29 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/26/07 5:00am)
Fitness education isn't just for gym class anymore. Teachers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro schools, along with other schools across the state, are being given the tools to bring physical activity into their everyday curriculum.
Nearly 100 percent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district's kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers and 50 percent of the district's middle school teachers received Fit Kids training.
It was funded by the N.C. Health & Wellness Trust Fund, which was created by the N.C. General Assembly as one of three groups to receive the state's tobacco settlement funds.
The system has reached the 70 percent mark and will receive a certificate and a $1,000 stipend.
The N.C. school board now requires 30 minutes of in-class physical activity each day.
Stephanie Willis, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools health services and healthful living coordinator, said training for teachers is provided to help reinforce the mandate.
"They figured they needed to put some funding into training teachers how to implement physical activities into other areas," she said.
Willis gave the example of an online resource for Fit Kids that has log-in sites for teachers to learn how to integrate physical activity into their curriculum.
Teachers also receive an "Energizer Booklet," which contains active lesson plans that correspond with curricular goals.
BlueCross BlueShield held training for people who could then train teachers during summer 2006, and training within the schools began early in 2007.
"The training has been invaluable to us," Stephanie Knott, the district assistant to the superintendent for community relations, stated in a press release.
"It's made it much easier for us to focus on these new guidelines. And from all indications, our students and teachers alike are enjoying the results."
The program comes at a time when awareness of the nation's and the state's obesity rates is increasing.
A report from Trust for America's Health shows that 19.3 percent of North Carolina's youth weigh in as obese, making it the fifth-highest rate of child obesity in the nation.
Willis said the rate of obesity among the district's students parallels the increasing trend in the nation during the past 20 years.
She added that besides the Fit Kids training, teachers and school staff utilize other means to ensure their students are learning to live healthfully.
Willis said the district has a nutrition policy, which includes nutritional education in the classroom and cooking classes for students.
"We have different programs in different schools that combine physical activities and programs and opportunities for kids," she said.
"I think it's important for students to have increased opportunities. It benefits them both physically and mentally."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/13/07 5:00am)
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, the Tuesday pg. 4 article "Council may extend area's moratorium" incorrectly states that the Chapel Hill planning board recommended rezoning in the NW area. It was actually the planning department that made the recommendation. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
The Chapel Hill Town Council likely will extend its five-month-old development moratorium on a potential growth hot spot in the northern part of town, based on its members' comments at a Monday-night public hearing.
(10/25/07 4:00am)
The Chapel Hill Town Council moved Monday to regulate a common landscaping material that has turned out to be an accomplice in a number of local blazes.
Three separate apartment fires in Chapel Hill this year were caused by cigarettes discarded into pine straw, resulting in $72,000 of damage. A Bolinwood Apartments fire caused $50,000 in damage and temporarily displaced four families.
In Raleigh, a February inferno that began in pine straw destroyed 32 town houses.
The new ordinance bans the use of the pine needle-based ground covering and other fast-burning landscaping materials within 10 feet of buildings with exterior construction such as vinyl or wood paneling.
Severe drought conditions in the area have exacerbated fire concerns.
"Everything before the rain (Wednesday) has been very dry," said Matt Lawrence, Chapel Hill fire marshal. "There's no moisture in the ground to help us."
Ray Harris, a resident of the Booker Creek apartment complex, said he filed the petition that spurred the town's action after he saw a fire at his complex.
"I was taking the dog out for an evening walk and saw someone put a cigarette out, and it started a little fire," said Harris, who served as a volunteer firefighter in Ohio.
Pine straw burns faster and hotter than some other common mulches.
"The ease of ignition, fast rate of spread and high flame rate make pine straw inherently dangerous," Fire Chief Dan Jones wrote to Town Manager Roger Stancil.
The straw's low surface area-to-mass ratio makes it easy to ignite and quick to burn, Jones wrote.
A pine straw fire can spread at up to 90 inches per minute, while pine bark and cypress mulch burn at 11.5 inches per minute or slower, according to a study conducted in part by the U.S. Forest Service Research Station. The ordinance addresses materials that burn faster than 24 inches per minute.
Lawrence said building owners will have 60 to 90 days to make the change as the town works to inform residents of the new regulation.
Harris said the use of other materials, like hard woods, could prove more expensive, but Lawrence said he did not anticipate replacement costs would be too expensive.
"We've heard some people say it's going to cost more," Lawrence said. "I don't think there's a tremendous difference - it's also difficult to put a price on the safety of your building."
Although the ordinance doesn't apply to single family homes, Lawrence still cautioned residents.
