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NY highlights Philly labor spat in DNC bid
New York officials hoping to land the 2016 Democratic National Convention are highlighting a labor dispute between a Philadelphia union and the city’s convention center as evidence they’re not ready to host the convention.
A decision from the national party on where to hold its nomination convention next year is down to Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Columbus. But upsetting organized labor — a key bloc among Democrats — could have problems.
On Saturday, protesters from Philadelphia’s Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters protested at the city’s auto show, which is being held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.“They were in the face of exhibitors, they were in the face of our security,” convention center President and CEO John McNichol told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They were belligerent. They were just being generally disruptive.”
The union denies they were being disruptive.
At issue is the union’s exclusion from a contract with the convention center. The convention authority received a restraining order against the union’s protesters — barring them from harassing visitors or vandalizing display cars.
The convention center would host smaller aspects of the Democratic National Convention were Philadelphia to be selected for the event. The largest events would be held at the Wells Fargo Center, home to the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team.
A leader of New York’s bid said Tuesday that the protest showed that New York was better equipped to handle the convention.
“As we’ve said from the beginning of this process, New York has an unmatched ability to stage large-scale, high-profile events,” said Laura Santucci, who is heading up New York’s bid, in a statement. “From our strong relationships with the City’s trade unions to our infrastructure to the NYPD’s unrivaled security expertise, there is no better place to hold the 2016 Democratic National Convention.”
An official with the New York Hotel Trades Council, which is working with the city to woo the convention, slammed the convention center’s actions as “anti-union.”
“With Columbus lacking sufficient hotel rooms and now Philadelphia filing for an anti-union restraining order against the blue collar workers who would work at the DNC, it’s time to pick Brooklyn,” said Josh Gold, the union’s political director, in a statement.
“New York’s claim that Columbus doesn’t have enough hotel rooms is entirely false,” said Meredith Tucker, spokesperson for Columbus 2016. “In fact, Columbus has over 26,000 hotel rooms where delegates can afford to stay close to the convention sites.”
Tucker also said the bid “is very proud of our strong partnership with labor unions here and across the state” but declined to directly comment on the events in Philadelphia.
A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee declined to comment. Officials from the Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio, bids did not respond to requests for comment.
The Democrats are expected to announce the site of the convention in the next few weeks. Republicans will hold their convention in Cleveland in July 2016.
The convention could be a financial windfall for the chosen city and its hospitality sector. In addition to the money spent on staging the convention itself, the event brings thousands of delegates, campaign staffers and members of the media to the host city.
A 2013 study produced by the Charlotte, N.C., tourism bureau found that the 2012 DNC in the city had resulted in $163.6 million of direct and indirect spending in the area.
This post was updated at 4:43 p.m.
Tagged with: Charlotte
Catching the wind to make power
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“We’re trying to get a package so homeowners can get a payback of five to six years on their investment,” which can run $25,000, Blevins said.
“Wind is a lot more affordable in general than photovoltaics (solar panels). And we’re seeing a lot of interest in North Carolina,” said Bob White of Blue Sun Renewable Energy, a new company based in Asheville.
Blue Sun offers a new vertical turbine, priced at about $6,500, which can be more aesthetically pleasing and affordable than traditional propeller turbines. The company recently donated one of the Windspire turbines to the ABC TV series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” for the show’s finale in Indianapolis.
In Boone, Appalachian State University will boast of the state’s largest wind turbine as a 100-kilowatt system will be mounted on a 155-foot tower at Broyhill Inn and Conference Center this summer.
That project is financed by a $5 annual fee that ASU students pay for renewable energy projects on campus.
The Broyhill wind system will be a smaller version of an experimental windmill that NASA and the Department of Energy once operated atop Howard’s Knob overlooking Boone during the late 1970s.
“That was a 2-megawatt system, so the Broyhill turbine will be quite a bit smaller,” said Mike Uchal of the Western North Carolina Renewable Energy Initiative at Appalachian State University.
The university also hosts a Small Wind Research Demonstration Site near Beech Mountain with working wind turbines on display and workshops for interested homeowners.
“With the unstable prices of fossil fuels and the environmental impact, we definitely are getting to the point where we have to implement these technologies,” Uchal said. “We send out $8 billion a year just for coal to power the state. If we can develop wind technology here, that will promote job creation within the Southeast.”
