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Brooklyn’s Finest Movie Review
Brooklyn’s Finest stars Richard Gere, Ethan Hawk and Don Cheatle. This movie was created by the same folks who gave us Training Days, the film that earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar.
The film follows the same path as Training Days with violence and profanity. It is the story of three cops. Richard Gere is depressed, suicidal and dating a prostitute. He is a week or so from retirement and is over due in hanging up his shield.
Ethan Hawk’s character is a messy unkempt detective who is having financial problems. He has six children, a wife expecting twins and they live in a three bedroom house. He is saving up for a bigger house by taking money when he partakes in a drug bust.
Don Cheatle is an undercover cop who has infiltrated the drug culture. He is basically a good guy and is trying to help a pal who was recently released from prison go straight.
Profanity rules. If the editors removed all of the “F” and “N” words the picture would be over in about 30 minutes. People are being shot and killed right and left. Rather than the old movie cliché of the gunman making a statement before plugging the victim these guys shoot first and ask questions later. Although the three main characters have no contact with one another, in a contrived finale their lives intertwine to end this bomb of a movie and bring on the credits. If this is what police life is all about, it a bad commentary on our society.
As an aside, I saw this film on a Saturday afternoon. There were at least three children under the age of six in the theater. What were their parents thinking? This movie is not for most adults and is definitely not for a child.
I rate Brooklyn’s Finest a 2 out of 5 for an action film.
bruce@kantorandassociates.com
Bruce Kantor owns Kantor & Associates in Matthews, NC.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
 Monroe, NC – The Chick-fil-A® at Monroe will host a fundraiser to support the family of Yolanda Simon, who was murdered inside her Monroe home in February. A fifth-grade teacher, Simon was a beloved member of the Monroe community and a regular customer at Chick-fil-A.
A percentage of Saturday’s sales will be donated to Family of Yolanda Simon.
The restaurant set up the Yolanda Simon Memorial Fund to benefit the family, including Simon’s six-year-old daughter, Trinity. Chick-fil-A will donate a portion of its sales on Saturday, March 13 to the family. Customers can make donations to the memorial fund using the collection bins located at the restaurant registers and drive-thru throughout the day on Saturday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, Yolanda was a good friend of our team here at Chick-fil-A, and we were heartbroken when we heard the news. We hope the Monroe community will join us in supporting Yolanda’s family in their time of need.”
- Sheila Funderburk, Chick-Fil-A General Manager
Donations will be accepted from 6:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Chick-fil-A at Monroe is located at 2592 West Roosevelt Blvd.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
 Monroe, NC – The Monroe City Council recently received a letter from the Furman Company which described their intention to withdraw their redevelopment plans for the former Joffre Hotel site.
In September of 2009, Monroe City Council approved the group’s submission to construct a multi-level mixed-use establishment on the city-owned property at the intersection of Franklin and Main streets in Downtown Monroe. The location was identified as a catalyst site in the Downtown Master Plan and Furman Company’s cited the current economic downturn as the reason for the withdrawal.
“While we are definitely disappointed that Furman Company is unable to deliver on a concept that would have surely enhance not only downtown Monroe, but all of the city, we certainly understand the financial difficulties tied to completing a project of this magnitude.”
- Wayne Herron, Monroe City Manager.
There are no plans to immediately put the project out to bid for possibly three to five years or until economic conditions are more conducive and appealing to development companies.
Immediate plans for the space are to explore various options with regards to enhancement and beatification.
“We will be looking at the most cost effective way to make improvements to the area that is currently used for parking,” Herron said. “We have several options, but we want to make sure we make the best use of the limited funds we do have while making the greatest impact on the property.”
Assistant City Manager and Downtown Director Brian Borne said the project was all about timing and the economic downtown will eventually end, leaving the city in a great position.
“The city owns the property, we have a roadmap of what we would like to see and we can afford to shop around until we find someone who can meet exactly what our needs are and the needs of our residents,” Borne said.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
 The Union County Sheriff’s Office and the Pilot Club of Monroe have teamed together to offer this program that uses state-of-the-art technology to locate wandering individuals. This program was launched in May 2007 but is not used very often. It is a wonderful service available to the citizens of Union County.
