Macon County Commissioners 03-11-2014

The Macon County Commissioners met Tuesday night for their regular monthly meeting.

)
The agenda and press kit for the meeting is posted below. I understand that Scribd has started charging people for the ability to download documents I have posted on that website, so I have included a link [right click to download PDF] to where you can download the document for free.

I posted a live text play by of the meeting on my Macon Media facebook page.

There will be another meeting of the commissioners as they meet with the SCC Board of Trustees on March 18th at 6pm in the conference room of the Cecil Groves Center on the SCC Campus to discuss the Master Plan for the expansion of the Southwestern Community College Campus.

MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
MARCH 11, 2013
AGENDA

1. Call to order and welcome by Chairman Corbin

2. Announcements

3. Moment of Silence

4. Pledge of Allegiance

5. Public Hearing(s) - None

6. Public Comment Period

7. Adjustments to and approval of the agenda

8. Reports/Presentations

• Update on Smoky Mountain Center activities - Shelly Foreman
• Cooperative Extension Program Impact Report - Alan Durden, County Extension Director
• Presentation of survey findings by Mission Critical Partners

9. Old Business

• Consideration of N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Project Agreement
• Agreement with Appalachian Tree
• Resolution regarding transfer of playground equipment to Macon Middle School
• Consideration of resolution honoring Robert (Bob) Carpenter

10. New Business

• Requests from J&B Disposal - Bonita Hamstra, President
  • Lease renewal for Highlands Road convenience center site
  • Rate increase for residential trash service
  • Franchise extension
• Request for funding from Macon Program for Progress - Chuck Sutton and Garry Roper
• Consideration of proclamation declaring Macon County as a Purple Heart County

11. Consent Agenda - Attachment #11

All items below are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will be held except on request of a member of the Board of Commissioners.
• Minutes of the February 11th and February 18th meetings
• Budget Amendment #105
• Tax Releases
• Tax Refunds
• Macon County Public Health Fee
• Monthly ad valorem tax collection report

12. Appointments

• Board of Equalization for 2014
• Macon County Heritage Center Advisory Board (1 seat)

13. Closed session

• Attorney-client privilege per NCGS 143-318.11(a)(3)

14. Recess until Tuesday, March 18, 2014 to the boardroom of the Cecil L. Groves Center on the Macon County campus of Southwestern Community College, 44 Siler Farm Road, Franklin, NC 28734 (Starting time to be determined)

Commissioners Press Kit 03-11-2014 by Thunder Pig

Here is a brief slideshow of photos I took during the meeting.
View the slide show on Photobucket.

Read More

NC General Assembly Calendar for 05-03-2012

The North Carolina General Assembly [link] has convened for the short session. The NC Senate [link] and the NC House [link] are not scheduled to meet today.

I have posted the calendar of scheduled legislative activity along with links to where you can listen online to our state legislators as they go about their tasks. I do not plan on listening or recording today.

Another good source of live and recorded audio of the NC General Assembly is Voter Radio. Check out their website. [link]

If you experience problems listening to the meetings via the links below, try the North Carolina General Assembly website. [link]

9:00 AM	Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government (House) Committee Members	414 LOB
9:00 AM	Economic Development & Global Engagement Oversight Committee, Joint Legislative Committee Members	544 LOB
11:00 AM	Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety (House) Committee Members	415 LOB
1:00 PM	Information Technology, Jt Leg Oversight Comm. Committee Members | Agenda | Annual Report | VIPER Report | SAP License Presentation	1027/1128 LB

Personal observation regarding the 800 Mhz VIPER Towers (Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders):

I monitor public safety radio traffic nearly every day and, a few weeks ago on Feb 22nd, I monitored a foot chase by the NC State Highway Patrol conducted (with assistance of deputies from the Macon and Jackson County Sheriff Departments. The troopers were out of radio contact for most of the chase because their radios were useless on the mountainous terrain on Cowee Mountain. They had to rely on the UHF radio communications provided by the sheriff deputies that were with them [link]. 


800 Mhz may work well on flatland and in the foot hills, but not so much in the mountainous terrain west of the Balsams and in the High Country in northwestern North Carolina.

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for January 4, 2012 Monitoring and Commenting Upon World Events

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.


The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.