"Keep that combustible material from piling up on the gutters or around the house, and of course be very careful with discarded smoking materials," Lawrence said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/17/07 4:00am)
Kevin Foy is running for his fourth term as mayor of Chapel Hill. After 20 years living in the area and 10 years in town government, the Ohio native hopes to continue his past efforts to protect Chapel Hill's environment and character.
"There are several things that we're in the middle of," Foy said. "Now doesn't seem like the right time to jump ship."
Foy served as mayor for the past six years and was a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council for four years before that.
He said the town's population has grown, citing Carolina North, Meadowmont and Southern Village as part of the town's expansion.
Foy said he has worked to channel growth in the right direction.
"We've tried to ensure that our rules and regulations make sure that growth is compatible with protection of our natural resources," Foy said.
Foy has watched the town grow since he moved here 20 years ago with his wife, Nancy Feder, so she could attend UNC graduate school.
"When we moved here I think it's just like most people who move here," Foy said. "We were just happy and thrilled to be in such a nice place."
Foy's background in environmental law led him to town politics.
He said he's had a lifelong interest in the environment.
"I've had the opportunity to enjoy nature my whole life," Foy said. "I want to do all I can to protect it."
If re-elected, he said he wants to create and preserve open space.
Foy said poor planning could hurt Chapel Hill, which he characterized as having a "somewhat leisurely pace of life."
"What would ruin it would be big wide roads through the middle of town or through neighborhoods," he said. "Strip malls and that sort of homogenous development . that would destroy Chapel Hill's heart."
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom, who has served eight years on the council, said Foy leads the council well.
"We've maintained a very open and continuous relationship with UNC, we've instituted fare-free transportation, and we have turned environmental idealism into public policy," Strom said.
Foy said reshaping Chapel Hill's downtown remains important.
"I think that we're started on the road to reinventing it and making it better," he said. "I want to be a part of continuing to lead that effort, too."
He also wants to establish a new men's homeless shelter.
Strom said he has been impressed by Foy's performance.
"You have to figure out how to be everybody's mayor and stay true to the issues that are important to you," Strom said. "Kevin's done a great job of that."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/25/07 4:00am)
The town's expansion plans for the Chapel Hill Public Library are making steady progress, as demonstrated at Monday's regular business meeting of the Chapel Hill Town Council.
Kenneth Redfoot, of the design firm Corley Redfoot Zack, Inc., presented the schematic design for the library to the council.
"I will say that we're on budget and on time at this point, which is really good news," said Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom, a member of the Library Building Committee.
The expansion will add space to both sides of the existing building, which is located at 100 Library Drive, off North Estes Drive.
"Basically, what we're doing is sandwiching the existing building between two spaces," Redfoot said.
The improvements will include aesthetic changes, as well as a large meeting room and conference space and an expanded children's section.
"The whole sense of the place will be very lofty, very inviting but also with a kind of a woodsy feeling," Redfoot said.
The exterior of the building will consist of stone, brick and large expanses of glass shaded by vertical and horizontal wood screens.
The expansion was made possible by a $16.23 million bond approved by voters in November 2003.
The council was not voting to approve a permit but rather to approve the schematic as owners of the land.
"This is not a special-use permit, this is just an approval to keep going," Mayor Kevin Foy said. The council voted to approve the plan. Redfoot's firm already is preparing special use permit application plans, the next step in the expansion process.
"It's really great, I think it's a great plan," council member Sally Greene said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/21/07 4:00am)
Daniel Blythe and Ryan Minicozzi were walking away from the annual Franklin Street bash last Halloween when it happened.
As the two UNC-Charlotte sophomores walked down Merritt Mill Road, two men and a woman approached them and asked to borrow a cell phone.
"The next thing I knew somebody had tackled me and punched me," said Blythe, now a junior international business major at UNC-C. "When I looked up, (Minicozzi) had a gun to his head."
When Minicozzi and Blythe told the muggers they didn't have their wallets, the suspects became upset.
What began as a robbery ended with shots fired. The three suspects were picked up by what police reports describe as a tan or gold four-door, and one of the men fired a weapon from the window. A bullet struck Blythe in the chest, "right next to the heart."
"Just a few inches, he could have lost his life," said Sgt. Jabe Hunter, the Chapel Hill Police Department's lead investigator for the case.
Close to 10 months later, no arrests have been made - as Hunter put it: "It's safe to call this one a cold case."
But the police have launched a renewed effort to gather information, issuing a press release calling on any witnesses to come forward with information.
The case is illustrative of the efforts and pressures involved behind the scenes of investigations that have been shelved.
"It's coming up about on the one-year anniversary, and this is one that's always been open on my desk looking for new leads; it's one of those cases," Hunter said.
"As a detective, you can't solve every one, but this is one that sticks out in your mind as one we really want to solve."
But months after the incident, cases like this still can break open.
Three suspects were arrested in August in connection with the July 2006 murder of Kedrain Monta Swann. Swann was shot with an assault rifle outside Club Avalon.
"The Avalon case is an example of us not giving up and being persistent," Hunter said. "We're hoping in this case that that type of persistence will pay off."
The police have asked anyone with information about the Halloween shooting to contact the department at 968-2760 or place a call to Crime Stoppers at 942-7515.
Minicozzi and Blythe are "high school buddies" from Huntersville and roommates at UNC-C, said Sharon Minicozzi, the mother of one of the assaulted students.
"We were completely overwhelmed and devastated that something like that happened," she said.
Blythe was in the hospital for about one and a half weeks after the shooting. He is hesitant to speak about the incident's effects on his life. When asked if it changed him, Blythe said only, "You can imagine."
Blythe said the renewed call for clues was partially his request.
"I was the one that wanted it to be brought back up," Blythe said.
"Dad was talking to the lead detective (Hunter). He called him a couple days ago and told him to bring it up again."
Hunter said Blythe's father has been in frequent contact with him.
"He's stayed very active in the case," Hunter said. "I think, as a parent myself, that's only natural that when your son suffers through something of this nature, to want to be involved with us."
Sharon Minicozzi said she is unsure that the police efforts will turn up suspects.
"I doubt that's going to happen; it was a whole setup planned thing that these three people did," she said. "I don't know what more (the police) can do."
Blythe said the police have performed well but that he wants to see the perpetrators brought in.
"I can't say that I'm unhappy; they're doing their job. I wish someone would have gotten caught."
The unsolved case continues to frustrate Hunter.
"These are the types of cases that bother you even when you're not working," he said. "You try to leave your work at work as much as possible, but this is one that you always kick yourself wondering how you might solve it."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/18/07 4:00am)
The Coker Hills Neighborhood Conservation District is intended to protect the neighborhood from encroaching development, but as the rezoning process draws to a close, some residents have described it as divisive.
"Personally, I wish this thing had never occurred," Sylvia Clements said at a public hearing of the Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday night. Clements has lived in Coker Hills since 1962.
"The problems it has caused, the ill feelings, the accusations, it's really torn parts of the neighborhood apart," she said.
A Neighborhood Conservation District is a set of zoning restrictions intended to help preserve a neighborhood. Clarion Associates LLC was contracted to help develop regulations for Coker Hills.
Jill Blackburn, former president of the neighborhood association, said an NCD is necessary to maintain Coker Hill's character.
"It's important because of our rich history, and what we mean to the town, and how we have to protect ourselves for the future, that we go back in our history," Blackburn said.
"That's what an NCD is all about, what was the original footprint for the neighborhood."
The plan, proposed by a consensus committee, would increase the neighborhood's minimum lot size from 0.39 acres to 0.6 acres, set a maximum house size of 7,500 square feet, place a limit of one accessory apartment to each single family lot and limit houses' maximum floor area ratio to 0.2. A floor area ratio compares the size of a house to the size of its lot.
The consensus committee was charged with coming up with a compromise that would be presented to the neighborhood and council.
"The plan is not perfect, but no plan of this nature can be perfect," said Rudy Juliano, a member of the committee.
The neighborhood also used a mediation center to help settle differences over the plan.
Cat Moleski, also a member of the committee, expressed her opposition to the rezoning.
"I have come to really deeply understand and appreciate why a town would create a zoning such as R-1 and that's because it works for the majority, it works for the town and it works for the people that live in the town," Moleski said.
"Stick with R-1, it works."
Coker Hills is zoned as R-1.
Part of the ongoing controversy has revolved around a June neighborhood poll. The poll was mailed to the 129 households within the proposed district and asked if they approved of the consensus committee's proposed plan.
Of the 86 households that responded, 72 percent favored the plan. However, debate has emerged about how to count nonvotes.
"The response they alluded to as showing a majority of our neighbors actually only represents 48 percent of the households in our neighborhood," said Jaye Kreller, president of the Coker Hills Neighborhood Association.
"They still have not demonstrated that there is clear majority support for the NCD in the neighborhood."
Kristen Zuco, of 306 Clayton Road in Coker Hills, said the results still represent a majority.
"I think you can skew those numbers however you want," Zuco said.
"It always comes back that the majority of the neighborhood wants some type of neighborhood conservation district, some type of restrictions."
Kreller added that she wants the issue to be resolved soon.
"Our one request is that regardless of the resolution, we put this issue to bed, so that the healing can begin," she said.
Brian Sanders, of 412 Clayton Road, said the fact that the proposal received only 72 percent support highlights a failure of the development process, pointing out that other Chapel Hill NCDs have passed with 95 percent approval.
"We have not come close to that," he said. "Somehow the process has not worked for us."
The council voted to recess the hearing until Oct. 8.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/14/07 4:00am)
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, Friday's pg. 7 story "Police alcohol bust yields 51 citations" incorrectly states the number of people cited during the bust. The correct number of people cited is 36. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
A joint action last Thursday between Chapel Hill and Carrboro police, as well as N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents, netted a number of alcohol-related charges against local residents and businesses.
(09/14/07 4:00am)
Taz and his wife can be seen every day on the benches near the intersection of Franklin and South Columbia streets. They have a cardboard sign that reads, "Truly Homeless."
"The shelters don't help you," said Taz, who declined to give his full name. He can't take his wife, who asked to remain unidentified, to the shelter because it is a men's shelter, and he said his wife sometimes faces harassment there.
Real Change from Spare Change, an initiative of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership that is set to launch next month, aims to discourage people from giving money directly to panhandlers such as Taz.
The program, which was endorsed by the Chapel Hill Town Council at its Monday night meeting, aims to encourage people to donate money to a central organization.
"The perception is that panhandlers have an immediate need for food, shelter and services, but the reality is that those are provided here in Chapel Hill," Liz Parham, executive director of the Downtown Partnership, said to the council.
"The bottom-line message is that it's never a good idea to give to individuals."
Parham told the council that some panhandlers can pull in more than $500 each week and that the money often funds drug habits.
Taz said many other panhandlers do present themselves deceptively.
"They're staying at a cushy, warm bed in the shelter, and they want to come say, 'Look, I'm homeless,'" Taz said.
But Taz said he uses the money he receives, about $20 each day, to buy food and clothing for his wife.
"When I get money, she gets food," Taz said. But Taz, who said he has cirrhosis of the liver, isn't hesitant to admit that he will sometimes buy alcohol to "stop the shakes."
Real Change from Spare Change, which drew inspiration from similar programs in cities such as Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Houston; and Raleigh, will set up kiosks and an online donation center with the hope that people will give money there instead of to panhandlers.
The proceeds would go toward Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, a street outreach program run by Housing for New Hope that attempts to identify the chronically homeless and connect them with services.
Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, said giving money to a program such as PATH is much more beneficial to the homeless than donations to a person on the street. The Inter-Faith Council provides resources for PATH and helps secure additional resources.
"By giving money to a stranger, we can't be certain that it's going to meet the need we think is there," Moran said. "A better way to respond is to give money to organizations that really know what they're doing."
PATH receives $45,000 each year in federal government money but needs about $100,000 to do its job properly, Moran said. The program has only one worker on the street - Julie Ransford.
Parham told the council that Real Change from Spare Change could raise $70,000 each year, 90 percent of which would go toward PATH.
"What we're trying to do is complement or supplement those funds with private dollars to make this program believable and sustain it far into the future," Moran said. "You can't just have one person."
Taz said he and his wife have been in contact with Ransford, PATH's street worker. She has driven him to court dates, among other things.
Moran said more money is needed to help fight homelessness, partly because of a lack of funding from the federal government.
"The needs that we see every day are immense," Moran said.
"We need more dollars, more services in order to counteract the challenges that we see every day, and I would challenge the community to think differently about its priority."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/30/07 4:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners will touch on a hot-button tax issue at a budget work session tonight.
The 7:30 p.m. meeting at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road will include discussion of the county's proposed land-transfer tax, an idea that has drawn both fire and support from within the community.
The proposed tax, made possible by state law, would attach a .4 percent transfer tax to property sales. A transfer tax is levied upon the seller when property is sold to provide funding for county infrastructure.
(08/29/07 4:00am)
Students in the kindergarten classes at Carrboro Elementary School walked away from their first day of school Monday with some interesting reading material.
"La Oruga Muy Hambrienta" might not ring a bell, but perhaps "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" does. Each student received both an English and Spanish edition of Eric Carle's children's book, which has sold 12 million copies since 1969.
"If you get presented with a Spanish book that you're not fluent enough to read, it opens up a whole new world," said parent Kirsten Barker, who first brought the idea to the school last spring.
Barker has two students at Carrboro Elementary and is on the school-improvement team.
The book program is part of the school's continuing efforts to raise literacy test scores and is typical of the school's bilingual culture, where the automated phone service helps visitors in both English and Spanish. Most signs in the school are posted in both languages.
Principal Emily Bivins said about one-third of the school's population speaks Spanish at home.
