Cool things happening this weekend!

God Save the Queen (City) is an all day event packed with local music. Starts tomorrow at 4 and lasts through the night. More details on Facebook.

Come join Ink Floyd as we celebrate Charlotte local music and the Summer of ’11 in style!

Featuring Performances by:

-Stephen Warwick and Secondhand Stories – 4pm
-Small Talk Industries – 5:15pm
-Miles Swartz – 6:00pm
-The Houstons – 6:30pm
-Anna Bullard – 7:15pm
-Benji Hughes – 7:45pm
-Jon Lindsay -9:45pm
-The Catch Fire – 10:45pm
-Sea of Cortez -11:45pm
-Evelynn Rose -12:45pm

*Brad Pressley will be holding down the DJ duties between acts.

Where:
Chop Shop NODA (399 E.35th St.)

http://chopshopnoda.com/

Age Limits: 21+

When:
Sat. July 16th
Doors: 3:30pm
Show: 4:00pm – 1:30am

How much?:
Admission is $5 in advance and at the door. 100 limited edition screen printed tickets will be available in advance here at Ink Floyd Worldwide Headquarters (1030 Louise Ave., 28205), and another 100 will be available at the Chop Shop (399 E. 35th St., 28212). Tickets available Mon. Jun 13th.

Other:
-Join us early, no need to pregame for this one!
-Grub will be on hand courtesy of our buds at Sub Station II
-Excellent drink specials courtesy of our friends at PBR!
-Cool giveaways from the gang at Charlotte Connoisseur!
-Tons of rad merch from Ink Floyd, and our incredible artist lineup.
-Sweet Giveaways!

Bottom line: This isn’t to be missed! Bring yourselves and bring the heat! See ya’ll there!

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A study by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center attempts to rank the freedom of our country’s 50 states.

“Our approach to measuring freedom in the states is unique in three respects: (1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, to own and carry firearms, and to be free from unrea- sonable search and seizure; (2) it incorporates more than 150 distinct public policies; and (3) it is particularly careful to measure fiscal policies in a way that reflects the true cost of government to the citizen.”

New Hampshire and South Dakota tie for first place, while New York comes in last.

North Carolina ranks 19:

North Carolina is right in the middle of the pack in three of our categories. Overall spending, taxes, and debt are slightly below average, though income taxes and social service spending are too high. The state performs slightly better relative to its peers in terms of personal freedom. Unsurprisingly given its history, cigarette taxes and smoking regulations are minimal. North Carolina has the best asset-forfeiture laws in the land. It could improve them by putting the burden of proof on the government. Gun laws are better than average, including legal open carry. However, the state licenses handgun owners and gun dealers. Although wine taxes are low, beer and spirits taxes are quite onerous (with the latter a full standard deviation higher than average). Marijuana laws are fairly strict despite the decriminalization of low-level marijuana possession (indeed, in 2009, the state also banned Salvia). Motorist freedoms and gambling are highly constrained. Homeschoolers face teacher qualification and annual standardized- testing requirements. Victimless-crime arrests and drug-law enforcement are relatively unexceptional. On regulation, labor laws are excellent, but occupa- tional licensing needs to be rolled back (especially the elimination of licensing for acupuncturists, landscape contractors, cat and dog dealers, and ath- letic trainers). The state liability system is solid and health-insurance coverage mandates are fewer than average. However, eminent-domain reform has not gone far enough to be effective.

Here’s what they recommend North Carolina do to improve:

1. Spending on hospitals is very high and could be cut, possibly through privatization; individual income taxes are also high and should be cut.
2. Increase school choice by at least allowing intra- district mandatory public-school choice.
3. Eliminate handgun licensing.

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This could be awesome!

Questlove is DJing at Re:Public this Saturday. Starts at 10pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.

But why pay money when you can just use Twitter! We’re giving away two tickets. Find us on @cltblog and retweet us announcing this giveaway to be entered.

