RFP Staff

♦ Brutal Easter Morning Gang Execution on Statesville Boulevard in Salisbury, N.C.:

Press Release from the Office of U.S. Senator Richard Burr

Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman

♦ Thank you to my friend, Sherri Goodlett Coffee Brown, for the 2nd picture that motivated these random thoughts. (below)

I wish Black people would stop being afraid to be Black in public and on purpose. I wish Black people would stop apologizing for the atrocities and indignities perpetrated against them. I wish everyone understood loving your culture and your community and fighting for justice, equity and growth for it doesn’t mean you care less about any others. I wish people would stop equating the passion in that quest as being angry.

I wish Black people would stop feeling like they have to prove how passive and non threatening they can be just to exist in mainstream America. I wish Black people would stop telling me to stop being authentically Black because I’m messing it up for them. I wish Black people would stop feeling like if they lift their voice and speak out, somehow there will be repercussions from mainstream society.

I wish Black people would stop laughing at Nigger jokes and other racial humor so as to feel included, a part of the Team and a Team player. I don’t want or need to be on that kind of Team.

I wish Black people would be upset that we don’t have enough Black businesses here in Salisbury for the State to even generate a statistic. I wish Black people were getting some of the economic development money available. Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce for starting a Minority Business Council recently within the Chamber. I had a great conversation with the Executive Director a few months ago and this was a discussion topic. She and a few other Business leaders like The Hospital President and Ed Norvell get it and don’t engage in patronizing lip service.

I wish Black Churches would care less about tithes and offerings and more about actually helping the Black community. We shouldn’t have 10-12 churches in one Community and still have the problems we do. I wish Black Pastors and other misguided so called Christian folk would stop saying just leave everything in God’s hands and actually do something significant and substantial. If you need an example, talk to Pastor Timothy Lamont Bates.

I wish Black people would stop blaming White people for all the problems occurring in the Black community. Yes, Slavery was bad but, that excuse and blaming current racism as a trading not to try has played out. I wish Black people would stop waiting to be rescued and begging others outside the community. Build your own table and invite others to eat at yours.

I wish Black people would control the economics and politics of their community and not allow the history and heritage to be erased. I wish these young boys would understand the value of life and not be so quick to extinguish one at the end of a gun.

I wish Black people who think they’ve succeeded would quit shitting on those still trying. I wish Black people would stop viewing an invite to the Country Club for lunch as progress. If I stab you with a knife and pull it a 1/4 of the way out, is that progress I should be thankful for?

I wish Black people would vote. 2600 registered voters on the West End and only 213 voted last November. Damn

I wish Black people would stop singing We Shall Overcome and push harder for the fierce urgency of now while singing Fight the Power. I wish White people would stop acting as if memorizing the words to the Negro National Anthem is impressive.

I wish White people would stop acting like they really care about improving the Black condition in public but in private try to subvert positive efforts like a County Commissioner, the YMCA Director and a lady at the United Way did.

I wish White people would stop initiating and engaging me in conversations about race and racism, get upset when I don’t respond with a feel good Kum-by- ya response, and then publicly complain that I talk too much about racism like that jackass Scott Maddox wrote in the paper.

I wish White people would get more upset about racism instead of being angry at the people who it impacts and comment on it. I wish rich people would stop sharing their opinion on people who live in Poverty. I wish people who are not suffering from other societal ills would stop judging and criticizing people who do. I wish people would stop showing mouse pad courage and offering opinions and solutions, but never actually come out and get involved.

I wish Black and White people would stop telling me who to interact with and who to be loyal to. I base my loyalty on those who’ve been the same way and straight up with me. I find it oddly funny that people have criticized my working with Gangs and my friendship with Kenneth Muhammad, Craig Pierce and the owner of the Rowan Free Press. So many hypocrites swear they never read the “piece of garbage rag”, but seem to know and call me every time something is published with my name on it.

I have a lot of Easter wishes.

Steve Mensing, Editor

♦ Well over a year ago we pulled together what numerous studies and surveys tell us about what attracts entrepreneurs to a city or small municipality. Its time again to put Salisbury, N.C. to the entrepreneurial test. Does “America’s 10 Gig City” have what it takes? Or will it continue to watch entrepreneurial talent pass it by for far more attractive and happening cities in North Carolina? Let’s cut to the test:

• Does it have low costs for doing business?

Downtown suffers from municipal service district whose taxes are known to be the highest in North Carolina. The municipal service district taxes support DSI and the derelict Empire Hotel long overdue for demolition and an expensive abatement. Every year we hear the same guff about “well qualified” developers showing interest the Empire. I’d be more impressed if they unloaded this ballast on someone who wanted to build a two-tiered parking lot. Maybe use the front wall of Empire for its ugly Jules Vern charm and widen its entry for vehicles to pass through. The Downtown taxes, fees, utility bills, and rents are prohibitively high and anti-business. The City’s historical codes negatively impact the costs of doing business.

