Memorial Day Metro service changes -- yuh oh

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Memorial Day: yay. Metro service changes: boo. 
Metro is working on tracks this weekend, so beware if you are taking the Green, Yellow or Red lines. 
DCist has the full list, but starting at 10 pm tonight, the Green line won't be running between Fort Totten and Greenbelt, there's a shuttle bus instead. In addition, the Yellow line stops at Mt. Vernon Square the Red line is single tracking with a lot fewer trains than usual. Then on Monday, everything will be on a Sunday schedule.
Not too much fun.

Girls Rock! DC benefit at Acre 121 on June 2

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This sounds like fun. Girls Rock! DC is a group that holds music camps for girls, with instruction on instruments and singing, plus lessons about the history of women in music, promoting bands, gender, conflict resolution and more. It's a pretty cool group, and a fun-sounding event.

Acre 121 to host second annual Girls Rock! DC benefit show June 2

Anti girl-band Mzry Loves Company will headline alongside DC dancerock band Glitterlust at Acre 121 on Saturday, June 2 as part of a six-band showcase that will raise money for this summer's annual Girls Rock! DC music camp for young women.

The show begins at 9 p.m. and will feature a bevy of lady rockers who play all styles, from acoustic and rock to dance and hip-hop. This year's line-up also includes acoustic duo Frankie & Betty, Baltimore-based blues trio More AM Than FM, seasoned alt-rock band G.U.T.S. with Tiik, and Nikki Smith with members of her band J Street. 

Smith, who organizes dozens of shows around the city that highlight talented female artists – including Phase 1's monthly open mic and a local Ladies of Rock showcase – created Band Camp Benefit last year as a way for a growing community of female musicians to support GR!DC's efforts to inspire and empower the next generation of lady rockers.

Volunteers from GR!DC will be collecting a suggested donation of $10 at the door, and 100 percent of proceeds will go directly toward their weeklong music camp, now in its fifth year, that culminates with a camper showcase at 9:30 Club.

Acre 121 1400 Irving Street NW(202) 328-0121
Girls Rock! DChttp://www.girlsrockdc.org/about/
Facebook eventhttps://www.facebook.com/events/361591693898263/

Banneker Pool report: there's shade, and they're checking IDs more strictly

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The city's outdoor pools opened this weekend, and being a big pool fan, I hit Banneker Pool at Georgia and Euclid. 
The first thing I noticed was that there's shade! The city added two blue awnings over parts of the south end, which is great -- in previous years there was no shade at all, and you're not supposed to bring in umbrellas. The pool was crowded, so spots under the awning were at a premium, but hey, it's a start.

In addition, they're checking IDs a lot more strictly than before. In previous years, they'd take any kind of mail with a DC address, but now they said they'd only do that the first weekend, and that you'd need to either get a DC license or go the 441 4th Street NW (One Judiciary Square) and get a city-issued ID card, which costs about $5. The guy at the door said he'd take a utility bill (not cell phone) at first, but beware if you aren't a DC resident. Personally, I think this is a good thing, as the place can get crowded.

But as usual, the pool was a blast. They played a boombox, the large lifeguard did some funny dives and got applause from the crowd, and I didn't get too sunburned. A solid weekend.

There was also a Caddyshack moment, however, as at one point the pool was evacuated because somebody threw up in it, but you take the good with the bad.

Pools are currently open Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 pm, and starting June 18 they'll be open on weekdays too.

Panera opening sidewalk cafe this week

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This is good news for fans of Panera on Park Road: they're opening up a roughly dozen-seat sidewalk cafe this week.

I saw the fence up this past weekend and asked the staff about it, who said they were working on the furniture and it would be open this week.

Nice to see this, as the place is often packed and it's getting nice out. Seems like a good spot to sit and read the paper and have some breakfast.

Now if only they served breakfast later -- it stops at 11 or something like that.

Rant: it's called the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza

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Here's something that's been bothering me a bit lately: the triangle at the intersection of 14th, Park and Kenyon is called the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza, but I've seen lots of other names floating around: Tivoli Plaza, Kenyon Plaza, Columbia Heights Triangle, various things with fountain in the name and so on. It's a nice place, let's call it by one name. It'll be a lot easier than "you know, the triangle plaza place with the fountain near the Giant and stuff."

For example, official sources like the Columbia Heights Streetscape's now-defunct website and the city's Public Realm Plan calls it the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza. (which is also below for your reading enjoyment, though it's 124 pages.)

There's some cool videos shot there too, like this from a festival (and of course the skateboarding dog.)


CHPR Plan Full

Writer puts life in dramatic form.(Arts)

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Conventionalwisdom in late 20th-century America says that white directors need to treadcarefully, if they dare to tread at all, when it comes to doing material aboutblack people.
Emily Mann, thewriter-director who adapted "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100Years" for the stage, is familiar with the issue. The play is based on thememoir of Sarah L. (Sadie) and A. Elizabeth (Bessie) Delany, two centenariansisters whose father was born into slavery - a situation that skeptics mightsay can only be fully appreciated by a black writer-director.
"I know allabout it, believe me," Miss Mann, 44, says with a wry laugh. "I knowwhat I'm up against - that white people are exploiting black people's stories.I know the whole scene. And at a certain point I thought, `I could not do this,or I will do it - and if other people have a problem with it, they have aproblem with it.' "
Not many peoplehave had a problem with "Having Our Say." The play, adapted from the1991 book, is a charming portrait of two fascinating women (in the face ofearly 20th-century racism, Sadie became a high school teacher, Bessie became adentist). The Delanys' story is also a journey across a large, rocky patch ofAmerican history.
As adapted anddirected by Miss Mann and acted by Mary Alice and Gloria Foster, "HavingOur Say" became one of the surprise hits of the 1994-95 Broadway season.The national touring company, starring Lizan Mitchell and Micki Grant, begins amonthlong run at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater on Tuesday. And thesingle-set, two-character drama will be the fifth most-produced show in thecountry's regional theaters this year.
Stylistically,"Having Our Say" is right up Miss Mann's alley, Testimonies" isthe apt title of a soon to be published collection of Miss Mann's plays; hermethod is to bring dramatic shape and theatrical energy to real-life materialthat she pulls from archives or gathers in interviews. The first thing she doesduring an interview in her office at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J.(where she is the artistic director), is admire the reporter's microcassetterecorder.
"Greatsize," she says with a professional's curiosity. "Wow."
And the firstquestion she asks, watching the machine's little red light flicker unsteadily,is, "Are you picking me up, do you think?"
"Annulla, AnAutobiography" was Miss Mann's first play. It came out of an interviewthat she did with a friend's aunt, a Jewish woman who had managed to survive inEurope during World War II. "Still Life," also culled from first-handinterviews, followed; it features straightforward testimony from afrighteningly violent Vietnam War veteran, his terrorized wife and his lover,who seems to view the vet's dark side with an assassin's calm.
"Execution ofJustice" deals with the murder of George Moscone (then mayor of SanFrancisco) and Harvey Milk (a city supervisor) at the hands of former citycouncilman Dan White. And Miss Mann's most recent work, "Greensboro: ARequiem," revisits the 1979 incident in which members of the Ku Klux Klanand the American Nazis shot 13 people at an anti-Klan rally, killing five.
Not surprisingly,Miss Mann has worked with another of the American theater's greatdocumentarians, Anna Deveare Smith, having directed her in "Twilight: LosAngeles 1992" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
All of Miss Mann'splays are rigorously topical and range from the fragmented courtroom drama of"Execution" to the kitchen-chat style of "Annulla." Thereal Annulla Allen chopped carrots as she plundered her own history - asituation that Miss Mann says is typical.
"I learnedabout the Holocaust in my grandmother's kitchen," she says. "And howmost of us learn about great wisdom in the world and what happens to people isliterally in our aunts' or our mothers' or our grandmothers' kitchens. That's avery secure, safe, warm, familiar place."
All of whichexplains why Emily Mann can say of "Having Our Say," a kind oflandscape of America told in intimate terms, "It's totally what I do. It'sdocumentary. It's in their own words."
* * *
Emily Mann grew upwith a solid understanding of what the civil rights movement was about. Herfather was a historian, and one of his good friends was fellow historian JohnHope Franklin. The two men can be seen briefly in "Having Our Say,"which uses a picture of the two of them - a white man and a black man -marching side by side from Selma to Montgomery.
Her father'soccupation helped push Miss Mann's theatrical career in its unique direction.As a literature major at Harvard, she was interested in writing fiction anddirecting plays. But one day, home on break from school, she ran across aninterview that her father had gathered as part of a project on Holocaustsurvivors. An adult woman had interviewed her mother, who had survived theTreblinka camp. The poignancy of the survivor's tale, coupled with themother-daughter dynamic of the conversation, fired Miss Mann's imagination.That encounter, she felt, would be powerful stuff in the theater.
After Harvard,Miss Mann was the first female director accepted into a training program run bythe University of Minnesota and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. It wasthere that she turned the Annulla Allen transcript into a play. Since then, hercareer has taken her to theaters across the country as she has earned Obieawards, Tony nominations and even an NAACP award (from the L.A. chapter as bestdirector, for "Twilight").
Miss Mann isbeginning her seventh season at the helm of the McCarter, an old-fashioned1,078-seat auditorium. The theater is part of a performing-arts complex inwhich plays share the auditorium with dance and music programs. Twyla Tharp,Mark Morris and Kathleen Battle are all on the schedule this season.
The McCarter is a1929 stone building that looks like a grand old church. But the $12 millionrenovation that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s left the McCarterwith some intriguing modern marks, such as the skylights that flood naturallight into the whitewashed hallways of the administrative offices and thegreenish glass walls tucked into the sides of the building.
That new-old lookreflects the spirit of the programming, which includes classics andcontemporary stuff on hot topics. Miss Mann says that the McCarter has becomethe American base of South African playwright Athol Fugard, whose "ValleySong" received its American premiere there recently. (Mr. Fugard wrote theaffectionate introduction to Miss Mann's "Testimonies.")
It's a place whereMiss Mann can do her pot-stirring "Greensboro" as well as Irishplaywright Marina Carr's "The Mai" (her current project), which,according to the director, has no burning social issues in mind. And directorStephen Wadsworth has had great success at the McCarter with the 18th-centurycomedies of Marivaux, which would seem to have nothing in common with somethinglike "Greensboro."
"But ofcourse it does, to me," Miss Mann says. "I mean, I think theater isabout all these things. It's basically about the human heart, the human soul,and what it is to be alive. And that has to do sometimes with the times inwhich you live."
Indeed, Marivauxwas a class-conscious writer. Still, the rhetoric automatically heats up whenMiss Mann talks about what's in her own plays:
"This isabout human beings and what we do to each other. Sometimes it is brutal andit's disgusting and it should be stopped."
That statementapplies to all her works. So does this one:
"There's aterrorist element in our society. I'm just saying, `Look at it.'
"
* * *
The McCarter won aTony Award as the country's outstanding regional theater two years ago, just as"Having Our Say" was coming around. Miss Mann was actually working on"Greensboro" at the time, but excitement over "Having Our Say"(primarily from her producers, Camille O. Cosby - wife of Bill - and JudithRutherford James) took over. In fact, enthusiasm ran so high that "HavingOur Say" was put into the McCarter's 1994-95 season before Miss Mann hadeven written the adaptation.
Miss Mann talksabout the Delany sisters, whom she met in their home in Mount Vernon, N.Y.,with bubbly fondness. She recalls that at the end of their session together,Sadie told her, "Child, I feel like I've known you all my life" - aline that worked itself into the play.
The warmth andcharisma of the Delanys has a lot to do with their story's popularity. But thesocial angle obviously matters, too; Miss Mann calls the play "covertlypolitical."
"Of course itdeals with the history of the African-American struggle in this country, and ofwomen's struggle in this country," Miss Mann says. "But at base ittalks about survival through family and love and education, and for them, faithin God and spirituality."
Miss Mann thinksthere is more political writing happening in the theater than many peoplerealize, but she says she dislikes agit-prop and tries to avoid it in her ownwork.
"I think I'mtalking about plays that have something to say. Is there enough of that?There's never enough of that, you know? In any society."

Playwright Has Her Say // Emily Mann Gives A Voice to History

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`Having Our Say' Through April 7Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted Tickets, $32.50-$39.50 (312) 348-4000 Playwright Emily Mann has a lot on her mind.Not only has her most recent work, "Greensboro," opened at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., but "Having Our Say," her successful Broadway play about centenarian sisters Sadie and Bessie Delany, recently moved to Chicago for a run at the Briar Street Theatre.
And then there's the screenplay for "Having Our Say," which she is developing with Camille Cosby and Judy James (co-producer of "Mr. Holland's Opus"), who were also involved in producing the play.
It's easy to see that Mann, who has spent many hours over the past few years ensconced in the lives of the Delany sisters, isn't quite ready to give them up.
Now in her sixth season as artistic director at the McCarter Theatre, Mann first heard of the Delanys' book, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, from her sister and was encouraged to adapt it by her good friend James.
A history of creating works based in social and oral history made this book a natural for Mann's creative talents. Puzzled at first about how to adapt the work, Mann decided "not to put the miniseries or movie onstage" but rather "to make this a real, live event in the way I've been making plays for the last 20 years, through documentary and oral history."
"We get to meet the sisters the way we meet them in the book. It's that simple," she explained. "They sit and talk to the audience just the way they talked to Amy Hill Hearth for the book."
And talk they do, ; speaking; with humor and grace about their early years in a family of 10 children, about their love for the eccentric characters of their childhood, about life in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, about their experiences during the blossoming of the Civil Rights movement and about their amazement at how old they have gotten but how young they feel.
As the sisters share these stories, the play is punctuated with music and photo images of Delany family members and historical events. In the movie, audiences will get to see all the scenarios played out, but onstage the audience's imagination comes into play.
An extensive outreach program was kept in place even after the show's move from the McCarter Theatre to Broadway. Matinee performances for children and an extensive study guide (both are also planned for the Chicago run) were created in order to give children "a history lesson without them knowing it's really a history lesson."
Spending her high school years in Hyde Park, where her father was a professor of American history at the University of Chicago, helped Mann plant her roots in social history. From 1966-70, when Mann was in high school, Hyde Park was an integrated neighborhood, and many people dedicated to social change and civil rights lived there.
And Mann was a teenager "right in the middle of it all, learning a lot and being politicized." Counted among the family friends was noted African-American historian John Hope Franklin, with whom her father marched from Selma to Montgomery.
"I was very lucky that I was surrounded by a lot of very smart and dedicated people," said Mann. "From a very early age, I was instilled with an incredible sense of social responsibility and history. In a lot of ways, Hyde Park in those early years formed the themes for what I have written and for what I continue to write."
Mann, who began her career at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre, is very optimistic about what she calls the "national theater movement," the smaller theaters around the country that have a national impact. As artistic director at the McCarter, she is involved in this movement on a grass-roots level.
(The playwright's latest work, "Greensboro," is a docudrama about the murder of five anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators more than 15 years ago. The protesters, both black and white, died during an altercation Nov. 3, 1979, in the North Carolina city. Nine others were wounded. Police did not intervene. As is Mann's way, the material is culled from interviews with participants, eyewitnesses and from court records.)
"I have great hopes for the national theater movement. These theaters play to their communities and go beyond their communities," Mann said. "There are great examples of this right here in Chicago with its vast array of theater, from big to small.
"Chicago is a great model for the rest of the country. It proves you need the little guys to feed the big guys. And it's a constant breeding ground for new talent and makes for an exciting atmosphere to create in."
Mann loves theater as entertainment, but she also is drawn to the theater of ideas, of new and inventive works that push the boundaries of traditional theater. "Great entertainment is when the heart and the mind and the spirit and the funnybone are engaged all at once. Just one is not enough. I'm not fully satisfied or entertained with just one."

Harris-Teeter sued by former employee who objected to unpaid overtime work.

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HARRIS-TEETER SUEDBY FORMER EMPLOYEE
WHO OBJECTED TO UNPAIDOVERTIME WORK
GREENSBORO, N.C.,June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Harris-Teeter grocery chain is being sued by aformer grocery manager at one of its Greensboro stores who claims he was forcedto resign in September 1988 after complaining about unpaid overtime work.
Total damagescould exceed $100,000, the plaintiff's attorneys believe.
The suit, filedFriday in U.S. District Court here, alleges that Michael L. Hall of Ruffin wasdemoted to stocker, directed to take a polygraph examination, and forced toquit after protesting unpaid overtime work averaging 12-16 hours per week overa nearly three-month period.
Hall is seeking$1,620 in uncompensated overtime plus interest in lost wages as well asbenefits for being forced to resign, an action he believes was a "wrongfuldischarge." Federal law prohibits discrimination against employees whocomplain about violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and North Carolinacommon law bars the discharge of employees in violation of "public policy,"such as laws requiring employers to pay time-and-one-half for all overtimehours.
The suit allegesthat Harris-Teeter acted in "bad faith" toward Hall after hiscomplaint by demoting him from manager of its Summit Avenue store to a stockingposition at the High Point Road and Adams Farm store and forcing hisresignation.
Hall also contendsthat he was not offered the opportunity to purchase continuation healthinsurance at the company's group rate as required under the 1985 COBRA law.Employers who violate COBRA are liable for a $100 per day fine, payable to theemployee, for failing to notify employees of their right to elect continuationcoverage for up to 18 months, plus a potential $200 a day excise tax for notproviding the coverage to an employee with eligible dependents.
Attorneys from theUnited Food & Commercial Workers Union are assisting Hall in the suit,which is the second brought by the union in recent months against a Carolinagrocery chain. In March, union attorneys helped a former Food Lion employee filea class action suit alleging a scheme to terminate employees to restricteligibility for profit-sharing benefits and a failure to offer COBRA coverageto terminated workers.
UFCW Local 204represents Harris-Teeter warehouse employees, but Hall, like all of thecompany's store workers, is not a union member. No Food Lion employees areunion members.
The suit filedFriday contends other Harris-Teeter employees have been forced to work unpaidovertime. Last fall, union representatives handbilled Harris-Teeter stores withinformation about violations of wage-and-hour laws and other federal laborlaws.
OtherHarris-Teeter employees have contacted the union about similar violations,attorneys said, and the cases are being investigated to determine if they shouldbe added to this suit.
The UFCW hascharged that lax enforcement of wage and hour laws is costing retail foodworkers an estimated $1 billion a year in lost wages. UFCW President William H.Wynn has pledged union assistance to non-union workers, like Hall, in filingsuit because "when non-union companies are allowed to break the law withimpunity, they gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers who employUFCW members and obey the law."

How to get arrested on Black Friday

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Thanksgiving as weknow it is gone. The only national holiday that actually includes humility andgratitude as subtext is no more. Yes, individual families can refuse to beco-opted by Madison Avenue, but the poor bastards who have no choice - thoseemployed in low-paying retail jobs - will be out of luck from now on. Targetdecided to seize Thanksgiving from its employees this year by opening atmidnight on Black Friday, despite 200,000 online-petition signatures asking thecompany to reverse its decision.
Our Ugly Americanembrace of unadulterated, mindless consumerism has consequences - not just forour souls but also for the lives of those who are exploited in order for us tolive so extravagantly.
My friend LauraBiesack, a UNC-Chapel Hill undergrad, had to be at her job at the Old Navystore in Gary at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Her family had an early dinner soshe could be included. Her plight was shared by many, but if you think workerrights are ignored in right-to-work North Carolina, try to imagine a job in aChinese, Latin American or Indonesian sweatshop, places of despair where mostof the stuff Americans purchased on Black Friday was manufactured.
Duke DivinitySchool professor of Christian ethics Stanley Hauerwas told me, for a story Iwrote in the National Catholic Reporter, that Americans are, for the most part,good, decent and hardworking people, but "so were the people thatsupported the Nazis."
"Goodness canbecome deeply corrupted by its innocence," he went on. "Most of thetime innocence is deeply immoral because it is such a lie not to acknowledgethat we live in a very complex world that we benefit from, and we don't have toacknowledge the havoc our benefits depend upon."
But there's hope.While millions of Americans pitched tents and pulled all-nighters toparticipate in the Black Friday consumer cult-a-thon, many instead recognizedBlack Friday as Buy-Nothing Day. In Garner, my friend Mike Munster and Ibrought our kids to the entrance of a Walmart Supercenter in Garner for 90 minutesof picketing, an annual Buy-Nothing Day ritual of the Charlie MulhollandCatholic Worker House.
My sign asked,"Do You Really Need All That Junk?" while my daughter Bernadette heldone that read, "Celebrate Families Not Shopping." Mike brought a newsign that we plan to use again next year: "Give Time Not Stuffi"Other friends, Joette Steger, Marsh Hardy, Pat Mosca and Ivonne Vera, joinedus, so we had the entrance well covered.
Even though Iregularly demonstrate in support of labor unions and against war, the deathpenalty and discrimination against immigrants, nothing is as un-American as toprotest shopping. Most folks who drove by looked incredulous or perplexed,although it was nice to see an occasional smile from someone who "gotit," and a few people rolled down their car wjndow to apologize for theirerrant ways, giving us a laugh.
Marsh mentionedthat some of the Occupy Raleigh group planned to go to Crabtree Valley Mallthat afternoon for a flash mob action. I ran the idea by my kids, who were game,so we headed to the Occupy encampment That's when the "Crabtree SpecialPolice" and other law enforcement appeared and warned us that mallprotests would not be tolerated.
The questionbecame, "What constitutes an illegal protest at the mall?" (A questionnow before the Wake County district attorney). The - cops told us that no signswould be allowed in the mall, so we left them behind and carpookd to Crabtree.At the food court, several of us sat down for a few minutes of planning. Therewas a stage nearby, and the situation looked promising.
With my redheaded6-year-old, Mary Evelyn, on my shoulders, I climbed the stairs to the stage toannounce we were here to "Occupy Crabtree " Valley MaIL" Thecuriosity of seeing a gray-haired, middle-aged man with a kid on his shouldersyelling from a stage at the food court did the trick The crowd of hundreds fellsilent, while some cheered as I gave a short spiel about love being moreimportant than shopping. I rambled a bit, but the rest of the group came to my assistance.Soon the food court was echoing with the cry. "Human need, not corporategreed."
While I'm suremany people did not agree with us, few could argue that our performance wasnot, for the most part, amusing and fun. I saw plenty of smiling faces, andlots of folks took out their cellphones to record the protest or take pictures.
Soon, a very angrymob of police arrived to break up the show. The crowd cheered loudly, some forus and some for the police who had come to restore good order to shopping.
Those with me,including my children, walked to the nearest door to leave. Once outside,police corralled us into a corner and announced we were under arrest fortrespassing and disorderly conduct The only problem: Two people who hadaccompanied us, Derek Cronmiller and Charles Hancock, while both a part ofOccupy Raleigh, had not participated in the protest. A third, Jen Schradie, aUC Berkeley sociology doctoral student studying social movements; had spent theentire time filming the event, not joining it.
No matter, thecops slapped uncomfortable plastic handcuffs on the six of us and brought usdowntown to be booked. The magistrate gave Occupy Raleigh activist Emily Garvín,who had been arrested recently at the Capitol during a police sweep, a $500 bond;the other four, including Roger Ehrlich, a father of four from Gary, werereleased on a promise to return for trial.
I was given a$1,500 bond despite my promise to honorably return for trial. My wife, MaryRider, bailed me out of jail a few hours later, thanks to loans from four ofour friends. We look forward to our court date, Jan. 12, 2012.
While we had anexciting, and even scary, experience at Crabtree, I think the folks from theSilk Hope Catholic Worker House had more fun at The Streets at Southpoint mallin Durham. Catholic Workers Steve Woolford and Annie SewDev joined others andentered the mall as "Zombie Shoppers." Dressed in ripped clothingwith makeup and fake blood, the five zombies hit two levels of the mall walkingstiff-legged and reciting mantras like, "Zombie must shop. Zombie lovesales," SewDev said.
After beingconfronted by police and mall security, the zombies decided to stay incharacter. "I stayed in character until they asked if I'd beendrinking," SewDev said.
Woolford said hestayed in character the longest. "Zombie have no credit. You buy thingsfor zombie?" Woolford said he told shoppers.
When security toldWoolford he was being disruptive, he said: "Kids see zombie, kids smile.You show me where zombie disrupt? You lie; zombie no disrupt."
When he was askedfor his identification, Woolford said, "Zombie no have ID. Zombiedead."
At Best Buy, oneemployee called a co-worker and said, "There's some zombies here makingfun of Black Friday. Come down, you've got to see this." Another personsaid the zombies could shop, "they just couldn't grunt."
(Woolford has anidea for next year. He might go to the mall dressed as Santa Claus and juststart giving stuff away: "Ho, ho, ho. Take this. This is for you.")
After being toldshe was banned from Southpoint for a year, SewDev whined, "Not a wholeyear. Where will zombie shop?"
Sadly, even thezombie shoppers couldn't save Thanksgiving.

GOV. PERDUE ANNOUNCES CAREER AND COLLEGE PROMISE.

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RALEIGH, NC -- Thefollowing information was released by the office of the governor of NorthCarolina:
Program willprovide focused, affordable pathways to success for students
Gov. Bev Perduetoday launched Career and College Promise, her program that will guaranteeeligible high school age students a clear, focused and affordable path to asuccessful future.
"Career andCollege Promise will prepare eligible high school students for life after highschool - that means college credit for some, job training for others,"Gov. Bev Perdue said. "Regardless of whether a student plans to go tocollege or get a job, Career and College Promise provides focused preparation,tuition-free to the student."
The program offersthree pathways for students.
College Transfer -Earn tuition-free course credits toward a four-year degree through NorthCarolina's community colleges. All North Carolina public colleges anduniversities are participating and many independent colleges and universitieshave signed on as well.
Technical Careers- Earn tuition-free course credits at an NC Community College toward anentry-level job credential, certificate or diploma in a technical career.
CooperativeInnovative High Schools (limited availability) - Begin earning tuition-freecollege credits as early as freshman year by attending a Cooperative InnovativeHigh School, such as an Early College High School.
Students whoparticipate will be on a focused, directed path. Each course or credit theyearn will move them forward toward a degree, diploma or credential. Studentswho complete the program will have a jump on their post-high school work.
"NorthCarolina students want options for the future. Career and College Promiseoffers them a clear, accelerated path that puts college and career credentialswell within their reach," said Superintendent of Public Instruction JuneAtkinson.
Gov. Perdueproposed the initiative in her State of the State address earlier this year.Career and College Promise earned broad, bipartisan support in the legislature.The first students will begin work in the program in the Spring 2012 semester.
"I am pleasedthat the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch were able to work togetherto bring this issue to the forefront," said Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-RandolphCounty, a retired school administrator who co-chairs the education budgetcommittee in the Senate.
Students whomaintain a "B" average and meet other eligibility requirements canbegin earning college credit or valuable job skills, tuition-free as juniorsand seniors in the college transfer and technical education pathways. Studentsenrolled in innovative high schools can earn an associate degree andhigh-school diploma at the same time. Career and College Promise consolidatesother dual-enrollment programs.
"Career andCollege Promise provides a new structure that lets qualified high schoolstudents accelerate their work toward college degrees or technical educationcertificates or diplomas, tuition-free," said Dr. Scott Ralls, Presidentof the N.C. Community College System. "Career and College Promise willsave students time and money and allow North Carolina high school students tomove forward on well-defined pathways, not just enroll in random collegecourses. It is an efficient and effective way to further student success."
Students whoselect the College Transfer option will be working toward earning 44 hours ofcollege credit that will fully transfer to a 4-year institution.
"We know thateducation is the key to transforming our local, state and nationaleconomies," said Tom Ross, president of the 17-campus University of NorthCarolina. "In fact, by 2018, an estimated 59 percent of North Carolina'sjobs will require some level of education beyond high school. Career andCollege Promise offers eligible high school students a head start in preparingfor college and can help ensure that they have a number of seamless pathways toenroll in one of our UNC campuses."
Gov. Perdue's toppriorities are helping the economy grow and ensuring that our education systemis preparing students to be competitive in a 21st century global economy. Theprogram is already receiving praise from business leaders.
"Thisinitiative is a bold and forward-looking approach to meet the educational needsof North Carolina's children, while also assuring the 21st Century workforceour state needs," said Cynthia Marshall, president of ATandT NorthCarolina and immediate past chair of the North Carolina Chamber. "I amconvinced that every child can learn and achieve, and this plan provides aframework for success."
Dale Whitworth,senior VP at Golden Corral and chair of the N.C. Business Committee forEducation, said, "Preparing students for the new knowledge-based, globaleconomy is not optional for us if we are to succeed as a state and nation.Career and College Promise creates higher expectations for all students and providesa head start that focuses and prepares them for college or careers."
Career and CollegePromise is part of Gov. Perdue's commitment to ensure that all North Carolinachildren graduate high school ready to succeed at a two- or four-yearinstitution or in a career.
"Gov.Perdue's Career and College Promise embraces the commitment we owe our studentsto ensure a successful future for all children," said Brian Freeman, a K-5instructional coach in the Cumberland County Schools." 

Sam's Club in Mooresville soon

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Sam's Club, as originally reported by my colleague Joe Marusak, is planning to seek approval for a store near Interstate 77, Exit 36.

The store would be off of N.C. 150 West, on Ervin Road. That's across from the Mooresville Crossing shopping center. The company will ask Mooresville's Planning Board for a rezoning to allow the store on Thursday, May 10.

Sam's Club is owned by Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart. The company had 5.8 percent of Charlotte-area grocery sales in 2011, up from 5.5 percent in 2010, according to the latest market share data from Chain Store Guide. The closest Sam's Clubs to Mooresville now are currently in Kannapolis or the University City area in Charlotte.

Lowe's puts out mobile app for Android

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Mooresville-based Lowe's Inc. has unveiled a version of its mobile app for Android phones, as it continues to bulk up its digital commerce offerings and catch up with rival Home Depot.

The free app, announced last week, is the same as the  existing iPhone version. It allows users to shop from their phones, find stores and instructional videos, and track their purchases with the MyLowe's online tool. And with Android accounting for 61 percent of smart phone sales in the first quarter, it allows Lowe's to reach a big part of the market previously left in the dark.

"Expanding our app availability to Android users and integrating MyLowe's is part of empowering consumers with the ability to access information wherever and whenever they choose," said Lowes.com vice president Gihad Jawhar in a statement.

Home Depot, the country's largest home improvement retailer, embraced mobile apps before Lowe's, with iPhone and Android apps out for more than a year. The Atlanta-based company has also been aggressive with in-store QR code scanning and online shopping, and deployed thousands of mobile devices to its in-store clerks to speed customer service.

Lowe's, after several disappointing quarters, responded by creating the MyLowe's online portal, an iPhone app, rolling out  tens of thousands of iPhones to in-store associates, beefing up its e-commerce selection and expanding in-store Wi-Fi to allow customers to use smart phones while shopping. With its Android app, Lowe's now can reach nearly the entire smart phone market (Except for me - I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last five people on Earth with a Blackberry).

So both Lowe's and Home Depot have now placed big bets on the power of mobile technology to transform their in-store retail experience. What do you think?

Jeweler, chiropractor coming to Ballantyne Village

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Abraham Joseph Fine Jewelers and Ballantyne Chiropractic Wellness are set to open this summer in Ballantyne Village, the south Charlotte shopping center said.

The chiropractic center will be owned by Dr. Cheri Snipes, and will offer services such as spinal decompression, infrared sauna therapy, and anti-aging services.

“My mission is to provide the Ballantyne community with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their health care, chronic disease prevention and injury treatment,” Dr. Snipes said, in a statement.

Abraham Joseph is owned by Abraham Pamucki, a native of Turkey who started his career as a jewelry apprentice there. The shop will do custom designs, in-house repairs, diamond and gemstone settings, and appraisals, as well as selling diamonds and gemstones.

"Our in-house manufacturing allows the customer to create their own item reflecting their individual personality and style," said Pamucki, in a statement. The stores are set to open this summer, although no exact date was given.


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New boutique opening on East Boulevard

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A new boutique named Vestique is opening next week on East Boulevard, bringing women's apparels and accessories.

The store, at 1532 East Boulevard (click here for some photos), is the first Charlotte location for Vestique. The store was founded in 2010 by two college friends. Vestique started out as a web-based store, and they opened their first retail location in Raleigh last year.

The East Boulevard store is going into a space that was formerly Busbin, an interior decoration and home furnishing store. Vestique is one door down from Pour Olive Oil, an artisanal oil and vinegar shop that just opened as well.

Vestique is set to open Tuesday, May 22. The store's initial hours will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.



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Mother-son team starts online boutique in Charlotte; New Shops at Target merchants

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Here's a two-parter today: First, a mother and son in Charlotte have started an online accessory boutique, called The Accessory Gardin. Second, The Shops at Target has announced their fall lineup of limited-time merchants.

The brainchild of Anita and Evan Gardin, the store sells sunglasses, jewelry, hats, and other accessories. It opened its e-doors early this year.

Anita Gardin had previously operated a small boutique in Lowell, which closed after a year. By moving to an online business, the pair hopes to access a new market, selling goods online without as much overhead. Anita Gardin is picking the merchandise and designing custom pieces of jewelry, and Evan Gardin is handling customer service-related aspects of the business.

Now, on to Target. The Shops at Target is a program offering merchandise developed with smaller, local boutiques. The program kicked off earlier this month with five stores selling everything from upscale dog accessories to men's and women's apparel and perfume.

Each collection of 400 items, or "flight," is available for only a few weeks. The fall flight will feature 230 items from four boutiques, sold in Target stores and online starting Sept. 9. Here is the lineup of stores that will be participating: The Curiosity Shoppe, Kirna Zabete, Odin, and Patch NYC.

Artisanal olive oil on East Boulevard

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A new store is open on East Blvd., offering customers over 40 unique, upscale olive oils and vinegars.

Pour Olive Oil is the brainchild of owners Sophie and Doug Jones, who also live in Dilworth near the store. In a former art gallery, Pour has stainless steel containers (called "fustis") full of olive oils and vinegars. Customers can sample them in the store, and their bottle is filled straight from the fusti tap.

Here's a quick sampling of some of the flavored oils they carry: Tuscan Herb, Black Truffle Oil, Organic Basil, Lemon Fused, Persian Lime Infused, Blood Orange Fused, and Herbs de Provence. The oils are sourced from individual growing zones, like wines, according to Pour Olive Oil. Among the vinegars, you can choose from flavors such as Dark Chocolate Balsamic, Raspberry Beret, and Cranberry Pear.

And while you might think of olive oil as a product you only eat on salads or use in cooking, the store boasts that the oils and vinegars are tasty enough to sip straight. Plus, if you bring back your empty bottle, you get $1 off your next purchase.

You can follow Pour Olive Oil on Twitter @PourOliveOil. The store is open Tuesday - Sunday, with varying hours. Call 980.207.1510 for more information.





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New interior design store in South End

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Interior Motives is open on South Blvd., the product of interior designer and founder Will Smith's "modern eclectic" aesthetic.

Smith opened the store on April 1, after months of preparation. "I went to every furniture store in Charlotte," said Smith, who was an interior designer for 12 years before opening the store. "I don't think I missed one, and if I did, I don't know about it."


He settled on South Boulevard, and set about finding pieces that captured his design aesthetic. "It's challenging to find those things you need when you really need a statement piece. I said what items do I tend to find that people really love?" Smith said.

"I call it modern eclectic. You could come to our place and find an antique piece, but it will have a modern edge," said Smith. He tends to favor pieces with natural elements, re-purposed pieces, and creations from local artisans. "It's tactile, it's things you want to touch, you want to feel, and sit on."


"Most of our stuff is made in the U.S. We do have some imports, and we also do custom stuff as well," said Smith, a Duplin County native who's been in Charlotte since moving here to attend UNC-Charlotte.


"I started dabbling in the interior design business after I did an internship and realized I didn't want to be an attorney," he said.
Now he sells wallpaper, lighting, accessories, home decor, furniture and rugs. He said he's trying to appeal to all segments of the market, with large, assertive pieces and smaller pieces of furniture that would fit in a small apartment.

"We try to have a balance of everything," he said, "from the custom client to the client that just moved into their first apartment and needs a table."


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Sam's Club in Mooresville soon

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Sam's Club, as originally reported by my colleague Joe Marusak, is planning to seek approval for a store near Interstate 77, Exit 36.

The store would be off of N.C. 150 West, on Ervin Road. That's across from the Mooresville Crossing shopping center. The company will ask Mooresville's Planning Board for a rezoning to allow the store on Thursday, May 10.

Sam's Club is owned by Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart. The company had 5.8 percent of Charlotte-area grocery sales in 2011, up from 5.5 percent in 2010, according to the latest market share data from Chain Store Guide. The closest Sam's Clubs to Mooresville now are currently in Kannapolis or the University City area in Charlotte.

Online grocery launches Charlotte home delivery

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Lettuce Carry is now delivering groceries in the Charlotte region at no extra charge with a minimum order of $25, offering an alternative for customers too harried to make it to the supermarket.

I first saw this on our news partner WCNC-TV, which had a story about Lettuce Carry on Friday. The service is privately owned and operates out of a warehouse in Pineville, delivering to most of the Charlotte region and parts of South Carolina.

Lettuce Carry stocks about 15,000 items, smaller than a traditional supermarket which might have 40,000 or so individual items. But that's still more than many smaller stores, such as Aldi or Trader Joe's, which carry around 10,000 or fewer.

The service offers next-day delivery for free on orders over $25, as well as weekly and monthly deliveries on minimum orders of $75. You save 3 percent and 5 percent off the total bill with those options. A same-day "expedited" order comes with a $10 delivery fee, but no minimum order size.

Online grocery shopping hasn't exactly caught fire so far with traditional retailers. Harris Teeter offers curbside pickup, where shoppers order online and show up at the store to pick up and pay for their completed order. Publix, which is opening in the fall near Charlotte, recently discontinued a similar program after it failed to attract enough customers.

Lettuce Carry seems to fit the same convenience niche that Swiss Farms, a new drive-thru grocer on Sardis Road, is aiming for. With traditional grocery shopping shifting to ever-bigger stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Harris Teeter's expanded stores), some consumers seem to be finding they don't have the time (or desire) to browse 20 aisles each time they need milk and eggs. Hence the rise in food sales at small-box retailers such as Family Dollar, drive-thru grocers selling just the basics, and grocers who will bring a limited selection of the essentials straight to your door.

According to WCNC, Lettuce Carry has about 50 customers so far. Have you tried it, or would you? Why or why not? I'm curious to hear what you think.

Hot dogs headed to East Boulevard

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A new restaurant called JJ's Red Hots plans to open in early July on East Blvd., serving smokehouse hot dogs from Buffalo, N.Y.

JJ's will be in the space formerly occupied by Boardwalk Billy's, at 1514 East Boulevard. The building has had a few different restaurants through it in the past several years, and none has been quite able to stick, despite the busy traffic on East Boulevard and the rooftop deck.

JJ's will be relying on quality hot dogs and a touch of nostalgia to make its mark.

"This concept is inspired by beloved hot dog joints like Ted’s in Buffalo, N.Y., where I grew up eating chargrilled hot dogs, onion rings and shakes. Ted’s and other timeless restaurants like them are rooted in classic American values,” said Jonathan Luther, the restaurant's founder, in an email. "At JJ’s we will strive every day to live up to these old-school values."

The renovated restaurant will have a takeout window, Luther said, and the hot dogs will all come from Sahlen's Packing Company in Buffalo. The restaurant will serve beer and wine as well.
Tip of the hat - Charlotte Restaurant Traffic reported this first.
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Micro Wal-Mart near Charlotte

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There's a miniature Wal-Mart outside Charlotte, one of only 10 in the nation, and this pea-sized version of the biggest mega-retailer could be the precursor of a major shift away from big-box strategy.

As detailed in this blog post from UNC-Charlotte's Urban Institute, the Wal-Mart Express is a 15,000 square foot store about 30 miles outside of Charlotte, in Stanly County. At that square footage, the Express store is barely 1/12th the size of a standard Wal-Mart Supercenter and not even twice as large as the average Family Dollar.

So why would a retailer that made its name gobbling up greenfield sites by the hundreds of acres even contemplate downsizing? Wal-Mart has been under-performing smaller stores for several years now, with a well-publicized U.S. sales slide that lasted for longer than two years. During the same time, at the height of the recession, the popularity of discount retailers Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree exploded.

The smaller stores are located either in rural areas too small to support a big box, or in urban areas too small to fit one. In a city like Charlotte, customers in many neighborhoods can either drive or take a bus to Wal-Mart or walk to a Family Dollar. This ease of accessibility, combined with low prices, helped lure in many customers who might otherwise have gone to Wal-Mart.

Dollar stores were quick to recognize and capitalize on this trend. They've added a much wider assortment of groceries and consumable goods - Family Dollar just added cigarettes - and shifted away from former dollar store staples such as low-priced apparel. Stanly County's Wal-Mart Express is next to a Dollar General.

Both dollar stores and mega-retailers have emerged as major grocery players (Wal-Mart just overtook Harris Teeter as the number one grocery retailer in the Charlotte region), but dollar stores seem more suited to the "fill-in trip," that mid-week dash for milk and eggs. A smaller Wal-Mart format positions the retailer to capture more of that traffic as well.

It remains to be seen if the Wal-Mart Express experiment will succeed, or ever pop up in Charlotte itself. Until then, you can drive to Richfield, Stanly County, if you want to get a peek into the future.


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Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT posit (1188_751162) Job at Charleston, SC Area Jobs in Charleston

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Charleston, SC Area Jobs is hiring Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT posit (1188_751162) on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:52:58 GMT. Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT position assisting in dispatch office. Exp preferred but not necessary. Reply to Box A500, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403. acdc:1188_751162

Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT posit (1188_751162)

Location: Charleston South Carolina

Description: Charleston, SC Area Jobs seeks a Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT posit (1188_751162) immediately, this position will be placed in South Carolina. Mt Pl Trucking Co has FT position assisting in dispatch office. Exp preferred but not necessary. Reply to Box A500, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403. acdc:1188_751162. For more detail information about this job opprtunity please read the description above, and if you interested on this job just click on the Apply Now button, you will be redirected to the official website

If interested in this position, please email us your resume, along with salary requirements and a cover letter to Charleston, SC Area Jobs.

This job starts available on: Wed, 02 May 2012 15:52:58 GMT

Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC Job at CareFusion Corporation in Columbia

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CareFusion Corporation is hiring Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC on Wed, 02 May 2012 16:34:37 GMT. Job Title: Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC... CareFusion Business Description Our Pyxis ® automated dispensing solutions have effectively changed the way medications are delivered to patients and supplies are obtained and distributed across care units. Helps to increase medication safety Reduces the risk of medication errors Facilitates regulatory...

Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC

Location: Columbia South Carolina

Description: CareFusion Corporation seeks a Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC immediately, this position will be placed in South Carolina. Job Title: Sr Field Service Technician (Pyxis Dispensing) Columbia, SC... CareFusion Business Description Our Pyxis ® automated dispensing solutions have effectively changed the way medications are delivered to patients and supplies are obtained and distributed across care units. Helps to increase medication safety Reduces the risk of medication errors Facilitates regulatory... . For more detail information about this job opprtunity please read the description above, and if you interested on this job just click on the Apply Now button, you will be redirected to the official website

If interested in this position, please email us your resume, along with salary requirements and a cover letter to CareFusion Corporation.

This job starts available on: Wed, 02 May 2012 16:34:37 GMT

Facility Service Associate Job at Lowe's in Spartanburg

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Lowe's is hiring Facility Service Associate on Wed, 02 May 2012 17:10:57 GMT. Position Description Responsible for the cleanliness and general maintenance of the facility inside and out. Some of these tasks include the following: Keeping entrance/exit areas free of stray merchandise and debris. Performing basic preventative maintenance on store equipment. Performing basic minor repairs to facility and equipment as needed. Maintaining adequate supply of cleaning supplies...

Facility Service Associate

Location: Spartanburg South Carolina

Description: Lowe's seeks a Facility Service Associate immediately, this position will be placed in South Carolina. Position Description Responsible for the cleanliness and general maintenance of the facility inside and out. Some of these tasks include the following: Keeping entrance/exit areas free of stray merchandise and debris. Performing basic preventative maintenance on store equipment. Performing basic minor repairs to facility and equipment as needed. Maintaining adequate supply of cleaning supplies... . For more detail information about this job opprtunity please read the description above, and if you interested on this job just click on the Apply Now button, you will be redirected to the official website

If interested in this position, please email us your resume, along with salary requirements and a cover letter to Lowe's.

This job starts available on: Wed, 02 May 2012 17:10:57 GMT