RFP Staff

♦ Burglaries and car break-ins continue to be on the rise throughout Salisbury since last winter. Especially hard hit are Fulton Heights, the Historic District, and the West End. With fewer police answering calls because of understaffing, much of the city has become easy pickings.

On Monday Salisbury Police Sources report a home was burglarized on the 300 block of Ackert Avenue and four firearms were stolen from Chandler Austin Turner, 26, at sometime prior to 3:20 p.m. The firearms reported stolen were two 7.62 caliber Century Arms carbines and two .45 Sig P220 handguns valued at $2,000 dollars.

Stolen firearms are always a public concern because they often fall into the wrong hands that may employ them in the commission of a crime.

The 300 block of Ackert Avenue in Salisbury:

Citizens having any knowledge about this crime are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

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On Saturday Salisbury Police sources report a home was burglarized on the 1000 block of Barbour Street and Kewon Nicole Sims, 35, notified police at 11:18 p.m. that burglars made a forcible entry and made off 4 Samsung TVs, a .308 caliber pistol, and 3 audio-visual devices altogether valued at $4,850.00.

The 100 block of Barbour Street in Salisbury:

Citizens having any knowledge about this crime are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

RFP Staff

♦ Yesterday the city announced that Fibrant Director Kent Winrich resigned. Winrich is the third Fibrant Director to resign since the municipal broadband began. The other two were Mike Jury and Michael Crowell. Winrich had an extensive background in network and broadcast engineering, but no experience running a cable television and internet business. While a nice guy, it is no surprise to us that he did not last long under the City Manager Lane Bailey’s directive of making Fibrant financially viable, a task that is impossible given the loss in excess of $3M the utility experienced last year. Back in April we recognized Fibrant’s mounting losses would result in departures:

Fibrant’s Losses Mount. Is City Hall Hearing Footsteps?

City Manager Lane Bailey to date avoided the heat by letting Winrich be the face of making Fibrant financially viable. With Winrich gone, Bailey needed fresh meat to be in the spotlight. Yesterday Evans Ballard was rudely shoved into the spotlight. Who is Evans Ballard? Nobody ever heard of him. A search turned up that he was a low-level budget analyst employed by the City of Salisbury. Speak about anonymous.

Sources shares with us that Ballard was a 14 year City of Salisbury employee serving as a budget analyst the entire time with no supervisory responsibility. Ballard has zero experience working in the technology field. Now with no experience in either technology or management he will supervise a large technology and sales staff. Not a good recipe. It is a bad practice to place someone in a position way out of their lane and over their head.

Last January Assistant City Manager John Sofley was yanked from supervising both Fibrant and the city’s Finance Department after the Salisbury City Council was briefed that over $2.5M in Fibrant costs hidden in the city’s General Fund despite Sofley and Mayor Pro Tem Blackwell previously stating on a City Council meeting video that this practice did not occur.

After that fiasco, John Sofley could not be considered for Fibrant’s interim role. Sources remind us that at the start of the Fibrant debacle it was Ballard who reported directly to John Sofley and was instrumental in preparing Fibrant’s dishonest budget. Is Ballard tainted? Will the magic math practices continue under his new Fibrant role? Ballard’s LinkedIn page confirms our sources and states he is budget liaison to the fiber optic utility. City Manager Lane Bailey and the Salisbury City Council may not be aware of his prior history.

The other choice would be City Manager Lane Bailey to take control of Fibrant and serve as the interim director. While he has no experience running a television or internet business, at least he did have some supervisory experience unlike Ballard.

With Councilman David Post taking a more active role in Fibrant and communicating its challenges directly to influential citizens in Salisbury we have our fingers crossed that realistic minds will decide to unload the utility and cut the city’s immense losses. A previous attempt to sell Fibrant to North State Communications took place under former City Manager Doug Paris’ leadership, but was blocked by former Mayor Paul Woodson. That unwise decision continues to pile up millions of dollars in losses on the City of Salisbury.

Think positive. Maybe without Winrich feeding at the city’s salary trough, Fibrant might show less of loss with an interim at the helm?

Sources:

Winrich LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentwinrich

Ballard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evans-ballard-2685b810

Ballard Bio: https://www.sog.unc.edu/about/faculty-and-staff/evans-ballard

RFP Staff

♦ The knife and box cutter are gradually moving on up as the weapons of choice in Salisbury, N.C.  The city of Salisbury is crawling with blade runners and slice and dicers, criminals who prefer the impact of an eight inch blade all the way up to the haft or sound of ripping flesh.

On Thursday around 9 p.m. allegedly all hell broke loose in a house at 821 East Lafayette Street when Rufus Jerome “Jeron” Smith, 53, of the streets of Salisbury, allegedly went into a primal knifepoint faceoff with his brother-in-law Sidney Carmichael Smith, 55, of 821 Park Avenue.  According to reports the two argued when Rufus allegedly slammed his fist into Sidney’s head.  Both men went to the deck where they continued scrapping.  The battle escalated when Rufus allegedly went for his knife, stabbing Sidney in the forehead and twice in his back drawing blood.

Sidney’s wife Faye Deloris Smith, 55, reportedly called 911 after the fracas.  As quickly as the full-tilt brawl began it ended.  Still breathing hard, Rufus gathered himself and left the home.  He had to know with the police on the way, he’d best fade.

Rufus Jerome “Jeron” Smith:

Minutes later Rufus Smith was spotted by Salisbury Police walking in the area.  His clothing was spattered with his brother-in-law’s blood.  When stopped and questioned by an officer, Rufus denied stabbing his brother-in-law.  He allegedly said he just walked in from Kannapolis.  The officer did not buy Rufus’s story.  He was arrested and handcuffed.

Sidney Smith was transported by EMS to Novant Health Rowan Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Rufus Smith was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury (misdemeanor). Under a secured $1,500 bond, he is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center.  His next court date is on October 3rd.

Rufus Jerome “Jeron” Smith’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0379630&searchLastName=smith&searchFirstName=rufus&searchMiddleName=j&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ According to sources in the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office David Michael Yarboro, 43, living at 2206 Mooresville Road in Salisbury, was arrested Wednesday at his home after a joint undercover narcotics investigation by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and the Salisbury Police Department.  An undercover deputy allegedly purchased significant amounts of heroin from Yarboro on July 19th and August 4th after receiving information he was actively involved in trafficking heroin and opioid painkiller medications.

2206 Mooresville Road in Salisbury:

Yarboro was charged with possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance schedule I (felony) and 3 counts of trafficking heroin or opium (felony). Under a secured $75,000 bond, he is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center.

David Michael Yarboro:

David Michael Yarboro’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1389551&searchLastName=Yarboro&searchFirstName=David&searchMiddleName=m&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ Back on April 11th 2016 Fibrant demonstrated why they can’t compete with private internet providers for business. On April 11th Fibrant finished a distant fourth place out of a field of four internet providers in a bidding process to decide who would get the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s contract for its Wide Area Network internet access. Fibrant was crushed by the other three bidders and in the process showed why that can’t compete with the big boys.

Fibrant has very high-speed internet. But our school systems current needs are for 500 Mbs per school with a maximum 1 Gig. If required TWC and Broadplex can go to 10 gigs with their dedicated ethernet. And TWC and Broadplex are also ready for immediate installation in the schools. Conterra16 would take 6 months for installation. And Fibrant, with only three alleged employees and embroiled in a highly publicized litigation with Atlantic Engineering its first contract installers, would take a full 18 months to run the service to schools. Imagine the public humiliation the school system would have faced, had they taken seriously the City of Salisbury’s slow motion estimate at running Fibrant to the schools. 18 months to rig up the school system?

Check out the monthly and annual costs: Fibrant, holding up the distant rear, came in least cost-effective at a whopping $110,899.08 per month for a 5 year contract compared to Conterra16 at $83,560.00 per month (for a 5 year contract), Broadplex at $41,400.00 per month on the ‘high end’ (a 3 year instead of 5 year commitment) or $38,375.00 per month on the ‘low end’ (for a 5 year contract), and TWC at $34,800.00 per month, for a 3 year contract. While the difference between Fibrant and Conterra16 is almost enough to fund Fibrant’s “break-even” racket and stem the arterial bleeding, Fibrant is not even in the same league with Broadplex or Time-Warner Cable internet pricing and installation.

Comparison of Bids Graphic by RSSS:

The bottom-line numbers were really all the school system needed to see before even getting into the technical issue of fault tolerance which Fibrant also bombed compared to the competition.