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Here is your chance to go see Taking Back Sunday on June 14th at the Fillmore. The contest is simple, all you have to do is post this message:

Hey @cltblog, I want to go see Taking Back Sunday (@tbsofficial) at the Fillmore! #contest #cltbloggiveaway

Contest will be open from now until noon onThursday, July 14th. At 12pm the winner will be picked and sent a DM (so make sure you follow us) where we can coordinate with you to email the tickets.

If you don’t win make sure to check out the Coke Secret Soundcheck, where you and 10 others can win a chance to get a private three song set just for you!

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On August 13 at 8:00 a.m., the second annual 5K Rock-‘N-Run will kick off at the NC Music Factory (1000 Seaboard Street). The event is sponsored by the NC Music Factory and North End Partners business association. This year’s 5K Rock-‘N-Run is a follow up to last year’s immensely successful inaugural race which attracted 500 runners and 1000 overall attendees and raised $4,000 on behalf of four non-profits in the Northeast district. Proceeds from this year’s race will benefit Hope Haven, Inc., a foundation that provides life skills training for homeless, chemically dependent adults and families, within a supportive residential environment, leading to independence.

The event will host live music at the finish line featuring the Swingin’ Richards, a kid’s zone sponsored by Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated, a health and wellness pavilion, and vendors with information on healthy living. Runners, walkers and volunteers are all welcome to participate. The cost is $20 if you register prior to August 5, 2011.

Visit www.ncrockandrun.com to register and get additional information for race day.

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For the second year, a local dog daycare will be hosting a charity dog wash to support the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Canine Unit. Dogtopia of Charlotte’s 2nd Annual K9 Support Dog Wash is scheduled for this Saturday, July 16 from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. For a $10 donation your dog will get a bath that includes a shampoo, towel-dry, fragrant spritz and bandana.

Last year Dogtopia washed 93 dogs and raised $1,429 to provide each handler and his dog a K-9 Tactical Field Kit, which provides the essential equipment to render care to an injured K9 when veterinary care is not immediately available. This year the officers are hoping to purchase GPS units and collars so they can easily track their dogs over long distances. Since each GPS unit costs almost $600 each, Dogtopia’s goal this year is to raise $2,500 or more.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control will be on-site providing low-cost microchips for just $10. Dr. Micheal Thomann will provide a low-cost vaccine clinic where you can get all your dog’s yearly vaccines for just $69 (appointments requested). You’ll also be able to get a luau-themed family portrait from Life Through The Lens Photography. For a small donation Dogtopia will also be offering canine and human massages, nail trims, dog painting canvases and a raffle with prizes from the vendors in attendance.

Dogtopia recommends you park at the Woodlawn Park & Ride on Olde Pineville Rd. For questions or more information you can e-mail Dogtopia or call 704-333-3063.

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Virginia takes the lead, followed by Texas, then us, then Georgia and Colorado.

I like that they use a picture of Charlotte to represent the whole state.

Read more at CNBC.

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I was invited by NASA to attend the very last shuttle launch in history as well as the final #NASATweetUp! I’m live vlogging the event here and on YouTube as well as livetweeting the event from @dbirdy and @cltblog. I hope you’ll join me as I give you this behind the scenes look at NASA and #NASATweetUp!

Also, tune into Fox News Rising at 6:10 AM, I’ll be on Wilson’s World talkin’ space!

Here’s my YouTube, I’ll work on embedding the videos into this post later! http://www.youtube.com/user/desireekane?feature=mhee

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The gauntlet has been thrown down and the CRVA Board, who had been pressured in past weeks to let go of their Chief Tim Newman, has answered with a very firm “no thanks!”

In a letter sent today by Joe Hallow, chair of the visitors authority board, to Mayor Anthony Foxx and members of the Charlotte City Council, Hallow informed Charlotte City Council that the CRVA Board would be keeping CEO Tim Newman and COO Mike Crum even though their contracts have expired.

A little history on the letter can be found via the Charlotte Business Journal article today.

