A workforce with hooves and horns
Plus: Teen Talk: 'Who's on aux?'; New crossword; News of the week: Centene backs out of huge UCity campus; N.C. abortion law changes; Permanent HQ for Charlotte FC; 'Muscle cars' mourned
Good morning! Today is Saturday, August 20, 2022. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.
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Business rents out goats, who go to town on kudzu and poison ivy; ‘They became like family’
Jacob Trivette, owner of Carolina Goatscaping, has a 41-goat herd at his farm in Iredell County that he rents out for property owners who need to clear brush, vines and weeds. (Photo courtesy of Jacob Trivette)
By Amber Veverka
In a summer of labor shortages, maybe all businesses need to hire more employees like Devil Horns.
Yes, he’s got a bit of an attitude, but this guy will work all day long for nothing more than a pile of poison ivy and a whole bunch of kudzu.
Devil Horns is a part of a 41-goat herd cared for by Jacob Trivette, owner of Carolina Goatscaping, a business that rents out goats to people who want to clear brush, vines and weeds — and would rather watch a bunch of goats eat dinner than listen to the roar of gas-powered equipment.
“I felt like nature should clean nature,” said Rita Baskett, a southeast Charlotte resident who recently hosted Devil Horns and three of his goat buddies. “My backyard was just immensely overgrown with a lot of vines and kudzu. I knew it would take way too much herbicide to kill it.” A visiting arborist Baskett hired to assess her trees had the answer. “He said, ‘You need to get yourself some goats,’” she recalls.
An online search led Baskett to Carolina Goatscaping, which Trivette runs from his farm in Iredell County. Trivette and his wife, Sara, moved to the farm after Trivette got out of the Air Force.
Trivette’s ambition was self-employment. The land the couple bought came with goats. Many an American business has launched with fewer ingredients — and Trivette’s timing proved excellent.
“Goats eat almost everything,” Trivette said, and these days a lot of property owners are looking for an environmentally friendly solution to invasive weeds. “I thought, ‘I’ll try it, and see how it goes.’ And it just blew up.”
The business works like this: Trivette brings goats to a property, surrounds them with a solar-powered electric fence, and leaves a mineral supplement block and drum of fresh water. He gives instructions to the property owner with a bag of snacks to hand out for those who crave the petting-zoo type experience — and that’s about it. Trivette charges a setup fee of $250 and then $15 a goat per day. For large pieces of land where he’s aiming to be competitive with a crew equipped with a mulcher or brush hog, he caps his fee at about $1,500 a month.
Baskett hired four goats to clear her property and though they came with names — Devil Horns was the ringleader — she dubbed them Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Serena Williams and Florence Johnson.
“Because they were the Greatest Of All Time,” she explained. (Get it?)
The goats sheltered under a tarp some of the time but mostly they just ate and provided entertainment.
“They became like family,” Baskett said. “My mom lives with me and she would sit out back and just talk with them.”
The goats were quiet, making the occasional soft bleat. They cleared kudzu, poison ivy and other annoyances and soon were ready to head to another job in Matthews. Baskett bid goodbye to the goats, a little sadly.
“My mom’s like, ‘Can we get one?’” she said.
The answer in most cases in Charlotte is probably no. City of Charlotte Animal Care & Control regulates the amount of space cloven-hooved animals need, and to house a herd permanently takes more land than most residents have. Trivette understands that there may be some gray areas about goats who just visit and said he’s willing to deal with any issues that arise. So far, so good, however.
Goatscaping isn’t a new concept — the city of Belmont contracts with a South Carolina company to clear land of unwanted vegetation, and others around the Carolinas are onto the idea.
Trivette said his only struggle right now is getting the goats to walk calmly on a leash as he transports them into someone’s yard, but he’s got a new employee who should be able to help with that eventually — Indi, an Australian shepherd puppy.
As for Baskett, she had only good words to say about landscaping with goats. “It was a really good process,” she said. “They really went to town on the weeds. Goats are a thing.”
Amber Veverka is a freelance writer and editor. She can be reached through her website, amberveverka.com.
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Teen talk — build your vocabulary: ‘Who’s on aux?’
Impress and delight the young people in your life by using the words they use. The Ledger shows you how in this occasional Saturday feature.
Today’s phrase: “Who’s on aux?”
Pronunciation: Hooz on ocks?
Explanation: The person “on aux” is the individual controlling the music, and therefore the vibe, of an event (typically a party or car ride). The phrase “Who’s on aux?” questions or indirectly criticizes the person’s song choice.
Examples:
“Jeez, I can’t listen to another one of those trashy Drake songs. Who’s on aux?”
“Don’t let Katie on aux again tonight — her sad breakup songs always kill the vibe.”
Ledger analysis: Unlike people who grew up with cassette tapes or 8-tracks, today’s younger generation is accustomed to being able to switch songs quickly and to easily alter playlists on their phones. They’re not at the mercy of a mixtape or the radio. Ironically, the term “on aux” might already be outdated, as the latest generation of iPhones don’t have ports for the auxiliary cables that are the genesis of the phrase. They typically use wireless Bluetooth technology instead.
