While waiting for the election results, I’ll weigh in on the City of Greensboro’s release of water restrictions violators. City Council member Tom Phillips, who voted against the release, reportedly wondered aloud if public stonings were next.

Hey, it is what is — a list of names. Like births and divorces, we look to see if there’s anyone we know. And sure enough, there’s my dentist, Jan Kraska, who was cited for his business driveway “being wet.” Don’t worry, Dr. Kraska, you’ve still got my business.

At least give N&R editor John Robinson credit for coming right out and saying that the N&R’s request (along with Yes! Weekly and NPR) for the records was an effort to shame violators:

I was surprised when we were denied the records last month. I had assumed the city — struggling with its worse drought in years — would have wanted to take every step possible to discourage people from wasting water. Letting the scofflaws’ names be published — a form of public shaming, yes — is one way. The people cited had been warned once about their water usage….and the chance of them avoiding detection several times before being caught twice (warned once, cited on the second offense) was likely.

Shame’s a typical tactic for lockstep enviro-media like the N&R, Yes! and NPR, all of which are constantly making us feel guilty about the lifestyles we lead in today’s modern world. That’s not excusing the ‘water scofflaws,’ either; the city got its $200 worth, and that’ll probably do more to discourage further violations than having their names published in the paper.

I find it interesting, though, that the N&R went to great lengths to acquire the names when last week they stood by and cheered for the Skybus deal while the High Point Enterprise went after minutes of PTIA’s closed-session meetings where officials expressed doubt over Skybus’ chances of success. We now know there are others out there who also question Skybus’ chances.

So there you have it, more elitist crap from local media. Eager to shame the taxpayer, unwilling to fight for him.