Housing costs are cheap because the city’s Black and White working class and upper income folks are moving away when they can unload their homes and properties. Prices are plummetting on Salisbury homes. There’s some real steals at the Crescent.

Code enforcement officers can write up any entrepreneur with an office in their home over so many square feet or if they live in an area zoned wrong.

Add in expense for securing your home or property. Property crime in Salisbury is through the roof. How many of your neighbors had their back and front doors kicked in when they were at work?

Salisbury gets a resounding F for the costs of doing business. Except for cheap houses, Salisbury is a non qualifier due to its high costs for doing business.

• Are there attractive business areas and districts?

Downtown Salisbury remains a blighted area pockmarked with many vacant storefronts and obsolete buildings in need of gutting and demolition. Numerous buildings suffer from graffiti, gang tags, and broken windows.

Downtown Salisbury certainly is attractive to panhandlers.

Downtown Salisbury fails as an attractive business area due to its blight and ghostly atmosphere. After nightfall the business areas are chancy because of ever present possibility of violence and property crime.

Business areas gets a D.

• How are the area’s major institutions such as colleges, universities, libraries, and hospitals? Are they well regarded?

Catawba College is an average college, but lacks truly outstanding departments. Livingstone College struggles academically and its campus is rated among the top 25 most dangerous colleges and university campuses in the USA. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College provides a decent enough education for the budget-minded.

None of the above schools are a magnets for entrepreneurs.

Novant Rowan Regional Medical Center is rated as okay.

The county public library in Salisbury is one of the city’s outstanding attributes.

Salisbury’s major institutions get a C.

• Does Salisbury have a secure customer base and a sense of business opportunity?

Salisbury suffers from poverty. The U.S. Census Bureau says 27.2% of the city’s population lives below the poverty line. The city is lacking in spendable income. Don’t expect to make much money utilizing Salisbury’s customer base.

An F.

• Existing networks of entrepreneurs already in Salisbury?

Nothing going on here. You could start a “mashup” by posting on Craig’s List. Telephone interview those who apply-–you could be inviting trouble if you don’t. Ask them for their names and see if they show up on the NCDOJ list. Salisbury is crawling with petty con artists and persons who would exploit any opening. Salisbury also has a huge population of registered sex offenders.

Give this area an F.

• Are there existing industrial clusters/company clusters that permit collaboration between entrapaneurs with similar interests?

Very few similar industrial/company clusters in the Salisbury area. You might investigate a common cause that others might share. Like if your cement plant and an asphalt plant might be interested in linking up to fight the area’s pollution control.

Give this area an D.

• Does Salisbury have welcoming attitude toward small business and entrepreneurs?

Newcomers can feel left out really fast. However the Downtown merchants will love bomb you and try to convince you to join their “Downtown Cult” that touts that its “vibrant”. They will fill your ears about business being really great here which doesn’t jibe with the vacancy strewn downtown and with few human lifeforms skulking about on the streets. Most new retailers and restaurants last about a year in the musical chairs Downtown economy. “Oh you’ll love it here!”

This one gets a D.

• Does the area possess walkability? Sidewalks?

The Downtown area has sidewalks and so does the Historic District. The rest of the city is largely left out of the pie.

An A for Downtown-–an F for areas beyond “8 block”.

• Do several high-speed internet companies operate in the area? Do they have competitive prices?

3 area internet providers offer high-speed internet. Time Warner Cable is the city’s leading highs-speed internet provider and they rolled out TWC Maxx with terrific high-speeds at budget prices. AT&T U-verse has launched a bargain basement gig for $70 bucks a month. The city’s municipal broadband is less unstable than it used to be and suffers from anti-consumer contracts and fees. Time Warner Cable business class has up to 10 gig by 10 gig fiber optic dedicated ethernet to business and industry locations inside of Salisbury. There is no real call for 10 Gig internet in the Bury.

On High-speed broadband the city gets an A plus.

• Are there a large variety of restaurants, entertainment, movie theaters, theater, common interest groups, and music venues?

Salisbury has some decent restaurants, but can only support so many. Neighborhood and fringe theater exists which is a good training ground for newbies to get some experience before moving on to Charlotte or elsewhere. Movie theaters are lacking. Some common interest groups. A few music venues and several noteworthy artists. If you miss culture TV is filled with it.

Food and culture gets C.

• Are there research facilities in the area?

Nothing in the immediate area. A commute to Kannapolis’s research centers.

An F for Salisbury’s nonexistent research facilities.

• Do friends and family live in the vicinity?

Only a visiting entrepreneur can answer that question.

• Does the local government create unnecessary red tape and barriers such as excessive codes or show favoritism that newcomers must struggle through?

Salisbury is well known for creating major barriers, red tape, excessive arbitrary codes, and show favoritism. Would any potential entrepreneur want any part of the Salisbury business climate?

Salisbury gets an F minus on this grade.

