Former Greensboro Police Chief Under Investigation

Authorities in South Carolina are investigating former Greensboro Police Chief Ken Miller for allegedly having  worked to dismiss a criminal charge for a wealthy businessman and covering it up. From the Greenville, South Carolina News:

"Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller and interim Capt. Jason Rampey have been placed on paid administrative leave after a State Law Enforcement Division investigation revealed evidence that they worked to dismiss a criminal charge for a wealthy businessman and were untruthful about it."

Celadon Trucking Fell To Corporate Raiders

I'm a retired long haul trucker. I've experienced a company leaving me stranded far from home. I learned early on to always have money enough to get home in my pocket because hitchhiking sucks. And I learned the signs of a company that is going under soon. The one thing I have noticed about the Celadon Trucking bankruptcy story is that no one in media has connected the dots.

Article after article has pointed to the 2016 accounting scandal in which the value of Celadon's equipment was inflated in order to push up share prices but the persons responsible for the fraud were caught in 2016, fired that same year, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Celadon settled with the government in 2016.

"Freight trucking company Celadon Group Inc. has agreed to pay $42.2 million to settle fraud claims after filing false financial statements and lying to auditors in efforts to hide losses of its aging trucking fleet."

So that bankrupted Celadon, right? Well, not actually. Also according to the Wall Street Journal printed August 1, 2019:

"Trucking company Celadon Group Inc. has received $165 million in new financing that the company said will help its turnaround efforts.

An unidentified shareholder is providing part of the debt and could snag as much as a 49.9% stake as a result.

The shareholder is set to receive warrants to buy 16 million common shares that are exercisable immediately as part of the deal. Fully exercised, the warrants would account for about a third of the company’s fully diluted equity and would give the lender a roughly 49.9% stake in the company, Celadon said.

The new financing includes a $105 million in term loans and a revolving credit facility of $60 million.

The shareholder is also receiving warrants to buy 5.5 million shares that become exercisable in the case of a change of control."

Seems there's a new boss at Celadon and thus far his or her name is a secret.

Who loans money to a company they know is going to fail?

Of course Celadon does have, again according to the Wall Street Journal, $427 Million Dollars in assets. You know, cash and things that can be quickly sold off. In that same article the Journal identifies the secret buyer as Luminus Energy Partners Master Fund Ltd. which just happens to be registered in Bermuda and has thousands of sketchy references on Google involving various companies going bankrupt.

Is it legit? Probably.

Was it the right thing to do? You tell me.

Partners Ending Homelessness Isn't

Well in Guilford County they're not. As a matter of fact, despite the propaganda from Partners Ending Homelessness Executive director Brian Hahne:

You see, while using terms like 'chronically homeless' Mr Hahne is able to paint a pretty picture but the truth is something altogether different. Since Partners Ending Homelessness announced their plan to end homelessness in Guilford County within 10 years, back in 2007 the number of homeless children in Guilford County increased by 48% as of 2012.

From Fox8 linked above:

"As for why the numbers are going up, Darryl Kosciak with Partners Ending Homelessness said part of the reason is due to better counting practices."

Yeah, right. Here's Partners Ending Homelessness' own records from 2006 until 2011 as published in the News & Record. No improvement there.

But in that same article it was claimed they were making progress even as the numbers creeped higher. Even the title read, "Guilford’s homeless making progress".

Lies. Lies betting that you will read no more than the title and assume it to be truth.

Yes there was a recession but they still lied.

Meanwhile Spectrum News is reporting Homelessness On The Rise In Greensboro:

"The Interactive Resource Center says homelessness in Greensboro is at a crisis level.

The group says nearly 1,000 people go to sleep homeless each night.

Those people are finding shelter in cars, motels, and tents in the woods. They're asking for the city's help."

Partners Ending Homelessness states there were 586 people homeless as of January 2019. That's for the whole of Guilford County, Greensboro, High Point, and the rest of the county.

What does the Interactive Resource Center say?

"Every night in Greensboro, more than 900 people go to sleep homeless — in shelters, under bridges, in the woods or in cars."

And the IRC says a whole lot more like

"According to the National Coalition to End Homelessness, nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness are employed."

and

"In Greensboro, most panhandlers are not actually experiencing homelessness, which is why it is important to support an organization like the IRC that supports the people who truly need it."

Who do you believe?

In 2017 AmericaCorps reported that in Greensboro alone:

"On any given night, over 1,000 people will be living on the streets or shelters in Greensboro."

While in that same year Partners Ending Homelessness reported that Guilford County as a whole had 573 homeless people.

Now how is it that almost twice the area which included the other area had roughly half as many homeless people in the same year?

And folks, I only showed you a few instances in one city, in one county. The internet is full of counts published by non profits and government agencies alike that simply don't jibe with the year to year data published by Partners Ending Homelessness, which, by the way, is part of a nationwide public-private partnership operating in cities everywhere.

Adams Towing Accused Of Damaging Customer Cars And Driving Away

I admit I was wary when I read the following about Adams Towing coming from someone who commented on my previous post  Has Your Car Been Illegally Towed?

 "I had Adams Towing through AAA come to tow my car they failed to tighten the cable before they put it in neutral and the car rolled down and crashed in the bottom of the ditch the tow truck driver called the owner of the company and came back and just got in the truck and drove away and they denied ever doing anything. The better Business bureau has an F rating for them with several letters where they had done the same thing that is damage the car and then just drove away. I complain to the Better Business Bureau and the owner and AAA and got zero response. They did about $250 worth of damage to my car and denied everything be wary of Adams Towing."

Not that it couldn't happen. Tow truck drivers make mistakes like everyone else. And while there is no proof this is true we can check the BBB website and see what others are saying about Adams Towing.

A D Rating and 8 complaints currently on the BBB website all referring to damage to customer vehicles.

And yes, every towing company has damaged some customer's car at one time or another. The job is simply too difficult not to. But you pay for what you break. Where I worked we drivers paid the small claims out of our pockets and what we couldn't afford to pay was covered by insurance. Fortunately I never had a claim so big I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket.

Again, I don't know what is and isn't true but numerous Greensboro towing companies have been in business far longer and have zero complaints listed with the BBB.

Has Your Car Been Illegally Towed?

"A vehicle parked in a privately owned parking space in violation of this section may be removed from such space upon the written request of the parking space owner or lessee to a place of storage and the registered owner of such motor vehicle shall become liable for removal and storage charges."

-NC. G.S. 20-219.2Page 1§ 20-219.2.  Removal of unauthorized vehicles from private lots

In North Carolina it has long been against the law for towing companies to monitor parking lots and tow cars without first being directed to tow said car every single time.

Of course some towing companies will claim they have a signed contract with the business but there is no mention of any contract in state law.

Laws are very specific. It says a vehicle not vehicles. Therefore the signing of one contract cannot cover multiple vehicles.

I used to work for a reputable towing company here in Greensboro. We never towed any car without getting a signature first. It just isn't done. If we towed 10 vehicles then we had to get 10 signatures.

The way I hear it, Gotcha Towing & Recovery has been illegally towing cars for years. Gotcha Towing & Recovery has had more complaints at the Better Business Bureau®  than most Greensboro towing companies have had in 20, 30, 40, 50 years or more in business combined. Seriously, check for yourself. Pick the name of any local towing company, search the BBB and not only do they tell you the complaints but they tell you how long the company has been in business.

The law also says:

"Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an infraction and upon conviction shall be only penalized not less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) in the discretion of the court."

Of course, you would also be due a refund of everything you paid to get your car back.

Check your receipt. Is there a signature there from someone who owns or works for the business from where your car was towed? If not then your car was towed illegally.

John Hammer Questions His Boss?

John Hammer raises suspicion about City Council, the February One-Westin Hotel parking deck, and his boss, Roy Carroll, builder of the $33 million Dollar taxpayer funded Eugene Street parking deck in his article, Council Action Raises Questions About Feb. One Parking Deck:

"Sleight of hand might best describe what happened to make the financial arrangements for the February One-Westin Hotel parking deck disappear from the resolution passed by the Greensboro City Council at the meeting Tuesday, Aug. 20."

For those who might not be up to speed, the City is paying Roy Carroll to build the Eugene Street parking deck so that Mr Carroll will have plenty of parking for his new multi-use complex he intends to build on top of the parking deck. John left that part out. John goes on to write:

"But there was no explanation as to why the resolution was changed, and when the agenda item was read by Mayor Nancy Vaughan, she didn’t note that the resolution had been changed from the one provided to the public or that the February One parking deck had been dropped from the resolution."

But the following statement by Mr Hammer might infer favoritism on the part of City Council.

"The fact that the financing for the Eugene Street parking deck was kept in the resolution and approved by the City Council seems backwards because the February One parking deck is much further along than the Eugene Street parking deck. The land for the February One deck was purchased in 2017, and all the easement issues were cleared up by August 2018, while the land for the Eugene Street parking deck was purchased a few weeks ago.

Before the meeting, when City Manager David Parrish was asked when he expected to sign the contract to build the February One parking deck, he said by the end of the month.

That answer seems to indicate that the city and the developer are close to reaching an agreement, except that Parrish has been making similar statements for months."

Or it could mean that the City of Greensboro is working to cover up several years of forged feasibility studies, bribes, misappropriation of funds, and other crimes committed. You decide.

Question: Because my memory isn't what it once was, who did the feasibility studies for the February One-Westin Hotel, aka the Wyndham Hotel, the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, the Downtown Greenway, and the South Elm Street Redevelopment Plan? I think you'll find the answers very enlightening.

City Council Picks Your Pockets Again

The Greensboro City Council voted on Tuesday to bring back red light cameras. Meanwhile in Texas where redlight cameras have been in use for over 30 years:

"The reality is that cities use red light cameras as a source of revenue, not for public safety. In Chicago, Illinois, a former city official was sent to prison for taking bribes from a red light camera company. Chicago raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the camera tickets, and at one point these machines appeared to be malfunctioning and sending out hundreds of tickets inappropriately."

And this:

"Some cities and states have pinned a lot of their budget numbers on this revenue, which creates some pretty twisted incentives. The Dallas Morning News notes that Dallas drew in nearly $6 million from red-light camera fines in 2018. Half of the money goes to the city. The other half gets directed toward trauma hospitals in the state.

But there's actually very little evidence that red light cameras actually improve public safety. Study after study often says the opposite, and some communities have stopped using them without being directed to by their state governments. HB 1631 in Texas will forbid the use of red light cameras across the state, and the evidence from these cameras cannot be used for charges or citations. The bill allows municipalities to honor their contracts with private camera operators until they expire, so it may be a few years before they disappear—in Fort Worth, the city contract runs through 2026. But the bill also forbids county and state official from refusing to register a car on the basis of having unpaid red-light camera tickets."

https://reason.com/2019/05/20/texas-poised-to-ban-all-red-light-cameras/?fbclid=IwAR2d4m-3uxJnSxP_zXkfMvorDVOAoTsZWs5Kf2l6IL9QHmcv2ZCMSgXTOCM

Why not share this so that friends and family can see what kind of people are really running Greensboro.

The GHA Bedbug Cover-up

It was the following comment from a Facebook post that prompted me to post yesterday's article, When The Bedbugs Bite: Bite Back after 6:00 PM last night:

"They just forced a 93 year old woman to sign a repayment fee. Her neighbor passed away one month ago. Several weeks later they cleaned out the empty apartment (without pest control) . Now bedbugs have invaded the apartment next door the elders have to pay for it."

This morning I was blocked from Facebook for 3 days and given no means of appeal even though I wrote no profanity, nothing threatening, racist, no hate speech... I simply repeated what I was told by a reliable witness and backed it up with the assurance that I have seen the complaint against the Greensboro Housing Authority and Gateway Plaza Llc.

Now with your help I'm going to make them wish they had never attempted to silence me.

You see, for starters my story has already been shared by almost a dozen others. And to add insult to their injury, last night I searched the NC Secretary of State website for the entity, Gateway Plaza, Llc and discovered that no such entity exists here in North Carolina. Once again, the City of Greensboro is helping to funnel your tax dollars to non entities who don't pay taxes. I urge all who read this to search for yourselves then contact the Secretary of State.

I urge you to contact the News & Record, The Rhino Times, News 2, and Fox8.

And please make this story about the elderly and disabled people getting kicked out of their homes in Downtown Greensboro . Make it about tax fraud and not about Billy Jones.

When the People Speak, Council Should

From Roch Smith Jr in his article, A better way to improve City Council’s public forums:

"Public comments at city council meetings are not tempestuous simply because speakers and supporters are rambunctious by nature. It’s not a matter of football fans showing up instead of golf fans. Tumult arises when the response of council to a public concern is inadequate and people must, literally and figuratively, raise their voices. It has been that way for years.

Public comments at these forums don’t become heated just because people want to blow off steam. People come to these forums because they perceive a need for action and, history shows, the atmosphere gets raucous when elected officials side-step concerns and remain immune to facts brought to their attention."

When the people speak, Council should act. Listening alone isn't enough. Pretending to listen is even worse, sleeping through meetings is the worst kind of insult to the people they represent. And allowing it to continue for a decade or longer says they just don't care.

The original text I posted with that photo on Facebook in 2016 was taken from a City Council business meeting in which the City of Greensboro claimed no video was taken in response to several public information requests for videos from the meeting.

"Is that a video camera behind a sleeping Councilwoman Nancy Hoffman? And why does the City of Greensboro claim there was no video of that meeting?"

No further explanation was ever given.

It all comes back to bite....

The Renaissance Community Co-op Is Owned By A Rich White Woman

No, I don't believe that but a lot of folks in East Greensboro do.

That's the rumor that was being spread by East Greensboro community leader, Reverend Gayland Oliver who maintains a business relationship with former Greensboro City Councilman Jim Key and is the founder of the community gardens project on Phillips Avenue in partnership with NC A&T University with 2 greenhouses already built and a third greenhouse planned.

Oliver knew better. He knows everyone involved with the founding of the RCC.

Could such lies have contributed to the downfall of the RCC which announced today it will be closing on January 25, 2019?

Have other local leaders, perhaps other local ministers also worked to turn people away from the RCC?

Why do those who lead us wish us to fail?

And why does the community keep covering for them?

Ramseur Attempts Greensboro Style Censorship

Rumors are flying that the nearby Town of Ramseur, Town Council is seeking to hire attorneys to force the exposure of administrators of a local Facebook group in an attempt to close the group and censor public opinion there.

Now the Ramseur Town Council has someone else to sic their lawyers on. And being the City of Greensboro, numerous lawyers, and several politicans backed down from me I doubt they have a chance.

Nikki Haley Resignation Has Ties To Greensboro

One of the people who was illegally flying Nikki Haley around was Jimmy Gibbs of Gibbs International. Greensboro residents will be interested to know that Mr Gibbs had dealings in Greensboro's White Oak Mill, presumably having bought the equipment from the mill.

But as is pointed out in Nolte v, Gibbs International. Jimmy Gibbs has a history of fraud and income tax evasion in which the Appeals court ruled against Mr Gibbs.

These things are never as straight forward and innocent as the politicians want you to believe.

What They Never Told You About Revolution Mill Flooding

Perhaps you heard of the recent flooding at Revolution Mills. Perhaps you even saw the report on WFMY 2 that the property is part of a 100 year flood plain. But old timers and residents of the mill village know the floods come much more often than every 100 years.

So if Billy Jones is telling the truth then the question becomes, how did Cone Mills manage to operate millions of dollars of equipment in a building that was so prone to flooding for over 100 years? The answer: They raised the floor.

Okay, so they didn't really raise the floor but they did build another floor above the basement floor thereby creating a crawlspace of sorts that the water could flow into and flow out, when the waters receded, keeping equipment, people, and electrical wiring high and dry. It was a simple solution that worked.

So why is the mill flooding now?

Simple really. That floor was built of very valuable old growth oak and pine beams 8 to 12 inches thick. Thousands upon thousands of board feed, hundreds of thousands of board feet were removed from the building by the original developer and sold-- money in his pocket-- all with the blessing of City of Greensboro Building Inspections and Planning Departments. All demolitions were approved.

Any time, anywhere up stream a new street is built, a new home is built, a driveway or parking lot is paved, the problems become bigger. The new entrance they are building for Print Works on Textile Drive and the improvements to the parking lots at Print Works will only make the problem bigger. The housing development they built behind Print Works a few years back only added to the problem.

Some of the problem could be alleviated by paving parking lots and drive ways with TurfStone made right here in Greensboro by Goria Concrete/Oldcastle. Of course then parking lots must be mowed but it beats flooding. Back in the day I must have delivered a million of those blocks to Smith Mountain Lake where they were used for driveways and boat landings. Wonder why no one thought of Turfstone for the Revolution Mill parking lots?

I guess a giant dry well could be built to catch the excess water. Then after the waters recede the water could be pumped out of the well and into the streams with giant pumps. Sounds really expensive doesn't it? Is there anything down there that can be mined? And what if you hit water on the way down?

The creek could be widened to allowed it to flow several times more water. But that probably should have been done before they built the new parking lots. Don't you think?

I wonder if the folks at Self Help Credit Union know that floor was removed by the previous developer? I wonder if the tenants know that floor was removed by the previous developer? I wonder if their insurance companies know that floor was removed by the previous developer in a plan approved by the City of Greensboro?

Well you can be sure they'll soon know all about it.

One Last Question

The following is an e-mail I sent to Greensboro City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower, Councilwoman Goldie Wells, and Greensboro City Attorney Thomas Carruthers on August 16, 2018:

"Sharon, Goldie and Tom,

Most everything I know about the Agapions is from media reports and watching the way they maintain the many homes they own in my neighborhood. Fact is: I can see no signs that any maintenance is done while the homes are occupied. Only after the tenants move out or are forced to leave via condemnation of the property or eviction does any noticeable work get done.

If you were to do public information requests for permits and somehow manage to compare the dates to occupancy you might be able to find a coloration. If the City were seeking legal action then Tom and the legal department might be able to suponea the records needed to colorate the results. (I'm sure I misspelled suppona and colorate. Probable misspelled coloration too.)

You might begin with 1309 Willard St owned by Despina Agapion. It was occupied for at least 15 years by a disabled white man named John and his black wife who worked nights for Cone Hospital. They were good neighbors, never any problems.

John worked hard despite being mentally and physically disabled. He heated the house with wood he collected on a  home made trailer he pulled behind his moped. I helped him with some of the welding on the trailer but mostly just let him use my welder himself. Another neighbor, Charles Walker, now diseased, loaned him a few tools as well. Charlie taught me to weld when I was a teenager. You should have seen the used GPD Cushman 3 wheeler Charlie Walker and I hopped up when I was about 15. You couldn't pay me to drive that thing now but back then I blasted down the streets 'til the neighbors called the cops and I had to hide it in the woods.

And the Yamaha powered go-cart we built.... You don't want to know.

Now-a-days I see the young black men on their dirt bikes waking me from my naps and I think about calling the cops.... but then I remember. When one of them crashed into my car and tried to run I caught him and made him call him momma. He wanted me to call the cops instead. I even locked his bike in the shed until his older brother could get off work and come pick it up.

By the way, he wasn't that hard to catch, he had a broken arm and a lump on his head. I'm sure his momma gave him hell all the way to Cone Hospital. Later I gave him some riding lessons.

There were a few I called the cops on-- like the one popping wheelies up and down the street with a baby in his lap. I couldn't let that pass. I still ride and love to ride fast but not stupid. Yeah, I rode my little boy on my bike... slowly around his grandpa's yard.

John and his wife took care of their grandchildren during the daytime because the family couldn't afford child care. The children were all well behaved. John had a few laying hens that I had given him when my hens hatched too many chicks. He wanted a rooster too but I explained to him that my rooster was grandfathered in. He eventually figured out how grandfather clauses work.

Over the years John maintained the house the best he could. But some things were beyond his abilities and financial means. When they complained to the city that the Agapions would not repair the house, the City condemned the house forcing John and his family to move at a time when they couldn't afford the move.

The house has been empty for almost a year while repairs are slowly being made.

Over the years I've seen this repeated many times before. All over my neighborhood. Now its happening to hundreds on Summit Ave. It's happened to hundreds, perhaps thousands before, just not so many at one time.

As I made my way home from the Renaissance Community Cooperative today I traveled past the house at 1309 Willard St where I saw men working on the outside of the house. This is very near your home, Goldie, only 1 block from Peeler Recreation Center. The photo at Google maps shows what the house looked like when John and his wife lived there: https://goo.gl/maps/gUfAhvYSoeR2 You can even see John's moped out front.

I didn't see a building permit as I drove past the house. But perhaps the weather took it away. Or not? The Agapions do have a history of not pulling permits... Didn't a plumber die because of that?

This leaves us with but one last question."

Just thought I would share.

Amy Murphy: Let The Record State

I read Amy Murphy: Which path will we take on homelessness? in the Greensboro News & Record today and a few things struck me as rather strange. One was a quote she attributed to John Lomax. So I submitted the following public information request #8501 to the City of Greensboro just minutes ago:

"In the following article in the Greensboro News & Record, Amy Murphy quotes John Lomax as writing:

“So I started telling them no when they asked for money. That’s when the verbal and sometimes physical intimidation would happen. When my sons were not with me and a panhandler would get aggressive, I would immediately call the police and follow that person until the police arrived. I am guessing I have called the police 40-50 times over the years, but only for the ones who were being abusive."

https://www.greensboro.com/opinion/columns/amy-murphy-which-path-will-we-take-on-homelessness/article_7e605dd0-9fae-59ff-b2aa-4955a53bf701.html

Please send me ALL the records of John Lomax's calls to Greensboro Police concerning abusive panhandlers.

Thank you
-Billy Jones

PS. I've also posted a copy of this PIRT online at: http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2018/07/amy-murphy-let-record-state.html I highly recommend you read it and forward the article to the respective departments.

I don't know about you but 40-50 times seems like a lot of calls, perhaps a gross exaggeration. And then there's the part where Mr Lomax is said to have written:

“So I started telling them no when they asked for money. That’s when the verbal and sometimes physical intimidation would happen."

Have any of you seen John Lomax? The man is huge! Not the sort of man that most men would attempt to intimidate.

So the sooner the City of Greensboro clears this up the better off everyone will be.

Anita Holder On Greensboro's Police Body Cameras

Just in case you don't know, Anita Holder is Captain Anita Holder, retired interim Chief of the Greensboro Police Department, and the first female to hold the position. And by clicking on the photo you can see what Chief Holder had to say about Greensboro's Police body cameras.

And folks, you can best bet that if enough of you write me in as Mayor of Greensboro I will do just exactly as Captain Anita Holder recommends.

As always, please share so others will also know.

Plucking The Chicken Lady

As far as I can remember I've never met Amy Murphy in person but when she started the recent controversy about moving the homeless out of Greensboro I couldn't help but think the name was familiar. Was she a Facebook friend? I looked up her profile on Facebook and while she looked like someone I thought I'd seen before I still couldn't put it together. Besides, she's not on my Facebook friends list. At least not currently.

But in searching through my Gmail account this morning while reading up for a second time on what some others were telling me I stumbled upon this 2013 e-mail I sent to George Hartzman concerning being friended by Amy Murphy. You see, EzGreensboro.com is full of articles about Roy Carroll and few of them speak well of him. Click on the picture to view full size.

Now I realize this does not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Amy Murphy, aka, The Chicken Lady, works for downtown developer Roy Carroll but ask yourself the following question:

Why did I send George Hartzman that e-mail back in 2013 if not for the fact that I was surprised that someone who works for Roy Carroll would be friending me on Facebook?

And finally, if you want me to forward you the original e-mail you only need e-mail me at RecycleBill@gmail.com and ask. I'll be very happy to comply. Just copy and paste my e-mail address into your e-mail.

People aren't always what they seem. This kind of corruption is yet one more example of why you need to write-in Billy Jones for Mayor of Greensboro.

Justin Outling Took The Bribe

I'm sorry folks but the title really does say it all. Justin Outling took the bribe. From Outling received United Healthcare lobbyist contribution on day he stopped city contract from going to competitor by Roch Smith jr:

Now folks, I want you to remember something: Councilman Outling was not elected to office. Greensboro City Councilman Justin Outling was appointed by Greensboro Mayor Nancy Barakat Vaughan with the support of the Greensboro City Council.

Have no doubt they knew full well the type of person they were appointing to represent the citizens of Greensboro's District 3.

Continue reading Outling received United Healthcare lobbyist contribution on day he stopped city contract from going to competitor for the entire story. 

Maybe The City Of Greensboro Just Doesn't Want Us To Know

As Roch Smith Jr reported in City of Greensboro spent over $147,000 with Amazon last year; unable to report what for there seems to be yet another problem with accountability on the part of the City of Greensboro. This isn't the first time. Last year I pointed out that over $4 Million Dollars and possibly as much as $8 Million Dollars of funding designated for the South Elm Street Redevelopment Project was never accounted for.

Roch writes and documents:

"The records show that the payments were made to a variety of Amazon entities, including Amazon.com, Amazon Marketplace and AmazonPrime Membership. The majority of these payments were made through “p-cards” — short for purchase card, which is a type of debit card the city issues to some employees who need an easy way to make city-related purchases.

What, then, were these purchases from Amazon for, specifically?

In reply to the ILSR’s request, the city told ILSR that it is “unable to run a report that captures descriptive information regarding the items purchased.” All the city supplied was the date, amount and vendor name; not a description of the item or service purchased."

I find that unable part to be rather interesting and here is why. I logged into my own Amazon account, clicked on Orders, and then chose the year 2014 to get the screen grab of my Amazon purchases from 2014. My records go back to 2010. You can do the same with your Amazon account if you have one.