Data from Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools indicate that at the start of the last school year, 96 of the 532 students were Hispanic.
One of the school's most notable efforts is its 227-student dual-language program, where a mix of native Spanish- and English-speaking children learn in both languages.
The program, which just added a fifth-grade component, has equal amounts of teaching done in Spanish and English.
"They're learning in the language, not just learning the language," said Shawn Williams, a kindergarten-level dual-language teacher.
The school's focus on literacy and bilingualism has another driving force. In past years the school has not met certain requirements mandated by No Child Left Behind.
"We're held extremely accountable," Bivins said.
Bivins said that part of the reason for the school's problems is that the tests do not take into account a child's native language. In fact, they set benchmarks for minority groups, and if they are not met, the school can be considered "failing."
Eighty-nine percent of Carrboro Elementary students were considered proficient by the English language comprehension test, but only 62 percent of Hispanic students at the school achieved proficiency.
"I think you have to have accountability for children's progress, but you have to look at the demographics of the school," Williams said.
"When you know that language acquisition takes five to seven years, I think that must be taken into account," Williams added.
But dual-language programs might help improve literacy scores.
"Research indicates that kids that learn in two languages have higher academic skills than their peers," said Miriam Casimir, a veteran teacher of the Carrboro dual-language program.
Dual-language students may lag behind other classes at first, but by the third year they tend to equal and surpass their peers, even on end-of-year tests, Casimir said.
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar," which delighted students and parents alike, might just be the crest of the wave.
"They learn to appreciate another culture and language," Williams said. "What a powerful thing in our society, to be multilingual."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/07 4:00am)
The Town of Chapel Hill will pay $30,000 to Sonya Dixon, the mother of a 9-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, as part of a settlement in a disability housing lawsuit against the town.
The agreement still is pending approval by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
The lawsuit, which was filed in December 2005, alleged that the town failed to provide appropriate subsidized handicapped-accessible housing for Dixon and her family.
But Kari Johnson, the attorney representing the town, stressed that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
"It's our position in this case that Chapel Hill offered several units to Ms. Dixon that would have worked or could have worked with reasonable modification," Johnson said.
She added that the town entered the agreement to avoid drawn-out legal proceedings.
Dixon was living in Chapel Hill public housing with her three children when her daughter was born and diagnosed with cerebral palsy in late 1997.
According to the allegations, the Chapel Hill Department of Housing failed to appropriately respond to Dixon's multiple requests for wheelchair-accessible housing, instead offering her several units that the lawsuit describes as not appropriately accessible.
Johnson said town officials and Dixon disagreed on the appropriateness of the residences.
"Our position is that they were unrelated to the disability," Johnson said. "She didn't like the area. She didn't like the location."
Under the agreement town employees would undergo training on the requirements of the Fair Housing Act. The town also would adopt a reasonable accommodation policy, post non-discrimination policies and submit periodic reports to the Department of Justice.
Dixon had made her way up through an extensive waiting list, but she turned down the first two units offered by the town. The lawsuit alleges that the units were not feasible for conversion.
The lawsuit states that in February 2000 the Department of Housing informed Dixon that she would be moved to the bottom of the housing list if she did not accept housing at 601-A Gomains Ave.
Dixon accepted, but the lawsuit says the space was not appropriate.
Dixon carried her daughter up the house's staircase to reach the bathroom on the second floor and eventually sought medical treatment for back pain.
Johnson said town leaders believe they did their best to avoid discrimination and will continue to do so.
"It was never the intent of Chapel Hill to discriminate against any resident on any basis," Johnson said. "It really cares about its residents."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/10/07 4:00am)
The University finally is on the verge of acquiring property on the intersection of Wilson Court and Cameron Avenue, and it's only been trying since 1973.
The property has been in the family of owner James Dobbins since 1919, and he is finalizing a $2.6 million sale of the 2.3 acre property to the University.
Dobbins, a Winston-Salem resident, said he decided to sell because of his health and age.
But neighborhood residents are concerned about the University's intentions for the site, which is within the Cameron/McCauley local historic district and the West Chapel Hill National Register District.
Ransom Street property owner Joyce Brown said that University officials in the past implied they would stop expansion at Pittsboro Street and that she is worried the purchase could begin a domino effect.
"I'm worried about the University moving into the Cameron/McCauley historic district, and I'm also worried about whatever uses there could be," Brown said.
Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, said the University still is unsure of potential uses for the property, which sits adjacent to several smaller UNC-owned buildings.
"Right now we don't have any firm plans," Runberg said, adding that UNC officials will discuss the property's uses soon.
