Posts by Tony Hooker:
In a post sure to be controversial…
May 16th, 2008 · 6 Comments
In most places, people grow up hearing the advice to avoid making Politics and Religion topics of conversation.
In North Carolina, there are a few other topics that should be added to that list. Favorite NASCAR Team? ACC Basketball Rivalries?
Well, those are big issues. But neither is as big as Barbecue in NC.
Depending on where you grow up at in NC, your taste in Barbecue will vary quite a bit. I’ve had a bite from several of the local Barbecue places, and all were good, but not quite what I grew up with.
I was raised on Lexington Style Barbecue, and I’ve got a soft spot for that style, Its got a little bit of a kick, but not too spicy, a little bit sweet, and it’s a very thin sauce. Especially at Carter Brothers in High Point, Lexington #1 in Lexington and Little Richard’s in Winston-Salem.
Down East, you get a really strong Vinegar taste in their Barbecue sauce. Lots of people refer to Eastern Style and Lexington Style as the 2 types of Barbecue in NC.
The Style in Cabarrus County restarants seems to be a lot different from either. The sauces I’ve had were either a vinegar/spicy pepper sauce or else a thick sweet sauce. Most of the resturants around here had both of those kinds available. I’ve tried R&R, Troutman’s and Red Pig. All were good, but where do the Locals here eat at?
If you have lived here all your life, what’s your favorite spot for ‘Cue?
If you grew up in other places, what kind of Barbecue do you have to get when you go back to visit?
→ 6 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
How do higher Gas Prices affect Cabarrus County Commuters?
May 12th, 2008 · 9 Comments
The main reason that my wife and I moved to Concord was for a job in Charlotte. I’m pretty sure that this is a common reason for lots of the population growth in the county.
Of course, this means a lot of commuting into Charlotte, and lots of money spent on gas.
If gas prices continue to climb, I know that this is going to make commuting long distances less and less attractive… And make houses that require long commutes to work less desirable. (and thus, Slowing/stopping residential growth)
I know that the County is trying to keep and attract new jobs into the county, which is a great goal! But given our proximity to Charlotte, the number of commuters will be a major factor.
What could the county do to handle this situation?
1) Improve the commute.
Look at smoothing traffic snarls the major arteries that take people into/out of Charlotte on a daily commute. 85 Northbound is a parking lot every day during the evening commute, starting around the Speedway exit. 29 and 49 are marginally better, but with frequent stoplights and events at the speedway, these are not exactly smooth flowing traffic either.
2) Promote Telecommuting
Obviously, this is not a solution for many jobs. However, there are a large number of jobs within Charlotte that could be done on a telecommuting basis, particularly a lot of jobs with some of the Banks, and other similar positions. Of course, we could not make an employer offer telecommuting, but are there things we could do to enable it? Expansion of Broadband Internet Access? Additional Tax Breaks for Home Offices if someone telecommutes regularly?
I’m not sure if these are all feasable, I’m just kind of brainstorming at the moment. Maybe work w/ some of the employers in Charlotte to open satellite offices, where instead of driving all the way uptown, workers could go to a building in Cabarrus county that has “Hotel Cubicles” that they could work from on an as needed basis.
Every car off the roads is less gas spent, and less road development/maintenance the county has to deal with.
3) Mass Transit.
I’m not a huge fan of the CATS/LYNX system as it stands now. I rode 80X from the Speedway Park and Ride into Uptown for about a year. There’s a lot of things that are wrong with the system, and I know it’s under CATS control, not Cabarrus county control. However, this might be something we need to look at working with Charlotte on. But if it was made a more robust and usable system, that might be another option.
There isn’t a lot that the county can do to change the Gas Prices, but we can think now about how to react to it down the road.
→ 9 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
Last weekend to enjoy decent traffic!
May 9th, 2008 · No Comments
Just a reminder, Race week is coming up soon. Starts with All Star qualifying on the 16th, and goes through the Coca-Cola 500 on 5/25.
So, if you want to get out to the Concord Mills/Speedway end of Concord for anything at all, be sure to do it this weekend so you can avoid the traffic over the following 2 weekends.
→ No CommentsTags: Concord · Harrisburg
It’s not over yet.
May 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Race too close to call
Provisional ballots count could change the 2 GOP commissioner nominees
Two Cabarrus County primary races are so close that they may not be settled until elections officials count provisional ballots next week.
School board member Liz Poole led the voting Tuesday in a race to determine the Republican nominees who will compete for two seats on the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners.
But incumbent Bob Carruth led candidate Holly Blackwelder by only 46 votes for the second slot on the Republican ticket, according to unofficial returns.
And the first person to use the phrase “Dimpled Chad” gets exiled to Mecklenburg county.
More seriously, any idea why 80-90% of the provisional ballots are on the Democrat side, with only 10-20% on the Republican side? Is that normal?
→ 1 CommentTags: 2008 Election · Uncategorized
I know we’ve had a drought, but this is silly
April 28th, 2008 · 3 Comments
I ran across this article in the Independent Tribune:
CONCORD - The fire truck’s ladder pierced the tree line at 70 feet. The nozzle is opened and shoots a stream of water at 1,000 gallons a minute stretching nearly 100 feet above the ground. The last time this nozzle was opened, something was on fire.
Firefighters from Concord’s Department of Fire and Life Safety drafted water from Lake Fisher on Thursday, and even though the water was shot directly back into the lake, it was a major feat. It was the first time in eight months Concord firefighters had used any water during training. [Emphasis mine]
…
But for the past eight months, Concord firefighters have trained dry, which meant the training varied greatly from real-life scenarios. A truck brimming with water and a fully-loaded hose is a completely different beast, Readling said.
Cabarrus County is still under extreme drought conditions, according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Committee. Cabarrus County entered extreme conditions in September, and since then all water training was put on hold.
More at the link above.
I know, we all need to do our part to conserve water, but this is just crazy. I don’t care what it takes, we need to figure some way to get the water available for firemen to practice. Drought or no drought, they need it.
Maybe we can sneak over to Lake Norman w/ a couple tanker trucks in the middle of the night and hope nobody notices.
→ 3 CommentsTags: Concord
School Choice?
April 24th, 2008 · 6 Comments
I’m a relative newcomer to Cabarrus County, and one of the things that stuck me as unusual was that Cabarrus county does not allow parents any say in what schools their children attend.
My wife and I live very close to the Pitts School Road Elementary School, and we are forunate, because we really like it a lot. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we bought our house in the location we did.
However, most people do not realistically have the ability to move just to get their children into a good school. For parents who are financially blessed, they can afford to choose a private school, and if you are lucky enough to win the enrollment lottery, you may be able to send a child to a Charter school… But for the vast majority of parents, these are not options, and buying a house near a better school is not an option either.
If other counties can work on a School Choice plan, that empowers parents to choose what’s best for their children, why can’t Cabarrus county do the same?
→ 6 CommentsTags: Cabarrus County Schools · School Board - Cabarrus
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