Winston-Salem City Council

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting, August 7, 2017: Notes And Commentary

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Monday’s meeting of the Winston-Salem City Council wasn’t too eventful. After taking the month of July off the city council eased back into session with a relatively light agenda. A few zoning requests were heard, several appointments/reappointments were made to various city government committees, but no public comments were heard.

Waughtown Cemetery received approval to rezone some property it had recently purchased adjacent to its existing property. The Gallery Lofts apartments received approval from the council to expand downtown without … Read the rest

Activism

The Winston-Salem City Council Needs To RELAX!

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The city council just won’t let the idea of zoning syringe exchanges die. The Journal’s Wesley Young reported that yesterday’s Public Safety Committee continued to debate the idea without reaching a conclusion.

The city council will continue to debate Council Member John Larson’s proposal to place zoning restrictions on syringe exchanges next month. I not sure what makes me more upset, the city’s inaction on Dan Besse’s Welcoming City resolution or their flirtation with zoning syringe exchanges.

Council Member Larson’s … Read the rest

Activism

Exchanging Ideas On Syringe Exchanges

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Our nation has a serious heroin problem fueled by opioid addiction. Recently, The Journal ran two articles on heroin addiction in our community, Scott Sexton’s article actually featured a picture of a user burning heroin on a spoon.  Triad City Beat has done some excellent work on the Twin City Harm Reduction Collective, the city’s first and only syringe exchange. I have followed the city council’s debate on imposing zoning restrictions on syringe exchanges over the last couple of months.… Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting Notes-May, 1, 2017

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… Read the rest
Activism

Failure Of Winston’s Welcoming Resolution Demonstrated The Reach Of The Right

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It’s been a rainy few days, flooding has occurred throughout the Triad. It’s a good time to reflect on the state of the Left. Our nation is divided more or less equally between conservative and progressive opinions. Yet, Republicans control the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court-thanks largely to Gerrymandering and the unaddressed flaws in our electoral system. In North Carolina we have divided government. Unfortunately though, the bulk of the power in North Carolina remains in the GOP-controlled … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

Winston-Salem City Council Refuses To Support Undocumented Immigrants

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It looked like last night’s Winston-Salem City Council meeting would finally see Council Member Dan Besse’s Welcoming City resolution come to a vote. But that wasn’t the case. In a surprise move, Besse removed his resolution from the city council’s agenda without any opposition or debate. Besse stated that he wasn’t giving up on his Welcoming City resolution. Rather, he was working on a compromise that the city council could endorse. I think it’s time for progressive activists to give … Read the rest

Activism

City Won’t Add Additional Needle Exchange Regulations-For Now

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Monday afternoon, the Public Safety Committee of the Winston-Salem City Council failed to pass a resolution restricting the location of needle exchanges in Winston. The North Carolina General Assembly legalized needle exchanges last year. But the General Assembly prohibited needle exchanges operating in North Carolina from receiving any government funding.

Thus needle exchanges like Twin City Harm Reduction Collective don’t have the funding to operate in a commercial areas. Council Member John Larson has been pushing for the city to … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

One Thing Winston Can Do To Help It’s Hispanic Community…

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Last night’s Winston-Salem City Council meeting was full to capacity. A couple dozen activists turned out to encourage the city council to consider becoming a sanctuary city. It’s unlikely that the city council will vote to make Winston a sanctuary city, doing so would allow the state to withhold badly needed funds from the city. But that doesn’t mean that local activists should fold  up their tents and go home. It’s important for members of the community to stand … Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council

WSTA Bus Routes, How Do You Streamline Buses In A Segregated City?

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With all the havoc that President Donald Trump has been causing with his pen, it makes local issues seem less significant. In his first week of office Trump signed an executive order to build the wall that he promised his xenophobic supporters on the campaign trail. If that wasn’t enough, Trump also fulfilled another one of his dreadful campaign promises; a de facto ban on Muslims entering our country.

With protests at airports around the country, it almost seems almost … Read the rest