40 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(08/27/08 4:00am)
It was just another Friday at Carolina.
The sky was blue, the Pit bustling with students changing classes and meeting friends for lunch, and there was already a hint of spring in the March air.
The sentencing Tuesday of Mohammed Taheri-Azar brought back memories of that day. But some Carolina students and alumni don't remember the blue skies that day.
(04/21/08 4:00am)
When the curtain went up Saturday night in Memorial Hall, the auditorium was bathed in an orange glow and filled with the energetic and tight harmonies of the Clef Hangers' trademark song, Toto's "Africa."
Dressed in khakis and their traditional button-clad vests, they bopped to the 1980s hit in front of a sold-out audience that included about 72 of the group's alumni.
The former members were in town to celebrate the group's 30th anniversary, which culminated in a three-hour-long concert.
(04/21/08 4:00am)
For years, controversy surrounding the Orange County Landfill's closing has riddled both county leaders and residents.The landfill, which is expected to reach capacity around June 2010, will be sealed, and all trash will start being shipped out of the county, said Gayle Wilson, solid waste management director.
(04/14/08 4:00am)
Rewind the UNC a cappella scene 30 years, and you'll find the Morrison Dorm Singers, a barber shop quartet-style group that sang primarily at the dorm.
Thirty years later, that same all-male a cappella group, now known as the Clef Hangers, still wear the bow-tie-and-vest outfit they did in the late 1970s.
Joined by 78 alumni, the all-male a cappella group will celebrate and remember three decades of tradition, bonding and music at two concerts this week.
(02/13/08 5:00am)
Orange County took the next step Tuesday evening to becoming the first county in the country with a social justice goal.
The Board of County Commissioners met in a joint work session with the county's Human Relations Commission, which presented a report on how best to form and implement a countywide social justice goal.
Commissioners first asked the HRC to develop the goal in 2004. According to the National Association of Counties, only three California counties have incorporated social justice into a county goal or work plan, but none has established one pertaining exclusively to social justice.
"That shows the progressiveness of the commission and the people of Orange County who have directed everybody in this project," said Bill Hendrickson, chairman of the HRC.
Since 2004, the commission has met with a UNC law professor to lay a foundation for the goal's crafting, held three public listening sessions and attended events in 18 venues to solicit public input.
To get public input at different events, the commission established a "pennies in a jar" tool.
At each of the 18 events HRC members attended, they asked participants how they would allocate $13 among six categories. The categories were: elimination of oppression, economic self-sufficiency, physically and mentally safe communities, environmental justice, civic participation and "other."
Elimination of oppression and economic self-sufficiency each received the greatest amounts of money, with 26.2 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively
After collecting this information, the HRC also sought input from six advisory boards and commissions.
"I think when we all started we didn't envision how complex and broad this was going to be," said Barry Jacobs, board chairman. "But it's helped us to get a clearer vision, what we all think we mean when we talk about social justice."
The commissioners discussed various recommendations highlighted in the HRC's report and asked the commission to narrow its focus.
Bryant Colson, a member of the HRC, said the process educated the commission on key county issues and what residents think is important.
Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. said the next step of narrowing the report's focus will also facilitate the board's work.
"I sincerely hope that somehow, someway it gets out to the masses that a small county like ours . took on this task and took the first step," Carey said.
"Us. Orange County."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/11/08 5:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners spent seven hours bonding with county department heads in its annual retreat, which this year focused on thematically linking major county goals and issues.
The commissioners were distributed among four tables filled with county staff. They worked together throughout the day, coming together with the other groups to share ideas.
Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. was absent because of illness.
The workshop was led by Phil Boyle, the president of Leading Governing Associates Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to strengthening government.
Participants went into the workshop full force, starting immediately with a 242-item to-do list, with such goals as "balance the budget" and ones focused on the waste-transfer center site search.
"Today's conversation is about the what," Boyle said, not the how.
He asked each group to look through the list goals and find themes.
The groups then came together to share their themes. They established a few key ones like "growth/planning" and "water/air/natural resources.
After combining some of the themes into broader categories, the groups again split up to draft 25-word county goal statements.
Each of the six final goals contained different elements of the to-do list. Some directly addressed planning and the economy, while others dealt more with technology and the quality of life in Orange County.
The groups then went through the grueling task of assigning each of the 242 items to a goal.
They finished with this at the end of the retreat, and the county staff agreed to review the categories and identify three or four objectives or initiatives that each represents. They will also prioritize the items so that the board can know what to focus on first.
This will provide the commissioners with a framework to start discussions about certain goals and action items.
"I think it was a good start," said board Chairman Barry Jacobs.
"I would have liked to see more talk about where we're going this year. We're carving a totem pole, and we did the top image and now we have the other 50 feet to go."
This was County Manager Laura Blackmon's second commissioner retreat, and Jacobs said the workshop was her idea.
"I'll accept that it might have been necessary," he said of Blackmon's idea.
Jacobs added that although he wouldn't want this type of workshop at the retreat again, he did think it brought the commissioners and county staff unity and interaction.
"We'll see if there's more clarity as a result."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/01/08 5:00am)
Este año traerá varias novedades. En el verano mirarémos los Juegos Olímpicos en China y en noviembre los Estados Unidos escogerá su nuevo presidente ... o presidenta. Entre todas estas occurencias internacionales habrán asuntos locales que aunque sean menores tendrán quizás un impacto más significante en la vida cotidiana de cada uno de nosostros. Queremos tomar esta oportunidad para entroducirnos como los nuevos editores de La Colina que será siendo publicada el último martes de cada mes en el Daily Tar Heel. Nosotros queremos enfocar nuestra cobertura en noticias locales. Sabemos que nuestros lectores pueden encontrar información sobre lo que acontece en el resto del país en otras fuentes noticiarias. Como La Colina no es una publicación diaria creemos que lo más importante es traer a los lectores noticias que impactan directamente a la comunidad Latina local. En esta edición nuestra primera hemos intentado escoger temas no solamente informativos" sino también interesantes. El artículo sobre una nueva ordenanza en Carrboro se trata de un asunto que fue controversial en el otoño. Ahora podemos ver como la nueva ley affecta a los jornaleros en el pueblo. El artículo sobre la Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito y el artículo sobre la Scholars' Latino Initiative se tratan de organizaciones que fueron establecidas con el objectivo de mejorar problemas en la comunidad Latina. La noticia más reciente que se encuentra en esta edición de La Colina es el artículo sobre los vendedores de tacos en Carrboro. Aficionados de esta comida que solo se encuentra tarde en la noche han sin duda notado su falta.Nuestro artículo principal es sobre una clase que está estudiando el periodismo de México. Creemos que este tema es interesante para los lectores de la Universidad.Oportunidades como las ofrecidas en esta clase hacen parte del ambiente único de aprendizaje que es ofrecido en esta universidad. UNC tiene un programa llamado ""Lenguas a Través del Currículo"" que permite que estudiantes en algunas clases se matriculen en grupos de discussión dirigidos en diferentes idiomas. Es importante que estudiantes interesados en aprender otros idiomas aprovechen estas oportunidades porque cuándo nos graduemos" ya no habrán tantas oportunidades. Nosotros queremos aprovechar las oportunidades únicas que Chapel Hill y las comunidades cercanas nos ofrecen. Como vivimos y reportamos en un pueblo relativamente pequeño tenemos mejor acceso a fuentes que quizás no podriamos contactar si viviamos en una ciudad como Nueva York. No es muy difícil contactar al alcalde de Chapel Hill por ejemplo. Entonces nosotros vamos a aprovechar nuestra situación y esperemos que esto les traiga artículos más relevantes y comprehensivos. Si tiene cualquier pregunta comentario o crítica no dude en contactarnos. Contacte a La Colina enlacolinadesk@gmail.com.
(01/30/08 5:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met late Tuesday afternoon to discuss deadlines for the waste-transfer center site search process.
(01/22/08 5:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH - Amid picnic tables, benches and bird feeders, a crowd of volunteers worked through their day off on Monday to build a new learning environment at Partnership Academy Alternative School.
The school's outdoor classroom was chosen as the Orange County Signature Project for the Triangle United Way's third annual Triangle Martin Luther King Day of Service.
More than 100 volunteers helped build a short trail and an open-air ampitheater featuring a stage and large benches to seat 50.
