The final Rhino Times Schmoozefest of 2016 will be held on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Blue Agave Mexican Bar & Grill at 3900 Battleground Ave.
As always, hors d’ouevres, beer and wine are provided to those who sign in and wear a name tag.
*****
People give me a hard time after an election because somebody I endorsed didn’t win, and they say to me, “You really missed that one.”
I try to explain that an endorsement is not prognostication. It has nothing to do with who I think will win. I endorse the person I think is the best candidate in each race. Lots of times I know that the person I think is the best candidate has no chance of winning, but I still endorse them.
I’m picking the best candidate. If they win that’s great, and if they lose that doesn’t change my opinion.
*****
After every election I spend a few hours trying to clean off my desk – an exercise in futility. But in my effort this year I ran across the Triad Business Journal’s Most Influential People issue.
The publisher of this newspaper, Roy Carroll, is listed as one of the most influential people. But the fact that he is the publisher of a newspaper isn’t mentioned in his write up, and no other publisher or editor made the list.
If the idea is to list people who are influential, who is more influential, the president of a small college or Allen Johnson, the editorial page editor of the News & Record? Or, for that matter, Daniel Finnegan, the publisher and editor of the News & Record, who decides what tens of thousands of subscribers will be reading every day.
If the Triad Business Journal is going to call their issue the most influential people, it seems they have an odd definition of influential.
*****
People on smart phones, texting, talking, tweeting and Facebooking everywhere you look is nothing new. But I did see something that surprised me the other night. As I was walking around city hall I saw a homeless man lying in his sleeping bag on a bench surrounded by all his possessions watching a movie on his smart phone. Only in America.
*****
Police have been in the news here and across the country more than usual.
The Greensboro Police Citizens’ Academy is an opportunity to learn about how the Police Department really works. There are 14 sessions that include ride-alongs and a simulated field encounter with the Firearms Training System where you have to make split-second decisions on how to respond. But even if you make the wrong decision nobody gets hurt.
It’s a great learning experience and those who participate come away with a new awareness of what is actually involved in being a police officer.
The Greensboro Police Department will be accepting applications now through Dec. 14 for the Police Citizens’ Academy, which will start on Feb. 2 and hold 14 sessions ending on August 24. You have to be over 18 and a Greensboro resident to apply.
You can apply for the academy at www.greensboro-nc.gov/gpca.
*****
The voters of Greensboro overwhelming passed all the bonds, which means our taxes are going up next year whether a single bond has been sold or not. This City Council is not going to miss the chance to have more money to spend.
But it also means $25 million will be spent downtown, although nobody knows where or how. I have a suggestion. Somebody pick one style of street light, garbage can, park bench, stop light and whatever else the city has on the street and replace all the different styles of everything downtown. That alone would give the downtown some cohesion. Right now there is a mishmash of everything, and it looks like a mishmash.
*****
One woman at the City Council meeting on Tuesday night kept talking about the fact that we were in the midst of a drought and Greensboro might run out of water.
We’ve been there and done that and it doesn’t look like its going to happen again anytime soon. The western part of the state is experiencing a drought but here we got rain from Hurricane Matthew. It was nothing like the folks Down East got, which is good, but for us it means the lakes are nearly full. And since we last had a drought and the water restrictions that came with it, we have added Randleman Lake to our water resources. We have to share the lake, but it holds a lot of water.
Anything is possible, but if anyone is worried about Greensboro running out of water, you can relax and worry about something else for a while.
*****
It’s sad but true. There are a lot of jokes going around about Donald Trump succeeding President Barack Obama in the White House. If a liberal tells the joke then it is considered funny, even by extremely politically correct organizations such as the mainstream media. If a conservative tells basically the same joke, the conservative is considered a racist. It’s a bit of a double standard, but what else is new?
*****
The JDRF Piedmont Triad Chapter has a new executive director and the Rhino Times has a new neighbor. Eleanor Schaffner-Mosh has been named the new executive director of JDRF.
Since the Rhino Times and JDRF share the second floor of the historic Irving Arcade building on West Market Street, we have a new neighbor.
Schaffner-Moss is succeeding Mike Conrad, who retired after serving as executive director of JDRF Piedmont Triad Chapter for over 16 years.
Schaffner-Moss was previously the deputy director of ArtsGreensboro and has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and private sector. She served on the JDRF Piedmont Chapter Board from 2008 to 2014.
JDRF is the leading global organization funding research on type 1 diabetes (T1D). The JDRF Piedmont Triad Chapter is consistently one of the top fundraising chapters in the nation. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes both children and adults suddenly. It has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle and currently there is nothing that can be done to prevent it. JDRF-funded research is making great strides in treating type 1 diabetes and the complications associated with the disease. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an artificial pancreas that has been championed by JDRF for the last 10 years.
JDRF Piedmont Triad Chapter Board President Brad Hayes said about Schaffner-Mosh, “Her wealth of experience and demonstrated leadership will help JDRF move forward in its mission to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat type 1 diabetes and its complications.”
Before accepting a position at ArtsGreensboro, Schaffner-Mosh worked as a principal and executive advisor for Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management consulting firm. Her volunteer work includes board president for Triad Health Project, the Community Theatre of Greensboro and the Carolina Theatre. She chaired the inaugural Go Red for Women campaign in Guilford County for the American Heart Association and created its Make It Your Mission scholarship program.
