Thrill Me

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, TheatreLeave a Comment

Good local theatre this weekend and next: By Mary Martin Niepold SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL Published: February 8, 2009 Putting a murder to music may not be new, but it does curl the brain somehow. Sweeney Todd did it, and Oklahoma! to a lesser degree. Kurt Weill is famous on the subject. Now, "The Murder of the Century" is the … Read More

Weather Advisory

Ken AshfordLocal Interest1 Comment

From 6 pm EST, Tue., Feb. 3, 2009 until 12 pm EST, Wed., Feb. 4, 2009 SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN THIS EVENING AROUND THE TRIAD AREA AND SPREAD EASTWARD THROUGH THE TRIANGLE AREA… SMITHFIELD… AND THE ROCKY MOUNT-WILSON AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. THERE MAY BE A LULL IN THE SNOW FOR SEVERAL HOURS OVERNIGHT… THEN ADDITIONAL SNOW BANDS ON THE … Read More

Winston-Salem: Center Of The Sexual Technorevolution?

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

First I read this: Scientists are developing an electronic "sex chip" that can be implanted into the brain to stimulate pleasure. The chip works by sending tiny shocks from implanted electrodes in the brain. The technology has been used in the United States to treat Parkinson's disease. But in recent months scientists have been focusing on the area of the … Read More

Googleplex-NC Cancelled?

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Local InterestLeave a Comment

Blame the economy. North Carolina gave Google all kinds of money and tax incentives to expand its operations into the Tarheel State, in the hopes that it would provide jobs and spending.  But construction of a huge data center has been halted, and Google is now turning down the grant and incentives. They may still come, but it could be … Read More

REALLY Local Election Results

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local Interest1 Comment

The $62 million bond package to help Forsyth Technical Community College expand and allow Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to move its administrative offices and to build a new Career Center… passed. Statewide, Democrats won offices of Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Commissioner of Public Instruction. Cherrie Berry (R) stays on as Secretary of Labor, barely winning out … Read More

Backfire

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local InterestLeave a Comment

First Read:  NORTH CAROLINA: Some said fresh polling in North Carolina suggested that incumbent GOP Elizabeth Dole had fallen further behind since airing an ad that tried to tie Democratic rival Kay Hagan to atheists." ****** Hagan's response ad, by then way, is masterful.  Especially the "bearing false witness" part.  With one phrase, she rebuts the criticism that she's an atheist, and she … Read More

Winston-Salem Journal Endorses…. McCain

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local Interest3 Comments

All the other major NC papers — from Charlotte to Raleigh to Asheville to Greensboro to Fayetteville, and more — have already made their endorsements.  All of them went for Obama. Yesterday, the Winston-Salem Journal finally made its endorsement (after saying it was going to sit this election out).  It went for McCain. It's one of the saddest mealy-mouthed endorsements … Read More

Dole’s Second Attack Ad On Hagan

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local InterestLeave a Comment

Dole unconvincingly asserts she is not attacking Hagan's faith, but then she attacks Hagan again for, uh, not being bigoted against atheists.  Or something. This second ad is only slightly less disgusting than the first. The ad purports to just be "giving the facts", but this ad, like the other one, actually skews the fact: WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS On … Read More

Desparate Dole

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local InterestLeave a Comment

Rather than type it myself, I'll just let Steve Benen do it for me: Recent polling shows Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) trailing in her re-election fight in North Carolina against Democrat Kay Hagan, so it stands to reason that she's getting a little desperate. I didn't think she'd get this desperate. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's latest advertisement suggests her Democratic opponent, … Read More

Downticket Gay Fearmongering In NC

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Local Interest, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

TPMCafe looks at some of the downticket GOP ads, and how the GOP resorting to the same tactics as 2004 and 2006. The post references a mailer being sent out in North Carolina, attacking the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Kay Hagan:   I'm struck by the graphic.  The guy kneeling.  Is he proposing, or getting ready to do something else?  Maybe … Read More