"Any time you're doing something like this . in honor of Martin Luther King, it's fine, it's good," said Mike Stewart, the husband of a PAAS social worker.
The school has been housed in a three-room building for almost a year, said Principal Paige Kimball.
While it is not at capacity, the staff finds it hard to carry out PAAS's fundamental team-building activities within the classrooms. It also will allow the entire school to gather for assemblies.
"When we moved here, I noticed there was an open area out there," Kimball said. "It would be nice to have a classroom."
The staff plans to use the space in part for a personal development elective that will focus on character and career planning.
PAAS provides alternative learning methods for children who haven't been successful in traditional schools because of social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.
The plan was initially created by school staff and a volunteer architect. They proposed the design to the Martin Luther King Day of Service Committee, which accepted it and helped look for donors and volunteers, Kimball said.
"Planning this for months and months and months and then seeing this finally take shape like this is unbelievable," said Lynn Pittman, community relations and special events manager for the Triangle United Way.
Supplies were donated by The Home Depot and volunteers included N.C. Blue Cross Blue Shield employees, University sorority and fraternity members, Carolina Friends School parents and children, Volunteers for Youth and others.
"I think that people worked extremely hard," said Tim Marshall, a GlaxoSmithKline employee whose wife is a counselor at PAAS.
"A lot of energy was put out and innovation . by young and old."
Volunteers braved near-freezing temperatures Monday, but they worked all day to finish the project.
"Believe it or not, I still sweat today," Stewart said.
Volunteers showed up to help put together the outdoor classroom that will provide PAAS students and staff with a unique learning space. The ampitheater will be open to other Orange County schools and for community use.
"I think it was an opportunity to put something back into the community," Marshall said.
"And people took it."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/15/08 5:00am)
With $100 vouchers in hand, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools teachers set out Sunday to stock their classrooms with colorful index cards, markers and a variety of math learning materials.
In what was described as a "wonderful partnership" by teachers and organizers alike, the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation cut the ribbon Sunday for a teacher supply store, which is full of materials teachers might otherwise have to pay for out of pocket. The store is open to the 129 kindergarten through second-grade teachers in the school district.
"This is one of the nicest things that they've done for us," said Pam Peterson, a second-grade teacher at Mary Scroggs Elementary School. "I spend probably more than $500 a year out of pocket."
With an increasingly tightening budget and 80 percent to 85 percent of it appropriated for staff salaries and benefits, school supplies often are the first thing cut from the budget, said Stephanie Knott, district spokeswoman.
"Supplies can be cut without losing jobs," Knott said.
The East Chapel Hill Rotary Club opened the store in response to last year's school foundation planning process, when teachers and parents expressed a need for it. Similar supply stores exist in Charlotte and Durham.
"We . just really felt that the teacher supply store was the best fit for our club and the community where we could make a difference," said Gary Hill, a member of the Teacher Supply Store Committee within the Rotary.
The Rotary came up with about $15,000 from its own year-round fundraisers and corporate sponsorships, Hill said. They then bought school supplies at discounted rates from the Franklin Street Staples and from A Sea of Learning, an educational store near The Streets at Southpoint.
While this is just the first year of the school supply store, Hill said the Rotary plans to run it at the beginning of every semester, recruit more corporate sponsors and expand the voucher program to teachers of all grades.
"We are going to, in the next coming years, touch every teacher in the school system," Hill said.
The Rotary distributed a survey among the district's kindergarten through second-grade teachers in the fall asking them what supplies they needed and wanted most.
Knott said the teachers she had spoken with liked the Rotary's process to opening the store, from the surveys to the final outcome.
"They're really finding that the supplies that are out here today are meeting the needs they have in the classrooms," Knott said.
Teachers have access to other funding sources, such as from the PTA and Public School Foundation grants, besides their annual allotment, said Pam Hemminger, chair of the board of education.
"I know teachers do end up spending money out of pocket," Hemminger said. "We wish they didn't have to."
Peterson said the district provides basics, but she was excited about the wide array of materials the supply store stocked.
"They'll give me white paper, but it's fun to have colors."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/26/07 5:00am)
Chapel Hill's community holiday tree was lit Sunday evening for a bundled-up crowd of residents, children and a Santa Claus.
Community members were serenaded by the Long Leaf Opera, a local performing group that sang Christmas carols before the tree lighting.
"This is a great time of year to come out and have a little fellowship with the community," said Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom.
He symbolically flipped the switch - someone behind the scenes actually lit it - to light a 22-foot-tall, cone-shaped tree on the corner of West Franklin and Columbia streets.
The ceremony is hosted by the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. The organization bought the tree last year, making this the second year the tree will grace the downtown corner.
"We're trying to kind of rebuild the holiday decorations," said Liz Parham, executive director of the Downtown Partnership.
This year the organization bought new streetlight snowflake lights to replace ones that were used for more than 20 years.
The partnership also plans to buy a menorah to be placed somewhere on Franklin Street, Parham said.
Chapel Hill resident Jacque Muehlbauer and her husband, Jeffrey, who both attended the festivities, recently moved to the area from Arizona. This was their first Chapel Hill tree lighting ceremony.
"We're both very Christmas spirit-y," Muehlbauer said.
Ron Shearin was raised in Chapel Hill and has spent a lot of his life in the area. He said he has seen various traditions throughout the years.
"I like the relatively low-key ... quiet Christmas. I think it's quite appropriate," Shearin said of the current tree.
The tree, bearing white lights and a snowflake on top, is set up in the University Baptist Church's Memorial Garden, a small, grassy square at the major downtown intersection.
"I can't think of a better place ... in the heart of Chapel Hill to have this tree," said George Draper, chairman of the Downtown Partnership board of directors.
University Baptist Church senior pastor Mitchell Simpson explained that the corner was bought by the congregation more than 50 years ago.
"Welcome here at any time and especially tonight," Simpson said to the residents crowded at the corner.
Parham said celebrations like these are about uniting all residents.
"It's a way to bring the community together," Parham said. "That's something that downtowns are all about.
"It brings all different people together in celebration."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/16/07 5:00am)
The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved a measure to restart the search for a new waste-transfer station site, which was slated for Eubanks Road.
In a unanimous late-night vote, the commissioners also accepted a proposal to hire a consulting firm or consider a consultant with existing ties to the board.
The commissioners, who will serve as the search committee, said they will work out details, such as ways to involve the community in the search, at future meetings.
If the waste-transfer center were to be at the Eubanks Roads site, it would be built atop Orange County's landfill, which is estimated to be filled to capacity in 48 months.
The landfill was built in 1972 and residents of the area say government officials promised them it would remain there for only 10 to 15 years.
The board voted in March to locate the transfer site at Eubanks Road, in a mostly black and low- to moderate-income neighborhood, prompting the surrounding residents to establish the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism.
In September, the Orange County Democratic Party's executive committee passed a resolution asking the commissioners to reconsider the site of the waste-transfer station.
Commissioner Mike Nelson responded with an approving post on his blog in October.
Several residents of the Rogers Road community, as well as Carrboro Alderman Randee Haven-O'Donnell and Orange County Democratic Party Chairman Jack Sanders, commented at the meeting.
"The process that we used for siting the transfer station was not considered fair; it was not open; it was not transparent," said Will Raymond, a Chapel Hill resident who ran unsuccessfully in the Nov. 6 Chapel Hill Town Council election.
Community members spoke against the search process previously used by the commissioners and advocated for a new site.
"We must make a public statement that the Eubanks site is not here," Rev. Robert Campbell said.
Board Vice Chairman Barry Jacobs emphasized the need for town government participation.
"Just telling us what we should do instead of stepping forward and working with us is not satisfactory and it's a cop-out," he said.
Before the discussion about the search for a new site for the waste-transfer center, the commissioners met for about an hour in closed session. The session was held in order to discuss the "negotiating position (of the county) regarding the terms of a contract to purchase real property."
The waste-transfer discussion was the last item on the meeting's regular agenda.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/07 4:00am)
As University of South Carolina and Clemson University students awaited news Monday about their peers who died in the Ocean Isle Beach house fire the day before, their grief was aided by counselors.
Six USC students and one from Clemson died Sunday in an early morning fire that quickly engulfed a house holding 13 students.
The survivors were taken to the hospital and released Sunday.
"I believe we will get through this tragedy," said Jay Laura, president of USC's Beta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, in a press conference Monday.
UNC's Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega was holding its semiannual pledge retreat at the house next door to the fire and at another one on the block.
Rebecca Wood, president of the service fraternity, said several members were with the South Carolina students the night before, and some considered staying.
Instead they were awoken by the light of flames at 7 a.m.
"It was a knock on our bedroom door. One of the brothers had been awoken by the light of fire," Wood said. "As soon as I opened the bedroom door I could see that the house was up in flames."
Nick Cain, APO president-elect, saw the magnitude of the fire from a window. "When I saw the house I just assumed . I knew by looking at it that nobody was going to be alive. It was coming out of every window."
The students evacuated their house, checked on the other one and moved to a safer location.
"The smell was just so pungent, and my eyes were watering from the smoke," Wood said. "I had just assumed that it had been burning for a long time because it was so large and massive at that time."
Fire-department officials said the fire could have grown to that size in seconds or minutes.
"It had never crossed my mind that there would still be people in the house," Wood said.
Two of the survivors jumped from the house, which was elevated for flood-damage control. One landed in the canal and another on top of a vehicle, Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith said.
USC and Clemson made grief counselors available to their students starting Sunday. USC held a group gathering at 6 p.m. Monday for "the students to comfort each other," said Dennis Pruitt, vice president for student affairs, in Monday's press conference.
Pruitt said in a press conference Sunday that the deceased would be taken to the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill.
Their names have not yet been released.
Officials with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation are looking into causes of the fire and suspect it might have begun either on or near the back deck, which faced the canal on the west side of the house. They said the fire was likely accidental.
"It was massive," said Robert Yoho, Ocean Isle Beach Fire Department chief.
The first dispatched firefighters saw the flames while crossing the bridge onto the island at 7 a.m. and immediately called for backup.
While the fire consumed the house when firefighters arrived, they were able to effectively contain it.
Pruitt thanked the local community members who comforted the students and their families.
Smith said the community has never seen a fire of this magnitude.
"This is the biggest tragedy that Ocean Isle has ever experienced."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/17/07 4:00am)
Mohammad Taheri-Azar has frequently flip-flopped in his public behavior and legal decisions since driving an SUV through the Pit in March 2006, injuring nine.
Last week his public defender, James Williams, notified the court that Taheri-Azar, a 2005 UNC graduate who majored in psychology and philosophy, would plead not guilty by reason of insanity - a rarely used defense that's difficult to prove.
(10/15/07 4:00am)
Chapel Hill Town Council candidate Matt Czajkowski has never been a publicly elected official, but he said he's had his share of experience in the public sector.
Boasting a Harvard Business School master's of business administration, he's been the chief financial officer of two companies and now holds the same post at Aldagen Inc., a biotechnology company.
"I just have lived in a world where I've had to deal with the public sector at every level," Czajkowski said.
If elected, he wants to work on the transparency of policies and decision-making, such as the approval process for retail development.
He calls the current process "opaque and fickle" and said it should incorporate a timetable.
Czajkowski said he's heard developers tell him it's almost impossible to get a plan approved in Chapel Hill. He said this perpetuates the problem of empty storefronts downtown.
"The issue is that West Franklin just doesn't have the vitality."
Czajkowski and his wife celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary at the Franklin Hotel a few weeks ago, but when he stood on the balcony, he said there wasn't much to see.
"I watched a couple get very aggressively solicited by a panhandler," Czajkowski said.
He views panhandling and loitering as two downtown issues that need to be addressed by the council.
He said existing ordinances allow police to take a more aggressive initiative with loiterers. But Czajkowski said the council hasn't taken a strong stance in support of that.
"Homelessness is a condition, and we all have a moral obligation to remedy that condition," he said.
Another problem Czajkowski sees downtown is parking. He thinks people aren't as likely to visit this part of Chapel Hill because finding a parking space is difficult.
"It just pains me to see . that I find myself drawn to downtown Carrboro and not to downtown Chapel Hill," he said.
He also said the lack of grassy areas in town adds to its unattractiveness.
But Czajkowski thinks Carolina North, the University's proposed satellite campus, has the potential to add positively to Chapel Hill.
"The people of Chapel Hill have to be hyperactive of that particular piece of property, otherwise the University is going to bulldoze it all and put up a parking lot," he said.
He said Carolina North could be a hub for innovation - reflecting the town's ideals.
"Chapel Hill north has the potential to be a place where we find a cure for one kind of cancer."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/12/07 4:00am)
Mohammad Taheri-Azar will plead not guilty by reason of insanity for 18 felony charges stemming from the Pit attack in 2006, according to a motion filed at the Orange County Superior Court.
Taheri-Azar's public defender, James Williams, filed the notice Wednesday for the UNC alumnus, who graduated in 2005.
If the defense fails, he could face up to 150 years in prison.
"It's very rare for that to be a successful defense," said Stephen Smith, a Raleigh-based criminal defense lawyer.
A sound insanity plea must meet two requirements, Smith said.
Williams will have to prove that Taheri-Azar wasn't able to understand the difference between right and wrong and that he wasn't able to control himself when he drove through the Pit and injured nine.
The jury will then hear from psychiatrists, who will evaluate him and present the results. Taheri-Azar was ordered to undergo mental evaluation in March after acting belligerently in court.
"There's many, many mentally ill people who get charged and convicted of crimes," Smith said. "There's very few who are that far out there that there's enough body of evidence to convince a jury that they can't tell the difference between right and wrong."
Since his arrest, Taheri-Azar has flip-flopped at court appearances.
In his first appearance, in March 2006, Taheri-Azar told the court he would represent himself but was appointed a public defender. In June 2006, he decided against self-representation, after learning of a psychiatric evaluation requirement.
Taheri-Azar initially said he would plead guilty, but when he appeared in court in January, he pleaded the opposite.
His abrupt behavioral shifts might render the insanity plea relevant.
Soon after he drove through the Pit, Taheri-Azar dialed 911 and surrendered to police, telling them he acted to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world."
In subsequent court appearances, Taheri-Azar sat quietly, often reading the Quran to himself. But on March 5, he was thrown out of the courtroom after yelling obscenities and racial slurs and was immediately transported to Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Hospital for mental evaluation.
Williams said the outburst was an example of Taheri-Azar's instability.
"Here again, his behavior is a reflection of a severely disturbed and mentally ill individual," he said in March.
If found not guilty on grounds of insanity, Taheri-Azar will be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital until doctors determine he is no longer "insane," Smith said.
"If he's ever found to no longer be insane, then he goes back to criminal court to be tried . again."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/14/07 4:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH- - The Orange County Board of Education heard comments from parents and teachers at the district's second question-and-answer session about the Hillsborough and Central elementary schools merger proposal Thursday night.
The plan originally was proposed by board Chairman Dennis Whitling. It would convert both Central and Hillsborough elementary schools to year-round, which is the calendar Hillsborough already follows. The plan is to house kindergarten through second-grade at Central and third- through fifth-grade at Hillsborough.
Sitting in the Hillsborough gymnasium, parents and staff members from both schools expressed their concerns about the merger.
"We have two segregated schools," said Robin Barnhill, media assistant at Central.
School board members are concerned with a socioeconomic divide between the schools.
Hillsborough is the district's only "choice" elementary school and has the lowest number of students enrolled in the free- and reduced-lunch program - about 14 percent, Whitling said.
Central, a district school, has about 70 percent of its student population enrolled in the program, the highest percentage. The district average is about 38 percent, Whitling said.
Last year, Central failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress requirements for the second consecutive year and had to offer its students the option to transfer.
"This has got to be an across the board fix," parent Janet Braswell said. "I'm just appalled that we have been singled out."
Many parents also expressed concerns about the hassle of having multiple elementary school children on different schedules.
The board will consider comments heard at the two sessions and further develop the proposal.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/11/07 4:00am)
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, the pullout with Tuesday's front-page story "Schools improve their ABCs" incorrectly listed the recognition achieved by Culbreth Middle School. Culbreth is a school of distinction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Students in both area school districts learned their ABCs faster in the past school year, according to an annual state report released Thursday.
(08/31/07 4:00am)
Members of a 1940s U.S. Navy band are in town this weekend to celebrate their 65th reunion and be honored by town and University officials.
U.S. Navy B-1 Band came to Chapel Hill in 1942, and its 44 members were the first blacks to serve in the modern Navy at a rank other than galley.
"The recruit of blacks at any level other than cooks was a big deal; these people were very special," said Alex Albright, the band's historian.
The group played for the Navy Pre-flight School, which was housed at the University during World War II, from 1942 until its transfer to Hawaii in 1944.
Band members were kept separate from the all-white Pre-flight School. They lived in the Hargraves Community Center and marched every morning to campus to play for the cadets.
They raised the flag and played for the cadets when they went to lunch. Then they would walk back to the community center - all two miles - to eat lunch themselves.
"We had no contact with the cadets . because they were white," said band member Calvin Morrow, who played the French horn.
While Chapel Hill still was under the dark cloud of Jim Crow laws, band members were welcomed by the large black community.
"We went to their dances, their churches; I felt very at home myself," said band member Simeon Holloway, who played the clarinet and baritone saxophone.
On their way to campus, they marched through black neighborhoods. Before going to work and school, residents looked on and admired the uniformed men.
"It was just like having somebody new," said Chapel Hill resident Rebecca Clark, who had family in the band.
Chapel Hill was a town of about 6,000, and the band's presence was significant, she said.
"It was something the children learned from - that they could be like them, too."
The group was the first band her sons John and Doug Clark had heard. Doug went on to start Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, a band that was popular among college students in the mid-1950s.
This reunion kicks off with a reception at 3 p.m. today at Wilson Library. There also will be a public reception at noon Saturday at the Hargraves Center. Photos and video clips of the band will be shown.
The band will then be honored at Kenan Stadium on Saturday before the football game.
The B-1 Band played at Kenan Stadium in its heyday, but back then the only black people in the audience were custodians.
There will be a memorial service for deceased band members at
10 a.m. Sunday at Hampton Inn.
Morrow said the reunion will remind him of good times.
"What could be better than to serve in the Navy doing what you enjoy doing - playing music."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/29/07 4:00am)
With a little more cash from the county, local outreach groups will be able to relieve fiscal problems.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted Aug. 21 to use $125,000 of its Critical Needs Reserve money to provide additional funds to Carrboro's Club Nova and Hillsborough's KidsCope.
The organizations, which both deal with mentally ill residents, will use the money to sustain existing programs.
Club Nova, a community center that supports adults with mental illness, received $75,000.
KidsCope, an organization that works with children 5 years old and younger, received $50,000.
Both organizations receive money from the county every year because some level of funding for mental health centers always is required.
This is the second year Club Nova is receiving the extra $75,000, said Karen Kincaid Dunn, executive director of Club Nova..
"I would love to say that yes, this is new money and we can further develop programs," Dunn said.
But the money is only keeping the organizations afloat.
"Orange County . they've been trying to do their part. That's one of the reasons that we're surviving," she said.
In addition to funding, Orange County officials are helping the groups operate more smoothly.
Since June 2006 reforms in state and Medicaid funding, nonprofits like Club Nova and KidsCope are overseen by governmental mental health centers called Local Management Entities, Dunn said.
Nonprofits like Club Nova and KidsCope can provide customer services, but according to state statutes, they are not allowed to handle administrative tasks. The county stepped in to help.
Since the roles are separate, the organizations are having problems with billing procedures.
"If we can only bill for certain services and yet we're trying to make sure the families get linked to everything they need, then we can't bill for everything we need," KidsCope Director Linda Foxworth said.
Last year, the county helped Club Nova with these issues, and this year they'll be helping KidsCope, said Barry Jacobs, vice chairman of the Board of Commissioners. County staff works with the groups to streamline paperwork.
Jacobs said having one person to handle everything - the way the groups were operated before reforms - was beneficial to people assisted by the services.
Organizations like KidsCope can no longer provide therapeutic services and connect the families with other resources they might need, Foxworth said. Instead, families have to go through Local Management Entities for their administrative needs.
"If you have to see multiple service providers, it's great if somebody is in charge, especially if you're not capable of being in charge yourself," Jacobs said.
KidsCope is an early intervention program that helps children with or at risk for behavioral, developmental or emotional problems.
Club Nova, with about 120 active members, is part of a worldwide network of club houses that work to integrate people with mental illness into the community through job-finding services and other methods of support, Dunn said.
"The paperwork was already through the roof," Dunn said of the organization prior to reforms.
"It has now just rocketed out of the atmosphere."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.