The failure of Fibrant to compete amazes many business people. And yet business minds were not part of the Fibrant “build-it-and-they-will-come” scheme. Had competent business persons been involved in the decision-making they would have steered clear of entering the broadband business in the first place.

Fibrant is not remotely poised to capture any significant market share, particularly of the business market, where its grossly overpriced and fails to draw in local small businesses when compared to the real providers who are more aggressive in their marketing. What is Salisbury’s answer? They refinance the Certificates of Participation to save $400,000 per year, and accept the resignation of the fellow they brought in to hopefully turn the tide. The city now saves about that much from salary and benefits as they pass his responsibilities along to a finance person with no supervisory experience. Cutting costs is surely designed to stem the bleeding. And yet, they might’ve landed revenues of over $34,000 per month with the school system, but they consumed all their “seed corn” up front and can’t afford to install what might’ve cut their losses a little more.

With their inability to compete with the real players, how does the City of Salisbury expect to continue this charade? It is the question that many prominent business leaders asked when they gathered at a recent Salisbury Rotary Club meeting.

Call it a mistake? Get rid of all the hidden Fibrant personnel? And start managing a city instead of managing the insurmountable losses being pumped into this failed experiment.

Factoid: RSSS uses less than 500 MB, or 1/2 GB, of bandwidth. According to Access NC (http://accessnc.commerce.state.nc.us/docs/topEmployers/topEmp_37159.pdf), RSSS is the top employer in Rowan County. All public school students are equipped with devices, as are all teachers and administrators. If RSSS only uses one twentieth of the bandwidth that Fibrant can provide, and they need such a small fraction of bandwidth, who needs 10 GB bandwidth in Salisbury?

The new three year contract with Time Warner Cable is $13,000 less per month than the previous contract, averaging $34,800 per month. Fibrant’s bid was for a five year contract, averaging $110,899.08 per month, and was an astronomical $63,099.08 more per month than RSSS was paying TWC at the time of the Board of Education vote on April 11th. The Fibrant bid was $76,099.08 more per month than RSSS will pay TWC during the current 3 year contract.

RSSS Graphic of TWC in the schools:

Rabbi Will McCubbins, China Grove, N.C.

♦ Look let’s face it the game is over in Salisbury and people with sense are moving out as fast as they can sell off their homes.  The basics are no longer available in the Bury.  The place is unsafe, the schools bottom rung, their Fibrant 10 gig internet is an overpriced ruse that wrecked that town, and you have to go to Concord, Kannapolis, or Huntersville to purchase anything if you don’t shop on the internet.

Salisbury is no longer livable unless you are looking for an urban squat in one of their 900 vacant houses. If you want a great place to live in Rowan County look no further than China Grove.  That’s where I live.  It’s in the growing Southern end of the county.  You can find decent home buys out here.  The area is safe.  The I-85 interchange is on the way.  If you want superfast internet they have TWC Maxx soon to be Spectrum, AT&T U-verse, and back on April the 5th the Rowan Free Press reported Windstream was going to run Gig capacity to China Grove, Kannapolis, and Concord:

Windstream Goes Gigabit in Four Markets Including 1 Gig Internet Service to China Grove, Kannapolis, and Concord

China Grove is the Place.

RFP Staff

♦ Video: Sanitary Conditions in Recently Closed Ryan’s Restaurant in Salisbury Revealed:

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury Police Department sources reported a home invasion armed robbery at 107 Pearl Street in Salisbury that was reported at 5:54 a.m.  The victims of the “robbery-firearm”, “assault-gun”, and “burglary-forcible entry” were Nataly McCullough, 27, of 107 Pearl Street and Jameel Kenneth Stephens-Maddox, 23, living at the same address.  No injuries were reported although the front door was damaged during the forcible entry. The suspect employed at handgun.

The apartment complex at 107 Pearl Street in Salisbury:

Taken during the robbery were jewelry ($50 dollar), Cash ($500), 2 cell phones ($200), shoes ($30), and an Xbox video game ($300). The susprect also drove off with a silver 2009 Honda valued at $10,000.

Citizens having any knowledge about this crime are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

Rick Johnson, Retired USAF, Rowan County, N.C.

♦ I had the pleasure of visiting the Intimidators baseball team in Kannapolis. I am writing from the stands.

Green field, blue skies, my grandson and chili dogs; this could add up to a perfect Carolina evening.

Before the game started both teams lined the field for the national anthem. From my seat, facing the flag, I was shocked to see some of the Intimidators whispering and screwing off. This was a pathetic example of disrespect.

I want to call out number 29 and number 6. They were the worst offenders.

I gave 20 years to protect the freedoms these young men enjoy. The least they could do is give 3 minutes before each game.

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Florence Davis, Kannapolis, N.C.

♦ With all the nation-wide hubbub about EpiPen price gouging, Rowan Free Press Readers might want to know about EpiPen alternatives. One, an automated epinephrine injector, has a “copay”, and the other is less than $20 (syringe and epinephrine kit). If you want the injector, you have to request your physician to write the prescription a specific way. That is explained in the articles below.

http://www.consumerreports.org/drugs/how-to-get-cheaper-epipen-alternative/

http://time.com/money/4468716/cheaper-epipen-alternatives-price/

RFP Staff

♦ According to Rowan County Sheriff’s Office sources James Leonard “Booker” Stewart, 21, of Cleveland was arrested at 5075 Foster Road in Cleveland for the alleged shooting murder of Dewey Ervin Gray, 54, of the 5985 Foster Road in Woodleaf Monday around 2 a.m.

James Ervin “Booker” Stewart:

Gray’s father was reported to hear yelling outside his home at 5985 Foster Road in West Rowan.  When he stepped outside, he found his son Dewey laying in his driveway and immediately called 911. While Gray was still able to speak he allegedly told deputies a man named “Booker” shot him.

5985 Foster Road in Woodleaf:

Dewey Gray was transported by helicopter to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem where he died.

Stewart, was arrested a short time later by Rowan County Sheriff’s Office deputies. After his arrest deputies allegedly found several one-pot meth labs in a small trailer behind his house. He was charged with murder (non specified) (felony), possess immediate precursor chemicals (felony), maintain dwelling/vehicle for controlled substance (felony), and manufacture control substance schedule I (felony).  He is being held under a secured $50,000 bond at the Rowan County Detention Center. His first hearing will be on August 31st.

Search Warrants being Served at James Leonard “Booker” Stewart’s home on 5075 Foster Road in Cleveland, N.C.:

Suspected Meth Lab at 5075 Foster Road in Cleveland, N.C.

Sheriff’s Office sources report that Stewart was arrested with an alleged handgun in his possession.

The two men were said to know each other. At this time there are no motives known for the killing. The investigation continues.

The Late Dewey Ervin Gray:

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

Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman and Candidate for President of the NAACP

♦ After allowing my NAACP membership to lapse, I renewed it earlier today with the intention of running for the President’s office. I’ve been encouraged by the many people who’ve reached out to me via email, text, phone, in person and previously on Facebook asking me to seek the office in the upcoming November election.

My first order of business will be to strengthen the Organization by reaching out to all age demographics and increasing membership. Secondly I would work to build, restore and maintain relationships with members, potential members, external businesses, benefactors and entities that can support the goals of ensuring fairness and equity for the poor, the disadvantaged, people of color and those in the margins.

Finally, I will focus energy and resources on addressing the important issues that are plaguing and undermining our poor and communities of color. Through increased accountability and an analytical, systematic, and proactive approach, I will establish mutually respectful and beneficial partnerships within the NAACP organization and the community at large for viable and sustainable growth and outcomes.

I understand we are experiencing an unprecedented climate of racial insensitivity and divisiveness. As the NAACP President, I will waste no time or expend any energy trying to prove racism exists or identifying those who espouse it. Instead, I plan to place emphasis on pushing for and ensuring equity, economic growth, a reduction in youth idleness/crime via a lack of programs, increased employment opportunities, and more educational/vocational opportunities for our at risk populations. I don’t subscribe to waiting on being rescued or for others to solve issues you have the means to accomplish yourself. I believe in forging strong relationships, but not at the expense of acquiescing, compromising my integrity or losing the trust of those I will take an oath to serve. Retired US Army General Colin Powell said never allow your ego to get so close to your title that when position goes, your worth goes with it.

I’m looking forward to the November election and will face the challenges with the same spirit, enthusiasm and no nonsense, unapologetic approach I’ve employed since being elected to office. Peace.

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury Police sources report that 2 early morning shootings occurred at separate locations after 3 a.m.  One victim is said to be in critical condition.