Brown and Pauline Grimson, both members of the Westside Neighborhood Association, spoke at the Chapel Hill Town Council's March 26 meeting to ask town staff to research town and state regulations for the area. The staff will present its findings to the council at Wednesday's meeting.
Many neighbors expressed concern that while building construction would require town review, a parking lot, like the one recently built on Cameron Avenue, could be constructed without it. Many zoning codes only apply to UNC property if a building is constructed.
But the memorandum also states that the property's historic district location could give the town leverage. The University would need to gain a Certificate of Appropriateness before beginning any construction.
Runberg said the University is aware of issues associated with the property's historic district status.
Council member Mark Kleinschmidt said he is satisfied with the University's response thus far, including a letter sent last week to the town planning department.
"I would just trust that when the time comes, they will in fact listen and incorporate the neighborhood's issues in that planning process."
Kleinschmidt said the council will work to help the neighbors, as well.
"I think that what the council wants is to make sure that the neighborhood interests are heard when the University does decide to use that property."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
Last year Elijah Davis had a house on the golf course in Carrboro and a wife of 13 years. Since November, Davis, a 13-year veteran of the Army Rangers, has lived on the streets unemployed.
"You wind up with nothing, and society doesn't want to help you be reborn," Davis said. "How the hell can I not be homeless?"
He lost almost everything after his wife divorced him for adultery while he served a five-month prison term for receiving stolen goods.
Davis isn't alone, and the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness finalized last week its 10-year plan to address the growing problem of homelessness.
The program's focus on chronic homelessness is unique among other 10-year plans developed in the area.
Those who live on the streets for long or frequent episodes and have a disability are considered chronically homeless. They typically make up about 10 percent of a community's homeless population but can consume between 50 percent and 60 percent of resources allocated to the homeless.
"I just think Orange County really took a lead in saying, 'We're going to go there first,'" said Stan Holt, Triangle United Way's community impact specialist for homelessness.
Holt helped design the 10-year homelessness plans in Orange, Durham and Wake counties, and said that providing stable housing and services is key.
He said Durham and Wake counties' plans did not focus as much on halting chronic homelessness as Orange County's.
The partnership's plan calls for the creation of 40 units of housing to help the 39 chronically homeless people identified in Orange County in 2006.
"They may or may not ever achieve self-sufficiency, but they're off the street and they're safe," Holt said.
Davis said housing would help him get back on track.
"I'm on the streets. You think someone's going to hire me living on the streets? Who? Nobody," Davis said. "Give me a place, just until I can repay the money. Help me get a set of clothes."
Orange County is far from the first to develop a 10-year plan. More than 200 10-year plans have been formulated nationwide since 2000, when the National Alliance to End Homelessness introduced the idea.
In North Carolina, 12 10-year plans have been proposed, with four already adopted or implemented.
Wake County is in the second year of the implementation phase of its plan; so far, it has made strides.
In 2005 Wake County secured a housing bond for $20 million to support the development of affordable housing, and in 2006 a "support circles" program was established to provide services and housing to the homeless.
Jean Williams, a member of the leadership council for Wake County's 10-year plan, said their plan is less focused on the chronically homeless than Orange County's plan.
She said Wake decided to give equal attention to all homeless groups but said between eight and 10 of the chronically homeless in the area have been placed in housing.
But statistical change might not come as quickly. Holt said Wake's program has not yet produced a significant difference in the number of homeless individuals.
"What we know is that it takes almost three years before the infrastructure starts getting in such a way that you start seeing the dramatic decreases in the number of folks that are homeless," Holt said.
Williams said a key to the plans' success will be restructuring services already in place.
"We don't have an infrastructure for ending homelessness, we have an infrastructure for managing homelessness, and so it takes some time to restructure that," she said.
Holt said that the plans will not completely eliminate the problem and that there always will be people who fall into homelessness. The plan aims to help people avoid getting "stuck" on the streets.
Williams said 10 years is a start.
"We have to put a time frame on something and be bold enough to say this is the goal: We want to end homelessness as we know it," Williams said. "Are we going to accomplish that fully in 10 years? Probably not. Can we get a long way toward it? Yes."
Davis said he's ready for change.
"You don't have to help me get nothing. All I need is a place and a chance at society," he said. "I'm tired of being embarrassed. I'm tired of being ashamed of my situation."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/20/07 4:00am)
Due to a reporting error, this story incorrectly states who owns the property. Madison Partners LLC sold the property in February. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
The Chapel Hill Town Council gathered community feedback and discussed concept plans for several proposed commercial and municipal projects at a public hearing Monday night.
(02/27/07 5:00am)
Carrboro has run into controversy with a recently reactivated crosswalk audible signal for the visually impaired.
The signal was installed the week of Jan. 29 at the intersection of West Main and Greensboro streets, then deactivated in mid-February after numerous citizen complaints.
Its Feb. 20 reactivation has drawn the ire of many nearby residents. The volume was lowered manually Thursday morning.
"It's just very piercing," said John Lindsey, of J W Lindsey Inc.
"I can just see residents here, as well as businesses, taking a sledgehammer to it in the wee hours."
Lindsey lives and works near the signal, at the intersection of Carr and South Greensboro streets.
The Board of Aldermen asked for the signal following citizens' requests in early 2006.
Months later, the N.C. Department of Transportation purchased the signal for the town. With each traffic cycle, the signal emits a noise.
Carrboro resident David Laney filed a petition regarding the reactivation at the Feb. 20 Board of Aldermen meeting. He said more than 50 people signed the petition in just a few hours.
Jerri Roberson, manager of Cliff's Meat Market, said the signal annoyed customers and was "more of an aggravation than anything."
David Poythress, street superintendent for Carrboro, said the signals originally were even louder.
He said that Chapel Hill traffic engineer Kumar Neppalli agreed to shut the signals off because of public pressure but that the signals were reactivated when it was discovered that this action made Chapel Hill liable for any resulting accidents.
Chapel Hill manages Carrboro's audible signal but uses a different type on its own streets.
"We're all trying to work together, and we're probably trying the patience of those being affected in the downtown area," Poythress said. "We do have responsibility to those who have impairments to provide them with the same opportunities."
Neppalli said the town is looking for alternative solutions and is considering installing push-buttons to activate the signals manually.
Philip Strong, advocacy and transportation specialist for the American Council of the Blind, said the signal is outdated - its volume can be controlled only by manually adjusting the internal audio cards.
Strong said that modern intersections require technology to facilitate everyone safely and that a signal that changes with the level of ambient noise would be more appropriate.
"An accessible signal provides me . with the information that I need to cross the road," said Strong, who is legally blind. "I think it's only fair that we should all have the same amount of information."
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton blamed the problem on the N.C. DOT's choice of technology, saying it's been a burden on residents.
"It doesn't need to be this complicated, and it doesn't need to be that loud, and it doesn't need to run every light cycle,"
he said. "I can't imagine what the DOT was thinking when they bought these devices."
His moral of the story?
"No good deed goes unpunished."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/16/07 5:00am)
Construction was scheduled to begin Thursday on the Rand Road connection project, a road joining Purple Leaf Place with Rand Road.
The road will bridge the Roberson subdivision with a side street of South Greensboro Street in Carrboro.
The project also will expand the bicycle and pedestrian alternative route which Carrboro already has been working toward.
Carrboro Street Superintendent David Poythress said the Rand Road project will connect to the Roberson bike path, which ends nearby.
"Right now, the full connection is incomplete," Poythress said.
He said the town's planned Brewer Lane sidewalk project also will link the Libba Cotten bike path to the Roberson Place path, which connects Eugene Street with Purple Leaf Place via a quarter-mile asphalt path.
The path ends at a muddy field separating the neighborhood from nearby Rand Road. Heidi Perry, chairwoman of the transportation advisory board, said the connection will help pedestrians and bicyclists commute safely.
"It gives people a way to get down to the lower part of South Greensboro Street without going on what is a very bike-unfriendly part of Greensboro Street," Perry said.
The Board of Aldermen voted against making the connector a public road, at least partially because of neighborhood concerns, but Perry said there's a chance it could be converted in the future. For now, it will serve emergency services, bicyclists and pedestrians.
"The longer it stays bike and pedestrian only, the better," Sweet Bay Place resident Virginia Lanzotti said.
Some residents said the bike path isn't being used much, though.
"I don't think a lot of people know about it," said Scott Bailey, who lives on Merritt Mill Road in Chapel Hill. He said he frequently walks his dog on the path but rarely sees anyone else using it.
Lanzotti said that the light usage might have to do with the lack of a connection to Rand Road but that she uses the path "all the time."
Sweet Bay Place resident Taylor Hensel said the path is mostly used by dog walkers and children.
"I think come the spring or summer, it could be a different story," Hensel said. "It hasn't been here long enough to assess the traffic."
Poythress said the bike-path project was initiated about 1990. When the Roberson Place subdivision was approved, the developer set aside an easement to build the path.
The N.C. Department of Transportation Bicycle Unit is expected to reimburse 80 percent of the $225,000 Roberson project.
The Rand Road project was contracted to the ST Wooten construction company for about $32,000.