Read the full story at the Union County Sheriff Community Voices Blog.
2010 MonroeScoop.com
Students of all ages are being impacted by a First Books-Charlotte grant that provided approximately 4,800 books for children in Union County’s pre-kindergarten classes.
Pre-kindergarten children will receive multiple age-appropriate books free. For many families, these will be the first books in the home and the first books the children will be able to keep.
Teacher Assistant Phyllis Covington works with students, from left, Shelton Micah McCue, Desmond McCain and Thomas Furr as they place labels with the names of Union Smart Start and First Book, the organizations distributing the books, in some of 4,800 children’s books that will be given to pre-kindergarten students in Union County.
The $12,042 grant is the third First Book allocation Union Smart Start and its partner agencies have received recently. Smart Start at Play earned a $5,000 grant and Union Smart Start’s pre-kindergarten program received a $7,000 grant in 2008.
Students at the end of their public school experience also are benefiting from the grant. Teenagers in Monroe High School’s occupational course of study have earned on-the-job experience, spending days preparing the cartons of books for delivery. This volunteer effort counts toward the requirement of 600 hours of community training, according to Phyllis Covington, teacher assistant. Students also have worked at the ARC, Council on Aging, Monroe Aquatics and Fitness Center and the Hampton Inn to earn their hours.
“We are thrilled with the grant, and the students will be thrilled, too, when we hand them books to take home and keep.”
- Trinisha Dean, pre-kindergarten coordinator at Union Smart Start.
Research has shown that the majority of children from low-income families have no books in their homes or classrooms, and as a result, direct access to books is extremely limited. Dean pointed to the long-term impact these first books can have on a child’s life.
“You cannot develop the love of reading if you don’t have easy access to a variety of books,” she explained. A study included in the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Vol. 2, also shows that in middle-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, but in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is one age-appropriate book for every 300 children.
“Reading is a fundamental skill that facilitates learning in every subject,” Dean said, “and directly affects the quality of life for adults.” According to First Book, 43 percent of adults at the lowest level of literacy proficiency live in poverty. Among adults with strong literacy skills, only 4 percent live in poverty.
First Book is a non-profit organization whose mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and to own their first new books. Founded in 1992, the organization has distributed more than 65 million books to programs serving children in need across the United States and Canada.
Union Smart Start is a non-profit organization that distributes legislature-allocated funds in Union County. Smart Start is North Carolina’s early childhood initiative designed to ensure that young children enter school healthy and ready to succeed. Smart Start benefits children from birth to age 5 and their families.
Registration for next year’s pre-kindergarten classes in Union County is ongoing for children who will be 4 years old on or before Aug. 31. Enrollment ends March 31. For more information on registration, contact Union Smart Start’s Pre-Kindergarten Office at (704) 282-0580.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
Edge Of Darkness
Mel Gibson plays a Boston police detective. His daughter, an MIT graduate and a nuclear engineer, comes to visit. She is deathly ill. The cop decides to take her to the emergency room and when they open the front door of the house, a car passes by and shoots her with a shotgun. The police are trying to determine if the killer meant for the father rather than the daughter. The mystery evolves explaining how the daughter was trying to blow the whistle on her employer, a defense contractor working with super nuclear weapons.
This movie is a revenge shoot-em-up. There is no bad feelings for the bad guys getting killed as they deserved it. Mel Gibson has had a string of films where he is a suffering hero. Come on Mel, get a life. I enjoyed the film as I enjoy the action genre. No shortage of violence. I feel if a movie is enjoyable, it is a good film.
I rated Edge Of Darkness 4 out of 5 for an action film. Rated R
Dear John
Dear John, starring Channing Tatum, Amanda Sayfried and Richard Jenkins. An army soldier comes back to South Carolina on leave in early 2001. He is staying with his father, an autistic coin collector. John meets Savannah and there is an immediate attraction not love at first sight. She goes off to College of Charleston and he returns to his military duty. He agrees to write her and tell her of his daily life.
9-11 occurs and his unit decides to re-up their enlistments. They are given a few days off to visit their families. John returns to South Carolina and tells Savannah about his decision. She is unhappy but professes that she loves him. John returns to his unit and is assigned to Iraq. He receives and sends letters. The letters from his girl friend stop coming. A couple of weeks later he receives a “Dear John” letter saying she had to break off the relationship and that she was engaged. He is heart broken and stays away from the US for about six years. He is shot and while in the hospital learns his father had a massive stroke.
John returns to South Carolina and his father dies. After the funeral he goes by Savannah’s home to visit and tell her how much he was hurt. You are going to have to see the movie from this point on. The story is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks a writer from New Bern, North Carolina and the author of the book and then movie, The Note Book.
I found the movie to be a simple and believable love story. Although the story is simple-boy meets girl, girl dumps boy, they get together again and live happily ever after. The actors appeared to be real people not actors which is a plus. Good shots of South Carolina and Charleston. Bring along a box of Kleenex and enjoy this wonderful movie.
I rate Dear John a 4.5 out of 5
bruce@kantorandassociates.com
Bruce Kantor owns Kantor & Associates in Matthews, NC.
2010 The Scoop Network
 Who can you trust? People ask that question – or some version of it – daily, whether consciously or subconsciously. We’re a nation of skeptics; a skepticism many say is rightfully earned.
Non-profit organizations in the Carolinas are feeling the impact of mistrust and skepticism, the result of negative publicity surrounding decisions and ethics in unrelated corporate and non-profit groups. For non-profits, trust is a critical factor in where people send their charity dollars. A Foundation For The Carolinas report acknowledges that “donors send their trust along with their checks” to non-profits. Without public trust, non-profit organizations lose support and, ultimately, the community loses much-needed services.
Area staff, directors and other volunteers can learn to remove any cloud of mistrust from their organization and to enhance the public’s confidence level by attending a seminar on trust: how to get – and keep – it.
The Tiffany Circle, an American Red Cross society of women leaders, is presenting Noah Rickun, a certified Jeffrey Gitomer speaker, in a March 24 seminar titled “Light the Challenge, Carry the Torch.” Gitomer is the nationally recognized author of Little Teal Book of TRUST: How to Earn it, Grow it, and Keep it to Become a TRUSTED ADVISOR in Sales, Business, & Life.
Rickun will relate Gitomer’s principles to the non-profit world, discussing how becoming a trusted adviser will increase awareness, donations and participation in non-profit organizations. According to Gitomer’s philosophy, “The more trustworthy you become, the more success you have the potential to achieve.”
The seminar at Hilton Center City in Uptown Charlotte will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a wine and cheese reception until 7 p.m. Cost is $20. The first 100 people to register will receive a free copy of Gitomer’s “Little Teal Book of Trust.” Registration deadline is March 17.
Call Liz Stephens at (704) 347-8228 for more information or register online at carolinapiedmontregion.org.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
Monroe, NC – The Union County Community Arts Council and Central Academy of Technology and Arts will offer a two-week Summer Performing Arts Camp from June 14-26 at Central Academy of Technology and Arts.
The Summer Performing Arts Camp is an acting camp for students current K-5th grade devoted to teaching young people the art of fine acting in a joyful, creative and professional environment on the campus of Central Academy of Technology and Arts, Brewer Drive in Monroe. Students will rehearse and perform “The Aristocats” Kids, based on the acclaimed 1970 film “The Aristocats”.
Directors and instructors are Larry Robinson, Kimberly Morgan and Bianca Harris.
Join us as Madam’s jealous butler Edgar cat-naps Duchess and the Aristo-kittens and abandons them in the Parisian countryside. What’s a cat to do? Thomas O’Malley and his rag-tag bunch of Alley Cats come to their rescue! This feline adventure is sure to get your audiences tapping their feet to its hop, jazzy beat, which includes the Disney favorites “The Aristocats,” “Scales and Arpeggios” and “Ev’rybody Wants to be a Cat.”
