 in subsidies to TCH. State subsidies are yet to be determined. But if The Clearing House expands in Winston it will clear a sizable check from local taxpayers.

Monday’s Winston-Salem City Council meeting was more of a sprint than a marathon. The council’s agenda was short and the city council members … Read the rest

Berkshire Hathaway

Against Their Will: The Journal, News And Record Layoff Workers To Aid Buffets Bottom Line

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Today is another sad day for local journalism in the Triad and beyond. The Winston-Salem Journal and Greensboro News & Record just laid off more workers, including journalists. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the parent corporation of the Journal, News & Record and many other small and medium-sized newspapers is cutting costs even as its publication’s page views are increasing. Warren Buffett is famous for playing the long game in stocks. But Buffett isn’t demonstrating the same patience with his … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

Winston-Salem City Council Notes: The C-SPAN Edition

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Not a lot transpired at Monday’s Winston-Salem City Council meeting. While not much news was made at the city council meeting, there was an announcement from a representative of the C-SPAN Cities Tour that Winston will be the subject of several features that will air March 17-18 on C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3. While Winston might not always have a lot of newsworthy events going on, it will always have a lot of history.

I have serious doubts that C-SPAN will examine … Read the rest

Downtown Developments

Winston’s Twin Arches Viewed From Happy Hill

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Earlier this week, Mayor and Winston-Salem Alliance president Allen Joines oversaw the official powering-up of the LED lights on the Twin Arches over Highway 52.

The public art initiative is a public/private partnership spearheaded by the Creative Corridors Coalition. It’s the first of several projects that Creative Corridors are working on in conjunction with the ongoing road-work along Highway 52 and Business 40.

The Winston-Salem Journal is reporting that opinions on the Twin Arches are mixed. I personally find … Read the rest