Which brings us to the question: Is it that the City of Greensboro is unable to tell us what has been purchased from Amazon or is it that the City of Greensboro doesn't want us to know what they are buying from Amazon?

Remembering Reginald Demarcus Wrenn

I was looking out my window that night, already talking to Guilford County 911 reporting the noise at the liquor house when the shots rang out, the kids started screaming, cars sped away and the body of 24 year old Reginald Demarcus Wrenn was left dying on the street in front of the liquor house.

Every year since, friends and family of Reginald Demarcus Wrenn have gathered at the place where he died. To this day the media has never told the entire story saying only as Fox8 wrote 2 days ago:

"Police say it was over a fender bender."

The media never mentions the liquor house that had operated there freely, selling alcohol and drugs to hundreds of minors every night of the week for months despite the full knowledge of the Greensboro Police Department right up to then Chief Ken Miller.

How do I know Ken Miller knew about it? A public information request to the City of Greensboro should provide you with my e-mails to him concerning the subject. The Greensboro Police Department and the City of Greensboro should be held accountable.

Amazingly, the very night before it happened I wrote, There's Racism And Then There's Racism in which I explained how institutional racism makes entire communities suffer, black and white:


"When city leaders, developers and realtors conspire to deprive a neighborhood of adequate police protection because the neighborhood is mostly black and they'd rather concentrate police resources in the  higher end neighborhoods where the city leaders, developers and realtors live-- that's institutional racism. That went on for over 30 years in my northeast Greensboro neighborhood.

You see, unbeknownst to a lot of you high class white folk, us poor white folk that got left behind are finally beginning to figure out that we too have been victims of white on black racism for all these years. Not the he said she's a nigger and won't give her a job type racism but the more dangerous and destructive institutional racism with its repeated "friendly fire" incidents. And like our black neighbors who we finally learned to love, we're starting to get pissed-off about getting discriminated against.

Now admittedly, we weren't very bright, it took way too long for us to figure this stuff out and a lot of our kind still don't get it but when they do get it-- and they will-- there is going to be hell to pay right here in Greensboro.

When the Mayor of Greensboro, city funded non profits, developers and realtors conspire to deprive a mostly black neighborhood of high paying jobs while building industrial parks on the lilly white county lines 10 miles outside the city limits and downtown performing arts centers at taxpayers' expense-- that too could be seen as Institutional racism."

The death of 24 year old Reginald Demarcus Wrenn was not just over a fender bender as police would like you to believe. Reginald Demarcus Wrenn  was the only sober person there. He went there to pick up his younger brother and got shot to death when trying to break up the fight between his brother and the 22 year old who shot Demarcus to death. Over a fight started by Demarcus' brother.

All these years later "I still hear a young black woman on crutches crying her heart out as she makes her way from the liquor house, past my house and up the street, "Stupid niggers, stupid niggers, they fuck it up for all of us..."

But had the Greensboro Police Department not delayed for months in closing that liquor house, Reginald Demarcus Wrenn might still be alive today.

Reginald Demarcus Wrenn had a good job, was engaged to a young nurse in Burlington. After his death she came to visit me along with their friends. They were planning to buy a home and start a family someday. She came to visit me because I was the only one writing the truth about what happened that night in a series of articles that made me widely known in East Greensboro among people who might not have known me otherwise.

Reginald Demarcus Wrenn died because the Greensboro Police Department committed Institutional racism in failing to stop a known problem that would have never been tolerated for even a single weekend in any upscale Greensboro neighborhood.

And to add insult to injury, the liquor house was allowed to operate 7 nights a week for over a month after the death of Reginald Demarcus Wrenn, and was only closed when I e-mailed Ken Miller to warn him we were about to burn it down.

You should be able to do a public information request and find that e-mail as well. What are they going to do to me? I've got Pulmonary Fibrosis and no health insurance. I didn't fail to do my job and cause the death of Reginald Demarcus Wrenn, I saved other young people by convincing Ken Miller that we were going to do what he wasn't doing.

After all, it's not like this neighborhood hadn't done it before.

Fox8 Reports:

“If I can prevent another mom or another dad from experiencing what I have experienced, me coming out here makes it all worth it," she said."

A month later I too experienced the loss of my son, Jason.

I welcome Pastor Deborah White and The Sky's the Limit Walk to my corner forever.