Dear Citizens of Catawba County:
Did you know that your FREEDOM to choose your own physician in Catawba County has just been lost? Did you know that the your elected officials,the Catawba County Commissioners, through their appointed board, the unelected Trustees for Catawba Valley Medical Center, have removed your choice of physician?
This means Catawba Valley Medical Center hospital(CVMC) has abruptly closed their equipment and schedules to physicians who have helped build their reputation and are responsible for the quality of care at CVMC. If you care about your health and wellness this should frighten you!
This arbitrary and capricious move by the hospital administration and the Board's denying of your RIGHT to have your doctor care for you in OUR PUBLIC hospital is a terrible mistake, perhaps in some cases it could be fatal. This decision was made without consulting or informing the medical staff who are responsible for the quality and credentialing of all the medical staff. One of the most sacred and important relationships regarding your health is your relationship with your doctor. The doctor-patient relationship is under attack by your local elected officials!
Don't wait until the next emergency strikes for you or one of your loved ones. It might be too late or fatal. Contact your elected officials today; those who answer to you the voters. CVMC is your hospital. Your taxes built it and keep it running. Ask the county commissioners how and why they allowed your FREEDOM of choice to be torn from your grasp?
Ask the candidates where they stand on this critical issue regarding the health and wellness of your family and everyone who lives and works in the Catawba Valley. Profits should never come before patient safety and health. Remember, the people who make these decisions should be held accountable and answer to you.
Wake up Hickory! Wake up Conover and Newton! The British are coming, at least their medical system is coming!!!
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This message was sent to me by a local Doctor. I don't think he will mind if I add the following in relation to their communicating this issue to me:
I don't know if you have heard about the medical blow-up at Catawba Valley Medical Center? They started their own cardiology group and as of September 1st they have cut out the rest of the doctors in the area from being allowed to use the hospital equipment (i.e. no procedures like cardiac caths, EKGs, etc.). The cardiologists and a few others are affected, for now. This is big and very important for the health of the county. Losing the right to choose your own doctor is at stake. It maybe a done deal and no chance to reverse, but I think if people of the county get up in arms that could change. I think it would be good for your blog to break this news story?
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Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
20140908 - Monday Morning Meeting with the Mayor
The following is the interview of Mayor Rudy Wright on 1290 WHKYam Radio's First talk program with Hal Row.
WHKY does not archive these programs and make them available to the public, so I am putting this important public interview up under Fair Use guidelines.
Segment 1 - This segment is about the Hickory Jaycees no longer supporting Hickory Alive next year. The Mayor doesn't address the issue. He does talk about the reduced hours for Oktoberfest.
Segment 2 - More on the events Downtown. Mayor talks about kids Downtown. "Youth, 15 and over, and kids, 14 and under, are running loose over an eight block area." "Children are running loose."
Segment 3 - Hal talks about the street layout mess in Hickory and some things a friend brought up. Talks about Highland at Lenoir-Rhyne and Clement Boulevard. Hal asks about the Bond Referendum.
Segment 4 - Hal and the Mayor talk about the Professional Senior Golf tournament getting ready to take place here in Hickory and the City's involvement. Hal talks about another person that believes that we need to get serious about speeding in Hickory.
Listen and fill free to comment.
WHKY does not archive these programs and make them available to the public, so I am putting this important public interview up under Fair Use guidelines.
Segment 1 - This segment is about the Hickory Jaycees no longer supporting Hickory Alive next year. The Mayor doesn't address the issue. He does talk about the reduced hours for Oktoberfest.
Segment 2 - More on the events Downtown. Mayor talks about kids Downtown. "Youth, 15 and over, and kids, 14 and under, are running loose over an eight block area." "Children are running loose."
Segment 3 - Hal talks about the street layout mess in Hickory and some things a friend brought up. Talks about Highland at Lenoir-Rhyne and Clement Boulevard. Hal asks about the Bond Referendum.
Segment 4 - Hal and the Mayor talk about the Professional Senior Golf tournament getting ready to take place here in Hickory and the City's involvement. Hal talks about another person that believes that we need to get serious about speeding in Hickory.
Listen and fill free to comment.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- September 7, 2014
Fed Says Growth Lifts the Affluent, Leaving Behind Everyone Else - News York Times - BINYAMIN APPELBAUM - September 4, 2014 - Economic growth since the Great Recession has improved the fortunes of the most affluent Americans even as the incomes and wealth of most American families continue to decline, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. For the most affluent 10 percent of American families, average incomes rose by 10 percent from 2010 to 2013. For the rest of the population, average incomes were flat or falling. The least affluent families had the largest declines. Average incomes dropped by 8 percent for the bottom 20 percent of families, the Fed reported in its triennial Survey of Consumer Finances, one of the most comprehensive sources of data on the financial health of American families. The new report, broadly consistent with other data on the aftermath of the Great Recession, underscores why so many Americans think the economy remains in poor health. While the pie has grown, most people are getting smaller slices. The result is that wealth also is increasingly concentrated. While overall wealth barely changed during the survey period, the money sloshed from the bottom toward the top. For the top 10 percent of families, ranked by income, estimated average wealth increased by 2 percent to $3.3 million. For the bottom 20 percent of families, average wealth sharply declined by 21 percent to $65,000. There is growing evidence that inequality may be weighing on economic growth by keeping money disproportionately in the hands of those who already have so much they are less inclined to spend it...
If The Economy Is Recovering, Why Is The Labor Force Participation Rate At A 36 Year Low? - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - September 7th, 2014- Should we be concerned that the percentage of Americans that are either working or looking for work is the lowest that it has been in 36 years? In August, an all-time record high 92,269,000 Americans 16 years of age and older did not "participate in the labor force". And when you throw in the people that are considered to be "in the labor force" but are not currently employed, that pushes the total of working age Americans that do not have jobs to well over 100 million. Yes, it may be hard to believe, but there are more than 100 million working age Americans that are not employed right now. Needless to say, this is not a sign of a healthy economy, and it is a huge reason why dependence on the government has soared to absolutely unprecedented levels. When people can't take care of themselves, they need someone else to take care of them. If the percentage of people in the labor force continues to decline like it has been, what is that going to mean for the future of our society? The chart below shows the changes in the civilian labor force participation rate since 1980. As you can see, the rate steadily rose between 1980 and 2000, but since then it has generally been declining. In particular, this decline has greatly accelerated since the beginning of the last recession...
How to Protect Your Wealth from Fed Monetary Policy - The Daily Reckoning - Dave Gonigam - September 5, 2014 - "This is the biggest redistribution of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the rich ever,” said Stanley Druckenmiller a year ago. Mr. Druckenmiller is a hedge fund legend. He was George Soros’ right-hand man for 12 years. The “this” he referred to was the Federal Reserve’s perpetual easy-money policy since the Panic of 2008. Druckenmiller offered up one of the most candid admissions you’ll ever hear from the power elite...
A Lie That Serves The Rich - the truth about the American economy - Paul Craig Roberts, John Titus, and Dave Kranzler - September 4, 2014 - The labor force participation rate has declined from 66.5% in 2007 prior to the last downturn to 62.7% today. This decline in the participation rate is difficult to reconcile with the alleged economic recovery that began in June 2009 and supposedly continues today. Normally a recovery from recession results in a rise in the labor force participation rate. The Obama regime, economists, and the financial presstitutes have explained this decline in the participation rate as the result of retirements by the baby boomers, those 55 and older. In this five to six minute video, John Titus shows that in actual fact the government’s own employment data show that baby boomers have been entering the work force at record rates and are responsible for raising the labor force participation rate above where it would otherwise be. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/3544087 It is not retirees who are pushing down the participation rate, but those in the 16-19 age group whose participation rate has fallen by 10.4%, those in the 22-14 age group whose participation rate has fallen by 5.4%, and those in the 24-54 age group whose participation rate is down 2.5%. The offshoring of US manufacturing and tradable professional service jobs has resulted in an economy that can only create new jobs in lowly paid, increasingly part-time nontradable domestic service jobs, such as waitresses, bartenders, retail clerks, and ambulatory health care workers. These are not jobs that can support an independent existence. However, these jobs can supplement retirement incomes that have been hurt by many years of the Federal Reserve’s policy of zero or negative interest rates. Those who were counting on interest earnings on their savings to supplement their retirement and Social Security incomes have reentered the labor force in order to fill the gaps in their budgets created by the Fed’s policy. Unlike the young who lack savings and retirement incomes, the baby boomers’ economic lives are not totally dependent on the lowly-paid, part-time, no-benefits domestic service jobs. Lies are told in order to make the system look acceptable so that the status quo can be continued. Offshoring America’s jobs benefits the wealthy. The lower labor costs raise corporate profits, and shareholders’ capital gains and performance bonuses of corporate executives rise with the profits. The wealthy are benefitting from the fact that the US economy no longer can create enough livable jobs to keep up with the growth in the working age population. The clear hard fact is that the US economy is being run for the sole benefit of a few rich people.
Economy in Severe Trouble-John Williams - USA Watchdog - By Greg Hunter - September 1, 2014 - John Williams of Shadowstats.com is forecasting a possible dollar sell-off by the end of 2014. Williams predicts this will trigger the beginning of hyperinflation. Are we on track for this prediction? Williams contends, “Everything the Fed has been doing to pump this extraordinary amount of liquidity into the system, since the panic of 2008, has been aimed at propping up the banks. . . . The banks are still in trouble. From here on in, it’s going to get worse, and as it does, the Fed is going to have to pump more liquidity into the system. . . . They will use the poor economy as a political shield. As the economy turns down . . . the Fed has to do more, and all these factors will come together in a great confluence, and that will give us selling pressure in the U.S. dollar. With this selling pressure, there will be upside pressure on commodity prices, and that will be the early trigger for hyperinflation.” On the issue of bank bail-ins, will they happen? Williams says, “Nope, the Fed’s basic mandate is to keep the banking system afloat. I can’t envision a Fed that would want to see people losing their money because of what it does to the banking system. The problem with depositors bailing out the banks is that it encourages bank runs. It’s the run on the banks that the central banks have to avoid. . . . I doubt they would take actions that would trigger a big run on the banks.” So, instead, Williams says the Fed will just keep printing money to keep the banks afloat. Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with economist John Williams.
Chiquita's Tax Inversion Deal Could Be In Trouble - The Huffington Post - Alexander C. Kaufman - September 7, 2014 - Banana giant Chiquita Brands International’s plan to move to Ireland to dodge U.S. taxes may be in trouble. Institutional Shareholder Services, an influential firm that advises investors, urged shareholders to vote against Chiquita’s plan to merge with Irish rival Fyffes. Instead, the company should accept a joint takeover bid by two Brazilian firms, ISS said in an analysis on Friday. Chiquita rejected the $625 million offer from orange juice behemoth Cutrale Group and investment bank Safra Group last month, and reaffirmed its plan to create the world’s largest banana company by merging with Fyffes. The combined company, dubbed ChiquitaFyffes PLC, would be headquartered in low-tax Ireland. Charlotte, N.C.-based Chiquita could face boycotts over its plan to split to Ireland in the so-called tax inversion deal. Tax inversions occur when a larger American company merges with a smaller foreign firm and moves overseas to skirt U.S. corporate taxes, which are among the highest in the world. The tactic, which has become increasingly popular over the last year, is facing intense political backlash as several high-ranking senators and the White House are exploring legal options to make inversions more difficult.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 2, 2014
I began video recording the City Council in 2012, because of my desire that the City do it on their own as any modern 21st century community began doing long ago. I had people tell me that they couldn't make it to the meetings, but they would like to see what is going on. I was also told by some council members that my summaries did not truly reflect the record, so having a video/audio recording cannot be misinterpreted.
So below is the City Council meeting. With each agenda item, you can click on the links and it will take you to that specific point in the meeting. You can always drag the marker on the video display to the point in the broadcast that you are interested in seeing.
Thoughts about the Hickory City Council meeting - September 2, 2014
Agenda about the City Council meeting of September 2, 2014
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The Hound's Notes: Please utilize the Agenda and Thoughts links to get further details about this meeting. The Agenda link is a detailed program that comes out before the meeting. It is directly related to the Hickory Inc.'s Agenda that is put out at their website on the Friday before the meeting and I try to include notes about items of interest. I put out Thoughts about the meeting as soon as possible following the meeting. There you will get a general summation of what happened during the meeting and some commentary. Of course, the longer the duration of the meeting, the longer it takes to collect the information and thoughts. I'm not going to haphazardly throw the info out there.
Like a friend pointed out yesterday. People look at what I do on the Hound and think, 'anybody can do that'... 'I can do that'... and over the subsequent 6 years, people and groups have come and they have gone, because this is work. I'm not doing this for fun. This isn't an endeavor of a lazy person or something that can be done at an arms length or with half-hearted interest. One might say that I am misguided, but I am doing this because I care.
A typical week with a Hickory City Council meeting means that I get home from work after a busy Friday evening and download Hickory Inc.'s Agenda, which comes out in PDF form. Cut, Paste, and Edit takes a couple hours and I try to read and assimilate the information while doing all of that. Total processing time is 2 to 3 hours depending on the length of the Agenda. Then on Tuesday night I go to the meeting. I've talked to people to get their thoughts about the Agenda and all that entails before attending the meeting. I leave home between 6 and 6:30pm to be there for the 7pm meeting.
A meeting lasts on average about 1 1/2 hours, but vary greatly. I've been to a meeting that lasted 30 minutes and I've been to a meeting that lasted 3 hours. On a bell curve, I'd say that 90% last between 1hr15min and 1hr45min.
When the meeting is over, I speak to some of the people who have attended to get their thoughts and see if they match what I have witnessed. I pretty much don't have relations with the Council these days. They treat me as a pariah, but they've pretty much turned me off with what I've seen over time anyway. They like to co-opt people and I was never able to be co-opted, so you get an opinion that isn't tainted by feeling that you have to tip toe around your friends. That doesn't mean I'm out to get this Council or the Hickory Bureaucracy. It means that I am observing what goes on, giving my opinion on the matters, and relaying that to you.
So, I get home after 9pm and try to de-tune. I might make a phone call or two and then I try to put the information down in thoughts. I go back and watch the video and/or listen to the audio. It takes a few hours to put all that down. This week we had an 1 1/2 hour meeting. I was home around 9:15pm. I couldn't really de-tune and I did talk to someone about the meeting. I started putting the info down and I couldn't get in the mood. I went to the store. I came back and still couldn't do it, so I started the next day and worked on and off through other obligations, so I presented the Thoughts the next evening.
Then, there is the matter of the video presentation. I worked with a group to try to get Hickory Inc. to put video out on Charter Cable and the Internet. We got the Internet, but we never got the Cable. Mr. Burton and others have received the benefit of that work, that has brought accountability to the process. He also was able to speak at the beginning of the meeting. Again, he can thank the people I worked with, who helped to make that happen... and thank you Alder Jill Patton and former Alder Sally Fox for their cooperation. See how good things happen when we work together for the good of the community, instead of the 'my way or the highway' mindset we have seen so often.
People can actually see the proceedings. I appreciate Hickory Inc. finally seeing the light, but I can't rest until it is done right. Not 'My way or the Highway.' The information belongs to the public, why hide behind the curtain.
(To be continued)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invocation by Danny Seaver
Special Presentation of Recognition of Sherman Stinson, Public Services for the Herman Drake Award - Moved to a later date.
Persons Requesting to be Heard
Bill Burton, President of Sipe Construction, addressed the Council about the rejection of the Vacant Building Occupancy grant that was voted againt 6 to 1 at the previous City Council meeting. He asked for reconsideration. After further information, and a discussion during Matters not on the Agenda, the Council voted to approve the grant unanimously.
Consent Agenda:
Informational Item
A. Report of Mayor Wright’s travel to North Carolina League of Municipalities General Government Legislative Action Committee Meeting
New Business - Public Hearings
1. Resolution and Order for Petition of BHM Holdings, LLC to Close an Unopened Portion of 4th Street NE.
2. Resolution and Order for Petition of William H. Rogers, and wife Linda Rogers; and Terah L. Harris and wife, Karen P. Harris to Close an Unopened Portion of 20th Avenue NE.
3. Consideration of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report.
4. Review and Presentation of the Financing Concept for the Hickory Metro Convention Center Parking Deck.
New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Approve the Construction Contract with Matthews Construction Company, in the amount of $2,576,000 to construct the Parking Deck Structure and Associated Improvements for the Hickory Metro Convention Center Parking Deck.
2. Lyerly Mill Redevelopment Update
3. Award Construction Contract to Dane Construction, Inc., for the Replacement of the 46th Avenue NE Bridge in the amount of $942,202.05.
4. (a) Approve Interlocal Agreement between the City of Hickory and Catawba County for the Development of Business Park 1764.
(b) Approve an Agreement between the City of Hickory, Catawba County, and the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) regarding 1764 Park Project.
5. Approve an Amendment to the Vacant Building Revitalization and Demolition Grant Agreement with Shuford Mills, LLC
6. Approval of a Vacant Building Revitalization and Demolition Grant with The Block 108, LLC for Property Located at 108 South Center Street.
General Comments:
Alderman Seaver requested that the citizens of Hickory keep thoughts and prayers for the families that were impacted by the terrible tragedy on Sunday evening.
Alderman Lail moved, seconded by Alderman Seaver to observe a moment of silence for the families involved in this tragedy. The motion carried unanimously.
Alderman Guess advised that the ceremony planned for the 9/11 Remembrance was shown as 9:00 a.m. in the City Snippets and in fact it had been changed to 6:00 p.m.
So below is the City Council meeting. With each agenda item, you can click on the links and it will take you to that specific point in the meeting. You can always drag the marker on the video display to the point in the broadcast that you are interested in seeing.
Thoughts about the Hickory City Council meeting - September 2, 2014
Agenda about the City Council meeting of September 2, 2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hound's Notes: Please utilize the Agenda and Thoughts links to get further details about this meeting. The Agenda link is a detailed program that comes out before the meeting. It is directly related to the Hickory Inc.'s Agenda that is put out at their website on the Friday before the meeting and I try to include notes about items of interest. I put out Thoughts about the meeting as soon as possible following the meeting. There you will get a general summation of what happened during the meeting and some commentary. Of course, the longer the duration of the meeting, the longer it takes to collect the information and thoughts. I'm not going to haphazardly throw the info out there.
