CHARLOTTE, NC ONE OF THREE FINAL CONTENDER CITIES FOR 2020 GOP CONVENTION BID

CHARLOTTE, NC ONE OF THREE FINAL CONTENDER CITIES FOR 2020 GOP CONVENTION BID:

IS CHARLOTTE READY FOR ANOTHER POLITICAL CONVENTION? (PREVIOUSLY HOSTED 2012 DNC CONVENTION)

WHAT ABOUT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS, A ZOO, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, SAFETY?

CHARLOTTE IS AESTHETICALLY BEAUTIFUL BUT VERY BORING.

IF CHARLOTTE WINS 2020 GOP BID I HOPE THEY BEEF UP THE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION & SAFETY.


Post Sources: Charlotte Observer, WBTV, WCNC, Youtube


****** Charlotte's one of the final contenders for the 2020 RNC


The head of the state's Republican Party said Friday that he has been told the competition to host the 2020 Republican National Convention is down to about three cities, with Charlotte one of the strongest bids.

N.C. GOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse, who is attending the Republican National Committee meeting in Miami, said he has been told by numerous national Republicans that they were impressed by the city's Democratic leadership teaming up with statewide Republicans.

Woodhouse said he believed Las Vegas is a strong competitor.

CNN reported that Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald made a presentation this week to a site selection committee.

Woodhouse said Las Vegas appears to have placed a late bid to host the RNC.

Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the city of Las Vegas said they weren't aware of a bid.

A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said Thursday that Republicans asked the city to bid, but it had to decline because it "doesn't have the facilities to accommodate the event."

On Friday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said it was surprised by the story that Las Vegas was bidding.

It said it turned down the GOP with a letter earlier this year.

Las Vegas considered bidding for the 2016 RNC, but dropped out.

But the state Republican party appears to be moving forward with a bid, even if tourism officials aren't on board yet.

On Thursday, the San Antonio City Council decided in a closed session meeting not to bid.

"There's a reason that San Antonio has not pursued a political convention for the past 20 years and why so few cities seem interested in this convention," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said, citing disruptions to traffic and neighborhoods.

As San Antonio council members prepared to consider a late bid, some Democratic activists said the city shouldn't seek the RNC.

They said the Trump administration's push for a border wall would damage the city's close ties with Mexico.

The bids for the RNC were originally due Feb. 28, but that deadline was pushed back.

In past years, cities have been vocal about wanting to land a political convention, which are said to be worth tens of millions in dollars in economic impact.

But this year only Charlotte and Las Vegas have said publicly they want it.

Charlotte hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Woodhouse said he was told that as many as seven cities had expressed interested to the RNC, but some dropped out.

He doesn't know what the other city is, though he said he has heard Texas.

A tourism official in Dallas said the RNC approached the city about bidding, but the city declined.

A spokesperson for the Houston mayor's office declined to comment, but a City Council member said it had not been discussed.

"They were really impressed that a Democratic city and Democratic leaders have come together with Republicans to host the RNC," Woodhouse said.

He said the RNC will meet again in August. A decision could be made then, he said.

CINCINNATI ZOO CRITICIZED FOR KILLING GORILLA THAT DRAGGED BLACK BOY (PETA'S RACISM)

@Cincinnatigorilla

CINCINNATI ZOO CRITICIZED FOR KILLING GORILLA WHICH DRAGGED BLACK BOY:

JACK HANNA & TRUMP AGREE ZOO MADE RIGHT DECISION TO SAVE HUMAN LIFE.

IS PETA RACIST??

POLICE INVESTIGATE BOYS' PARENTS.

Sources:  USA Today, CNN, PETA, YouTube

****** Jack Hanna defends Cincinnati Zoo's decision to kill gorilla

Celebrity zookeeper Jack Hanna, a Knoxville native and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, defended the actions of officials at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens after they shot to death a critically endangered gorilla out of concern for a 4-year-old boy who got into the animal's enclosure Saturday afternoon.

However, Hanna wasn't ready to defend the mother of the child who slipped away from her supervision.

Speaking to"CBS This Morning on Monday Hanna said, "I agree 1,000 %" with the Cincinnati Zoo's officials to take out the gorilla before he harmed the unnamed child who had gone under a railing, through wires and over a wall before falling 10-15 feet into a moat in the gorilla's enclosure.

The 17-year-old, 450-pound western lowland gorilla named Harambe, grabbed the boy and pulled him through the water, keeping the child close as onlookers screamed. The boy was treated at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and later released, and his family says he is doing fine.

A widely circulated video of the event has left many wondering if lethal force was necessary; some have interpreted the gorilla's actions as more protective than dangerous.

Hanna has no doubts, however: "They made the correct decision," he told CBS, adding that a shot from a tranquilizer gun might take 5 to 10 minutes to take effect, and it was clear to Hanna that Harambe was already alarmed by the situation and a tranquilizer shot would have aggravated him further.

"A human being is alive today because of the decision the Cincinnati Zoo made," he said.

Hanna also defended the safety of zoos in general: "We'd be at the very top of safety (compared to other types of attractions)," however, "We can only do so much (to assure safety) … What do we do? … We can't protect everything all the time."

Then as a warning to parents, Hanna said, "You always have to watch children."

About the mother of the boy, he said, "I guess maybe she was doing something else (instead of keeping an eye on her son). I don't know. I wasn't there."

In an earlier statement, Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard attempted to justify the zoo's actions. "It could have been very bad," he said.

Many of those following the story online think the killing of Harambe was already "very bad," and a petition, called Justice For Harambe, had already logged more than 210,000 supporters as of dinner time Monday.

Hanna, 69, is one of the world's most celebrated zookeepers. After growing up in Knoxville, he served as the general curator of the Municipal Zoo in Knoxville in the early 1970s, he was part-owner of Pet Kingdom on Kingston Pike, and he kept a menagerie of wild animals at his Cedar Bluff Road home that he called "Hanna's Ark."

In July of 1972, a lioness at his home, Daisy, mauled a three-year-old boy who put his hand through a fence. The lioness severed the boy's arm just above the elbow.

Hanna and his family moved to Florida in the mid-1970s, and he took a job with the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford. He eventually took a position at the Columbus Zoo in 1978.

Nicknamed "Jungle Jack," the charismatic Hanna has made many media appearances over the decades — notably on talk shows hosted by Johnny Carson and David Letterman — and hosted several of his own syndicated shows, including "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild" and "Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown."