Regarding the City and County exerting control (N&R) over vendors at the world's greatest parade. My position is "nuanced", (we used to say "mixed").
One of the finest pleasures of the A&T parade is walking down Lindsay and other streets along the parade route taking in all of the vendors in search of the perfect fish or rib sandwich. I have never given a thought to the sanitation practices of the vendors because everyone's cooking operation is right there for you to see before ordering. If you don't like what you see... move on. But those cooks know what they are doing.
My inclination is to agree with State Representative Earl Jones' objection as blogged by the Inside Scoop, "If something's not broke, you shouldn't fix it". But I know that the Health Department would have hell to pay if some reveler got sick from eating things that only smelled wholesome and was supposed to be regulated by governement. So yeah, since our local government knows about the parade's food vendors, they have to be involved... dammit. It was just a matter of time. But their involvement is more from a "government covering their own ass" position than one of any real concern for the public's health IMHO.
Placing all of the food vendors in War Memorial Stadium's parking lot in a "food court" is a bit too much, though. Let them set up where they will along the parade route like they've been doing for decades. Assigning everyone to neat little "food court" rows is just too...well... it's just too damned White for my taste.
The timing of the government crackdown on vendors also sucks and will serve to stifle this year's parade's vitality if the City and County don't relent. The parade vendors come from all over and many will have no idea that the City and County will not let them operate after they arrive in Greensboro. In this I am in complete agreement with what the Scoop reported about Representative Jones' position as stated before the County Commissioners:
"There should be adequate notice of nine months or a year," Jones told the commissioners. He asked them to roll-back the health permit requirement and said he would ask the city to do the same for privilege licenses."
9:07:48 PM 
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