While WNC has great potential for wind, not every property in the mountains gets a sustained wind of 10-12 mph to make the investment work. A good rule of thumb is if you have a north to west facing slope above 3,000 feet in elevation, you’ve probably got the potential, Hollister said.
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Catamounts to visit East Carolina in 2016
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Frigid temperatures expected on 1-year anniversary of ice storm in Myrtle Beach area
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Sassafras Mountain overlook moves forward
PICKENS – Legions of hikers and state “highpointers” have had the vision for years that if you build an overlook on Sassafras Mountain, the curious will come.
Now, it looks like the idea for an accessible observation platform straddling the North Carolina-South Carolina border is on its way, thanks to a $350,000 gift from Duke Energy to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources this past week.
The department will be able start drawing up plans and moving dirt for building a new observation platform at the summit of Sassafras Mountain, the highest peak in South Carolina, which sits at 3,553 feet elevation.
Along with fund-raising efforts such as the sale of brick pavers among several groups, including the Foothills Trail Conference, Pickens County, Clemson University, the Conservation Fund, the Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, the state Department of Natural Resources has $500,000, about half of what is needed for the complete project, but enough to begin construction, said Greg Lucas, department spokesman.
Work on the platform is expected to begin this summer and take about six months to complete. Other amenities, including restrooms, a picnic area and an upgraded trail to the platform, will require more fund-raising, Lucas said.
Architectural renderings are drawn, modeled partly on the handicap-accessible observation platform at Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina’s Yancey County, about 30 miles northeast of Asheville, Lucas said. Formal plans will go out to bid soon.
Heyward Douglass, executive director of the Foothills Trail Conference, the nonprofit that oversees the 77-mile-long Foothills Trail that runs along the Carolinas border and splices Sassafras Mountain, said it is an exciting and long-awaited moment for outdoors enthusiasts, as well as those in tourism.
“The Foothills Trail goes right smack dab over the top of Sassafras,” Douglass said. “It starts out of Table Rock State Park, 9 miles away, crosses over the top of Sassafras and down, and connects to Oconee State Park. We’re so thrilled to have a scenic spot that’s always been a part of the Foothills Trail.”
The mountain in northern Pickens County – midway between Rosman, North Carolina, and Pickens, S.C. – sits on land managed by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Officially known as the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges, Lucas said it is more commonly referred to as Jocassee Gorges.
It is part of the land sold in 2010 by former U.S. Congressman Charles Taylor of North Carolina to the Conservation Fund as part of a landmark 8,000-acre, $33 million conservation sale spilling over the state line. The land trust then donated the land to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. On the North Carolina side, the N.C. Forest Service is working with the Conservation Fund, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and other partners to create the new Headwaters State Forest.
Sassafras Mountain is also on the Eastern Continental Divide. It is the separation point for three distinct watersheds – two watersheds drain into the Atlantic Ocean and another travels to the Gulf of Mexico.
The land was acquired by the state in the late 1990s and has been open as public hunting land and recreation land since then, Lucas said. There was once a fire tower on the peak, but it was dismantled many years ago, and although once cleared of trees, the summit had overgrown in the past half century.
The iconic status of Sassafras as the highest point in South Carolina has been known for decades, Heyward said, but it has been a place hard to reach, especially for those in the Highpointers Club, a national group of hikers that attempt to reach the highest point in each of the 50 states.
Pickens County paid for the paving of the 4.5-mile U.S. 178 stretch leading out of Rocky Bottom to just below the summit, where people have been able to park and scout around for where they think the summit is.
Last summer, the S.C. natural resources, working with conservation groups, took down 3 acres of trees at the peak in anticipation of the observation deck.
“It’s going to be done in phases. The total will be over $1 million. We’re hoping Duke Energy’s very gracious donation will help spur other corporate entities to donate other funds,” Lucas said. “The platform will be barrier-free, so folks who are mobility impaired will be able to access it.
“Mount Mitchell has been mentioned as the standard, something simple and attractive.”
“Sassafras Mountain is a special natural asset, and this project fits right in with our mission of environmental stewardship,” Clark Gillespy, South Carolina president of Duke Energy, said in a statement. “Partnerships like this ensure that the natural beauty and wonders of South Carolina are protected and shared with generations to come.”
Funding for the Sassafras Mountain project was committed as part of the re-licensing agreement for Duke Energy’s Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project, which includes the hydroelectric stations at lakes Keowee and Jocassee.
Douglass said the new platform will serve many functions: a notch in the belt for the Highpointers; a starting, ending or resting point for those traversing the Foothills Trail; another destination of note for South Carolina’s tourism office, maybe even in time for fall foliage season; and another place to stop and wonder at the region’s natural beauty.
“The sunsets from there are incredible,” Douglass said. “Some were not happy about taking trees down, but a whole lot more are thrilled and amazed at the views you can now see all around. It’s just spectacular.”
Want to help?
Fund-raising for Sassafras Mountain platform continues. For more information, contact Tom Swayngham, DNR Upstate regional wildlife biologist, at SwaynghamT@dnr.sc.gov or 864-654-1671, Ext. 21.
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AP News in Brief at 5:58 am EST
Death of former Guantanamo detainee turned IS recruiter complicates effort to close prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — During six years behind bars at Guantanamo Bay, Abdul Rauf insisted he was a lowly Taliban foot soldier who delivered bread and tea to combatants, even though he was really a corps commander. He was released in 2007 and sent home to Afghanistan. Until this week, he was working as the top recruiter in Afghanistan for Islamic State militants.
Rauf, who was killed along with seven others in a U.S. drone strike on Monday, and detainees like him who have returned to the battlefield are complicating President Barack Obama’s hopes of closing the detention center for terrorism suspects on the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The administration says the prison is costly, damages America’s relationship with key allies and provides extremists a propaganda tool to woo recruits.
Obama has vowed since he was a presidential candidate to close the detention center, but members of Congress have thwarted that ambition, saying the detainees would return to the fight. They also have argued that governments where the detainees would be released in the region couldn’t be expected to keep track of them and prevent them from becoming active again.
Besides Rauf, one or more of the five Taliban detainees swapped for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may have already been in touch with members of the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network. Qatari officials promised to monitor the five former Taliban officials’ activities and keep them from traveling outside Qatar for a year. That year ends May 31 and lawmakers are wondering what will happen to them.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest has said the five are still in Qatar, but he says efforts to keep them from working with terror organizations “have been updated” to reflect concerns about their contacts. Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah said at an event in Washington last week that the five continue to be closely monitored.
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After Kobani victory over Islamic State group, Syrian Kurds seek alliance with moderate rebels
BEIRUT (AP) — For Kurdish fighters, last month’s victory over Islamic State militants in the town of Kobani in northern Syria was only the beginning.
Their ambition is to build on an alliance with moderate rebels in Syria and become the chief force fighting the extremists in the country.
Its commanders say such an alliance could be just the partner that the West has been seeking all along in the battle against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which began its rise in 2013 and now holds a third of both Syria and neighboring Iraq.
The Kurds quickly emerged as a potent foe for the Islamic extremists. In August 2014, fighters of the YPG, the main Kurdish force, battled Islamic State militants to carve out an escape route for tens of thousands of members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority who were trapped on a mountaintop.
The fight for Kobani, which is on the border between Syria and Turkey, began after rapid Islamic State advances in mid-September. It further thrust Syria’s Kurds to the forefront of the anti-Islamic State groups.
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Fighting in Ukraine continues overnight ahead of crucial diplomatic push
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Shelling rocked a bus station in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk Wednesday as fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine ahead of crucial peace talks later in the day.
Rebel officials said that five people were killed and nine wounded at the scene of the attack, where an Associated Press reporter saw one body. Donetsk city officials said in a statement that three people had been killed in shelling overnight.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko posted a statement on his website saying that he had made an impromptu visit to the war-torn region early Wednesday. Poroshenko stopped in the city of Kramatorsk, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the nearest front line, where nevertheless Kiev says 16 people were killed and 48 wounded in a rocket strike Tuesday.
“We demand an unconditional peace,” Poroshenko said. “We demand a cease-fire, a withdrawal of all foreign troops, and closing of the border…. We will find a compromise within the country.”
Officials in Kiev also said Wednesday that 19 troops had been killed and 78 wounded in a day of fighting in Debaltseve, a hotly contested transport hub in the region.
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GOP-led Congress set to pass bill approving Keystone XL oil pipeline despite likely Obama veto
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Congress is set to send a bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline to President Barack Obama, who has vowed to veto it.
The House is expected to pass the bill easily Wednesday afternoon, capping weeks of debate over one of Republicans’ top priorities — a bill authorizing the construction of the much-delayed pipeline. Yet support in both the Senate and House has not been enough to override a veto.
The pipeline has exposed larger divisions between environmentalists concerned about global warming and potential oil spills against supporters who argue that the $8 billion project will create jobs and boost U.S. energy security. One of the measures added to the bill by the Senate states that climate change is not a hoax, which could make some conservative Republicans think twice.
The pipeline is the first of many standoffs expected between Obama and Republicans on energy and environment.
As the House prepared to vote on the bill, the Senate environment panel on Wednesday planned to hold its first hearing examining the Obama administration’s plans to curb heat-trapping carbon dioxide from power plants. The initiative is the cornerstone of Obama’s efforts to curb global warming.
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Jon Stewart’s exit as a phony newsman is a loss to real news and the audience that craved it
NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Stewart’s fans were gobsmacked by the sad news he delivered on Tuesday’s edition of “The Daily Show”: He’s leaving his phony anchor desk and ending his reign as phony newsman, and the loss is to real news.
“This show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you,” he told his audience. He said he might depart in July, September or maybe December. He didn’t say what he means to do next.
To appreciate the impact of his 16-year Comedy Central reign, and the loss his impending exit represents, the distraught viewer need only consider Monday’s broadcast.
It was then that Stewart turned his attention to what was the biggest story in the journalism biosphere that night: the scandal surrounding NBC News’ Brian Williams.
Wearing a woeful expression, he summed up everyone’s befuddlement with crystalline efficiency: “Bri! Why? Why, Bri? Why lie? Sigh.”
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Wanted: A host with wit, style and guts to keep Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show’ legacy intact
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The question of who can replace Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” seems roughly akin to asking his fans what might serve for the sun.
His passion, wit and boldness make for a magical combination that will be difficult to re-create when Stewart steps away as host sometime later this year.
“The X-factor here is Stewart’s charisma. It’s significant,” said Sophia McClennen, a Penn State professor and author of “Is Satire Saving our Nation?: Mockery and American Politics.”
The “Daily Show” boot camp has graduated a number of impressive talents who might prove to be worthy of the host chair, McClennen said, counting John Oliver first among a group including Aasif Mandvi, Samantha Bee and Jason Jones.
There are outsiders who certainly have the comedic chops. But do they have the star power and the backbone to speak punchlines to power, and on a nightly basis?
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Amid noise generated by Greek debt discussions, eurozone economy has been gaining momentum
BRUSSELS (AP) — With all the noise and uncertainty surrounding Greece over the past couple of weeks, it’s been easy to overlook the growing signs of economic recovery in Europe.
A raft of indicators have pointed to a pick-up in activity that puts the 19-country eurozone economy in a position to outperform expectations this year — provided it doesn’t stumble into a messy Greek exit from the euro or relations deteriorate between the West and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
Fourth quarter figures on Friday aren’t expected to show a big improvement yet, with most economists predicting mild growth of 0.2 percent for the second quarter running.
Moving forward, though, most expect the pace of growth to accelerate for a number of reasons, including the sharp falls in the price of oil and the euro.
Ben May, economist at Oxford Economics, says 2015 will be the year that the recovery finally gets going. “Recent news from the eurozone supports the view that domestic healing continues,” he said.
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NBC suspends Brian Williams as managing editor and anchor of ‘Nightly News’ for 6 months
NEW YORK (AP) — NBC announced Tuesday that it is suspending Brian Williams as “Nightly News” anchor and managing editor for six months without pay for misleading the public about his experiences covering the Iraq War.
NBC chief executive Steve Burke said Williams’ actions were inexcusable and jeopardized the trust he has built up with viewers during his decade as the network’s lead anchor. But he said Williams deserved a second chance.
Williams apologized last week for saying he was in a helicopter that was hit by a grenade while covering the Iraq War in 2003. Instead, another helicopter flying ahead of his was hit, and some veterans involved in the mission called him out on it. The swift public reaction had put NBC News on a crisis footing.
NBC News President Deborah Turness said in a memo that Williams “misrepresented” events that occurred while he was covering the war.
“It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues,” Turness said. “This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.”
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Man arrested after 3 people found shot to death in condominium in North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Police say three people have been shot to death at a condominium complex east of the University of North Carolina campus and a man has been arrested.
Chapel Hill police told local news outlets that Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was arrested and has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. He is being held at the Durham County Jail.
Police were responding to a report of gunshots around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday when they found three people who were pronounced dead at the scene. The dead were identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, of Chapel Hill; Yusor Mohammad, 21, of Chapel Hill; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh.
Police said the investigation was continuing.
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Animals on ice: Research at ‘Frozen Zoo’ gene bank aims to resurrect near extinct species
ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — Whenever an endangered animal dies at the San Diego Zoo, researchers race out, regardless of the hour, to remove its sperm or eggs, maybe a bit of ear or eyeball, and carefully freeze the cells in liquid nitrogen.
Today, the survival of the northern white rhinoceros and dozens of other species could hinge on the collection amassed over nearly 40 years that has become the largest gene bank of its kind: The Frozen Zoo.
The icy vials may someday even be used in experiments to resurrect recently extinct animals, like the Hawaiian Po’ouli bird. The stainless steel tanks hold the genetic material of more than 10,000 individual animals from more than 1,000 species and subspecies.
The Frozen Zoo’s work has taken on renewed urgency since the San Diego Safari Park lost 42-year-old Angalifu to cancer in December, leaving only five northern white rhinos left in the world — and all unable to reproduce.
Scientists are racing against the clock to find the best way to utilize the bank’s frozen sperm to produce another one before the northern white goes extinct, which could happen within a decade.
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Colorado’s pot tax tally has lessons for other states
DENVER Marijuana makes money. But legalizing it doesn’t eliminate the black market or solve a state’s budget problems.
Those are the lessons from Colorado’s first full year of tax collections on recreational pot. The year-end report, released Tuesday, tallied about $44 million in new sales taxes and excise taxes from recreational pot.
Add fees and pre-existing taxes from medical pot, which has been legal since 2000, and Colorado’s total 2014 pot haul was about $76 million.
Colorado was the first government anywhere in the world to regulate marijuana production and sales, so other governments are watching closely. Estimates varied widely for how much money Colorado would make, and the final hard numbers have important lessons for other states considering legal weed markets.
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THE MONEY DOESN’T COME OVERNIGHT
Colorado started selling recreational weed on Jan. 1, 2014. But its first month of sales resulted in only $1.6 million for the state. By December, that figure was $5.4 million.
The reason for the increase? Regulatory delays. Red tape meant stores opened slowly, with many municipalities waiting months before allowing pot shops to open.
In Washington state, delays were even more pronounced.
Washington voters legalized pot at the same time Colorado did, in 2012. But retail sales in Washington didn’t start until June, with stores slowly opening and sales increasing each month.
Things will speed up as more states legalize pot and can look to Colorado and Washington for regulatory guidance. But legal weed isn’t an overnight flood of tax money.
“Everyone who thinks Colorado’s rollin’ in the dough because of marijuana? That’s not true,” said state Sen. Pat Steadman, a Denver Democrat and one of the Legislature’s main budget-writers.
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FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAX IT
Washington and Colorado set vastly different tax rates, both based on a percentage of the pot’s value.
The states then had to immediately set a value for a product with no legal sales history. What’s the right price?
Colorado’s pot regulators have struggled to establish a wholesale pot price to collect excise taxes.
“Taxing a percentage of price may simply not work,” said Pat Oglesby, a former congressional tax staffer who now studies marijuana’s tax potential at the Chapel Hill, N.C., Center for New Revenue.
He pointed out that the two latest legal weed states — Alaska and Oregon, both still working on retail regulations — will tax marijuana by weight, similar to how tobacco is taxed.
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NOT EVERYONE WILL PAY
Every state in the union, liberal to conservative, has a market for marijuana. And making pot legal doesn’t guarantee those consumers will leave the black market and happily sign up to start paying taxes.
In Washington state, medical marijuana isn’t taxed. It is in Colorado, but all adults are allowed to grow up to six plants on their own.
That means the states’ new marijuana markets had legal competition from Day One. And that doesn’t account for the black market, which of course is completely free of taxes and regulations.
Lawmakers in both Colorado and Washington are looking for ways to drive pot smokers out of the lower-taxed medical pot market and into the recreational one. But obstacles are stiff.
“If there is untaxed medical pot, the taxes are voluntary. When you make it voluntary, people won’t necessarily pay,” Oglesby said.
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THINGS WILL CHANGE
The marijuana market is far from settled.
Colorado benefited from first-in-the-nation curiosity and marijuana tourism. As more states legalize, Colorado and Washington will face competition.
“Colorado is probably kind of a best-case scenario” for pot tax collections, said Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard University economist who studies the drug market.
“If a number of other states legalize — and two of them already have — then bit by bit, Colorado revenue is likely to decline.”
There’s an even bigger uncertainty looming for states considering legal weed — a new president in 2016.
“The huge unknown is still federal policy,” Miron said. “A new president can radically change state policies toward legalization.”
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Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt .
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Online:
Colorado pot tax data: http://1.usa.gov/1syhgui
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Best Western lawsuit: Carbon monoxide deaths could have been prevented
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Firestorm of protest hits Columbia city council over possible privatization of city water, sewer
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Local rinks become destination for ice skaters
Kevin Stiens grew up in the South, without much snow or ice or cold weather.
But like most Americans when it comes to ice rinks, he also grew up with the TV images of the classic outdoor ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City and all the holiday magic and lights the famous rink engenders.
That was the guiding vision for United Community Bank Ice On Main, the outdoor ice skating rink on Main Street in downtown Greenville, which is nearing the end of its fourth season.
It’s one of three rinks in or near Greenville that makes this area the closest available for most ice skaters in a wide geographical reach, which includes Asheville, N.C., since the ice rink once run by the city there ceased operation in 2009.
There are skating rinks in western North Carolina, at Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, Beech Mountain and Appalachian Ski Mountain, but those are all about 11/2 to two hours’ drive from Asheville and even further from the Upstate. That makes the two rinks in Greenville and a popular, larger rink in Taylors the go-to destination for many regional skaters.
The seasonal ice rink on Main ends its season on Monday. The rink sits among the city holiday lights and the glow of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel and other downtown businesses, in a smaller version of the famed Rockefeller rink. But Stiens, business administrator for the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department, said it’s the perfect amount of wintertime sport in the South.
“It can be a challenge to keep the ice frozen,” Stiens said. “The biggest issue this year is rain, when we have to close. Typically as long as weather stays in 60s and doesn’t get into the 70s, we’re able to maintain the ice. In addition to the temperature, the humidity, direct sunlight and wind impacts us being able to stay.”
Ironically, during the extreme cold snap that spread through the Carolinas last week, the rink closed temporarily because it was too cold for skaters.
But Greenville and Taylors look to continue as the best bets for nearby ice skating since there does not appear to be any movement on the ice-making front in Asheville.
Chris Corl, U.S. Cellular Center general manager where Asheville’s most recent ice rink was located, said the city of Asheville sold its ice rink equipment to the Asheville Hockey League with an agreement that the group had until May of 2014 to have an ice rink in operation.
The small, nonprofit league had worked briefly with the Crowne Plaza Resort in West Asheville to start an operation there, but ultimately it could not move ahead with skating rink plans, said league president Hutch Kerns, of North Asheville.
“We found lots of interest and energy, with not only ice hockey but with figure skating, and we thought Asheville needed to have a rink,” Kerns said. “We had the opportunity to purchase an ice rink, but we just couldn’t find the funding. The city is invoking their reversion clause to take it back.”
Asheville’s loss was the Greenville area’s gain, when it comes to more business and visits on ice.
The Asheville hockey league, which numbers about 200 members, is an inline hockey league now, but many members travel to Greenville to play in leagues or to practice on the ice, Kerns said.
“We’re not giving up. Our plan is to take the long view,” he said. “We think Asheville needs a rink, so we’re going to do our part to get one here and promote the sport of hockey and ice skating. It’s a good thing to expose kids to, and hockey is a good team sport, not unlike soccer.”
The Greenville Ice on Main rink is 40-feet-by-80-feet, for an intimate, cozy feel. It’s open daily through Monday, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the rink’s finale for this season.
“We had talks of putting up a tent, which would allow us to stay open longer, but one of the draws of Ice on Main is having it as pretty as possible — the dasher boards are clear, we have lights and natural wreaths,” Stiens said.
The city has many partners, including United Community Bank, Courtyard Marriott, Greenville Health System and GSP International Airport, to run the seasonal rink. It opens the Friday before Thanksgiving and costs between $220,000-$250,000 to operate, Stiens said. The popularity keeps growing, including frequent visitors from Asheville and Hendersonville.
The rink has hosted more than 15,000 skaters this year, he said.
While the rink is too small and not open long enough for skating lessons or hockey, there are other options in the Greenville area. The Bon Secours Wellness Arena, where the city’s minor league hockey team, the Road Warriors, play, is also open for public skating on occasion.
The bigger attraction for recreational skaters, however, is in Taylors.
The Greenville County Recreation District has a large, year-round, indoor rink in Taylors, with lessons and youth and adult hockey leagues, and it also offers after-school programs and birthday parties, said Jimmy Crockett, manager and skate school director.
Known as the Pavilion, the rink has been around since 1990, but it has been upgraded and refurbished many times since, Crockett said. The rink is 185-feet-by-80-feet, still not as large as an Olympic-sized rink. But the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, helped boost the profile of figure skating and ice hockey, and the rink is always busy.
The rink has a U.S. Figure Skating program for students as young as 4. They start at 6 a.m., go to school, and come back to skate after school. In between are public sessions. The ice is used 18 hours a day, Crockett said.
“We really do have a great following across the Upstate, all the way from Anderson,” he said. “We’re the only rink in the Upstate open all year. We’ve also had a lot of hockey league interest from Asheville.”
For those who just want to try out the sport, the Pavilion and Ice on Main both offer plastic “walkers” to test out the ice with more confidence.
Crockett offers these tips for first-time skaters:
“Always keep arms in front of you, rather than over your head. It lowers your center of gravity. If you feel yourself off balance, bend your knees to lower your center of gravity,” Crockett said. “Try to walk first, taking small steps, then bigger steps and glide. If you do fall, just roll over and get up on all fours like a puppy.”
Meanwhile, Stiens hopes the rink on Main will end its season having created more great memories.
“What I’ve noticed, when you have a seasonal outdoor rink it’s not about skating, it’s about something else to do that people link to the holidays,” Stiens said. “The majority of people can’t skate any better than I can, but they come to spend time with family and friends. People see it and they want to try it.”
Want to skate?
•UCB Ice on Main, 208 S. Main St., Greenville, South Carolina. Hours are 2-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Monday, Jan. 19. Cost is $10 per adult, $8 for ages 12 and younger. Get a wrist band, which is good for the entire day. www.iceonmain.com.
•The Pavilion, 400 Scottswood Road, Taylors, South Carolina. Open year-round for public skating. Cost is $7 for ages 13 and older, $5 for ages 12 and younger, skate rental additional fee. Ice hockey, skating lessons, birthday parties. Call 864-288-6470 or visit www.Greenvillerec.com.
•The Bon Secours Wellness Center, 650 North Academy St., Greenville, South Carolina. Home of the Greenville Road Warriors minor league hockey team. Cost is $7 for ages 7 and older, $5 for ages 6 and younger, additional rental fee. Call 864-241-3800 or visit https://bonsecoursarena.com for schedule.
Western North Carolina ice skating:
•Appalachian Ski Mountain, 940 Ski Mountain Road, Blowing Rock. Ice skating, skiing and snowboarding. Call 800-322-2373 or visit http://appskimtn.com.
•Beech Mountain Resort, 1007 Beech Mountain Parkway, Beech Mountain in Avery County. Skiing, snowboarding, and outdoor ice skating rink. Call 800-438-2093 or visit www.beechmountainresort.com.
Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, 1009 Sugar Mountain Drive, Sugar Mountain, Avery County. Outdoor ice skating, skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoe tours. For more information, visit www.skisugar.com.
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