“The executives’ most recent contracts city expired June 30. Newman and the visitors authority have been criticized by the mayor and council members in recent months for financial losses at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, entertainment expenses and bonus policies. Council members withheld millions of dollars in tourism funding last month, pending an expected overhaul of operating guidelines due July 22.

According to [CRVA Chairman Joe] Hallow’s letter, written with CRVA board Vice Chair Vinay Patel, the decision on Newman and Crum “was reached after considerable discussion concerning both immediate issues and longer term strategic direction for the CRVA.”

By an 8-3 vote, the [Charlotte City] council last month approved $2.5 million for the visitors authority , 25 percent of the $10 million requested for the new fiscal year that began July 1.

Council members debated what must be done to secure the rest of the money. Foxx, a frequent critic of the CRVA, said he wants to see a plan, rather than “a plan to have a plan.”

The visitors authority also recently released a 17-page written report by PriceWaterhouseCooper assessing various aspects of the tourism organization.

Among other things, the report raised questions about the credibility of attendance projections at the visitors authority-operated NASCAR Hall of Fame, suggested greater transparency for how employee bonuses are awarded and recommended revised standards for expenses and entertainment.”

There has long been speculation among individuals close to this issue that the motives behind Mayor Foxx and Councilman Barnes’ attacks on CRVA were to pressure the Board into letting go of Tim Newman and making political changes on the Board with preparations for the DNC underway.

There is also speculation that this is a personal issue between Anthony Foxx and Tim Newman. What would be refreshing from this citizen’s seat would be to hear the real story about why Foxx and Barnes are so keen to have Newman gone.

One thing is certain: For those in the business community who wanted to see the CRVA off of page 1 and first stories of local news, they are going to have to wait a little longer as this just became a fresh and red hot issue. This move by the Board to keep Newman sets up a showdown on July 25th when the CRVA funding will once again be before the city council. The CRVA was created to be set apart from just this type of political maneuvering and it will be interesting to see the next move from Council now that they have seen that the Board will not be pressured politically.

Stay tuned for more updates here at CLT Blog. (And watch for my upcoming column, “The State of Mecklenburg”.)

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After the Memorial Day weekend riot that occurred uptown after Speed Street every media outlet has been buzzing about that will translate to security during the Democratic National Convention next September.

When ~100,000 descend uptown today, CMPD and the City will be prepared to not repeat of what happened during Speed Street in May. With lookout towers and 100s of plain clothed and uniformed officers uptown, CMPD plans to keep the keep the crowd controlled. CMPD is zeroing in on two things, loitering and a curfew for minors. Yesterdays Observer article also focuses on those two issues.

Uptown business and restaurants will be closing early to discourage loitering and CMPD sound like they will have a zero-tolerence policy with loitering. They will also use the city curfew to curb the amount of youth uptown after 11. Youth violating the curfew can be arrested and their parents/guardians can be charged with a misdemeanor and a $100 fine.

While these measures on paper appear to be an appropriate amount of force appropriated for the crowd uptown, many may raise concerns on who may be targeted during the festivities tonight.

With the transit station in the crosshairs of CMPD, some may claim that minorities and the underprivileged will be the target of the increased enforcement. The same could be said for the public areas that a great deal of people congregate to to hang out instead of going to the clubs at Epicenter or on College St. These public areas to congregate will be under the watchful eye of CMPD and will not be an exception for the loitering policies that will be in place. So if you are uptown it sounds like you need to be a patron at a establishment uptown to be able to enjoy the firework show and festivities.

Is this how CMPD expects the city to be during the DNC when tens of thousands people descend downtown for the convention? Considering the incident that happened in May, it is expected that CMPD needs to prove that that was a fluke and is not something that will happen again. But will this plan prove to be an over zealous attempt to control people uptown, notably those not privileged enough to hang out in Suite all night?

Undoubtedly CMPD actions tonight will be an example of what to expect next year during the DNC and into the future now that the fabric of uptown has changed tremendously from the days of tumble weeds rolling around after 5pm.

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