What follows is an example of the most recent show that aired last night and early this morning.
I have swiped the show notes and audio and have re-posted them here to whet your interest in the show:

---

Hour One, 9pm to 10pm
Co-host: Gordon Chang, The Daily and Forbes.com



Wednesday 905P Eastern Time (605P Pacific Time): Victor Shih, Northwestern, in re: Gordon Chang today was named by the Peoples Daily as "an enemy of the state." Congratulations are pouring in from all over the world. VS: Central Bank of China minting bushels of new money; slowed rate slightly in 2011: bankruptcies among smaller firms; fundamentals of economy are that it's highly addicted to money minted by the central bank. Borrowers are localities, don't generate enough cash to pay even the owed interest, let alone the principal. Borrowers cannot replay the state-issued loans; many defaults. Liquidity trap. People speculating in garlic, ginger. Rich are moving money overseas; significant putflows. M2 in China in November was 134% of US M2 - even though the total Chinese economy is less than half of the US. Only England and Switzerland are higher. Reforms run into huge resistance from vested interests: whose bosses often sit on the Central Committee. Bonds coming due this year from Beijing Olympics; govt estimate is 10 trillion RMB. Meanwhile, land sales - main way that local authorities raise money to repay - are now slowed. Beijing probably will just issue new bonds to replace the old ones- playing Monopoly. Caveat emptor.

Wednesday 920P Eastern Time (620P Pacific Time): Nury Turkel, past president of Uyghur-American Assn, in re: Radio Free Asia said that four of the people detained after the confrontation in Xinjiang were children, and that they had been part of a group trying to flee the country. Several dead - children and their mothers. Increased volatility day by day because the govt is growing more repressive; govt fighting local Muslim celebrations, also Rebiya Khadeer. Uyghurs are refused passports (as are Tibetans). Han Chinese get passports within two weeks. Beijing claims that the children were "being kidnapped to be trained in jihad." "Terrorism: was never part of the terminology historically; now used with abandone, as they even call HH the Dalai Lama that. Fifteen Uyghurs fleeing; intercepted in a village, authorities open fire and kill seven, then capture the children. "Punishment on the spot"policy: anyone with a Uyghur or Tibetan name will be shot on the spot. Pakistan helps China by jailing and deporting Uyghurs back to China - horrible track record, as do many of China's neighbors. Ethnic cleansing.

Wednesday 935P Eastern Time (635P Pacific Time): Hotel Mars. David Livingston, The Space Show, in re: On 23 Dec, unmanned Soyuz launch failed. Russia appointed a hard-liner, Deputy PM Dmitri Rogozin, to investigate and fix Russian rocket problems. Will use "harsh criminal penalties" vs those associaed with hardware failres. The Russians state "This [whether Rogozin succeeds or not] is not an academic question. The United States and its international partners are solely dependent upon Russia for access to the International Space Station. The American government should seriously consider ways of accelerating its schedule for fielding replacement vehicles to end that dependency." Russia has now blocked outsiders from seeing Russian space sites. Also: Republican candidates for the presidencey: What would a Pres Romney do about the space program? During one debate, all the candidates said "no such expenditures." Gingrich favors commercial space; Romney attacked him therefor. Safety: Soyuz isn't certified by anyone as it's totally Russian. We put astronauts on whatever the Russians put up.

Wednesday 950P Eastern Time (650P Pacific Time): Henry Miller, Hoover, in re: H5N1

---

Hour Two, 10pm to 11pm
Wednesday 1005P Eastern (705P Pacific Time): Naomi Rovnick, freelance journalist in Taiwan, in re: Taiwanese elections, 14 January.

Wednesday 1020P Eastern (720P Pacific Time): Bruce Bechtol, San Angelo State, in re: Lee Myung-bak willing to "open the door" but says North Korea's Kim Jong-un must be "sincere" and eschew provocation.

Wednesday 1035P Eastern (735P Pacific Time): Arif Rafiq, Pakistan Policy blog, in re: Taliban to open Qatari office in a step toward formal talks.

Wednesday 1050P Eastern (750P Pacific Time): Joseph Sternberg, business editor, Asia Wall Street Journal, in re: No foreign investment in Chinese car mfrg. Unfortunately, Chinese companies don't yet know how to bld cars as well yet as some foreigners do. "Lot rot" in 2009-2010, Beijing forced state enterprises and localities to buy huge numbers of cars - which hey couldn't use, so they just parked them in lots, where they sit and decay. Beijing can;t fathom 1.4 billion people making individual decisions. Gili bought Volvo; will have to make mountains of Volvos and then park them somewhere. Can we buy these cheap and move 'em out of China? Typical Chinese market distortion.

"Some foreign businesses have complained over the past year or two that the business environment in China has become less friendly. And now it might appear as though the auto industry is the latest addition to the 'not welcome' list. Beijing's National Development and Reform Commission, responsible for economic planning, recently announced it would stop supporting foreign investment in car manufacturing. But appearances can be deceiving. This is really a story of how, while the investment climate might not become 'better' or 'worse,' it does become different, and foreigners will have to adapt."

---

Hour 3, 11pm to midnight
Wednesday 1105P Eastern (805P Pacific Time): Adam Nossiter, NYT, in re: famine in Kinshasa, DR Congo.

Wednesday 1120P Eastern (820P Pacific Time): Bret Stephens, WSJ, in re; European Union eurozone fail; lessons to be learned for the US.

Wednesday 1135P Eastern (835P Pacific Time): Aaron Klein, WABC, in re: Hamas aggression in Cairo, Iranian aggression in the Middle East.

Wednesday 1150P Eastern (850P Pacific Time): Reza Kahlili, author, in re: Iran threatens the Fifth Fleet; turmoil in the IRGC.

---

Hour 4, Midnight to 1am
Wednesday/Thurs 1205A Eastern (905 Pacific Time):

Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton, 1 of 2


Wednesday/Thurs 1220A Eastern (920 Pacific Time):

Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton, 2 of 2

Wednesday/Thurs 1235A Eastern (935P Pacific Time): Hotel Mars. David Livingston, The Space Show, in re: On 23 Dec, unmanned Soyuz launch failed. Russia appointed a hard-liner, Deputy PM Dmitri Rogozin, to investigate and fix Russian rocket problems. Will use "harsh criminal penalties" vs those associaed with hardware failres. The Russians state "This [whether Rogozin succeeds or not] is not an academic question. The United States and its international partners are solely dependent upon Russia for access to the International Space Station. The American government should seriously consider ways of accelerating its schedule for fielding replacement vehicles to end that dependency." Russia has now blocked outsiders from seeing Russian space sites. Also: Republican candidates for the presidencey: What would a Pres Romney do about the space program? During one debate, all the candidates said "no such expenditures." Gingrich favors commercial space; Romney attacked him therefor. Safety: Soyuz isn't certified by anyone as it's totally Russian. We put astronauts on whatever the Russians put up.

Wednesday/Thurs 1250A Eastern (950P Pacific Time): Exeunt. Julie Jargon, WSJ, in re: fast food in China and Egypt.

---

For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor

Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for June 30, 2011 Monitoring and Commenting Upon World Events

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.


The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.


Here is a recent video upload showing a discussion regarding the Fear in Fukushima in the aftermath of the tsunami...





John Batchelor talks with Gordon Chang of Forbes.com and Steve Herman of Voice of America about the aftermath of the disaster in Japan.


Here is the audio of last night's show, to give you a taste of what you've been missing:



Hour1



Hour 2


Hour 3


Hour 4



Needless to say, The John Batchelor Show is my favorite Radio Show, and a useful tool for gaining insight on world events via the discussions and interviews conducted by John Batchelor. 


For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor


Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for April 18, 2011 Monitoring and Commenting Upon World Events

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.


The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.


Here is a recent video upload showing a round table portion of the show...






Needless to say, The John Batchelor Show is my favorite Radio Show, and a useful tool for gaining insight on world events via the discussions and interviews conducted by John Batchelor. Below you will find the audio of last night's show for your edification...

 Hour One


 Hour Two


 Hour Three


 Hour Four





For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor


Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for February 3, 2011 Monitoring and Commenting Upon World Events

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.

Last night's show is posted below, and the topic schedule is here.


Hour One Feb 3, 2011 Download MP3

Hour Two Feb 3, 2011 Download MP3

Hour Three Feb 3, 2011 Download MP3

Hour Four Feb 3, 2011 Download MP3




For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor


Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for January 27, 2011 Monitoring and Commenting Upon World Events

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.


The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.


Needless to say, The John Batchelor Show is my favorite Radio Show, and a useful tool for gaining insight on world events via the discussions and interviews conducted by John Batchelor. Below you will find the audio of last night's show for your edification...





