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(12/12/08 5:00am)
FRIDAY"" 5:30 P.M. -- One woman is dead after being hit by a car on N.C. 54 late Thursday.Police have identified the victim as 43-year-old Gloria Espinosa Balderas of Carrboro.Two others were transported to UNC Hospitals with serious but non-life threatening injuries after an eastbound 2000 Mitsubishi struck the three as they tried to cross the street.The driver of the car was Durham resident Micah James Millis"17" according to police.Gunter said seven people were attempting to cross N.C. 54 near the South Columbia Street bridge at about 10:30 p.m. Four made it to the median" but the vehicle struck the others. Balderas was pronounced dead at the scene" he said.It is not an incident of hit-and-run and Millis has not been charged with any crimes" said Lt. Kevin Gunter" Chapel Hill police spokesman. But Gunter said that the investigation is ongoing and could last more than a week.There are not crosswalks in the area where they were walking"" Gunter said.Balderas is the fourth person to die in Chapel Hill since May from a collision between a vehicle and pedestrian.Valerie Hughes" a radiology imaging specialist for UNC Health Care" died after being struck by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Oct. 27 while crossing South Columbia Street.In May"" a bus hit and fatally injured Scottish exchange student Lisa Carolyn Moran at the intersection of South Columbia and Manning Drive while she was jogging outside of a crosswalk.Two days later" Barbara Boone Sims a ChapelHill homeless woman was struck and killed by a vehicle at the corner of Weaver Dairy Road and Perkins Drive.
(12/12/08 5:00am)
FRIDAY"" 5:30 P.M. -- One woman is dead after being hit by a car on N.C. 54 late Thursday.Police have identified the victim as 43-year-old Gloria Espinosa Balderas of Carrboro.Two others were transported to UNC Hospitals with serious but non-life threatening injuries after an eastbound 2000 Mitsubishi struck the three as they tried to cross the street.The driver of the car was Durham resident Micah James Millis"17" according to police.Gunter said seven people were attempting to cross N.C. 54 near the South Columbia Street bridge at about 10:30 p.m. Four made it to the median" but the vehicle struck the others. Balderas was pronounced dead at the scene" he said.It is not an incident of hit-and-run and Millis has not been charged with any crimes" said Lt. Kevin Gunter" Chapel Hill police spokesman. But Gunter said that the investigation is ongoing and could last more than a week.There are not crosswalks in the area where they were walking"" Gunter said.Balderas is the fourth person to die in Chapel Hill since May from a collision between a vehicle and pedestrian.Valerie Hughes" a radiology imaging specialist for UNC Health Care" died after being struck by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Oct. 27 while crossing South Columbia Street.In May"" a bus hit and fatally injured Scottish exchange student Lisa Carolyn Moran at the intersection of South Columbia and Manning Drive while she was jogging outside of a crosswalk.Two days later" Barbara Boone Sims a ChapelHill homeless woman was struck and killed by a vehicle at the corner of Weaver Dairy Road and Perkins Drive.
(12/03/08 5:00am)
The Chapel Hill Transit driver whose bus fatally struck a pedestrian in October has been involved in 10 other traffic incidents since 2001.In eight of those collisions James Willie Orr65 was driving a Chapel Hill Transit bus.In three of the accidents Orr rear-ended another vehicle and three others involved him striking a fixed object. According to town policy a Chapel Hill Transit employee can be fired because of a preventable accident with a fixed object or two preventable rear-ends accidents within the period of employment.It is unclear how many of Orr's accidents were preventable meaning the driver failed to do everything possible to avoid the accident.But Orr was not terminated until after he struck Valerie Hughes on Oct. 28 while she was in the crosswalk of South Columbia Street and Mason Farm Road. Hughes died later from her injuries.Officials would not discuss Orr's situation because it is a personnel issue but he is currently awaiting trial for a misdemeanor charge of death by motor vehicle in the case.A certain number of accidents is common for someone who drives a bus for a living.Chapel Hill Transit has seen a total of 70 accidents — both preventable and non-preventable — so far this year a slight decrease from the 90 in all of 2007 stated Transit Director Steve Spade in an e-mail.The town employs 109 drivers.Capital Area Transit which serves the Raleigh area" averages about 0.62 accidents per driver per year.""We have some drivers that have worked here for 30 years accident free"" stated Scott McClellan, general manager at Capital Area Transit, in an e-mail. Some have gone millions of miles without a preventable accident.""And the disciplinary methods used by transit systems encourage drivers to keep clean records.The Durham Area Transit Authority operates on a points-based system. Drivers receive a certain amount of safety points for different types of preventable accidents" said James Tinsley safety manager at Durham Area Transit.At Capital Area Transit employees can be terminated if they have three preventable accidents within 24 months McClellan said.Chapel Hill Transit has had 3.32 accidents per 100000 miles for 2008 Spade said. The transit industry standard is 3.1 accidents per 100000 miles.Transit systems are making efforts to improve safety.Hughes who police have said was walking in the crosswalk when she was hit was the second to be struck by a Chapel Hill Transit bus.In May Scottish exchange student Lisa Carolyn Moran died after being hit by a bus on Manning Drive while jogging outside of a crosswalk.No charges have been brought against the driver of the bus that hit Moran and Orr is expected to appear in court Jan. 12 to face the misdemeanor charge.Spade said Chapel Hill Transit hopes to learn from these deaths.Chapel Hill Transit puts all of its new drivers through three weeks of training in which they learn about defensive driving modules. After that drivers continue to attend training once a month to discuss safety topics.Capital Area Transit does ride along and trail behind checks for its drivers McClellan said. Durham Area Transit installed cameras in all of its buses after an increase in accidents in 2005" Tinsley said. The cameras monitor drivers' behavior. ""There's a discipline rate that comes with it"" Tinsley said. We have a very strict policy when it comes to accidents — we don't play around with it.""When little things happen big things can occur later on so we just try to stay on top of it.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(12/03/08 5:00am)
After this year's last-minute campaign to make Halloween on Franklin Street smaller and safer" local leaders are already evaluating the event and planning for next October.Officials said restrictions intended to keep out-of-towners from traveling to Chapel Hill and to prevent the alcohol problems usually inherent at downtown Halloween celebrations were overwhelmingly successful.""We'd like to build on that success"" said Butch Kisiah, director of parks and recreation. One of the things I want to make sure of is that we can do this two years in a row.""The town's Homegrown Halloween campaign began in the summer" when leaders including Mayor Kevin Foy discussed ways to make the event smaller and more local.Halloween 2007 saw about 80000 revelers on Franklin Street most of whom officials said traveled to Chapel Hill from other parts of the state.Concerns about the number of attendees alcohol abuse and potential gang-related violence spurred officials to implement a list of restrictions including shutting down bus service to parking lots setting up alcohol checkpoints around town and asking Franklin Street bars to close their doors at 1 a.m.A plan to clear the street of pedestrians at midnight required the most coordination — about 100 police officers on foot riding motorcycles and driving cars and buses took over the street at about 12:15 a.m..The town even attempted to mount officers on horses but the trailer carrying them broke down on N.C. 54 preventing the horses from reaching Franklin Street.Town officials said the measures contributed to the smaller crowd and decrease in crimes this year.Officials say fewer than 40000 people attended. Police arrested five people" down from 13 in 2007.""We exceeded our best guess on how we would do this year in terms of making it a more manageable and safe event" said Capt. Chris Blue of the Chapel Hill Police Department. Our sense is generally speaking" there were fewer groups of people wandering the crowd who appeared to be looking for trouble.""Kisiah said town and police representatives have begun meeting to evaluate the changes and plan for next year. Police recently met with Franklin Street bar owners"" and town staff will sit down with UNC student government representatives in the next few weeks.""The initial reactions have been pretty positive"" he said. Yeah we had some alcohol; yeah we had some folks that were drunk … but you could just see a different attitude.""Town evaluations likely will be completed by early 2009" and planning will soon begin for next year.Kisiah said most of the restrictions introduced this year will remain but he hopes the town can shrink the party zone and close more of Franklin Street to pedestrians during next year's event.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(12/03/08 5:00am)
Due to a reporting error this story misstated the intersection where Valerie Hughes was struck and killed by a Chapel Hill Transit bus. She was in a crosswalk at the intersection of South Columbia Street and Mason Farm Road. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.In light of several pedestrian deaths this year Chapel Hill Transit is considering making changes to increase safety.Valerie Hughes a radiology imaging specialist for UNC Health Care died from injuries after being struck by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Oct. 27 in a crosswalk at the corner of South Columbia Street and Manning Drive.The intersection where the incident occurred signals traffic to turn onto Columbia while simultaneously indicating for pedestrians to cross. It is often unclear that vehicles are legally required to yield to people crossing the street.The driver of the bus involved James Willie Orr was terminated when the town completed its investigation. Orr who worked at Chapel Hill Transit for eight years was charged with a misdemeanor count of death by vehicle for not yielding to a pedestrian at the crosswalk. Orr65 had been involved in 10 other traffic incidents since 2001 eight of which occurred while driving a Chapel Hill Transit bus.Neither Orr nor Chapel Hill officials would comment on the prior accidents and it is unclear why he was not fired.In May Scottish exchange student Lisa Carolyn Moran died from injuries suffered after being hit by a bus on Manning Drive while jogging outside of a crosswalk.Shortly after Moran's death Barbara Boone Sims" a Chapel Hill homeless woman was struck and killed by a vehicle at the corner of Weaver Dairy Road and Perkins Drive.Current safety measures employed by Chapel Hill Transit include three weeks of training for new drivers in which they learn about defensive driving and other safety methods. Drivers then attend monthly training sessions to discuss safety topics.Transit Director Steve Spade said the department plans to try to take more measures to prevent these types of incidents from occurring.Spade said the department hopes to learn from these negative experiences to see improvements.""I think these are the kind of things you look at and say"" ‘This is a really tragic incident. Are there things we could do to make sure these kinds of things don't happen again?'"" Spade said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(12/02/08 5:00am)