• Do entrepreneurial incubators and training programs exist in the area?

Some training programs available at Rowan-Cabarrus. No business incubators anywhere in the city at this time.

C minus on this count.

• Is there good clean water available in the area at inexpensive rates?

The water is made more expensive by the city’s fiber optic network dipping into its water and sewer funds. The city’s water may have challenges with asbestos from decaying asbestos/cement lines and mains.

The water is expensive.

Grade B.

• How are Salisbury’s city Schools?

The city public schools graded D and F on the state education scores. City schools are havens for drugs, gangs, and many youngsters struggle with reading.

City public schools earn a D.

• Convenient airports and public transportation?

Charlotte Douglas is a 40 minute drive down I-85. Rowan County Airport is nearby for business jets. Public transportation has large gaps in its schedule. It is decidedly underused. Amtrac stops in Salisbury.

Airports get an A. Public transportation gets C minus.

• Low crime rates? Is the area safe?

FBI crime stats are very high for both violent crime and property crime. The city is under siege from gangs, heroin, crack, meth, shootings, violent crime, and property crime. The city is very unsafe any hour of the day. Registered sex offenders dot the landscape in Salisbury.

Crime in Salisbury is compared favorably on a per capita basis with the “Motor City”. All persons are urged to conceal carry. Break-ins and home invasions are extremely common in Salisbury. Exercise extreme caution when visiting Salisbury.

Crime gets an F- in the “Bury”

• Are the area’s streets and roads well maintained?

Streets and sidewalks are poorly maintained in Salisbury. Street repairs drop off in a major way outside of “8 block” and the Country Club.

Streets get an F.

• Is there an active local economic development agency?

Yes, but selling Salisbury is a difficult if next to impossible task.

EDC gets a B.

• Is the area a good place to raise a family or move one in? Is the area children friendly?

No Salisbury is not a good place to raise children. Crime, meth, crack, heroin, alcohol, gangs, substandard schools, sexual predators, and bullies make Salisbury an exceptionally bad choice. Would you choose to live in Detroit for your kids? Salisbury was the home of Erika Parsons before she vanished. Need we say more?

Salisbury gets an F for raising kids.

• Are very bright, talented, and creative people drawn to the area?

Take a look around. Occasionally some brilliant people drift in through marriage or from the misfortune of birth. Maybe from misreading a road map. Most don’t stay long-–they don’t fit in. They tend to become troublemakers after they observe what is going on around them. It’s alleged that public school testing some years back showed that Salisbury suffered from below average intelligence.

Salisbury gets a D for a lack of bright, talented, and creative people. Young educated people leave the area after college.

• How are the areas parks and recreation?

The city has some good parks, but lacks in recreational activities for many of the city’s youth.

A for parks. D- for recreational activities.

• A youthful population?

Most of the young move out for greener passages. The troubled remain and become heavily involved in Salisbury’s hard drug and alcohol culture. The town is aging.

The aging city gets an F.

• Is the city or small municipality friendly toward cooperative ventures?

Cooperative ventures are unknown here. Suspect the status quo might try to thwart such ventures if they believed it might remove eggs from their basket or curtail their control.

Unknown area. Could be a great draw for outsiders wishing to create cooperative companies in a job starving area.

• The community’s physical setting attractive?

Yes in some parts. Blight has taken over large sectors of the City.

Gets a C minus or a D.

• Is there convenient shopping close at hand?

Some selection of big box chain stores in Salisbury although great internet shopping is as near as the closest computer. Otherwise people desiring big box shopping have to drive down I-85 to Afton Ridge, Concord Mills, or Huntersville or travel to Mooresville or Winston-Salem. Shoppes at the Summit is nearby in county and has some great stores.

Big box store shopping C minus. Internet shopping A plus.

• Is a well-educated workforce available? Can they pass drug tests?

Fewer numbers of college graduates and vocational school graduates live in Salisbury than years ago. Drug tests are more difficult to overcome for many due to the rise of heroin, meth, crack, and alcohol abuse in the area.

Below average workforce available gets a C minus. Passing drug tests gets a D plus.

• Are their local business incentives and grants available?

Yes.

Incentives and grants get an A.

• Are community banks and lending institutions friendly toward entrepreneurs?

Less so in Salisbury as loaning institutions have tightened their belts.

Local banks friendly toward entrepreneurs gets a C.

• Would you be excited about calling this place home?

Imagine if an entrepreneur took a close look at Salisbury how they might feel?

Steve Mensing, Editor

♦ Salisbury is getting a reputation in the county and across the state as the hokum center of the North Carolina.  I doubt anywhere in the known universe makes more use of paid for meaningless awards, making wild claims of BIG interest in projects that never pan out, and calling utter “debacles” successes.  If Salisbury should get a tangible award for anything it should be for extreme P.R. completely disconnected from the real.

• Meaningless Awards: (a) The former School Superintendent jets to Houston and gets a technology award from Apple for buying a cargo hold full of iPads.  The iPads languish in a warehouse never to be used and then are sold at a substantial loss.  Technology award wahoo! (b) The big award imprinted on the city’s annual Martin & Starnes budget. Then we find out the city paid for that. (c) Now Salisbury is a “finalist” in the “All American Cities” program.  Suggest folks mosey over to this non-profit’s website and read the details of what it takes to qualify for this “award”.  It isn’t health and exercise, economic vitality, or even 27.2% poverty, crummy FBI crime Stats, fielding a shell police department, having all D and F public schools, and having a fiber optic debacle whose losses soar into the millions.

• Claiming Big Interest in Projects Never Panning Out or Projects Never Showing Up in the Bury: (a) Likely the all time headliner in this department is DSI’s decrepit Bad Lands Empire Hotel where year after year we read in the city’s newsletter about the alleged feverishly interested and highly qualified developers swarming into Salisbury to score on the DREAM.  Then abruptly every year the interest gets short-circuited and the nightmare blight on South Main continues.  Perhaps the developers saw the dirty phase I and the prohibitive costs of abatement, gutting, and renovating to make a buck on the Bat-tel.  We’ve heard about dreamy low income apartments and pricey condos coming to a Downtown area lacking in people and vehicular traffic. (Its been since 1963 when the Empire closed its flophouse its doors.  That ought to scare off most folks.  Except for these alleged hoards of interested developers. (b) How many times have folks in Salisbury heard the promise of retailers and restaurants who never showed up? Target? The Golden Corral? Put on your memory caps and let your thoughts skip down memory lane to the last exciting news you read about project “X” arriving in the Bury.

• Touting Debacles as Successes: (a) Okay the meltdown of city hall’s credibility jarred a lot of true believers to their senses when Salisbury’s current city manager and council finally admitted Fibrant is a debacle, has lost millions, and never came remotely close to “turning a corner”.  That they continue with this 10 Gig ruse raises suspicions about some people profiting from the city’s losses. Is Fibrant continuing to operate at a great loss based on the hopes of unloading it at a loss to a private willing to gamble in a crowded field of incumbent broadband providers?  Are a few people profiting on the purchase of the City’s certificates of participation due to its rising interest rates?  Did the city swallow a poison pill that makes it nearly impossible to unload the “Debacle”?  (b) The wild claims that Downtown Salisbury is a vibrant let alone a success when many visitors report that Downtown is lonely and without people most days save for Friday Nights Out.  How many former retailers and restaurant owners left downtown with a bad taste in their mouth and the sense they were mislead?

A wise person keeps an eye on how things are now and on repeated claims set in the future by those whose previous claims proved falacious.

Be wary of those who make excessive use of the future tense and couple it with economic namedropping:

• “$300 million in investments.” (Okay specifically who, where, and how do we know the figures are correct?)

• “New retail, manufacturing, restaurants, and hotels have arrived in our city and county.” (How about subtracting the many that closed, laid off hundreds of employees, burned down and are not returning, or didn’t live up to their incentive agreements?)

• “Manufacturers have announced significant projects.” (But never completed them).

Keep in mind that brick and mortar retailers are downsizing and the internet is now America’s major shopping arena. Rapid shipping is here. Amazon is the world’s largest retailer.

The “Salisbury Giant” Recently Located on a Dig at the West End “Spite Hole” is about as Real as the Recent Claim that 90% of the First floor Business and Retail Space in Downtown Salisbury is Occupied According to the City of Salisbury’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30th, 2015.

RFP Staff

♦ Update: As of Wednesday night the multi-vehicle wreck remains under investigation by the N.C. Highway Patrol.

A major wreck occurred on I-85 and near the Peach Orchard Road exit in Rowan County at around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday.  The accident involved a tractor trailer and several vehicles headed Southbound on I-85.  Traffic in the Southbound lanes was at a standstill as emergency vehicles flooded the area.  About 5 injured persons were injured.  Several were transported by multiple ambulances from the scene to Carolinas HealthCare System Northeast in Concord, N.C.  Two yet unidentified women with broken bones were transported to CMC Main in Charlotte.

At this time law enforcement has not released specific details about injuries or the cause of the accident.

As of 11 p.m. traffic is just starting to move at a crawl in the Southbound lanes and drivers are urged to avoid the area.

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

RFP Staff

♦ Iris Renee “Tris” Smith, 55, of 1040 Roundknob Road in Salisbury was arrested Tuesday at 310 N. Main Street in Downtown Salisbury for an alleged blade assault on a companion.  The scuffle was termed domestic in nature.  Smith is no stranger to the charge of assault with a deadly weapon having one such previous blemish on her record.

Smith was charged Tuesday with assault with a deadly weapon (misdemeanor) and placed in the Rowan County Detention Center.  She is under no bond due to the domestic nature of the assault.

Iris Renee “Tris” Smith’s Previous record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0481990&searchLastName=smith&searchFirstName=iris&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

310 North Main in Downtown Salisbury, near the Courthouse and Detention Center, in an area prone to daylight street “altercations”.

RFP Staff

♦ In a seemingly never ending string of break-ins and robberies plaguing the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge on 5 Easy Street in Downtown Salisbury, the King Tut suffered yet another break-in and robbery sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning when it was reported to the Salisbury Police at 11 a.m. A window and a door were damaged when they were pried open.  The perpetrator(s) allegedly helped themselves $550 in cash. The owners can at least be thankful that their windows were not shot out and no one was stabbed.

As yet no suspect was named in this break-in and no arrests were yet made.

March 25th RFP article on the break-in and robbery at the at the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge:

On Wednesday morning the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge, on 5 Easy Street in Downtown Salisbury, suffered another burglary attempt. Salisbury Police were summoned to the popular café and lounge to investigate signs of forcible entry. King Tut was burglarized several times in early 2016 allegedly by the same contractor who previously worked on the Café and Lounge. On Wednesday nothing was reported stolen.

An RFP article appeared about the previous burglary on March 17th 2016: “SHOTZBURY TOKEZ: Paul Ewing Busted Wednesday For Allegedly Breaking into Downtown Salisbury’s King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge”:

“Salisbury, N.C.’s premier hookah parlor and café and a huge favorite among those who dare to adventure Downtown after dark, the King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge on Easy Street was allegedly broken into for a second time on Wednesday by Paul Anthony Ewing, 39, of Evelyn Avenue in Kannapolis. The felon and now suspected “Egyptologist”, once worked as a contractor in the mysterious and enchanting King Tut Café and Hookah Lounge. What secrets were revealed? Did he break the alleged curse?

The Salisbury Police allege that Ewing helped himself to money from the cash register and a juke box. Praise be unto King Tutankhamun that the suspect wasn’t felled by a cobra attack in the lounge area.

Ewing was charged with 2 counts breaking into a building (felony) and 2 counts of larceny (felony). He was detained in the Rowan County Detention Center and was released on bond.”

Paul Anthony Ewing’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0688174&searchLastName=ewing&searchFirstName=paul&searchMiddleName=a&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ Monday afternoon a Rowan County Sheriff office Deputy was called to 4725 Mt. Hope Church Road on a report alleging that two Duke Energy Employees had a gun drawn on them by an irate woman living at that address.  The two Duke Energy Employees, Michael Buchannon and Devontae Keen, were acting on a shut off order for non payment.  The woman, Jamie Michelle Euart Honeycutt, 46, allegedly came screaming out of her house when the power went off in home and the lights went out.

Confronting the two employees, Honeycutt allegedly grew louder as Buchannon attempted to reason with her.  No go.

Honeycutt returned to house and soon emerged, allegedly menacing the two workers with .40-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol.

“You’re not going nowheres!” Honeycutt allegedly hollered.

Buchannon and Honeycutt had other ideas and quickly got back in their Duke Energy van and sped off.  They called 911.

A short time later a Rowan County Sheriff’s deputy pulled up to 4725 Mt. Hope Church Road where he allegedly found Honeycutt with the pistol still in her hand.

Honeycutt allegedly protested to the deputy that she didn’t know who the two men were or notice the vehicle until after she got their attention with the gun.

One of the Duke Employees pointed out that their Duke Vehicle was clearly marked.

Honeycutt was disarmed and arrested.  She was charged with assault by pointing a gun (misdemeanor).  Under a secured $500 bond, she was briefly detained at the Rowan County Detention Center in Salisbury and released on bail.

Public Announcement

♦ The Rowan County Republican Breakfast Club meets this Saturday April 2nd at 8:00 a.m. at Ryan’s on 730 Jake Alexander Blvd. S. in Salisbury.  Meeting “Discussion Topic” starts at 9:00 am.  Saturday’s topic will be: As the school board looks to consolidate the system into larger schools and fewer of them, do you think a vocational school should be included in the formula?

The Breakfast Club is open to men and women. Bring friends.  Share this on Facebook!

RFP Staff

♦ Randy Wayne “Bubba” Yates, Jr., 30, whose last known address was the streets of Salisbury, was arrested by Rowan County Sheriff’s Office deputies out on Teeter Road in Rowan County Wednesday night for stealing and failing to report his change of a address as a registered sex offender.

Yates was charged with larceny (misdemeanor) and sex offender failure to notify change of address (felony). Under a secured $21,000 bond, Yates remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

In 2008 Yates was convicted of indecent liberties with a minor and in 2006 was convicted along with 3 accomplices in the brutal beating of an elderly man on East Ridge Road.

Randy Wayne “Bubba” Yates, Jr.’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0829870&searchLastName=Yates&searchFirstName=randy&searchMiddleName=w&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ Samuel Lewis Lineberry, 27, of 330 Fisherman’s Drive in Salisbury, was arrested this morning on 245 Goodman Drive in Salisbury by N.C. Highway Patrolmen  and charged with death by vehicle (felony) for a crash taking place on March 12 where Edward Wayne Hall died.  Under a secured $7,500 bond, Lineberry was briefly detained in the Rowan County Detention Center and released on bail.

According to law enforcement sources Lineberry “unlawfully and willfully did drive a vehicle on RP 2372 (King Road), while subject to an impairing substance.  The impaired driving offense was the proximate cause of the death.”

Lineberry was involved in a serious accident back in September 2011.

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

Rabbi Will McCubbins, China Grove, N.C.

♦ Yesterday I was sitting in my truck reading a free copy of the “fish wrapper” littering someone’s lawn over in the country club.  I read about the County’s alleged research coming up with a brand for the county.  The flying saucers have landed! The county got suckered big time paying out all that money for rebranding when nobody really pays attention to county branding anywhere.  When people visit places they go there because the place has an attraction or several attractions they want to visit.  I and most people travel over to Concord and Afton Ridge, not because they are in Cabarrus County, but because those places have things I want or things I want to do.  Also you don’t really have to watch your back going there like you do in Shotzbury.  Get real–nobody thinks about counties.

What makes this so-called branding even more malodorous is it really isn’t about the County, it’s all about Salisbury. And the barenaked facts are that sadly nobody is really going to Salisbury or staying it seems. I drive through Salisbury almost daily on my way to do most of my work down in the country club. Sometimes I drive through the Downtown area around Main and Innes. There must’ve been 26-28 first floor vacant store fronts maybe more because some store fronts had stuff placed in the windows to make them look lived in.

Somebody should open a gun store down in one of those empties. Of course doing business down there is too expensive so maybe that’s not such a hot idea.

Anyway I read this branding research. They were knocking East Spencer and touting Salisbury. Okay they’re not rich in East Spencer, but they don’t have the crime like Shotzbury. Areavibes.com says that East Spencer gets a B for Crime while Shotzbury rates an F. No surprise there.

Like Salisbury is the center of the universe and is going help the county with history, architecture, arts, culture, shopping, business, and restaurants. The fact is there’s much more history out in the County than in Salisbury. Read “Rowan County: A Brief History” by James F. Brawley and “A History of Rowan County, N.C.” by Rev. Jeffrey Rumple. You can read them for free on the RFP:

ROWAN-SALISBURY, N.C. HISTORY

Most of the few actual historic buildings and landmarks in Salisbury are long gone. The Salisbury Prison is gone. Grimes Mills burned down. The Office where Andrew Jackson once law clerked was lost in transit and replaced by replica. The Shober Bridge isn’t the same bridge, but an inexact replica built 40 yards away from the original footings in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The house, where Andrew Jackson once lived on Main Street, is gone. Fact is the citizens of Salisbury ran off “Old Hickory” Andrew Jackson, our president and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, because he liked to party and brought whores to a big Salisbury Social dance.

According to Areavibes.com Salisbury is an awful #202 ranked city/town in North Carolina with a livability score of 76. Yet Granite Quarry was #81ranked city/town in North Carolina with a livability score of 79. And Rockwell was no slouch at#95ranked city/town in North Carolina with a livability score of 78. If you are fixing on moving out of Salisbury you might want to try your luck in Granite Quarry or Rockwell. The County schools are nowhere near as bad as Shotzbury’s. Before you move to Mooresville, Middleton, Huntersville, Concord, or Winston-Salem or other cities in North Carolina with far more livability than Salisbury, consider the County cities.

RFP Staff

♦ It’s springtime in the Bury and the vandals are on the loose throughout the Downtown area, at Salisbury High, the Historic District–just about anywhere someone can hurl a rock, point a spray paint aerosol, set fire to a building, smash a car window, tip a gravestone or plunder a grave, key a car door, gang tag or graffiti up a wall, and fade quietly into the night.  Salisbury is under siege–the party is just getting starting for teen and old head “rockers” and those who would use any building for their canvas or fire it up Salisbury style.  Window and insurance companies phones are about to ring off the hook.  The price of business and just living day-to-day as Salisbury’s army of angry young men and women head out to “paint the town” or send glass shards flying in all directions.

This week vandals victimized John “Magic Math” Sofley, 60, on the 100 block of West Bank by the Kress Building (one of the most gang tagged buildings in Downtown Salisbury).  On Saturday vandals also struck Salisbury High at 500 Lincolnton Road, did up the 500 block of South Craig Street, got it going on 600 East Bank Street, and made their mark on the 800 block of South Jackson.  Many neighborhhoods heard cascading glass and rocks smashing through windows or saw decorative crowns and names scrawled walls and doors.