Hour One



Hour Two



Hour Three



Hour Four




For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:


Listen Live on WABC Radio from 9pm to 1am 7 nights a week


The John Batchelor Show website


The WABC Radio Podcast webpage (you can download the show yourself, as I do every morning)


Wikipedia Article on John Batchelor


Facebook Page (for fans)

Twitter Account


My previous articles on the show

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for December 09, 2010

The John Batchelor Show is my favorite radio show. John Batchelor does what I like to call the reverse call-in show...he calls people who are all over the world, from many walks of life, with many areas of expertise to discuss what is happening in the world today. I can't really classify the show, You just have to experience it. 

Here is the audio from last nights four hour show...


Hour One; 9pm


Hour Two; 10pm


Hour Three; 11pm


Hour Four; midnight




For more information, please check out these links:


The John Batchelor Show website
Facebook Page (for fans)
Twitter Account
WABC Podcast page

Commentary

I have listened to the show since September 8, 2001, when I found the show while digging around the AM dial after work and heard these two guys (Paul Alexander and John Batchelor) discussing the bombing of the USS Cole and pointing the finger at Osama bin Laden. I was hooked, and made plans to listen the next saturday night on 770-AM WABC from my location in Terre Haute, Indiana. 

September 11th intervened. A couple of nights later, I found these same two guys on WABC (I had a habit at that time of sweeping the AM and shortwave bands late at night for interesting stuff) discussing the events of 9/11 and stopped digging around the radio bands late at night. I had found something interesting. I moved to western Virginia in the spring of 2002, and found the  WABC signal harder to receive, but managed to construct a serviceable antenna tuned to 770 kHz on the AM Band that served me well until I became dissatisfied with my work and returned to western North Carolina in the fall of 2003. Here, I could not pick up WABC so easily, and I quickly purchased an XM Satellite Radio just so that I could continue listening to the show, which, by this time, had dwindled to just one guy, John Batchelor. [Note: The show is no longer on XM Radio because ABC Radio withdrew its channel from the XM lineup and I have since cancelled my subscription to the service]

I suffered through the cancellation in September 2006 and, out of protest, did not listen to anything from WABC (save Matt Drudge...which I listened to on 1510 WLAC) for two solid years. To my great joy, John filled in a couple of times for Matt Drudge on his radio show in the summer of 2007 and then, his show returned to the air (and was livestreamed by WABC) later that year five nights a week, eventually expanding to 7 nights a week...which has continued to this day.  

I download the podcast as soon as it becomes available and listen to it, and lately, they've been real good about having it posted online within a few hours of the broadcast.

Read More

John Batchelor Show Audio Excerpt: Dick Armey and the Tea Party

The host of my favorite radio show, The John Batchelor Show, interviews Kate Zernike, the author of Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America, about the Tea Party and the de facto leader of that movement, former Congressman Dick Armey of Freedom Works. The interview is a little over 8 minutes long and well worth your attention. 


One of the interesting things discussed in the interbiew is her description of Armey as a Libertarian and not so much of a Social Conservative. 
.
The audio:
I know that many Republicans have been taken in by this man, but I believe that he is poison to the movement, and he has raised up people like him who are equally poisonous to certain state and local chapters. Someday, I may tell the story of my experience with these people when I tried to start a local Tea Party. Since then, I have shunned all things Freedom Works.

Read More

The John Batchelor Show for May 20, 2010

It's been awhile since I've posted on my favorite radio show, which used to run weekly on Sunday Nights (it originated as a seven nights a week show after 9/11). Then, it was expanded to run Saturday and Sunday...then, it became a Monday through Sunday Night Show. Four hours of John Batchelor every night!!!

 I'm going to correct that now. Here is the podcast of last night's show, hour by hour:



Hour One


HourTwo


Hour Three


Hour Four


Here is his website. 

The show starts at 9pm Eastern, and continues for four hours of the best radio you will find anywhere, as only John Batchelor can deliver it with his stable of experts. He covers everything from politics to the war in the Middle East to space to interviewing book authors.

And here is where you can listen to the show live online:
New York, WABC-AM 770 7-10PM ET;

And here is where you can find the podcasts of the show: WABC Radio.

Read More

Michael Steele Appearance on Joe Scarborough Show Audio of Rush Limbaugh's Return Added

RNC Chairman Michael Steele was just on the Joe Scarborough Show on WABC-AM in New York City, and this is the audio of his appearance. His book is available at Amazon.

Also, Rush Limbaugh will be on the air for the first time since December 23rd, and you can listen at WABC-AM.

**12.28pm**

Here is the first segment of today's Rush Limbaugh Show for your enjoyment:

Read More