William Scott Kerr, Jr, 31, of Cannon Farm Road in China Grove was shot multiple times with chest wounds at 322 W. C Avenue. After arriving at Novant Health Rowan Medical Center he was transported by helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem.  The shooting was reported at 3:27 a.m. Tuesday. The shooting occurred during a home invasion where the robbers forced their way through the front door. Kerr made his way on foot to a house on 1700 block of W. 2nd Street. He is reported to be in serious condition.

Shooting Victim William Scott Kerr, Jr.:

A second shooting was reported at 3:38 a.m.  Amarillo Deshaun Bryant, 34, of 839 East Lafayette Street in Salisbury was shot inside a house at 211 E. Bank Street. The apartment belonged to Michael Lee Glenn.  Bryant was airlifted to the Carolina’s Medical Center in Charlotte from Novant Health Rowan Medical Center. He is reported to be in critical condition.

Shooting Victim Amarillo Deshaun Bryant:

322 W. C. Avenue Salisbury:

211 East Bank Street in Salisbury was arsoned in 2009:

Salisbury Police vehicles arrived quickly at both shootings.

The motive for the second shooting is not yet known.  No arrests at this time and no suspects have been named so far.

Both incidents are under intensive investigation.

Citizens having any knowledge about these crimes are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

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

RFP Staff

♦ For two weeks the RFP has received a number of emails from a member of the Genesis Baptist Church on Old Concord Road in China Grove detailing alleged inappropriate “sexually motivated” behavior by  Pastor Gene Warren Edwards, 71, of 5850 Self Road in Kannapolis.  On Thursday Pastor Edwards is to appear in Rowan District Court to face assault charges allegedly for inappropriately touching 3 women in his congregation mostly at his church.

Pastor Gene Edwards:

Without going into the unseemly alleged details on the magistrate complaints, we understand that three women, ranging in age from 51 to 75, complained that Pastor Edwards was alleged to have inappropriately fondled one woman’s breasts, kissed another woman on the mouth without permission, and “hugged” another beyond the norm and caused discomfort.

All of the complaints were made through private warrants obtained through the magistrate’s office.  None of the three women contacted law enforcement.

Typically each complaint was titled “assault–physical w/sexual motives (not aggravated).

Genesis Baptist Church in China Grove:

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury Police sources report a running gun battle between two groups of young men in the back lot of Marco’s Pizzeria on the 400 block of East Fisher at 6:30 p.m. The gunfight spread to the area by the intersection of E. Innes and South Long. A juvenile sustained a leg wound inside a home at the intersection.  The two groups dispersed after a exchange of gunfire and the Salisbury Police and Rowan Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived in numbers followed by a Fire Department vehicle.

The injured juevenile was taken to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center. It was believed the wounded juvenile was not an intended target, but was hit by a stray bullet. His wound was not life threatening.

The police took another juvenile into custody after they chased him and he threw down his gun.

The back lot of Marco’s Pizzeria on the 400 block of East Fisher Street.

Police arriving on the scene:

Police Examining a damaged car:

Salisbury Police investigating the crime scene:

A second shooting took place at around 7:30 p.m. much further away on the 1700 block of North Long Street. According to police sources two vehicles sped down the street and male passenger in a maroon car shot into the other as it pulled into a driveway. The damaged car revealed a bullet hole in the rear window.

Citizens having any knowledge about these crimes are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

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

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury’s City Hall is getting desperate. They’ve actively sought expansion for Fibrant into parts of the county they wanted Rowan County’s Commissioners to designate as “Governmental Economic Development Sites” as a means of circumventing NCGS §150A-340.2(c)(3)(b). So far, the businesses that have agreed to have Fibrant if it were available, wanted broadband redundancy and Fibrant uses means other than fiber lines to meet those limited needs. Why not fiber optic lines? There are two major reasons: (1) Cost of installation exceeds the City of Salisbury’s capacity to finance such expansion and (2) As broadband service technology advances, fiber optic lines are becoming less effective than other types of technology like wireless.

Back in 2014, the Town of Spencer invited Fibrant to wire the entire town with Fibrant. They read the Broadband Bill and were fully aware that if Fibrant took up their offer, the lost revenue from Time Warner Cable and other providers would mean less franchise fee revenue annually. And yet with increase speeds and good will between municipalities, Spencer was willing to sacrifice about thirty grand a year by inviting Fibrant into its municipal limits. What was the Fibrant’s response? No thank you.