Like a friend pointed out yesterday. People look at what I do on the Hound and think, 'anybody can do that'... 'I can do that'... and over the subsequent 6 years, people and groups have come and they have gone, because this is work. I'm not doing this for fun. This isn't an endeavor of a lazy person or something that can be done at an arms length or with half-hearted interest. One might say that I am misguided, but I am doing this because I care.
A typical week with a Hickory City Council meeting means that I get home from work after a busy Friday evening and download Hickory Inc.'s Agenda, which comes out in PDF form. Cut, Paste, and Edit takes a couple hours and I try to read and assimilate the information while doing all of that. Total processing time is 2 to 3 hours depending on the length of the Agenda. Then on Tuesday night I go to the meeting. I've talked to people to get their thoughts about the Agenda and all that entails before attending the meeting. I leave home between 6 and 6:30pm to be there for the 7pm meeting.
A meeting lasts on average about 1 1/2 hours, but vary greatly. I've been to a meeting that lasted 30 minutes and I've been to a meeting that lasted 3 hours. On a bell curve, I'd say that 90% last between 1hr15min and 1hr45min.
When the meeting is over, I speak to some of the people who have attended to get their thoughts and see if they match what I have witnessed. I pretty much don't have relations with the Council these days. They treat me as a pariah, but they've pretty much turned me off with what I've seen over time anyway. They like to co-opt people and I was never able to be co-opted, so you get an opinion that isn't tainted by feeling that you have to tip toe around your friends. That doesn't mean I'm out to get this Council or the Hickory Bureaucracy. It means that I am observing what goes on, giving my opinion on the matters, and relaying that to you.
So, I get home after 9pm and try to de-tune. I might make a phone call or two and then I try to put the information down in thoughts. I go back and watch the video and/or listen to the audio. It takes a few hours to put all that down. This week we had an 1 1/2 hour meeting. I was home around 9:15pm. I couldn't really de-tune and I did talk to someone about the meeting. I started putting the info down and I couldn't get in the mood. I went to the store. I came back and still couldn't do it, so I started the next day and worked on and off through other obligations, so I presented the Thoughts the next evening.
Then, there is the matter of the video presentation. I worked with a group to try to get Hickory Inc. to put video out on Charter Cable and the Internet. We got the Internet, but we never got the Cable. Mr. Burton and others have received the benefit of that work, that has brought accountability to the process. He also was able to speak at the beginning of the meeting. Again, he can thank the people I worked with, who helped to make that happen... and thank you Alder Jill Patton and former Alder Sally Fox for their cooperation. See how good things happen when we work together for the good of the community, instead of the 'my way or the highway' mindset we have seen so often.
People can actually see the proceedings. I appreciate Hickory Inc. finally seeing the light, but I can't rest until it is done right. Not 'My way or the Highway.' The information belongs to the public, why hide behind the curtain.
(To be continued)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invocation by Danny Seaver
Special Presentation of Recognition of Sherman Stinson, Public Services for the Herman Drake Award - Moved to a later date.
Persons Requesting to be Heard
Bill Burton, President of Sipe Construction, addressed the Council about the rejection of the Vacant Building Occupancy grant that was voted againt 6 to 1 at the previous City Council meeting. He asked for reconsideration. After further information, and a discussion during Matters not on the Agenda, the Council voted to approve the grant unanimously.
Consent Agenda:
Informational Item
A. Report of Mayor Wright’s travel to North Carolina League of Municipalities General Government Legislative Action Committee Meeting
New Business - Public Hearings
1. Resolution and Order for Petition of BHM Holdings, LLC to Close an Unopened Portion of 4th Street NE.
2. Resolution and Order for Petition of William H. Rogers, and wife Linda Rogers; and Terah L. Harris and wife, Karen P. Harris to Close an Unopened Portion of 20th Avenue NE.
3. Consideration of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report.
4. Review and Presentation of the Financing Concept for the Hickory Metro Convention Center Parking Deck.
New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Approve the Construction Contract with Matthews Construction Company, in the amount of $2,576,000 to construct the Parking Deck Structure and Associated Improvements for the Hickory Metro Convention Center Parking Deck.
2. Lyerly Mill Redevelopment Update
3. Award Construction Contract to Dane Construction, Inc., for the Replacement of the 46th Avenue NE Bridge in the amount of $942,202.05.
4. (a) Approve Interlocal Agreement between the City of Hickory and Catawba County for the Development of Business Park 1764.
(b) Approve an Agreement between the City of Hickory, Catawba County, and the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) regarding 1764 Park Project.
5. Approve an Amendment to the Vacant Building Revitalization and Demolition Grant Agreement with Shuford Mills, LLC
6. Approval of a Vacant Building Revitalization and Demolition Grant with The Block 108, LLC for Property Located at 108 South Center Street.
General Comments:
Alderman Seaver requested that the citizens of Hickory keep thoughts and prayers for the families that were impacted by the terrible tragedy on Sunday evening.
Alderman Lail moved, seconded by Alderman Seaver to observe a moment of silence for the families involved in this tragedy. The motion carried unanimously.
Alderman Guess advised that the ceremony planned for the 9/11 Remembrance was shown as 9:00 a.m. in the City Snippets and in fact it had been changed to 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Thoughts about the Hickory City Council meeting - September 2, 2014
1) The meeting started out with the President of Sipe Construction, Bill Burton, speaking during Persons Requesting to be Heard. There was a misunderstanding about the details of the occupancy requirement attached to Hickory Inc.'s vacant building grant of $9,917. That was when Alderman Lail made a motion to move this issue to the end of the meeting during during Matters not on the Agenda.
During Persons requesting to be Heard, Mr Burton stated that Lenoir-Rhyne (LR) will occupy (lease) the entire building for their nursing program. LR has had an issue with moving forward with the program, because a key person, in the accreditation process, who was to have been associated the program ended up not taking the job. That is the reason why there will be a delay in the implementation of the program of one year, but LR is paying the lease and thus by most definitions are occupying the building.
During Matters not on the Agenda, Alderman Lail stated that if he had the information that Mr Burton had presented this night, at the past meeting, that he would have voted differently, Alderman Zagaroli and Alder Patton concurred, subsequently a motion was made and seconded and then the entire council voted unanimously to award the grant to Sipe Construction.
Hound Notes: Whether you are for or against all of the incentives, the man met his obligations and should be paid. Glad the misunderstanding was corrected.
2)The Council went through the formalities in having the public hearing associated with the Convention Center Parking Deck. City Manager Berry presented the information. He mentioned that the interest rate will be 2.94% over 15 years. This parking deck will add 157 parking spaces to what are already available. The actual financing agreement will be voted upon at a later date.
3) The Council then went through the formalities in awarding the bid to Matthews Construction to build the parking deck. City of Hickory is responsible for the facility. Matthews was the low responsible bid of $2,567,000.
4) Chuck Hanson went over the site plan for the Transportation Insight site. Mr. Hanson's main point of discussion was the infrastructure that will be associated with the site. The main issue seemed to be with a parking lot that will be associated with the building and stormwater drainage associated with that parking lot. He talked about being good stewards for downstream infrastructure on our (City) property. Water retention is taking place on this property. He spoke about Main Avenue Way and that it has no curb and gutter or sidewalk along it. He says that this is the time to upgrade this side of Main Avenue Way from 3rd St back over to Hwy 127. There is going to be a left turn lane created into the property from Hwy 127.
5) Pictures were shown of the 46th Avenue NE Bridge in the amount of $942,202.05. The contingency in the project budget for a total amount of $1,035,000.
24 foot pipe was washed out. Rock wall and corrugated pipe ended up collapsing into the waterway. Potential (of repeat) will be lessened by not putting the pipe back and by replacing it with a bridge. Contractor will begin making things happen 15 days after contract is awarded. Should take 8 months to complete. FEMA will reimburse after the bridge is completed and audited. It would have cost more to put the roadway back in the original condition than to design it this way.+
6) Covenants involving the 1764 project - page 338 of the City Council Agenda Packet
New agreement between city of Hickory, Catawba County puts conditions on park 1764 - Hickory Daily Record - Scott J. Bryan - September 3, 2014
7) Shuford Mills, LLC received a Vacant Building Demolition Grant in the amount of $20,000 in January 2014 to assist in the demolition of the former AA Shuford Mill located at 1360 Highland Avenue NE. They have requested a 120 day extension in order to save a portion of the original exterior wall. Saving this portion of the wall will require additional construction work and additional time to complete.
Hound Notes: I have been by this property twice. I thought this column would run the entire length of the old building. It doesn't even run a block. I don't understand why Shuford Mills got this grant. It comes down to skin in the game. You had two members of the family serve on the Inspiring Spaces Committee. You had legislation passed that allowed them to save money by allowing them to bury the demolished structures on the property footprint. That was supposed to be the Economic Incentive to demolish the structure the way I understood it. I'm sure they will get more money when they develop the property.
6) The Block 108, LLC has applied for a Vacant Building Revitalization Grant in the amount of $30,000 to assist in the renovation of a former mill building located at 108 South Center Street. The applicant plans to invest approximately $763,900 in real property improvement to rehabilitate the facility for use as an office for a general contractor, a motorcycle restoration business, office uses, a salon, and seven “loft” style apartments. In accordance to the program guidelines, all approvals must be in place before the applicant begins work on a project. Significant construction activity on the project has already begun. The roof work that represents a large portion of the project is already nearly complete.
The Council unanimously awarded this grant though City Staff did not recommend it, because the LLC did not apply for it in a timely fashion according to Dave Leonetti. The Business Development Committee did recommend the grant. Alder Patton stated that "We are pushing success stories and this is a success story"... Alderman Zagaroli, "He has made vast improvements."
Hound Notes: I just remember how Ray Hunt, the former owner of this building, was treated about this property a few years ago. The Council is falling all over themselves to help the "right people". I have seen people have their properties bought for 10¢ on the dollar or less to see others turn around and remodel with Hickory Inc. incentives (MERKA). Must be nice.
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of April 20, 2010 - Ray Hunt speaks during Persons Requesting to be Heard
During Persons requesting to be Heard, Mr Burton stated that Lenoir-Rhyne (LR) will occupy (lease) the entire building for their nursing program. LR has had an issue with moving forward with the program, because a key person, in the accreditation process, who was to have been associated the program ended up not taking the job. That is the reason why there will be a delay in the implementation of the program of one year, but LR is paying the lease and thus by most definitions are occupying the building.
During Matters not on the Agenda, Alderman Lail stated that if he had the information that Mr Burton had presented this night, at the past meeting, that he would have voted differently, Alderman Zagaroli and Alder Patton concurred, subsequently a motion was made and seconded and then the entire council voted unanimously to award the grant to Sipe Construction.
Hound Notes: Whether you are for or against all of the incentives, the man met his obligations and should be paid. Glad the misunderstanding was corrected.
2)The Council went through the formalities in having the public hearing associated with the Convention Center Parking Deck. City Manager Berry presented the information. He mentioned that the interest rate will be 2.94% over 15 years. This parking deck will add 157 parking spaces to what are already available. The actual financing agreement will be voted upon at a later date.
3) The Council then went through the formalities in awarding the bid to Matthews Construction to build the parking deck. City of Hickory is responsible for the facility. Matthews was the low responsible bid of $2,567,000.
4) Chuck Hanson went over the site plan for the Transportation Insight site. Mr. Hanson's main point of discussion was the infrastructure that will be associated with the site. The main issue seemed to be with a parking lot that will be associated with the building and stormwater drainage associated with that parking lot. He talked about being good stewards for downstream infrastructure on our (City) property. Water retention is taking place on this property. He spoke about Main Avenue Way and that it has no curb and gutter or sidewalk along it. He says that this is the time to upgrade this side of Main Avenue Way from 3rd St back over to Hwy 127. There is going to be a left turn lane created into the property from Hwy 127.
5) Pictures were shown of the 46th Avenue NE Bridge in the amount of $942,202.05. The contingency in the project budget for a total amount of $1,035,000.
24 foot pipe was washed out. Rock wall and corrugated pipe ended up collapsing into the waterway. Potential (of repeat) will be lessened by not putting the pipe back and by replacing it with a bridge. Contractor will begin making things happen 15 days after contract is awarded. Should take 8 months to complete. FEMA will reimburse after the bridge is completed and audited. It would have cost more to put the roadway back in the original condition than to design it this way.+
6) Covenants involving the 1764 project - page 338 of the City Council Agenda Packet
New agreement between city of Hickory, Catawba County puts conditions on park 1764 - Hickory Daily Record - Scott J. Bryan - September 3, 2014
7) Shuford Mills, LLC received a Vacant Building Demolition Grant in the amount of $20,000 in January 2014 to assist in the demolition of the former AA Shuford Mill located at 1360 Highland Avenue NE. They have requested a 120 day extension in order to save a portion of the original exterior wall. Saving this portion of the wall will require additional construction work and additional time to complete.
Hound Notes: I have been by this property twice. I thought this column would run the entire length of the old building. It doesn't even run a block. I don't understand why Shuford Mills got this grant. It comes down to skin in the game. You had two members of the family serve on the Inspiring Spaces Committee. You had legislation passed that allowed them to save money by allowing them to bury the demolished structures on the property footprint. That was supposed to be the Economic Incentive to demolish the structure the way I understood it. I'm sure they will get more money when they develop the property.
6) The Block 108, LLC has applied for a Vacant Building Revitalization Grant in the amount of $30,000 to assist in the renovation of a former mill building located at 108 South Center Street. The applicant plans to invest approximately $763,900 in real property improvement to rehabilitate the facility for use as an office for a general contractor, a motorcycle restoration business, office uses, a salon, and seven “loft” style apartments. In accordance to the program guidelines, all approvals must be in place before the applicant begins work on a project. Significant construction activity on the project has already begun. The roof work that represents a large portion of the project is already nearly complete.
The Council unanimously awarded this grant though City Staff did not recommend it, because the LLC did not apply for it in a timely fashion according to Dave Leonetti. The Business Development Committee did recommend the grant. Alder Patton stated that "We are pushing success stories and this is a success story"... Alderman Zagaroli, "He has made vast improvements."
Hound Notes: I just remember how Ray Hunt, the former owner of this building, was treated about this property a few years ago. The Council is falling all over themselves to help the "right people". I have seen people have their properties bought for 10¢ on the dollar or less to see others turn around and remodel with Hickory Inc. incentives (MERKA). Must be nice.
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of April 20, 2010 - Ray Hunt speaks during Persons Requesting to be Heard
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Let's cut to the chase
I'll put out my thoughts about last night's City Council meeting soon, but if you are seeking info about the reality, press the link below and listen to Dr. Paul Craig Roberts speak about the current state of
The Merkin Crapitalist System
The Merkin Crapitalist System
Monday, September 1, 2014
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- August 31, 2014
Unfortunately Reality and Emotion often conflict with Knuckleheads.
Survey: Americans' pessimism on economy has grown - AP through CNBC - August 28, 2014 -
Americans are more anxious about the economy now than they were right after the Great Recession ended despite stock market gains, falling unemployment, and growth moving closer to full health.
Seventy-one percent of Americans say they think the recession exerted a permanent drag on the economy, according to a survey being released Thursday by Rutgers University. By contrast, in November 2009, five months after the recession officially ended, the Rutgers researchers found that only 49 percent thought the downturn would have lasting damage... The slow pace of improvement during most of the recovery, now in its sixth year, has eroded confidence and slowed a return to the pay levels that many enjoyed before the economy suffered its worst collapse since the 1930s. About 42 percent of those surveyed say they have less pay and savings than before the recession began in late 2007. Just 7 percent say they're significantly better off...
Is There Capitalism After Cronyism? - Of Two Minds.com - Charles Hugh Smith - August 30, 2014 - The more the Status Quo pursues the same old Keynesian Cargo Cult script of central planning and free money for financiers, the more self-liquidating the system becomes.
Judging by the mainstream media, the most pressing problems facing capitalism are:
1) income inequality, the basis of Thomas Piketty’s bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and
2) the failure of laissez-faire markets to regulate their excesses, a common critique encapsulated by Paul Craig Roberts’
These critiques (and many similar diagnoses) reach a widely shared conclusion: capitalism must be reformed to save it from itself.
The proposed reforms align with each analyst’s basic ideological bent. Piketty’s solution to rising wealth inequality is the ultimate in statist centralization: a global wealth tax.
Roberts and others recommend reforming capitalism to embody social purpose and recognize environmental limits. Exactly how this economic reformation should be implemented is a question that sparks debates across the ideological spectrum, but the idea that capitalism can be reformed is generally accepted by left, right and libertarian alike.
Socio-economist Immanuel Wallerstein asks a larger question: can the current iteration of global capitalism be reformed, or is it poised to be replaced by some other arrangement?
recent book The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism...
"Widespread Slowdown In Home Price Gains": Case-Shiller Misses, Rises By Slowest Since 2012 - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - August 26, 2014 - The fourth (or is it fifth?) dead cat bounce in the US housing market is rapidly fading, as we just confirmed by the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index data for the month of June, which saw a Y/Y increase in home prices of just 8.07%, below the 8.3% expected, and the slowest increase since December 2012. As the report noted, "for the first time since February 2008, all cities showed lower annual rates than the previous month." On a monthly basis, the NSA index, Case-Shiller's preferred, rose by 1.0% for the 10 and 20-City composite, with the Seasonally Adjusted composite declining for the second consecutive month: the last time there were two consecutive monthly declines during a price declining phase was in late 2010.
For millions of cord cutters, cable TV fades to black - USA Today - The Cincinnati Enquirer - Amber Hunt - August 24, 2014 - "I feel like cable is the one company that punishes loyalty," said Holt, 33, of Pleasant Ridge. "With every cable company, my bill continues to go up the longer I am a customer. Anywhere else, be it Kroger or at hotels or with airlines, I'm rewarded the longer I stay a customer." So when Holt and his wife, Genevieve, moved into a new house two years ago, they didn't bring DirecTV and its $100 monthly bill with them. Instead, they joined the estimated 7.6 million U.S. households that have left pay television behind. The number of pay-TV defectors is steadily rising: About 6.5 percent of households nationwide have cut the cord, up slightly from 4.5 percent in 2010, according to research by Experian Marketing Services. (Yes, the label is a slight misnomer, as most "cord cutters" do still deal with some actual cords.) Nearly one-fifth of Americans who have working Netflix or Hulu Plus accounts don't subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service. Michael Greeson, co-founder and director of research for the Diffusion Group, has been tracking cord-cutting trends since 2007. For the past several years, his surveys have consistently shown that about 15 percent of adult broadband users who subscribe to a pay-TV service are considering ditching it within the next six months. That more people aren't jumping ship is likely thanks to cable operators' aggressively working to keep subscribers when they call to cancel. They're offering quiet deals that their websites don't advertise in hopes of at least converting a would-be cord cutter into what's called a "cord shaver" — someone who scales down his or her service but doesn't bail on cable entirely. "If it were not for operators' jumping on this and the economy coming back, those numbers could be a lot larger now," Greeson said. "With cord cutting, we're not headed toward a mass exodus."
Dosher Hospital (Southport, NC) trustees vote to offer early retirement to help ease hospital's financial struggles - WECT TV (Wilmington, NC) - Emily Devoe - August 25, 2014 - The Dosher Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees voted unanimously to offer employees early retirement to try and alleviate the hospital's financial struggles. During the open session portion of Wednesday's meeting, Chief Financial Officer Dan Porter told board members that in order for Dosher to continue to operate and cope with inflation and higher industry costs, changes must be made. Porter said Dosher has a higher number of full-time employees per bed than the North Carolina median for critical access hospitals. In a presentation, Porter said, on average, it takes 82 days before Dosher receives patient payments as compared to 52 days for the average North Carolina hospital. The board considered two options: early retirement or layoffs. In order for staff members to receive early retirement, they would have to be 60 years old with at least five years of service. If the board opted for layoffs, employees would have received one week of severance care for ever year of service up to 12 weeks. Employees would have also received three months of health care...
Hound Note: Dosher is a Public Critical Access Hospital in Southport. This has been going on for a while. New Administration was brought in to run the hospital. This hospital has been a staple in Southport forever. Administration wants to make a profit. I am sure big bonuses factor into all of this. This is going to effect employees and service. Obamacare is closing the box around these facilities. This is a harbinger of the future, especially for Public Hospitals. Everyone wants to maintain the status quo, but it is impossible in this economic environment. As individuals, the only chance you have is Preventative Care. The future of medicine is a holistic approach that embraces a healthy lifestyle. Those who lead unhealthy lifestyles are going to die quicker, because you won't be able to afford to mask the unhealthiness as people have been doing. Popping pharmaceuticals isn't the solution.
Fred's to close 60 stores, accelerate pharmacy acquisitions - Memphis Business Journal - August 28, 2014 - Fred's Inc. today reported plans to close 60 stores without pharmacies by the end of the year, freeing up capital for an acceleration of its pharmacy acquisitions. Memphis-based Fred's (NASDAQ: FRED) said it would close the stores, more than 8.5 percent of its total of 704, as it reported a net loss in the second quarter of $16.4 million. Excluding the impact of reserves for the closures and inventory clearance, the net loss was $7.1 million, the company said.
For the entire year, Fred's will close 70 stores – or about 10 percent of its selling space, said Jerry Shore, Fred's executive vice president and CFO, in the company's earnings call Thursday afternoon.
Shore, reached by phone before the call, declined to disclose which stores would be closed and whether any are in Memphis. He also couldn't immediately provide an estimate of the number of employees that would be affected.
Hound Note: We have had Fred's in our area. You can tell the economy is hurting when these lower economic retailers are closing stores, consolidating, and/or refocusing. You have already been reading stories about Family Dollar's and Dollar General's struggles.
Survey: Americans' pessimism on economy has grown - AP through CNBC - August 28, 2014 -
Americans are more anxious about the economy now than they were right after the Great Recession ended despite stock market gains, falling unemployment, and growth moving closer to full health.
Seventy-one percent of Americans say they think the recession exerted a permanent drag on the economy, according to a survey being released Thursday by Rutgers University. By contrast, in November 2009, five months after the recession officially ended, the Rutgers researchers found that only 49 percent thought the downturn would have lasting damage... The slow pace of improvement during most of the recovery, now in its sixth year, has eroded confidence and slowed a return to the pay levels that many enjoyed before the economy suffered its worst collapse since the 1930s. About 42 percent of those surveyed say they have less pay and savings than before the recession began in late 2007. Just 7 percent say they're significantly better off...
Is There Capitalism After Cronyism? - Of Two Minds.com - Charles Hugh Smith - August 30, 2014 - The more the Status Quo pursues the same old Keynesian Cargo Cult script of central planning and free money for financiers, the more self-liquidating the system becomes.
Judging by the mainstream media, the most pressing problems facing capitalism are:
1) income inequality, the basis of Thomas Piketty’s bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and
2) the failure of laissez-faire markets to regulate their excesses, a common critique encapsulated by Paul Craig Roberts’
These critiques (and many similar diagnoses) reach a widely shared conclusion: capitalism must be reformed to save it from itself.
The proposed reforms align with each analyst’s basic ideological bent. Piketty’s solution to rising wealth inequality is the ultimate in statist centralization: a global wealth tax.
Roberts and others recommend reforming capitalism to embody social purpose and recognize environmental limits. Exactly how this economic reformation should be implemented is a question that sparks debates across the ideological spectrum, but the idea that capitalism can be reformed is generally accepted by left, right and libertarian alike.
Socio-economist Immanuel Wallerstein asks a larger question: can the current iteration of global capitalism be reformed, or is it poised to be replaced by some other arrangement?
recent book The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism...
"Widespread Slowdown In Home Price Gains": Case-Shiller Misses, Rises By Slowest Since 2012 - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - August 26, 2014 - The fourth (or is it fifth?) dead cat bounce in the US housing market is rapidly fading, as we just confirmed by the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index data for the month of June, which saw a Y/Y increase in home prices of just 8.07%, below the 8.3% expected, and the slowest increase since December 2012. As the report noted, "for the first time since February 2008, all cities showed lower annual rates than the previous month." On a monthly basis, the NSA index, Case-Shiller's preferred, rose by 1.0% for the 10 and 20-City composite, with the Seasonally Adjusted composite declining for the second consecutive month: the last time there were two consecutive monthly declines during a price declining phase was in late 2010.
Market at highs belies economic reality: Peter Schiff - Yahoo Finance - Jeff Macke - August 29, 2014 - In the attached clip Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff offers a rebuttal. On the economy:
The
data is garbage. “You’ve got to put 2nd quarter GDP into its proper
context,” he argues. The 4.2% print was a simple offset of the Q1-2.9%
weather disaster. “We’ve got a 1% economy. People are going to have to
figure that out.” Even at that it’s overstated in Schiff’s eyes. He views the economic reality as being a current decline.
On the apparent success of Quantitative Easing:
“We’re
going to overdose on it. The real crisis is not going to be because the
Fed stops QE but because it continues it to the point that we have a
dollar crisis. That’s going to force a big increase in rates ultimately
and this whole bubble economy that the Fed has worked so hard to inflate
is going to implode in a big way.”
David Stockman Interview on King World News - August 31, 2014 -
David A. Stockman is Former Director of the US Office of Management
and Budget (USOMB), Economic Policy Maker, Politician, Financier &
Acclaimed Author - After leaving the White House, Stockman had a
20-year career on Wall Street where he joined Salomon Bros. He later
became one of the original partners at New York-based private equity
firm, The Blackstone Group and in 1999 started his own private equity
fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Defying right- and left-wing
boxes, his latest book a New York Times best-seller, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America (2013), (Audio of Interview)
(Synopsis) - Perilous state of the economy... Greatest suckers rally in history; laboring heavily in its final days. Yawning gap between the terrible condition of the real economy on Main Street and this fantastic bubble that we have had on Wall Street... Bumping along at 2% (GDP)... P/E ratios of 20:1 for broad market. Russell 2000 is trading P/E's of 80:1. Yield on sovereign debt (10 year treasury bond) at 2.35% not realistic. Results from the heavy hand of Central Banks buying sovereign debt. Not sustainable. More of the same the rest of the year. Game is almost up. Rising level of anxiety and apprehension... End game will be a massive repricing in the entire market - DEFLATION!!! Asset prices are overvalued. Real Estate and Equities.
For millions of cord cutters, cable TV fades to black - USA Today - The Cincinnati Enquirer - Amber Hunt - August 24, 2014 - "I feel like cable is the one company that punishes loyalty," said Holt, 33, of Pleasant Ridge. "With every cable company, my bill continues to go up the longer I am a customer. Anywhere else, be it Kroger or at hotels or with airlines, I'm rewarded the longer I stay a customer." So when Holt and his wife, Genevieve, moved into a new house two years ago, they didn't bring DirecTV and its $100 monthly bill with them. Instead, they joined the estimated 7.6 million U.S. households that have left pay television behind. The number of pay-TV defectors is steadily rising: About 6.5 percent of households nationwide have cut the cord, up slightly from 4.5 percent in 2010, according to research by Experian Marketing Services. (Yes, the label is a slight misnomer, as most "cord cutters" do still deal with some actual cords.) Nearly one-fifth of Americans who have working Netflix or Hulu Plus accounts don't subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service. Michael Greeson, co-founder and director of research for the Diffusion Group, has been tracking cord-cutting trends since 2007. For the past several years, his surveys have consistently shown that about 15 percent of adult broadband users who subscribe to a pay-TV service are considering ditching it within the next six months. That more people aren't jumping ship is likely thanks to cable operators' aggressively working to keep subscribers when they call to cancel. They're offering quiet deals that their websites don't advertise in hopes of at least converting a would-be cord cutter into what's called a "cord shaver" — someone who scales down his or her service but doesn't bail on cable entirely. "If it were not for operators' jumping on this and the economy coming back, those numbers could be a lot larger now," Greeson said. "With cord cutting, we're not headed toward a mass exodus."
Dosher Hospital (Southport, NC) trustees vote to offer early retirement to help ease hospital's financial struggles - WECT TV (Wilmington, NC) - Emily Devoe - August 25, 2014 - The Dosher Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees voted unanimously to offer employees early retirement to try and alleviate the hospital's financial struggles. During the open session portion of Wednesday's meeting, Chief Financial Officer Dan Porter told board members that in order for Dosher to continue to operate and cope with inflation and higher industry costs, changes must be made. Porter said Dosher has a higher number of full-time employees per bed than the North Carolina median for critical access hospitals. In a presentation, Porter said, on average, it takes 82 days before Dosher receives patient payments as compared to 52 days for the average North Carolina hospital. The board considered two options: early retirement or layoffs. In order for staff members to receive early retirement, they would have to be 60 years old with at least five years of service. If the board opted for layoffs, employees would have received one week of severance care for ever year of service up to 12 weeks. Employees would have also received three months of health care...
Hound Note: Dosher is a Public Critical Access Hospital in Southport. This has been going on for a while. New Administration was brought in to run the hospital. This hospital has been a staple in Southport forever. Administration wants to make a profit. I am sure big bonuses factor into all of this. This is going to effect employees and service. Obamacare is closing the box around these facilities. This is a harbinger of the future, especially for Public Hospitals. Everyone wants to maintain the status quo, but it is impossible in this economic environment. As individuals, the only chance you have is Preventative Care. The future of medicine is a holistic approach that embraces a healthy lifestyle. Those who lead unhealthy lifestyles are going to die quicker, because you won't be able to afford to mask the unhealthiness as people have been doing. Popping pharmaceuticals isn't the solution.
Fred's to close 60 stores, accelerate pharmacy acquisitions - Memphis Business Journal - August 28, 2014 - Fred's Inc. today reported plans to close 60 stores without pharmacies by the end of the year, freeing up capital for an acceleration of its pharmacy acquisitions. Memphis-based Fred's (NASDAQ: FRED) said it would close the stores, more than 8.5 percent of its total of 704, as it reported a net loss in the second quarter of $16.4 million. Excluding the impact of reserves for the closures and inventory clearance, the net loss was $7.1 million, the company said.
For the entire year, Fred's will close 70 stores – or about 10 percent of its selling space, said Jerry Shore, Fred's executive vice president and CFO, in the company's earnings call Thursday afternoon.
Shore, reached by phone before the call, declined to disclose which stores would be closed and whether any are in Memphis. He also couldn't immediately provide an estimate of the number of employees that would be affected.
Hound Note: We have had Fred's in our area. You can tell the economy is hurting when these lower economic retailers are closing stores, consolidating, and/or refocusing. You have already been reading stories about Family Dollar's and Dollar General's struggles.
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