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Posted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
In the center of this paper you will find 16 pages of the September edition of the Carolina Journal, with articles on state government, investigative reporting and political analysis you won’t find anywhere else. If you like...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
If the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) takes over elections in the US, any semblance of free elections is gone and we become a banana republic – a very large banana republic, but a banana republic nonetheless. If...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
I admire political brilliance even when I disagree with the motives. From a political standpoint, going after North Carolina Gov. Charles B. Aycock and removing his name from buildings is brilliant. He has no constituency. Most...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
I was to the left of the stage at the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club Gala at the Koury Convention Center on Saturday, August 27, taking photos, so I wasn’t paying as much attention to the speakers as I might have...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
City Councilmember Tony Wilkins doesn’t like the illegal signs posted on telephone polls and in the city’s right-of-ways and decided to do something about it. Unlike most of us who can only complain, Wilkins has the clout to get...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Sep 1, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, Guilford, News
The Guilford County Board of Education has sent a letter to the Greensboro City Council officially opposing an annexation and original zoning request for property on Lake Brandt Road and Trosper Road across the street from Jesse...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Orson Reviews
The tide in the presidential race may have turned this week. The Associated Press (AP) has released a devastating article on the connection between Hillary Clinton while secretary of state and the Clinton Foundation. According...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
The tide in the presidential race may have turned this week. The Associated Press (AP) has released a devastating article on the connection between Hillary Clinton while secretary of state and the Clinton Foundation. According...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
The dog days of summer Rhino Times Schmoozefest is Thursday, August 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at elm st. grill at 3606 N. Elm St. just north of Pisgah Church Road. Business professionals who sign in and wear a name tag are invited to...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
The federal courts have now ruled some North Carolina state House and Senate districts illegal because of racial gerrymandering. The courts made the same decision about the congressional districts that resulted in the weird June...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
It’s always tough when you have to compete with yourself, and that was the situation the Wyndham Championship found itself in this year. Last year, Tiger Woods came, and with him came galleries so huge they had to print more...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 25, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
Tuesday, August 16, by a 5-to-4 vote, the City Council agreed to give Sit-In Movement Inc. over two-and-a-half additional years to raise matching funds for the $1.5 million loan the city made to the museum with the first payment...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 18, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
First responders can get free tickets to the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club for themselves and a guest now through Sunday by going to will-call or to the course and showing valid identification...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 18, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
The word this week is that the State Department is going to release the thousands of emails that Hillary Clinton tried to delete but were recovered from her server by the FBI in its investigation. The question that Hillary...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 18, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The Greensboro City Council effectively forgave its $1.5 million loan to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum (ICRCM) on Tuesday, August 16. Effectively, because what the City Council actually did was extend the time...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 18, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
After a loud, lengthy discussion at its Tuesday, August 16 meeting, the Greensboro City Council voted to continue the police body-worn camera video program by signing a five-year contract with TASER International Inc. for data...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 18, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The Greensboro City Council discussed the health insurance plan for city employees for over two hours on Tuesday, August 16, and after numerous votes finally voted to go back to start from scratch with a whole new request for...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 11, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
The Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club is next week. The tournament has been beefing up the celebrities coming to the pro-ams on Monday and Wednesday. I’ve heard a lot of great rumors about who may be there but...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 11, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
What was all the hoopla over the reelection of Speaker Paul Ryan? Why did the mainstream media flock to cover a Republican primary that wasn’t even a legitimate race? From everything I read, I thought Ryan had a real opponent...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 11, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
Here’s some unsolicited advice: if you haven’t been to LeBauer Park in downtown Greensboro, tuck this newspaper under your arm, go to the park and finish reading it once you get there. You won’t regret it. The Carolyn and...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 4, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
