Category: News

Sad news:

Fire this morning heavily damaged the historic Georgia Theatre in downtown Athens, shrouding the central business district in smoke and knocking out electric and cell phone service to the area.

Firefighters were called at about 7 a.m. to the theater, located at the corner of North Lumpkin and West Clayton streets, when a man walking home through downtown smelled something burning and found smoke billowing from the theater doors.

Within an hour, the roof on the historic building had collapsed.

Dozens of big-name acts had performed at the Georgia Theatre — musicians such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Prine and Jorma Kaukonen, not to mention Athens-based acts like R.E.M., Randall Bramblett and Davis Causey.

via Fire destroys Georgia Theatre | Breaking News | OnlineAthens.com.

You really think anything will come of this in BillyGrahamland?

RALEIGH, N.C. — Proponents of legalizing marijuana use to relieve pain and suffering in some patients are getting a day at the North Carolina Legislature to speak out.

The House Health Committee scheduled a committee meeting Thursday to discuss a bill that would allow people with debilitating medical conditions to possess an adequate supply of the drug and not be prosecuted.

Hmmmm.. maybe if they moved the capital to Asheville…

via NC House panel to consider medical marijuana bill | WCNC.com | Local News for Charlotte, North Carolina | Local News.

I’ve been letting these consumer interest stories pile up for a while now, so let’s get right through these, shall we?

– The FDA is urging consumers not to use Zicam Nasal Gel or Zicam Nasal Swabs, as there have been “more than 130” reports of people losing their sense of smell (sometimes permanently!) after using the product. I reported on this a year or two ago, but the FDA’s “official report” urging consumers not to use the product only came out recently.

– The people that run Molson, Canada’s version of Budweiser, are just jerks! For ages, the company has had a policy of giving three free cases of beer per month to their retirees. But now the company is discontinuing that policy, in hopes of saving a lousy $900,000 a year. What cockgobblers! Couldn’t they just not run commercials during one sporting event and pay for that program all year?

– Microsoft is discontinuing Microsoft Money, the company’s popular personal finance software. No reason was given for the announcement.

Continue reading “Random Consumer News”

Could this be a sign that the “War on Drugs” in finally over?

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation’s drug issues.

“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said. “We’re not at war with people in this country.”

Of course, I’m not naive enough to think that this will mean that drugs will be decriminalized in the next 90 days or anything… but it’s still refreshing to hear someone from the government finally admit that the “War on Drugs” was actually a “War on the American People”. It’s about damn time.

Read more here.

Bob Jackson, owner of the Gastonia, NC landmark Jackson’s Cafeteria, passed away Thursday night in his sleep. He was 86. He was discovered by Sarah, his wife of almost seventy years.

Jackson opened Jackson’s Cafeteria in Gastonia in 1973 in the Akers Center shopping center. The restaurant moved to Gaston Mall, where it stayed for almost twenty years until redevelopment forced the restaurant back to Akers Center in 2007. Although Jackson once owned as many as ten restaurants, he eventually scaled them back to just three Jackson’s Cafeteria locations (the other two are in Shelby, NC and Rock Hill, SC).

The restaurant is so beloved that some employees have been there for twenty years, and some of the restaurant’s clientele are known to eat there twice a day.

God bless, Mr Jackson! You will be missed!

Read more here.

For over a century, people believed that Vincent Van Gogh cut his own ear off with a razor. This, however, might not be true. According to a new book entitled Van Gogh’s Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, the artist actually lost his ear in a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin outside a brothel.

The book – based on ten years of research by German academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans – doesn’t say whether Gauguin, a talented fencer, actually meant to cut off Van Gogh’s ear, or whether it was an accident. Although the book is based on witness statements and other evidence, Kaufmann says that the book is as much about debunking the “official” story as it is about presenting the “new” story.

Read more about it here.

Watch out if you hang out on Freedom Drive:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One part of Charlotte is seeing a rise in the number of car break-ins. Several parking lots along Freedom Drive have been hit in the past couple of weeks.

In one night, police say there were 30 car break-ins in a parking lot used by patrons of the nightclub Scorpio.

Officers believe the reason for the spike is because of growth in the area — more stores and nightclubs.

Wait – I thought the lack of growth was what caused the break-ins… now it’s new growth?

via Dozens of car break-ins reported along Freedom Drive | WCNC.com | Local News for Charlotte, North Carolina | Local News.

It’s a sad day, folks:

Comedian-actor-director Dom DeLuise, who delighted audiences with his antic performances, has died. He was 75.

His son Michael DeLuise told Los Angeles TV station KTLA and radio station KNX that he died Monday night in Southern California.

DeLuise was born Aug. 1, 1933, in Brooklyn. He made his first off-Broadway appearance at age 8. After graduating from the High School of the Performing Arts, he attended Tufts College. During that time, he spent two seasons at the Cleveland Playhouse. He worked several summers on stage in Provincetown, N.J.

Somehow, the world is just a little bit less funny today. 🙁

Read more here.