Vandalism Victim John “Magic Math” Sofley:

Gang Tagged Kress Building a Chronic Target:

“Ghetto Girl” Gets the Big Payback:

Gang Tagged “Name Your Price” Salisbury Manse:

Rocked:

Suspicious Fire:

Cemetery Vandalism Sometimes Descends into Grave Robbery:

RFP Staff

♦ The Salisbury Police are continuing to seek information about the unsolved murder of Devon Daniel McGee, 24, shot to death in a lot behind J.C. Price American Legion Post building at 1433 Old Wilkesboro Road in Salisbury’s West End. Information is also sought for the shooting of his brother Antoine Terrell McGee, 29, who remains hospitalized at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem N.C. after being shot with his brother on March the 5th.

The Late Devon Daniel McGee:

Antoine Terrell McGee:

If you have any information about the shooting of Devon Daniel McGee and his brother Antoine Terrell McGee please call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

Also no recent updates on the forthcoming Medical Examiners report on the death/possible homicide of Sylvia Seebeck, 77, who died in January in a hospice from injuries resulting from an alleged apartment invasion on the 300 block of S. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Salisbury Police, N.C. Unsolved Murders:

Salisbury Police, N.C. UNSOLVED MURDERS

RFP Staff

♦ Rowan County Commission Meets Monday April 4th at 3 P.M. in the J. Newton Cohen, Sr. Room on the 2nd floor of the County Administration Building at 130 West Innes Street in Salisbury, N.C.

ROWAN COUNTY COMMISSION AGENDA

Invocation
• Provided By: Chaplain Michael Taylor
Pledge of Allegiance
Consider Additions to the Agenda
Consider Deletions From the Agenda
Consider Approval of the Agenda
Board members are asked to voluntarily inform the Board if any matter on the agenda might present a conflict of interest or might require the member to be excused from voting.
• Consider Approval of the Minutes: March 21, 2016
1 Consider Approval of Consent Agenda
A. Planning Services Contract for Town of China Grove
B. Private Hangar Lease Assignment
C. Cancel Public Hearing to Consider Financing Proposals for Construction of Airport Hangar
D. NCDOT Regional Bicycle Plan for Central Park NC Region
2 Public Comment Period
3 Quasi-Judicial Hearing for Z 04-16 and CUP 02-16: Seven Islands Environmental Solutions, LLC
4 Consider Host Partnership Request from Convention and Visitors Bureau for Little League World Series Softball Regional Tournament
5 Discussion Regarding Auctioneer’s Recommendation For Three (3) County-Owned Properties
6 Consider Approval of Board Appointments
7 Adjournment

For Additional Information about Agenda Items:

http://agenda.rowancountync.gov/DisplayAgendaPDF.ashx?MeetingID=180

Citizens with disabilities requiring special needs to access the services or public meetings
of Rowan County Government should contact the County Manager’s Office three days prior
to the meeting by calling (704) 216-8180.

RFP Staff

♦ At around 10 p.m. Friday Nathan James Rose, 27, of 216 South Link Avenue in Salisbury, just drove out of the Grand Prix gas station at 1014 West Innes (near Sonic, Sam’s Car Wash, and Dairy Queen) when an unidentified car pulled up along side him and cut loose with a barrage of rapid fire shots, riddling Rose’s vehicle and puncturing a tire. Gunfire could be heard all the way to the Ketner Center at Catawba College and alarmed area residents.

Allegedly moving at high-speeds down Old West Innes near Lloyd, Rose managed to elude the shooters and drove straight away to the parking deck of Novant Rowan Regional Medical Center where he called 911. Although his vehicle was badly riddled, Rose was not hit.

Sources in the Salisbury streets allege the shooting is gang and drug related and is said to be a payback.

Nathan James Rose:

Rose is no stranger to skirmishes with the law. In December 2015 he was charged with trafficking opium or heroin (felony) and larceny. In November 2014 he was charged with possession of a controlled substance schedule I (felony).

Nathan James Rose’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0869697&searchLastName=rose&searchFirstName=nathan&searchMiddleName=j&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

If you have any information about this shooting please call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

**This article will be updated as soon as more information arrives.**

Where the Drive-By Began–Grand Prix Gas Station on 1014 West Innes:

Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman with Chris Sifford, Community Advocate

♦ Chris Sifford’s question about why Salisbury is so far behind other cities in the region originally appeared on Chris’s Facebook page on March 30th, 2016.

Chris Sifford: I’ve been a lot places in my lifetime and I’ve seen a number of cities similar in stature to Salisbury. What I don’t understand is that some of the cities I’ve visited with somewhat the same makeup as Salisbury, are thriving like you wouldn’t believe. Kenny Hardin, I know you’ve traveled the world in a corporate capacity, so maybe you could shed some light on why Salisbury is so far behind when it comes to business, jobs, industry, and growth.