—Caroline Mecia, age 19
Can you solve this week’s Charlotte-themed crossword?
Clues from this week’s Ledger crossword — timed to a big local celebration — include:
16 Across: “Economic mezcal bar and cantina on Brevard Street” (9 letters)
27 Across: “First Black woman to anchor television news in Charlotte” (11 letters)
5 Down: “0, to Charlotte FC” (3 letters)
Ledger crosswords are created by Chris King, edited by Tim Whitmire and presented by CXN Advisory. Enjoy this week’s edition:
.PDF (suitable for download and printing):
.PUZ (suitable for use on tablets and computers with Across Lite app):
For more than two dozen crosswords with local clues, check out our dedicated Charlotte Ledger Crossword page.
This week in Charlotte: Centene ditches Charlotte plans, tighter N.C. abortion rules, Charlotte FC chooses HQ site, private schools start classes
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Politics
N.C. abortion law dusted off: (WRAL) A federal judge reinstated North Carolina’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks, following June’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Former elections director dies: (Ways of Life) Bill Culp, who served as Mecklenburg County’s elections director for nearly three decades and served more than a year in federal prison for taking bribes, died this month at age 78.
N.C. state of emergency ends: (WCNC) Gov. Roy Cooper ended North Carolina’s Covid state of emergency on Monday, Aug. 15, which provided price gouging protections and allowed some employers greater flexibility.
Education
Back to school: Students at several Charlotte private schools returned to classes this week, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools restarts on Aug. 29.
Masked at Queens: (Ledger 🔒) Queens University of Charlotte will require masks indoors as students return to campus for the fall semester, making it apparently the only university in Mecklenburg County to have such a rule.
Business
Centene ditches Charlotte plans: (Biz Journal, subscriber-only) Health insurance giant Centene is backing out of plans to hire 3,200 workers in Charlotte at a 130-acre campus in University City that it has been building for the last two years.
American’s fast jets: (Ledger 🔒) American Airlines ordered 20 supersonic jets that are expected to be delivered in 2029, though it’s too soon to say if any will be deployed to Charlotte, American’s second-largest hub.
Longtime N.C. cafeteria chain sold: (Winston-Salem Journal) K&W Cafeteria, a buffet restaurant chain headquartered in Winston-Salem since 1937, has been sold to Louisiana-based chain Piccadilly.
Sports
Soccer central: Charlotte FC announced the location of its headquarters and training facility: McAlpines Center, off Monroe Road.
Remembering a golf pro: (Observer) Dana Rader, rated as one of the top golf instructors in the country and who ran the golf school at The Ballantyne hotel for two decades, died this week at age 64 of a rare brain disease.
UNC women’s basketball coach apologizes: (News & Observer) North Carolina women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart apologized after saying on a podcast: “N.C. State fans are so classless, I just don’t even like going there.”
From the Ledger family of newsletters
South Charlotte wildlife: Charlotte’s Stonehaven neighborhood in south Charlotte is seeking to become the city’s first Community Wildlife Habitat, a designation that would demonstrate its commitment to caring for the natural environment.
Myers Park sexual assault case: A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit to continue that alleges that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools mishandled a Myers Park High student’s report that she was sexually assaulted by another student off-campus in 2015.
School board election: One of the more interesting races for Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board this fall will be the contest in District 4, the east Charlotte district in which incumbent Carol Sawyer will face challengers Stephanie Sneed and Clara Kennedy Witherspoon.
Greenway meets history: More visitors are flocking to the James K. Polk historic site in Pineville because of a new greenway connection that opened a year ago.
Fixing weather radar ‘hole’: Local meteorologists remain concerned about a gap in weather radar coverage in the Charlotte area, even with the addition of new technology by WBTV.
Social districts receive support: Speakers at Monday’s City Council meeting voiced support for a proposed ordinance that would allow social districts, where people could walk freely with alcoholic drinks, though some urged the council to disallow plastic cups.
Friday’s Ledger (🔒)
Eyewitness to a stabbing: Charlotte writer Mary Newsom happened to be in the audience when author Salman Rushie was stabbed last week in New York, and she reflects on the media swirl and the value of free speech.
Future of Charlotte offices: Centene’s flip-flop on its need for office space shows the larger struggles companies are facing figuring out their need for office real estate.
More tourism: Tourism spending surged by 46% in Mecklenburg in 2021, according to new state figures.
Electric muscle cars: Local owners of “muscle cars” are mourning the decision to discontinue gas-powered Dodge Chargers and Challengers.
Debunking transit misconceptions: Ely Portillo of UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute shares 4 things he wishes he knew about Charlotte transit before he started covering it years ago.
Playoffs? Charlotte FC is back in the playoff hunt following a surprise victory in New York, in which coach Christian Lattanzio shook up the lineup again and in which local standout Brandt Bronico scored his first goal.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project