Other than information passed through back-channeling that City Hall was going to wait out the broadband litigation before deciding how and when to come to Spencer. The leaders of Spencer were officially kept in the dark on the matter. But after looking at last week’s article in the Rowan Free Press, regarding the incredibly non-competitive broadband bid that Fibrant submitted to Rowan-Salisbury School System, it is obvious Fibrant lacks the personnel and financing to expand into Spencer.

RSSS is Rowan County’s largest employer. And when they had the chance to impress the school system back on April 11th, they were the highest price out of four bidders. A unanimous decision was made to go with Time-Warner Cable. They could immediately install the high-speed internet service. Fibrant’s expensive proposal would take a full 18 months. Instead of $34,000 per month that Time-Warner Cable would charge, Fibrant wanted $111,000 per month. No where close to competitive. You would think that after vampiring all the city’s resources they could at least come up with something.

Why do little squads of Fibrant shills keep attending County Commissioner and city council meetings and speaking at public comment, begging for a resolution to declare their little slice of heaven a “governmental economic development site”? First, the city hall-inspired squads were informed that no criteria exists in the broadband statute to prevent commissioners from designating whatever turf they choose for Fibrant expansion and second, the City hall is “astroturfing” an artificial grass roots movement, as part of an infomercial PR campaign to gain attention to how much penned-up demand there is for Fibrant’s wares outside the city were most available consumers have chosen brand “X”.

Just as certain city council members have done, their county shills are willing to slob-job the Fibrant line, in hopes that Commissioners will take up their cause. Also, creditors and bond-rating companies like Moody’s, Fitch’s and Standard & Poor’s need to read something halfway positive in their ‘Google’ searches about Fibrant. And astroturfing a false but highly public measure of support for the failing broadband utility stands as a counterbalance to all the negativity that is inhibiting city hall’s “time to shine”.

Shills have no shame. Nor does the City of Make Believe. Fibrant is dead. You can stick a fork in it. But City Hall refuses to give it a decent burial at least not until AFTER the 2017 municipal elections.  Meanwhile 4 shootings in two days and people are moving out.

FIBRANT

RFP Staff

♦  The bullets continue to fly in Salisbury, N.C. for the 3rd day in a row.  The Salisbury Police report on Wednesday at 12:56 a.m. someone fired shots at Brian Tajuante Kesler, 17, of the 700 block of Newsome Road, at a property on 1523 N. Main Street in Salisbury.  In the police report he was referred to as “a victim of all other shooting into an occupied property”.  It is not known at this time whether or not he sustained injuries.

1523 N. Main Street:

Brian Tajuante Kesler:

Citizens having any knowledge about these crimes are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

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

Press Release

1800 Students Statewide Choose North Carolina Connections Academy for High Quality Online Education for 2016-17 School Year:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/09/prweb13647707.htm

RFP Staff

♦ Fitch Ratings Inc. is one of the “Big Three credit rating agencies, the other two being Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975. (From Wiki) “Businesswire” reported recently that the City of Salisbury’s water and sewer bond rating was affirmed stable at A+, which is good news for those residents of Salisbury and other local municipalities hooked into Salisbury-Rowan Utilities.

Fitch has one caveat to their rating: “Support of Fibrant: Resumption of financial support of Fibrant, the city of Salisbury’s broadband system, could result in negative rating action.”

Fitch confirms previous Rowan Free Press reports that $7.6 million dollars was “borrowed” from SRU funds to support Fibrant (counter to the city’s promise not to do so to the NC Legislature when Fibrant sought an exemption from the Broadband Bill).  Additional funds are being spent on legal counsel for the lawsuit against Atlantic Engineering for the botched Fibrant construction in violation of the National Electric Safety Code. (This case remains in litigation.)

Fitch further confirms that Salisbury’s General Fund is currently supporting Fibrant. RFP readers will remember that incumbents Maggie Blackwell, Karen Alexander, and Brian Miller denied that general fund support existed for Fibrant during the last election while instead touting a new 10 Gig speed that has pulled in zero customers even after significant expenditure on the city’s part.

Previous city management led the charge to stop inter-fund loans to Fibrant from SRU and as a result Salisbury Rowan Utilities is financially sound per Fitch’s stable rating outlook.

Rowan Free Press was the first news outlet to expose the city’s General Fund support of Fibrant during the past municipal election through a series of videos. Subsequently, the city revealed that Fibrant was losing $10,000 dollars per day and had annual General Fund support of Fibrant in excess of $3M per year.

Current City Council Members Maggie Blackwell and Brian Miller voted each year to raid SRU cash to support their failing broadband system and have since voted to support the same failing system with General Fund contributions. During the process their votes have caused losses in excess of $13 million dollars between both funds, funded by your monthly water bill and annual tax bill.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160831006010/en/Fitch-Affirms-Salisbury-NC-Water-Sewer-Revs

FIBRANT

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury Police sources report an armed robbery took place Wednesday at 11:15 p.m. at Village Inn Pizza on 2138 Statesville Boulevard.  A robber armed with a handgun demanded that employees take him and two other robbers to a safe to obtain cash.  The employees complied.  It was reported that the Village Inn Pizza safe was damaged during the robbery. Thankfully no one was injured even though one of the employees was struck in the head prior to the robbers leaving the restaurant.  The safe’s damage was estimated at $500.00.

At this time no arrests were made or a suspect named.

The three robbers were described as Black males whose faces were covered with bandanas. All three were reported as being of medium height and build.

Citizens having any knowledge about this crime are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

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

RFP Staff

♦  Rowan-Salisbury Schools received School Performance Grades from the NC Department of Instruction on September 1st. School Performance Grades (SPG) are figured with the use of a formula that is located on the NC DPI website, here. While RSSS has focused on the fact that some schools have shown growth, NCDPI explains that the School Performance Grade is actually “based 80 percent on the school’s achievement score and 20 percent on students’ academic growth”. Fifteen schools out of the 34 schools that sent data did not meet growth, including Rowan County Early College. That’s 44% of the schools in RSSS.

Rowan County Early College, while one of the two high-performing schools, did not make growth. The four schools located within the City of Salisbury received SPG letter grades of D:

• Overton Elementary D
• Isenberg Elementary D
• Knox Middle School D
• Salisbury High School D

Henderson High School, the alternative high school did not send any data. That means the growth and achievement of students attending the alternative high school are not going to be factored into the district’s performance grade to be released at a later date. This type of strategic withholding of student data from the state will result in a higher SPG than the school system would receive if Henderson’s data were factored in.

How the “SPG” is Calculated

To calculate the final score and grade for a school, the School Achievement Score is combined with the Growth Score. Achievement is 80% of the grade, and growth is 20%. After combining these 2 values the score is placed on a 15-point scale:

A: 85-100 points
B: 70-84 points
C: 55-69 points
D: 40-54 points
F: Less than 40 points

Here is the example for calculating a school’s performance grade provided by the State of North Carolina:

Keep in mind that North Carolina school children are graded on a 10 point scale, so the state is grading the schools and districts with a more liberal scale. For example, a school with an SPG of 42 will receive a D, while a school child would need to make a 60 to receive a D-. Overton Elementary’s SPG score of a 44, therefore is a D (as seen in the chart below).

Additional Ratings From NCDPI: (from the source material, here)

2015-16 Consistently Low Participating School: (the consequence for not meeting participation rate requirement for 2 consecutive years in the same student group)

• Henderson High School (in Salisbury)

2015-16 Missing Participation Goal Focus School (Year 3): (the consequence for not meeting participation rate requirement for 3 consecutive years and beyond in the same student group)

• North Rowan High

2015-2016 Recurring Low Performing Schools

In order to be identified as a recurring low-performing school, a school must be identified as low-performing in any two (2) of the last three (3) years.  For the 2015–16 list, low-performing is defined two different ways; depending on the year.  For 2013–14, a school must have had a performance composite below 50% and did not meet growth.  For 2014–15 and 2015–16, a school must have received a ‘D’ or ‘F’ School Performance Grade and did not exceed growth.

• Erwin Middle
• Overton Elementary
• China Grove Elementary
• Corriher Lipe Middle
• Koontz Elementary
• Isenberg Elementary
• Hurley Elementary
• Knollwood Elementary
• Landis Elementary
• North Rowan Elementary
• North Rowan High
• Salisbury High
• Southeast Middle
• West Rowan Middle

For more information on low-performing schools please visit the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s District and School Transformation website at www.ncpublicschools.org/schooltransformation.

2015-16 RSSS School Performance Grade, School Performance Score and Growth Status