"It's a town effort to expand modes of transportation, particularly in this case for bicycles and pedestrians, and give other choices," Poythress said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/26/07 5:00am)
The Kerr Drug on Franklin Street will close its doors permanently today.
The store's closing comes with little warning or fanfare - the only indication of the shutdown on Thursday was an inconspicuous "space available" banner hanging from the building's second-floor windows.
University Mall on South Estes Drive houses the only other Kerr Drug in Chapel Hill.
Diane Eliezer, director of marketing for Kerr Drug, said lease problems led to the store's closing.
The store occupies the bottom half of a two-story building, and the owner of the building is represented by GVA Advantis, a real estate company.
Kerr Drug rented both floors of the building and used the top floor for storage, said Mac Hammer, the real estate agent for the property.
Eliezer said the business could not afford to lease the entire building, and the landowner was unwilling to rent only half of it.
Eliezer said Kerr Drug and GVA Advantis attempted to reach an agreement in good faith but were unable to find an acceptable solution.
Hammer said part of the problem was that the location at 109 E. Franklin St. doesn't have a pharmacy.
"I think they like to have pharmacies in their stores, and there wasn't enough room in the space," he said.
Eliezer said the Franklin Street store offers only convenience items, not Kerr Drug's core products and services, such as a pharmacy. The Franklin Street store does include a one-hour photo center.
The University Mall location hosts a pharmacy as well as a photo center.
Freshman Zack Dawson heard the news when he went to buy lottery tickets at Kerr Drug and found that the store had not purchased any in preparation for the closing.
Dawson said the convenience store lived up to its label.
"This place usually has pretty good prices," he said.
"You can go to Sutton's, but they're more of an actual drug store."
Hammer said both floors are now available for lease. The top floor of the building is 5,038 square feet and will be leased at $12 per square foot.
The renter also would be responsible for any additional costs, such as taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities and cleaning.
The upper floor is featured on the available spaces section of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership Web site, www.downtownchapelhill.com.
The bottom level of the building is about 5,000 square feet with a price that is open for negotiation, Hammer said.
According to the Kerr Drug Web site, the company was founded in 1951 in Raleigh. It now boasts 164 locations across the Carolinas.
Friday will be the store's last day of operation.
"Stock up," Eliezer advised.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/18/07 5:00am)
CORRECTION: This article incorrectly states that Kate Wheeler is a Northside resident. She lives in Carrboro. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
(01/18/07 5:00am)
Chapel Hill soon might see another large construction project after the Town Council's public hearing on the University Village project Wednesday.
No residents spoke against the project.
The proposed project will involve the demolition of the University Inn and the Avalon medical office building and the construction of six mixed-use, multistory buildings.
The buildings will include offices, retail stores, residences and a hotel, according to a memorandum from town staff to the council.
Plans call for about 512,000 square feet of floor area including 203 residential units and 784 parking spaces on the 11.2-acre site.
Roger Perry, president of East West Partners, the project's developers, said the condominium units will sell for $250,000 and up, including some prime units at $600,000.
The site is located on the south side of N.C. Highway 54 between Hamilton and Finley Golf Course roads.
It would "add a tremendous amount of money to the tax base of Chapel Hill," Perry said. He added that the project will carry several alternative benefits for the community.
"Thirty percent of the units are going to be in the affordable housing program," Perry said.
The town requires 15 percent of the units to be set aside for affordable housing.
Robert Dowling, executive director of the Orange Community Housing and Land Trust, expressed his support for Perry's affordable housing plan.
"I can say at the outset that this proposal is far and away the best affordable housing proposal that has ever been presented to the council," he said.
There will be a transfer fee for the resale of the residential units that will go into the trust to keep the affordable housing units up and running.
The fee is equivalent to 1 percent of the resale value.
The project also will work to achieve various LEED certifications - a measurement of sustainability - including a silver status in the new LEED Neighborhood Program.
Doward said he wanted each of the development's buildings to boast sustainability credentials.
UNC environmental sciences and engineering professor Doug Crawford-Brown voiced support for Perry's eco-friendly efforts.
"It actually is a community design, a kind of template for a cell that you could replicate and build all over a community," he said.
Dutch Kuyper, CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, also spoke in favor of the program.
"We are most impressed with the combination of the vision and the ability to execute demonstrated by Roger Perry and his East West Partners."
Perry said very few residents had come forward to speak about the project, and even fewer had any objections.
The council will reconvene Feb. 26 to consider changes to the proposed development's zoning district that will allow for the buildings to be 85 feet tall. The limit before was 60 feet.
The modified zone standards also would require increased minimum recreation space areas and allow up to 20 residential units per acre.
Perry said he hopes to begin construction by the end of the year.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.