Raising fees charged for new houses won't garner much money for school construction if houses don't sell Rick Perry told the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Monday.Perry who owns Rick Perry Construction Co. in Chapel Hill said he understands that commissioners want to raise the county's educational impact fee which helps pay for new school facilities to meet the needs of Orange County's growing student population.But with the local housing market struggling raising the impact fee would prove counterproductive" he said.Impact fees are charged to developers in relation to the sales price of new homes. Developers say they will have to charge higher prices for homes to absorb the increase.""It's going to kill the sales altogether on houses" Perry said. The money that you're looking to gather to pay for these schools if you don't sell the houses" you're not going to collect any money.""Commissioners heard a consultant's report proposing the hike" which would almost double the fee established in 2001 for some areas.Orange County staff have proposed setting the fees at minimum $5069 for new single-family homes in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district and $3000 in the Orange County Schools district.The Chapel Hill-Carrboro system's Board of Education previously supported the fee increase but Orange County Schools' board asked that the fee remain the same.Representatives from construction companies and real estate agencies told the board that raising the impact fee would discourage prospective buyers in the county.Joe Phelps a local real estate agent said taxes are already high in the county" so buyers often look for housing in nearby counties.""Up until several years ago" (impact fees) didn't make much difference" he said. Now buyers argue about a mailbox being put up. Thousands of dollars of impact fees are going to make tremendous difference in Orange County.""Several commissioners agreed that the current struggling economy makes the impact fee raise untimely but said the fees should be revisited more often.""When you wait this long" it's going to be a very very big increase. That's going to be a shock to the community" said Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier, who, along with two others, joined the board Monday. I'd like to see us discuss later that we do this a little more frequently.""Commissioners will further discuss the proposed fee increases during their Dec. 11 meeting.The commissioners also met new Piedmont Laureate Jaki Shelton Green" received an update on potential alternatives to landfills and elected new leadership.Valerie Foushee will serve as chairwoman and Mike Nelson who missed Monday's meeting due to illness was chosen as vice chairman.Contact the City Editorat citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/20/08 5:00am)
Time is running short for Orange County Board of Commissioners to site a new waste transfer station.Original plans which included selecting a site Tuesday projected that the station would be ready in May 2011 the same time the county landfill is expected to reach capacity.But commissioners put off a final call for at least a month. If there's no station before the landfill is full the county could face a waste management crisis.Gayle Wilson the county's solid waste management director said the county could have to use a makeshift transfer station like an open lot for a few weeks. Garbage could also be shipped to a number of out-of-county landfills.Or the county could be forced to tell residents" ""You're on your own"" Wilson said.A transfer station would be used as a daily collection point for the county's garbage before it is shipped to an out-of-county landfill.The county won't decide on a contingency plan for at least a year.The rush to site and build a station is also a limiting factor on how much more time the board can take investigating other options, specifically waste to energy technology.That conversation would take months or years" Commissioner Mike Nelson said.Commissioners are currently on their second effort to locate a transfer station. Plans to build one on Eubanks Road were scrapped in November 2007 after residents protested.Part of why we have a time crunch is because we decided to start over Chairman Barry Jacobs said.While it may seem that we're hurrying" in fact we have gambled that we could still have a transfer station sited and constructed before we close the landfill.""Building a waste transfer station is a complex process. Property has to be acquired first"" which consultants estimate will take at least two months. ""Anything short of a willing seller and there's no way in heck you could make a two month deadline"" Nelson said.Construction alone will take more than a year.Developers also have to design the station, and get construction permission from the county and the N.C. Department of Transportation, a process that can also take months.Jacobs said Tuesday that the board could select a site on Dec. 11, revise part of the selection process or start from scratch. Three new commissioners join the board Dec. 1. At its meeting Tuesday, the board asked Wilson if the county could buy some time by making more room in the landfill. Frankly"" he said. I don't see how that's possible.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/19/08 5:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH — A jury found the man charged with kidnapping two UNC football players guilty on Monday.Michael Troy Lewis33 faces at least 23 years in prison for allegedly kidnapping the players in December and attempting to rob them.Judge Carl Fox issued the sentence which carries a maximum of about 31 years of jail time and is less than the harshest sentence allowed.Lewis was found guilty of kidnapping and robbery in addition to several other crimes related to the December incident when he and two women allegedly tied up three football players and tried to steal wallets" video games and electronics.""If you'd broken in this same apartment and stolen this stuff" the most you'd be looking at would be I don't know 10 to 12 months" Fox said, explaining the impact of the kidnapping charge on the sentence.Prosecutors asked for the strictest sentence possible, arguing that Lewis came to Chapel Hill from Durham intending to commit a robbery. The strictest sentence would have put Lewis in jail for 36 years.A discrepancy about the legal definition of kidnapping led defenders to announce that they will appeal Lewis' conviction on one kidnapping count.Jurors asked after several hours of deliberation if they could convict Lewis of kidnapping — a multi-part crime that, by definition, is committed to facilitate another felony — if they found him guilty of a felony other than robbery with a dangerous weapon.They then used attempted felony larceny as grounds to convict Lewis of kidnapping. The defense opposed that rationale and will appeal the ruling.The defense has 90 days to appeal.Lewis stood by previous statements of his innocence, declaring in court that he meant to rob the players but not to kidnap them.I can only apologize for what I've done"" he said. Nothing happened intentionally.""Only one player testified to being a victim of a sexual offense" but The Daily Tar Heel isn't naming any players to avoid revealing the identity of a complainant of a sexual offense.In his closing statement defense attorney Russ Hollers reminded jurors of differences between testimony from witnesses police and the defendant's taped statements.Hollers said one player said he was blindfolded before a man identified by prosecutors as Lewis held a knife to his throat. The player said the man left but he didn't take off the blindfold until police found him.But when police investigators photographed the room the knife was lying on top of the blindfold which Hollers said means the player probably moved the items.Hollers said other discrepancies such as objects that were moved between being photographed and inventoried by police" cast doubt on the players' story.""The police don't know exactly what happened in there" they can't be sure he said. The three guys they don't know exactly what happened in there" they can't be sure.""But Assistant District Attorney Morgan Whitney said any time people give accounts of the same story" such as after a car wreck" their memories are different.""You start asking people what they saw that night" some people are going to say a green car some people are going to say a blue car" he said.Lewis, who did not testify during the trial, previously had a record of more minor legal infractions. But he said after the jury gave its verdict that he got the message with this incident and plans to change his lifestyle.I'm not one that just took one time" and I'm not one that's going to take a thousand times he said. I can't rewrite the things that I have done" I can just move forward.""Monique Jenice Taylor awaits trial for her alleged participation in the incident"" prosecutors said.Charges against Tnikia Monta Washington have been dropped.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/19/08 5:00am)
Orange County Commissioners discussed public opinion on the three remaining sites for a waste- transfer station at a meeting Tuesday.But they left their time frame for making a final decision unclear. Chairman Barry Jacobs said the board could select a site on Dec. 11" revise part of the selection process or start from scratch.Recent efforts to site a waste- transfer station are part of a process that began last November after resident protests forced commissioners to scrap original plans. ""We were ready to go then"" Jacobs said. We started this process over again over a year ago.""Commissioners asked staff Tuesday for clarifications on questions residents raised at a meeting Monday attended by more than 250 people.Several board members were curious about waste-to-energy technology and the possibility of a site less than half the size of the three remaining" which are all at least 25 acres.Alternative technologies would be excessively expensive said Bob Sallach president of Olver Inc. the consulting group the board hired to conduct the transfer station search.Commissioners also discussed the possibility of locating the station in an industrial area possibly in Chapel Hill Carrboro or Hillsborough.The board would have to apply to local towns for special permits if it decided to site the transfer station within town limits.Planning Director Craig Benedict told the board that this process would take at least two years.Hillsborough officials also have already made clear to the board that they would annex any land near their borders in order to prevent the board from putting the station nearby commissioners said.Despite previous suggestions that a decision would be made before new commissioners join the board in December the board stressed ensuring a thorough careful process" regardless of time frame.""You have to be fair however you end up doing it" Commissioner Alice Gordon said. If we're not going to finish" I think the new board is going to have a lot to say.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/18/08 5:00am)
In a middle school cafeteria Monday night residents concerned about Orange County's new waste transfer station outnumbered commissioners about 50 to one.And for more than two hours they voiced their concerns about the three potential sites for the transfer station.Some addressed the fairness of the process" the possibility of alternative waste management solutions and the proposed station's impact on its host community.Others said the station should be located in an industrial area.""Just as no one would place a toilet in a living room" placing a waste transfer station in a residential area is inconceivable" Hillsborough resident Tatiana Zybin said.The five current and two future commissioners present did not respond to comments from roughly 50 of the more than 250 residents at Monday's public information session at McDougle Middle School in Carrboro. A few board members took notes. Others leaned back in their chairs and crossed their legs.The board reopened the search for a waste transfer station site last November after residents of the Rogers-Eubanks community protested original plans. The station will be used as a daily collection point for the county's garbage before it is shipped to an out-of-county landfill.Last month, commissioners narrowed the list of potential sites to three, all within a mile of each other just west of Orange Grove Road on N.C. 54.Strong applause followed many attendees' requests that the board delay site selection for at least 90 days and investigate other sites.Board Chairman Barry Jacobs said the tentative deadline for a decision is Dec. 11, nearly a month after the original date.Many reiterated the concern that commissioners are ignoring more sustainable solutions for disposing of solid waste besides shipping it to a landfill.Commissioners received a report in September from a waste management consultant that concluded the county does not generate enough waste to consider options like generating energy by burning garbage.Residents of Bingham, a township just north of the three sites, said rural Orange County has been unfairly targeted for public facilities.The Cane Creek Reservoir, located about 2 miles west of the proposed transfer sites, supplies water to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The Orange Water and Sewer Authority also uses land in the area as part of its biosolids management program, which residents describe as spreading sludge"" in open fields.Resident Connor Blakeney said he thought that two potential transfer sites in Hillsborough were removed from consideration because of undue preference to the county's towns.""The pure volume and number of Hillsborough's objections do not make them right"" he said. Only louder."" Bingham residents said they were concerned a transfer station would jeopardize the rural character of the township and compromise resident safety on the area's small roads.""One can only hope that an OWASA sludge truck would not collide with a waste truck"" resident Myra Dodson said. Now that would be an embarrassing mess.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/17/08 5:00am)
A Chapel Hill High School student died after a car knocked the vehicle he was in off the road early Sunday morning.Rodney Torain Jr.17 a senior defensive lineman and tight end is the second Chapel Hill High football player to die unexpectedly this year.Torain was in the back seat of a 2003 Nissan headed eastbound on Old Greensboro Road when a car clipped the Nissan on the left side at about 3:50 a.m. The Nissan veered off the road to the right then back onto the road before leaving the road again and striking a tree about 2 miles west of Carrboro troopers said.Torain was not wearing a seat belt said N.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. R.C. Hester.Troopers said the vehicle that hit the Nissan left the scene and is gold or silver in color.Two females who were in the driver's and front passenger seat of the Nissan were treated for minor injuries at N.C. Memorial Hospital and released Sunday.Torain was the life of the Chapel Hill High football team said Keegan Ray" a senior who played football and went to school with him since sixth grade.""He was always the one that pumped us up before the games"" Ray said. He'd bring an intense moment and bring light to any tough situation."" Torain's death comes about three months after Atlas Fraley" also a senior defensive lineman died at his home after playing in a scrimmage the same day and being treated for reported dehydration by emergency personnel.Spurred by the loss of Fraley the Chapel Hill High team had one of its best years in recent history going 8-4 and losing in the first round of the playoffs Friday.Torain described as 6-foot-1-inch 270 pounds on the Chapel Hill High roster scored his first high school touchdown Nov. 7 and his teammates mobbed him" Ray said.Ray found out about the death shortly after he woke up on Sunday.""I didn't believe it at first" he said. He called his coach and confirmed it.We've already lost one teammate; I had no idea that we could lose another one Ray said. Everybody says that once you go through something it gets easier" but losing somebody never gets easier.""The school administration is aware of the death and plans to have extra grief counselors available" said Stephanie Knott assistant to the superintendent for community relations in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. The N.C. Highway Patrol expect there to be more information on Torain's death today. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 336-570-6809.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/08 5:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH —Michael Troy Lewis admitted to investigators that he stole from the two UNC football players he is charged with kidnapping.But he emphatically denied charges that he also tied them up and assaulted them with a knife.Officers involved in the case testified Thursday and the jury also saw video of Chapel Hill police investigator Lee Sparrow interviewing Lewis three days after he fled the scene of the alleged incident.Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Lewis and two women Tnikia Monta Washington and Monique Jenice Taylor met one of the players at a Franklin Street bar on Dec. 15.Lewis told investigators in the video that the two women were trying to solicit sex. Lewis said he then drove the three back to the player's apartment.The player wanted to be tied up and asked Lewis to participate in sex with him and the women Lewis said.Lewis said he told the player no and went into the living room.He said a second player later arrived at the apartment and joined the first player and the women. The players told investigators that a third player who Lewis didn't mention came into the apartment at the same time and went right to bed.While the women and two players were in the bedroom Lewis said he put some electronics from the apartment into a bag.But the prosecution is trying to prove that before robbing the players Lewis kidnapped two of them and held them at knifepoint.The player who first met Lewis at the bar told police the three suspects asked to wait at his apartment until another friend arrived officers testified Thursday.The player said one of the females made sexual advances and after moving into his bedroom tied him up and began to fondle his genitalia. When the player became uncomfortable and asked her to stop he said she punched him.Sometime later two other players arrived. One told police that he helped the other who was extremely intoxicated into a bedroom. He said he then saw a naked man — Lewis prosecutors say — in the hallway carrying a knife.The player told officers the man invited him into the other bedroom where one of the women pulled his pants down and pushed him onto the bed with the first player. The woman then bound the second player's hands and covered his eyes with a necktie.When the player resisted the man put a sharp object to his throat. Investigators later found a knife in the apartment.Investigators said the third player woke up to an unusual noise and saw a man clad only in socks walk in and out of his room. He pretended to be asleep and when the man entered and exited again called police at 3:25 a.m.The third player said the man then noticed the player was awake and put a sharp object to his throat tied his feet and hands and took his wallet.Police said they arrived on the scene about five minutes after receiving the call.Lewis told investigators that when police arrived he panicked bit the officer who attempted to arrest him and fled the scene.Lewis came to the police voluntarily Dec. 19 and was arrested although officers had told him there were no warrants for his arrest.Police lied to Lewis about the warrants in order to get him to come to the station which Sparrow said is not against written protocol and is a normal tactic.The defense says Lewis also called the police three times before he came to the station with his mother.Lewis33 faces at least eight years in prison if convicted. All charges against Washington were dropped and Taylor will face trial soon.The defense stressed that the three players were intoxicated during the incident and when interviewed by police hours later.The Daily Tar Heel is not identifying the football players because of a policy against naming the complainants in cases that involve sexual offenses.The prosecution is expected to call the players as witnesses when the trial resumes Monday.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/13/08 5:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH— The man accused of tying up and robbing two UNC football players during Winter Break last year saw his first day in court Wednesday. The attorneys picked a jury and the state began its case against Michael Troy Lewis33 who faces several felony counts and at least eight years in prison if convicted.The prosecution says that three football players were celebrating a 21st birthday early Dec. 16 when one of the players met Lewis and two women Tnikia Monta Washington and Monique Jenice Taylor at a Franklin Street bar.The player then invited the three to his apartment where prosecutors say the robbery and kidnappings took place.The victims have testified that at the apartment Lewis a Durham resident tied two of the football players up and put a sharp object possibly a knife to their neck.Events that night remain unclear but around 3:20 a.m. the victims called the police.The two women were arrested that night but Lewis got away. He bit in the groin and pushed down a flight of stairs the officer who attempted to arrest him according to warrants.Police originally charged all three with sexually assaulting the players but dropped the felony charges when only two of the victims could testify during Winter Break.The Daily Tar Heel is not identifying the football players because of a policy against naming the complainants in cases that involve sexual offenses.Charges against Washington were later dropped and Taylor faces lesser charges.In court Wednesday the emergency dispatcher testified and Assistant District Attorney Morgan Whitney played 911 calls from the victims.Upon adjourning Chief Superior Court Judge Carl Fox warned the jurors to avoid paying attention to the many media sources that were around the court Wednesday.Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. today when the prosecution plans to call the Chapel Hill police officers who responded to the incidents.The trial is expected to last through Monday when the victims will appear in court to testify.Whitney will prosecute Taylor for similar charges in a separate trial. Taylor is still charged with a misdemeanor count of sexual battery.The prosecution could not prove probable cause to pursue charges against Washington. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/04/08 5:00am)
The two candidates in the only contested Orange County Board of Commissioners race this election differ on development.And as high density developments spring up across the county this split could prove to be a deciding feature of their respective platforms.Kevin Wolff a Republican patent attorney who's taken two shots at Chapel Hill Mayor focuses on diversifying the tax base by promoting research and development and manufacturing. Bernadette Pelissier a Democrat and a former chairwoman of both the Orange-Chatham Group Sierra Club and Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors sees a future in an agricultural economy. Although Wolff declined an interview his online platform and a survey he filed for The (Raleigh) News & Observer's Under the Dome blog emphasize creating a diverse industry" business and residential tax base.Pelissier said she isn't sure a development like Buckhorn Village — the 1.14-million-square-foot retail center is slated to be built in Efland — will necessarily mean an improved county tax base.She said her primary concern is preserving the county's ""rural character"" through growth in areas such as the local food economy.""We should be trying to do as much as we can locally"" she said. Let's try to have more farm land.""Bonnie Hauser" head of a resident group opposing an airport in rural Orange County is the Pelissier campaign's treasurer.The candidates also bring different experience sets to the race.Pelissier is a long-time community activist. Her term as OWASA chairwoman came during the 2001-02 drought.She said her experience managing much of Chapel Hill and Carrboro's water has informed her opinions on how the county needs to grow.She's also a current member of the Orange County Planning Board and the Orange County Commission for the Environment.Wolff spent 13 years with General Motors and another 13 as a patent attorney. Wolff wrote that the current commissioners lack the expertise he developed in the professional world.Odds stack up against the Republican in a county in which John Kerry beat George W. Bush in 2004 by 34 percentage points.When Wolff ran for mayor he lost by more than a 40 percent margin each time.Pelissier has also raised more than $13000 for her campaign compared to Wolff's less than $3000.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/03/08 5:00am)
Doogie Howser, M.D., and a group of friends linked arms and stood in the street as the motorcycles approached.We were actually singing" ‘We Shall Not Be Moved' but we were moved" said UNC junior William Kumpf, dressed as the title character from the 1990s television show.Despite such minor rebellions as police cleared Franklin Street of Halloween revelers at midnight, the event concluded in one town-sized sigh of relief.Changes implemented this year to downsize the Halloween celebration were largely successful, cutting the crowd size in half and dropping arrest numbers into single digits, Chapel Hill officials said. Police estimated the crowd at about 35,000 people, compared to 80,000 last year.It was as good as we could have hoped for"" said Lt. Kevin Gunter, spokesman for Chapel Hill police.According to a press release from Catherine Lazorko, spokeswoman for the town of Chapel Hill, about 350 police arrested only five people Friday night in the closed portion of Franklin Street, four for fighting and one for impersonating an officer. Police arrested 13 people in the same area during Halloween last year, when there also were more fights, drunk and disorderly charges, and cases of alcohol poisoning.The turmoil some residents predicted would occur when officers began to clear Franklin Street about 20 minutes after midnight never materialized.Most attendees moved to the sidewalks when officers asked. Those who stayed in the streets were quickly moved by 10 officers approaching on motorcycles, revving their engines, flashing headlights and leaning on horns — a tactic Gunter called a skirmish line. The horses officials planned to use to clear the streets at midnight didn't make it — the trailer bringing them to Franklin Street broke down on N.C. 54 — but the motorcycles, more than 100 officers on foot, and several police cars and buses seemed to do the trick.Carolina Athletic Association President Andrew Coonin, dressed as an oversized baby, briefly resisted police efforts to clear Franklin Street. Coonin stood before oncoming motorcycles shouting, Don't touch me."" Officers nudged Coonin onto the sidewalk within a few seconds. Duke University senior Jake Hartley took a more passive approach" strolling before the motorcade in full Jesus garb and parting the crowds with waves of his arms before officers asked him to move onto the sidewalks.Gunter said no one was injured or arrested by the time officers fully cleared Franklin Street at 1 a.m. an hour and half earlier than past years.The early ending was part of the town's Homegrown Halloween campaign — a series of safety restrictions intended to reduce the size of the event and keep it local.New policies introduced this year included no bus services to park-and-ride lots and closing and rerouting traffic on streets surrounding downtown.Many attendees still seemed to enjoy themselves.A roving mob of techno dancers wizards break dancers Bill Clintons and even a Daily Tar Heel kvetching board bounced to trance music in the middle of Franklin.They were followed by a ping-pong team that ripped serves across a table strapped to the back of a friend" and a wanna-be Mayor Kevin Foy.Others said the event was a let-down.""It seemed less crazy"" UNC junior Trevor Ollar said. People were much less rambunctious than they were my freshman year.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/08 4:00am)
A young woman in dark purple scrubs paid her respects Wednesday evening to a knee-high cross on the corner of South Columbia Street and Mason Farm Road.This intersection is where UNC Hospitals radiology imaging specialist Valerie Hughes33 was struck and killed by a Chapel Hill Transit bus Monday afternoon. It's also one of the most dangerous in Chapel Hill" pedestrians and officials said.Traffic signaling at the intersection simultaneously indicates for pedestrians to cross and vehicles to turn onto Columbia.It's often unclear that vehicles are legally required to yield to people crossing. Passengers on the bus that struck Hughes said it was turning left onto South Columbia from Mason Farm and hit her in the crosswalk. ""I've walked across there many times" and I've had to stop because somebody is about to run me down" resident Richard Steele said. They blow the horn at me like I'm the person that's doing something wrong.""Residents said the intersection is dangerous because so much traffic turns left onto South Columbia" instead of going straight across the intersection onto small unmarked Westwood Drive. Most four-way intersections in the state operate the same way said Kelvin Jordan a traffic engineer at the N.C. Department of Transportation who coordinates with Chapel Hill.But because so little traffic continues onto Westwood there isn't a left turn signal that holds traffic so pedestrians can cross freely said Kumar Neppalli Chapel Hill's engineering services manager. The South Columbia and Mason Farm intersection has been under review and was already planned to be modified next year" he said.He said his department hung up a large ""yield to pedestrians sign"" in response to multiple telephone and e-mail complaints about safety at the intersection.But residents said the sign often goes unnoticed by preoccupied drivers and pedestrians.Resident Karen Hurka-Richardson said the intersection has put her in danger countless times. ""I wish I had contacted Chapel Hill earlier"" she said. I feel like that death could have been prevented.""The N.C. Department of Transportation is already conducting a complete system review of traffic signals in Chapel Hill" expected to be completed in the next few weeks.The review includes an evaluation of signal timing and traffic flow which could contribute to accidents like Hughes' Jordan said.He added that his department will also look into how Hughes' death could have been prevented as part of a standard post fatality investigation.As he walked across South Columbia on Wednesday" resident Tim Ross said the intersection's traffic signals are what put pedestrians in danger.""Right here"" he said. I've just about been hit myself.""James Willie Orr" an eight-year Chapel Hill Transit driver who was behind the wheel of the NS-route bus that struck Hughes is on unpaid administrative leave said Stephen Spade director of Chapel Hill Transit. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/29/08 4:00am)
On the day before classes started in August 2007 Eve Carson explained that she didn't support the death penalty because of flaws in its application.Carson moderating a summer-reading discussion with then-Chancellor James Moeser" primarily asked questions of the participants and only once offered her own judgment.""It doesn't work" in my opinion" Carson, then in the early days of her tenure as UNC's student body president, told about 20 first-year students gathered to discuss Sister Helen Prejean's The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.""Little more than a year later" Orange County's prosecutor has said he will seek the death penalty for a man charged in Carson's murder.A federal grand jury indicted Atwater on Monday. If convicted federal prosecutors also have the option to seek the death penalty against Atwater.Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said he weighed the Carsons' beliefs — her parents told him they oppose capital punishment and believe their daughter did too — before announcing in August that he plans to seek the death penalty against Demario James Atwater22" if he is convicted.""They've let me know what their feelings are" but I made a decision Woodall said. Like any decision what they told me weighed into the decision" but that's not the only factor in making that decision.""Woodall declined to identify the other factors that influenced his decision" explaining that he considers the details of his many conversations with the Carson family private.Prosecutors say Atwater and Lawrence Alvin Lovette17 who won't face the death penalty because of his age drove Carson in her car to withdraw money before shooting her several times in a wealthy neighborhood near East Franklin Street.Carson's death and the resulting debate come after UNC spent months exploring capital punishment.In addition to choosing Prejean's book as the summer reading for incoming students the University brought the author to speak on campus.Carson's friends said an issue that while divisive" seemed relatively cut-and-dry has become more nebulous since the emotional events of last March.""Our University's focus for an entire year was on the death penalty. It's another thing to live it"" said Jordan Myers, who served as student body treasurer in Carson's administration. It gives a new light to the entire situation.""Katie Sue Zellner" who served as chief of staff under Carson said she believes Carson's zest for life would have made her cautious to approve of execution.But Carson was widely known for a tendency to ask questions and engage in social issues" so Zellner said she prefers not to guess at her friend's response to this situation.""Eve had such a belief in humanity in general and life in general" and the death penalty is counter to that belief Zellner explained.Even if you asked her today" I don't know if you would get a straight answer.""Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/28/08 4:00am)
UPDATE: Valerie Hughes the woman who a Chapel Hill Transit bus struck as she crossed South Columbia Street" has died from her injuries. Read more.
(10/28/08 4:00am)
Authorities did not name Monday evening a pedestrian who a town bus struck as she crossed South Columbia Street earlier that day.The injuries appeared to be serious and the woman was taken to N.C. Memorial Hospital Chapel Hill police Sgt. Donnie Rhoads said.The Chapel Hill Transit bus was going southbound when it hit the woman just after 4 p.m. at the intersection with Mason Farm Road.Chapel Hill police at the scene said they did not know anything else about the extent of the victim's injuries. But police said they would release further information on the incident early today.By about 5 p.m. the bus had driven away and police were cleaning up a pool of blood at the point of impact.Chapel Hill has a history of serious injuries involving collisions between vehicles and pedestrians.In January 2006 three people were killed while biking or walking.And in May a transit bus hit Scottish exchange student Lisa Moran as she jogged at the intersection of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street just a few hundred yards north of the collision Monday.Contact the City Editorat citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/22/08 4:00am)
When the Orange County landfill closes in 2011 the 80000 tons of garbage produced locally each year will all roll through a building in the southwestern part of the county.That building will sit on one of three sites Orange County commissioners named Tuesday in the latest development of an almost yearlong search for a new waste transfer station.All three remaining sites lie on a mile-long stretch of N.C. 54 near Orange Grove Road.The seven other potential sites from the commissioners' list of 10 have been removed from consideration including a location in the Rogers-Eubanks community — home to the landfill for the past 36 years.A strong reaction from that neighborhood led commissioners to scrap plans last November to build the transfer station on Eubanks Road. The board then hired a consulting group Olver Inc. to perform the reopened search for a suitable site.The transfer station will serve as a collection point for trash before it is shipped out to an out-of-county landfill.Commissioners informed their site choice with two rankings of the 10 potential sites. One was based on the site's impact on surrounding communities" including criteria such as proximity to schools and environmental justice. The other focused on criteria that include technical concerns such as access to major transportation routes. Only the three selected sites ranked in the top six of both lists.Chairman Barry Jacobs said the next step is to gather public input in the coming months.""This is not the end of the public comment process"" he said. This is just the beginning."" Commissioners said they plan on holding at least one public information session in November before a final decision" scheduled for Nov. 18.Although Jacobs said the date for a final decision is tentative Commissioner Alice Gordon said she wanted to act soon" before the new board of commissioners takes over and the landfill reaches capacity.""What will happen if the landfill fills up and we don't have a transfer station sited?"" she said. ""Then the trash will just pile up.""Forty-five people signed up to address the board at Tuesday's meeting"" although time for public comment only allowed for six.Tuesday's meeting was the seventh work session in a drawn-out siting process that has routinely attracted more people than the meeting room can legally hold. Several residents and officials said they are glad the project has taken a substantial step forward. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey found Olver President Bob Sallach after the meeting. ""Congratulations"" she said. You just had triplets."" Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.