FROM THE NEWSWIRE: May 25, 2008 - Charlotte, NC Today, activists with Asheville Rising Tide broke ground on a new 800 Mw clean energy power plant in Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers front yard. The power plant will tap into a previously unexplored energy source known as hot air which has been found in large concentrations at Roger's residence, 330 Eastover Rd, Charlotte, NC. "The hot air emitting from Jim Rogers mouth has been around for quite some time, but the last couple of years has seen an exponential growth of this untapped energy source as Rogers parades around the country calling for greenhouse gas reductions while building the dirty Cliffside coal plant. This was simply an opportunity we couldn't pass up," said Jill Rockingham, chief engineer for the project.

Asheville Rising Tide is actively looking for donations. Anything helps!

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: At 6:30 this morning, North Carolina residents locked themselves to bulldozers to stop the construction of Duke Energy's massive Cliffside coal-fired power plant being built 50 miles west of Charlotte, NC. "In the face of catastrophic climate change, building a new coal plant is tantamount to signing a death sentence for our generation," said local farmer Matt Wallace, while locked to a bulldozer. The concerned citizens also roped off the construction site with "Global Warming Crime Scene" tape and held banners that read "Coal Fuels Climate Change" and "Social Change, not Climate Change."

Shortly after activists locked themselves to construction equipment, police arrived on the scene and used pain compliance holds and tazers to force them to unlock themselves.

The act of civil disobedience is one of over 100 protests taking place around the world on what climate activists are calling Fossil Fools Day, a confrontational day of protest targeting companies responsible for runaway carbon dioxide emissions. The day of action was organized by the international Rising Tide network and its allies to demand an end to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and a just, rapid transition to sustainable ways of living. In Nottingham, UK, climate activists blockaded the offices of E-on, a company trying to build a new generation of coal-fired power stations, while another group in Wales halted work at one of the biggest opencast coal mines in Europe.

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: The editors of the ASU campus newspaper, "The Appalachian," censored an investigative article by a student reporter about the controversy surrounding the College of Education building and then fired the young reporter who wrote it. We've obtained the article he wrote and reproduce it below in its entirety. This article was originally posted at WataugaWatch, the blog of J.W. Williamson - http://www.wataugawatch.net/

Friday, September 07, 2007
Censorship at ASU

The editors of the ASU campus newspaper, "The Appalachian," censored an investigative article by a student reporter about the controversy surrounding the College of Education building and then fired the young reporter who wrote it. We've obtained the article he wrote and reproduce it below in its entirety.

The article was prepared and finished by deadline on August 23rd for the August 25th edition of The Appalachian. It included a very full background on the ASU-Town of Boone disagreement and interviews with ASU Chancellor Ken Peacock, ASU Director of Design & Construction Clyde Robbins, ASU Student Government President Forrest Gilliam, ASU Board of Trustees member Jeannine Underdown-Collins, ASU professors (and Boone Area Planning Board members) Greg Reck and Tom Jamison, Boone Town Council member Lynne Mason, and (most significantly) Eris Dedmond, the woman whose household is threatened by a four-story university building 13-feet from her home.

Article to be posted...

Do you have a story to tell about the USSF? We are collecting accounts to be included in an Asheville Indymedia article that will highlight the experience of Asheville folks in Atlanta. Come to 37 Grail St, Apt #4 at 7:30 PM on Wednesday July 4 to eat food, share your experience, commune with other Asheville attendees, and go on record (if you want to).

We are also interested in stories from people who hail from other parts of NC. Please contact us if you don't live in Asheville or can't make it to the potluck.

Email hand_sanitizer at hotmail dot com to share your story or for more info.

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Hate Crimes Bill Filed in NC House
4/18/2007 - Today representatives filed a bill to expand the state hate crime law to include the LGBT community. NC thanks Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Rep. Verla Insko (D-Orange), Rep. Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe), and Rep. Earl Jones (D-Guilford) and the 14 co-sponsors of House Bill 1631, the Safer Communities Act, for their leadership.

Rep. Pricey Harrison

The Bill would would expand the scope of the Ethinic Intimidation Act, North Carolina's law which address crimes motivated by bias or animosity. The bill would add age, gender, disability, and sexual orientation to the existing law, which includes race, color, religion, nationality and country of origin. The bill defines sexual orientation clearly to include protections for gender identity or expression.