Agenda for the 11-05-2012 Franklin Aldermen Meeting

The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen will be meeting on the eve of the 2012 election at 7pm. I plan on being there to cover the meeting. It may be a day or two before I can release the video of the meeting because I will be a poll observer from the time the polls open until they close the next day for the Romney Campaign and I intend on getting a full night's sleep. Here is a sneak peek at the agenda for the meeting: Agenda Packet 110512 ...

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The Edge of Space

Edge of Space - incredible video touching on space diving, space tourism, and the issues and dangers involved in expanding our possibilities in orbit - for science, industry, and some amazing recreation. (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,...

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A Review of Franklin TDA Meetings: From July 2012 to October 2012

I've been covering the meetings of the Franklin Tourism Development Board from the beginning of this fiscal year in July, and since things are about to get much more interesting with this board in the coming months, I thought it was pertinent to post the videos of the meetings that have been recorded so far so you can see exactly what has been taking place... July 9, 2012 Link to my blog post Jul 25, 2012 Special Called Meeting Link to my blog...

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Monster Mash Block Party in Franklin on Friday

Venture Local Franklin is promoting another event to assist businesses in the Downtown area this Friday night with a Halloween-themed block party that will culminate with a movie (Ghostbusters) being shown in the Town Hall parking lot (bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit in the grass and watch it) after it gets dark. Even though this grassroots group of local business owners and entrepreneurs have faced growing opposition from some people in...

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Mark Meadows and Hayden Rogers Debate at WCU

Last night, I covered the NC11 debate at Western Carolina University that took place between Mark Meadows and Hayden Rogers, both vying for the seat of the retiring Congressman Heath Shuler. Russ Bowen, of WLOS-TV, moderated the debate that was sponsored by the Political Science and Public Affairs Department and the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University. In case you were unable to attend or watch the debate online at WLOS, here...

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Watch the Third of Three Presidential Debates

**7.12am** The live player has been replaced with a recorded video. The third of three debates between President Obama and Governor Romney takes place tonight at 9pm. I have embedded a live player below for the debate and will replace it with a recorded video soon after the event. (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; ...

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The 16th Annual Pumpkinfest is Today

One of my favorite annual festivals, the Pumpkinfest, is taking place today in Franklin, NC. The festival is in it's 16th annual iteration and will be a fun way to spend a glorious fall day in town. I have a schedule of events below, and you can visit the Pumpkinfest website to see more information about what will be going on this year. 2012 PumpkinFest Schedule of Events SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20th (Historic Downtown Franklin) 9:00am to 4:00 pm...

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The Things I Saw on October 19th, 2012

I had an interesting day today. I got caught in a traffic jam. I saw the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives give a brief talk at a local restaurant and I got to see a dust plume arrive in western North Carolina all the way from the plains states. The obligatory slide show of that is below. (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; ...

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Early Voting Statistics for North Carolina Votes Cast by 10/18/2012

One Stop voting started yesterday in North Carolina, and I will be tracking the progress of the voting statistics daily on this blog. I hope it will serve to motivate you to do your civic duty and vote. Here are the stats from yesterday: North Carolina Votes Cast 223,385 By Party DEM - 105,659 - 47.3% GOP - 77,677 - 34.77% UNA - 39,677 - 17.76% LIB - 382 - 0.17% Ballot Type One Stop - 150,872 By Mail - 67,599 Overseas - ...

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Macon County Planning Board 10-18-2012

The Macon County Planning Board met yesterday for the October 2012 meeting in the conference room of the Macon County Health Department. The video and agenda are below. The above video is still uploading and is expected to go live sometime after 10.30am this morning. MACON COUNTY PLANNING BOARD AGENDA ITEMS DATE: Oct. 18th 2012 ORDER OF BUSINESS CALL TO ORDER - Review agenda, revise if necessary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES LIAISON COMMENTS PUBLIC...

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ISS Startrails - TRONized by Christoph Malin

Here is a creative video using photos taken from the International Space Station in style of the old Science Fiction movie Tron. A movie, believe it or not, that I have never seen. ISS Startrails - TRONized from Christoph Malin on Vimeo.Do you remember 1982's "TRON" movie? The plot: A computer programmer (epic: Jeff Bridges) is digitized inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs in his attempt...

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A Short Rant About Political Calls

The worst thing about election season is the phone calls that come from parties/organizations and/or candidates that reveal these organizations don't have a clue when it comes to political organizing for getting out the vote (aka GOTV). They seem to think that having a list of phone numbers and volunteers is the answer, much like the morons who paint the roads with yard signs. If these people had done the tiniest amount of research in order to...

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2012 Presidential Debate: Round Two of Three

Here is the video of the second of three Presidential Debates for this election cycle. Here are more options for watching the debate, along with some reaction: CSPAN Pre-debate Coverage Washington Post Video ABC News and Yahoo! WGRZ-TV Buffalo, NY ABC NEws Post Debate Analysis Green Party ticket arrested outside Presidential Debate Candy Crowley explains her fact checking Dick Morris Analyzes the debate (function() { var po =...

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Video of the Sylva Candidate Issues Forum

Here is the video I shot last night in Sylva, NC of a candidate forum that was sponsored by a coalition of local groups and a newspaper. Candidates (by race) that participated were: NC Senate 50th District Senator Jim Davis John Snow NC House District 119 Representative Joe Sam Queen Mike Clampitt Jackson County Commissioner District IV Commissioner Mark Jones Marty Jones Candidates that did not participate: US House of Representative...

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Candidate Issues Forum Tonight in Jackson County

There will be a candidate forum in Sylva that will be hosted by three progressive groups and a progressive newspaper tonight. I plan on being there to record this event and would appreciate it if we had some Republicans attend this event so the Republican candidates won't be completely outnumbered. Per the Community Calendar on Smoky Mountain News: Candidate Issues Forum, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15, Community Room, Jackson County...

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Mitt Romney Rally in Asheville

Last Thursday, the Mitt Romney Campaign visited what I call the heart of darkness...the progressive stronghold of Asheville, NC...and managed to attracts thousands of people. The following video was filmed and produced by Fremont Brown III. So, if you were unable to attend, or were unwilling to visit Asheville (as I was), here is the rally: (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];...

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Red Bull Stratos Sunday Jump Attempt Updated with Photos and Video

**3.40am** The jump in numbers per Jenny Winder: Exit altitude: 128,100ft; 39,045m Total jump duration: 9'03" Freefall time: 4'20" Freefall distance 119,846ft; 36,529m Max velocity: 833.9mph; 1,342.8km/h; Mach 1.24 **3.02am** Here is a highlight reel from Red Bull of the jump that includes footage from the jumper's perspective: **3.16pm** Video of the jump... **2.28pm** Felix has jumped and landed safely. Here is a slideshow of some...

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