There is no official report on this but plenty of unofficial, off-the-record reports from reliable sources that City Councilmember Sharon Hightower stepped over the line on Sunday. According to various sources, Hightower arrived...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 4, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
What happens if you hold a meeting and nobody comes? The Greensboro City Council almost found out on Monday, August 1 in the Council Chambers, when it held a special meeting with Sit-In Movement Inc. and only one member of the...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 4, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The bonds are now up to the voters. The Greensboro City Council at its regular meeting in the Council Chambers on Monday, August 1, voted to put four bonds on the ballot on Nov. 8 that total $126 million. None of the bonds...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Aug 4, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The reason for the special called meeting between Greensboro and members of the Sit-In Movement Inc. board is both incomprehensible and simple. The simple reason in layman’s terms is that the city’s collateral on its $1.5...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The City Council usually meets on Tuesday, but this week’s meeting is Monday, August 1 at 5:30 p.m. and provides the citizens of Greensboro with their only opportunity to weigh in on the bond referendum before it is put on the...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
The current status of the lawsuit former Greensboro Police Chief David Wray has against the City of Greensboro for $220,000 in legal fees reminds me of the old story about Momma, the matriarch of a large family, who cuts the...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, Weekly Hammer
The Greensboro City Council has scheduled a meeting for 3 p.m. on Monday, August 1 in the Council Chambers to deal with Sit-In Movement Inc. loan of $1.5 million, which, according to the contract, the Sit-In Movement was...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
I really didn’t think that anything the liberal mainstream media did would shock me, but I am shocked that at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, the Democrats handed out signs in the press area and the reporters...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, News, Other
The leak of emails from Democratic National Committee (DNC) by WikiLeaks has spawned a great deal of anger at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, but it has led to some strong words a lot closer to home. The...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 28, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
The Wyndham Championship golf tournament will be here before you know it. Everything kicks off on Monday, August 15 and the first round of the tournament begins on Thursday, August 18. The Wyndham is continuing to beef up its...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 21, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
The impossible has happened and Donald Trump is now the Republican presidential nominee. Technically he still has to officially accept the nomination on Thursday night, but the convention has voted to select Trump as the...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 21, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
Thursday, July 28 from 6 to 8, enjoy networking, hors d’oeuvres and wine and beer at the Rhino Times Schmoozefest while getting building ad renovation ideas at the design showroom of BMC (formerly Stock Building Supply and,...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 21, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
Finally the Greensboro City Council used some common sense and showed some backbone on Tuesday, July 19, when faced with a room full of advocates. Body-worn camera videos were not on the meeting’s agenda, but it is what the City...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 21, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
Chaotic may be too kind a word to describe the Greensboro City Council work session Monday, July 18, on the proposed 2016 bond referendum in the Plaza Level Conference Room. There were three and four conversations going on at...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 14, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
I think presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may have just won. When you have a leftist Supreme Court justice speaking out against the Republican candidate, what could be better to unite conservatives? If...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 14, 2016 | Archives, News, Other
The new law state law concerning police body-worn and dash camera videos, which was signed into law this week by Gov. Pat McCrory and goes into effect on Oct. 1, doesn’t look very good from an open government point of view, but...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 14, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
Thursday, July 28 from 6 to 8, enjoy networking, hors d’oeuvres and wine and beer and while seeing the latest home trends and getting renovation ideas at Stock Building Supply’s design showroom at 1621 Battleground Ave.,...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 7, 2016 | Archives, Under the Hammer
FBI Director James Comey could have resigned. Instead, he stood at the podium, outlined in some detail the crimes that Hillary Clinton had committed and then said that he wasn’t recommending she be indicted. It didn’t make any...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 7, 2016 | Archives, Shorts
This was the first Fun Fourth run by Downtown Greensboro Inc. and, particularly considering the limited time DGI had to plan for the event, it was a big success. Estimates are that somewhere around 75,000 people made their way...
Read MorePosted by John Hammer | Jul 7, 2016 | Archives, Greensboro, News
Between now and Nov. 8 you will see a lot of information about the proposed Greensboro bond referendum, which now stands at $178.7 million. It can’t go up, but it could come down a little or stay right where it is. There are...
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