Kenny Hardin: Siff, I’ve lived, worked, and visited a lot of other states and cities in this Nation from Coast to Coast, and it’s obvious what the issue is with Salisbury. The problem I see here is not a lack of vision for economic growth, but a shortsighted and narrow view of what growth should look like. Additionally, there is not an inclusive outlook or perspective with the type of needed growth that serves the entire collective population. The growth sought here is centered on one demographic. We seem to be focused on bringing retail and restaurant jobs that may yield 15-25 jobs instead of recruiting industry that can bring upwards of 200 plus. We don’t need any more coffee shops, beer hangouts, lofts or specialty food joints.

We have direct access to the Yadkin River, quick and easy access to Interstate 85 and are on the major rail line to big cities North and South, but we’re not landing any significant industry. Why? Because we would much rather maintain a small town historic identity tightly controlled by a few influential people that want to dictate and control the economics and politics instead of allowing the City to thrive. The only problem is the underbelly of this City is fraught with crime, poor educational outcomes and extreme apathy from those who could help the City grow.

The misguided central focus is Downtown Salisbury and the I-85 corridor to the detriment of the rest of our City. It was explained to me that if we built up I-85 with more recognizable businesses like Dick’s Sporting Goods and restaurants, it would compel people to get off the Interstate and venture into the Downtown. This was a ridiculous and errant forecast of people’s interests and habits when traveling. I have driven from LA to NC twice and from the Kansas City/Omaha areas to NC 6-7 times and not once have I stopped to eat, pee or shop and felt drawn to drive further into any City along the way.

About a month ago, I spent a significant amount of time on a weekend in Downtown Salisbury. I was disappointed with the number of empty storefronts and the dismal turnout of people in the afternoon. Just going from South to North on Main Street, I counted nearly 25 empty stores. From the stores that were opened, there was no diversity or anything that would attract me to come to the area to shop or spend time. I asked this same question in a recent City Council meeting.  As a middle aged Black man who likes high fashion items and doesn’t drink or party, what is there for me in downtown Salisbury? What is there for young people, people of color, and with the lack of jobs; who can afford anything Downtown?

I live up past the West End Plaza. If I need to go to the movies, Walmart or dine out, it’s almost a 20 mile round trip. So, I typically opt to just go to Concord where there are offerings that fit all my needs. Why have we abandoned the Western part of the City where there is a dense population of homeowners who support the tax base? Why are we not looking at industry and growth in that area and taking advantage of Highway 70 and access to Interstates 40 and 77? Why are we not looking to fill up the empty buildings on Jake Alexander that have ports for tractor trailers? Why are we putting so much emphasis and celebrating 10 gigabytes of Fibrant that is hemorrhaging money? Why won’t we try to recruit other tech companies like Google and Microsoft like Hickory and other cities in our region? Who are the initial investors in Fibrant that are getting rich individually while everyone else and the City suffers disproportionately financially? I would like to see the names of those who got in on the ground floor of Fibrant and see if a profit is being made while our taxes were raised and our City credit rating was lowered.

I questioned why we keep building so many apartment complex units that allow those people to live here, but work, shop and spend money in Charlotte and Greensboro. I would like ask why the majority of the people who work at the VA, Food Lion Offices, and our educational institutions don’t live here in our City. If you get on Jake Alexander at 5 p.m., it’s a nightmare. But more importantly how can you care about the growth of the City if you don’t live here or spend money here?

But, when I ask these questions, I’m told I’m being too negative and hurting the image of our City by speaking publicly. Therein lies the problem. My lone voice can’t inhibit people from going online and seeing the issues first hand. But, it’s easier to point the finger at me and deny the existence of problems than acknowledge the issues we have. They want Black faces on committees but they don’t want Black voices. They say diversity is a priority, but do nothing for inclusion to ensure everyone’s voice is respected and included in the plan. Too much patronizing and lip service from our leaders. We want to be an All American City, but don’t want to acknowledge we have big city issues. Denial doesn’t result in growth.

RFP Staff

♦ Updated: http://rowanfreepress.com/2016/04/03/suspicious-death-ruled-murder-at-alexander-place-apartments-in-salisbury-n-c-victim-identified-as-joseph-david-walker/

An unidentified body was found Sunday morning during a fire call at 6:45 a.m. to the Alexander Place Apartments at 632 Hamilton Drive in Salisbury. A firefighter from the Salisbury Fire Department discovered the body in a smoke-filled unit and alerted supervisors. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) was brought in by the Salisbury Police to assist in an investigation of what is now being called a suspicious death. The body has yet to be identified.

If someone has information about either the fire or the body please call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

Alexander Place Apartments:

RFP Staff

♦ The unidentified body found Sunday morning during a fire call at 6:45 a.m. to Alexander Place Apartments at 632 Hamilton Drive in Salisbury has now been identified as Joseph David Walker, 37, of Salisbury. The suspicious death is now being called a homicide by the Salisbury Police Department.

A firefighter from the Salisbury Fire Department discovered Walker’s body in a smoke-filled unit and alerted supervisors. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) was brought in by the Salisbury Police to assist in an investigation of the suspicious death turned homicide.

If someone has information about either the fire or the murder please call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

Alexander Place Apartments: