Studying up?

Nelson Harris - age 43 - tanning hero - George Hamilton

Anyone else find it funny that Harris, with his own checkered recent (and past) is reading a book about one of the most corrupt cities in American history?

And he says he sees many parallels between Chi-towns past and our own, and I am sure he does. I would be on the lookout for more in the future if this book is anywhere near in-depth as it should be.

Harris is a student of History, and I am sure he is learning a great many lessons on politics and how to run a city.

I wonder if he has yet to read the history of Tammany Hall?


On a better note - I have to say, my admiration for Mr. Robin Reed just went up a few notches. Anyone who can get the true meaning of Mr. Schultz and Peanuts is a friend in my book.

I've got some other stuff thats been rolling around my head - but that's for another time, you all seem to be enjoying the commentary of "Dissenting Viewpoint."

A dissenting viewpoint

This just in, from one of those rare people who actually use Mill Mountain.

"In case you haven't heard there is a group of people in Roanoke called Valley Forward. They have this idea of wanting to put a Restaurant atop Mill Mountain. The debate and argument has been going on quite a while now. The original plan has been scaled down a great deal from their original propasal.

I have been and continue to be in opposition to this development. Commercial development does not belong in a public park!!!! They claim that the structure will have minimal impact on the mountain, however they have not supported this with evidence other than claiming that they are building a LEED friendly building. The existance or idea of the structure in itself violates LEED recommendations that state land that is being used in a natural way should not be disturbed in order to build a structure.

There is no way to prove that construction traffic itself will not lead to pollution, road damage and disturb the natural habitats of so many animals. There has been no data published to detail the impact of soil erosion and damage from rain water run off from the addition of a building and two parking lots. There has been no evidence to support whether the proposal would be a success. In fact, Valley Forward has failed to answer the concerns posed by many citizens who are in opposition to the plan. They contunue to claim that based on a survey of a 500 people, that a majority of citizens favor this development. I find this funny as a large number of citizens do not know nor understand the scope of the project.

If you care about keeping Mill Mountain green, please consider attending a meeting of the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee at 4pm on Thursday January 24th at the Discovery Center. If you would like to speak on the issue, please note that you must sign up in advance. "

via Jen's Bike Blog