Students will attend camp from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Monday-Friday for two weeks and will conclude with public performances of “The Aristocats” Kids on Saturday, June 26. Registration will open on April 15. Cost of the camp is $300 for the two-week session.
Registration information will be available online or by calling (704) 283-2784 or emailing uccac@aol.com. Additional information is available at www.unionarts.org.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
 Monroe, NC - On Sunday, February 28, officers responded to a call at 2930 Cripple Creek Court in reference to a suspicious death.
The victim, Yolanda Devon Simon, 37, was found dead inside her home.
The State Bureau of Investigation assisted Monroe Detectives with the investigation and charged Lamate Sherron Anderson, 29, of 2923 Cripple Creek Court, Monroe, with first degree murder. He is in the Union County Jail without bond.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
Union County, NC -The Union County Public Schools Transportation Department is joining the global effort to help earthquake victims in Haiti by sending them a school bus filled to the brim with needed supplies. Then the bus will be used to transport Haitian teachers.
Adam Johnson, director of the UCPS Transportation Department, helps load the final items collected the week of Feb. 15, 2010. Also pictured is Vec Dunn, an operations manager with the UCPS Transportation Department.
The idea, dubbed “Stuff the Bus,” was the brainchild of Adam Johnson, director of the UCPS Transportation Department. Each year during the month of February, school bus drivers across America are recognized for their hard work during “Love the Bus” month.
“This year, I wanted to do something a little different and use ‘Love the Bus’ to think about the many people in Haiti who have lost family, friends and most of their belongings in the devastating earthquake, I guess this is our way of sending the love on a global level to those less fortunate.”
- Adam Johnson, Director of UCPS Transportation Department
For an entire week, the yellow school bus was driven from school to school, gathering donated items for the long trek to Haiti. Some of the items donated include rice, corn meal, beans, spaghetti, cooking oil, salt, sugar, toiletry items, towels, linens, shoes and clothes. “We also have medical supplies like walkers, canes and crutches,” Johnson said.
The bus will leave Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, for West Palm Beach, Fla., and then be shipped to Guanives, Haiti. “The items will be distributed by a mission group there, and then the bus will be used to transport teachers to and from different schools in Haiti,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s idea became a reality when a friend of his, Randy Gulledge, owner of The Solution Stores of Cheraw, SC, donated the money needed ($1,500) to purchase one of the UCPS school buses that the system had for sale.
The United Methodist Church in Mineral Springs has partnered with the school system to get the bus to Haiti, offering to drive it to Florida and then pay the $3,000 necessary for shipping costs.
Johnson said the relief effort involved all of the approximately 430 individuals in the Transportation Department, everyone from the bus mechanics to the approximately 320 UCPS bus drivers. “This will send a message that we care,” said UCPS bus driver Phyllis Maske. “We care when our brothers and sisters across the world are hurting. This shows we’re all one; we’re all connected in some way or another. It also shows that we can make a difference.”
Johnson anticipates the bus will arrive in Haiti the first or second week of March.
This article was provided courtesy of the Communications Office of the Union County Public Schools.
2010 MonroeScoop.com The Scoop Network
Shutter island
Two US Marshalls played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo go to a hospital for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of an inmate. The story which takes place in 1954 shows horrendous living conditions. As the story progresses the two are unable to leave.
Leonardo is haunted by the death of his late wife as well as his days in the army liberating Nazi death camps. A number of psychological twists tell the tale. Explaining the twists would give away the plot and the surprises in the film. Needless to say there is a lot of suspense and violence in this Martin Scorsese production.
This is the type of film which will compel the viewer to see it twice. The second time things which were not apparent in the first viewing will become apparent. Shutter Island is definitely not for children and perhaps not as much for women as for men. Women will enjoy Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCapro. We enjoyed the twists and intrigue of the film.
I rate Shutter island a 4.5 out of 5 for a suspense film.
bruce@kantorandassociates.com
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Monroe, NC - Rep. Sue Myrick addressed business leaders March 1 at the 
