pyper

So now we know where parking will be for the Chiquola. The two city lots between Main and McDuffie are just as convenient to downtown and never anywhere near full. I wonder what kind of retail they'll end up with... Isn't Dickie the guy who owns the Jockey Lot?

Speaking of 24, they're moving dirt on both new grocery store sites, the General Dollar and Ace Hardware are in the dry, and the People's Bank looks nearly done. To my way of thinking, this kind of development would be the core of an "exurb."

My boss doesn't type. Sometimes he dictates, but usually he writes things for the secretary to type up. Does everyone else's boss do their own typing? I think it's easier to make cursive look nicer than printing. The faster one writes, the greater the neatness/speed ration tilts in favor of cursive. That's the reason for my prediction for the renasiance of script writing -- people who can do it will score higher on the SAT, the ultimate driver of all education policy, it seems.

Cursive writing is faster. Faster = more productive. You can bet now that there's a written componenet to the SAT they're going to start teaching cursive writing again -- less time writing means more time you can spend thinking and organizing, which translates into higher scores. I heard an NPR story on script writing and they said at one time cursive was the *only* form of writing taught. Printing was introduced in fairly modern times. Like it or not, people draw conclusions about you based on how you present yourself, and handwriting is part of presentation. When we screen resume's for job applicants sometimes the envelope tells me all I need to know. How's a secretary going to do her job if she can't read her boss's cursive writing? My wife has pointed out that none of her kids can write a paragraph that makes sense. They haven't been taught how to organize thoughts (Topic, body, conclusion). Same idea -- it's not on the test so it isn't taught. Don't get me started on spelling. Teacher pay is kind of wierd. It's low for a first year teacher. A lot of first year teachers give up because the money isn't worth the aggravation. But a teacher with 20 years experience has a salary of somewhere around $50,000. In some counties that's one of the best salaries. And all you have to do to get the raises is stick with it. The worst teachers get the same year after year increases as the best.

I'm not sure what would change to reduce the rating from an A to an F anytime soon. You've basically got two variables -- the number of cars, and how many of them want to make left hand turns. There are only three roads to turn onto (from 24) between 187 and I-85, and one of them has a traffic light. Widening those bridges would be a serious project... The smaller one might not be so bad because you could close the highway and detour traffic out to I-85. The double bridges can't be easily detoured though, and I don't see how you could widen them without replacing them. Build a temporary bridge along side?

I hope those laptops are rugged! I know a guy who got his son a laptop when he was in HS. It was pretty much ready for disposal after 4 years. You know. Having high standards is good, but there's a problem when you ignore common sense because of them. I help my wife grade papers some times. The kids in 8th grade can't write in cursive. Why? It's not on the PACT test so they don't teach it. I like Jim Rex's talk. I don't know how much of what he proposes he'll be able to implement though. I have a feeling the legislature is going to block a lot of it. My wife, who has taught in innner city schools (in South Carolina), says that the single most important issue holding back improvments in educational outcome is class size. The problem, according to her, is that, especially (but not only) in inner-city schools, there will be kids who will be intentionally disruptive. In a small class, the teacher can put extra energy into keeping the one disruptive student engaged. In a class that's twice as big, there are twice as many problem children, and much less time to spend on them (because all the other kids need the teacher's time too). Not only that, but for each actively disruptive student, there are several other borderline cases. These kids won't act out on their own, but they'll follow when someone else acts out. More and more of the teaher's time (exponentially) goes into keeping control of the learning environment, and less goes to teaching.

I don't see the current configuration of 24 necessarily holding up development. There's rarely any congestion on it. To me, it seems like what would make a really big difference would be if Whitehorse Road was improved and widened. That road is horrible, especially in the evening, and it's what connects the west to all the stuff on the north. The area around Townville seems to be growing, too, but not as fast as I was expecting a few years ago.

Lead sentence in the article: "When Ingles put a grocery store on S.C. 24 many people were scratching their heads and wondering why." I just wondered why it had taken so long! Everyone who lives on Lake Hartwell drives in on 24 to do anything, and there were no decent stores on the west side of town. Duh! What leaves me scratching my head is trying to figure out who's buying those condo units at those prices!

I've never been in the stadium, just walked around the park and saw it. It just seems like a lot of money for what seems like a little ball field. Money sure goes fast though when it's plumbging and wiring!

Is this the ball park that's in "Duncan Park" on the South side of town? It seems hard to believe there's nearly $5mm work for that little field.

Thanks!! I noticed on the Bi-Lo site today that there's a building permit, so I guess it's sooner, rather than later

There's been a sign up for the Food Lion for a couple weeks, and just a little further out is a sign that just popped up in the last three days: "Coming soon -- Bi-Lo" I've heard that White Jones (Ace Hardware) will be opening a store out there too. I surprises me that it took so long for anything to open up out there.