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(08/27/07 4:00am)
An organization trying to preserve public land gathered Sunday afternoon to learn more about an issue causing increasing unrest among some residents.
Members of Carrboro Greenspace Collective, a nonprofit organization, showed a film about the 116 Old Pittsboro Road property, which used to be accessed openly, and the Really Really Free Market, an event held once a month at the Carrboro Town Commons. The film was made by the People's Channel to raise awareness about the topic.
About 30 people watched the movie at Nightlight and then discussed the two issues it raised.
The disputed greenspace is a 10.5-acre plot of land on Old Pittsboro Road. The land and its house were rented out in the past, and when the California-based landowners decided to sell it, community members united against the decision.
"It has become a really cool center of activities," former renter Michal Osterweil said.
When she and others lived in the house, people often came for potluck meals and to see movies in the old town pool, which was converted into an amphitheater for screenings.
Residents are concerned that the land will be sold to developers who will partition it, Osterweil said.
The property has been on the market since April 2006 and has not yet been sold for the $1.4 million asking price, she said.
The collective would like to raise money to purchase the land. Members say it's the one of the only green spaces left in downtown Carrboro.
If sold to developers, only three to four acres of the land could be developed, as parts of the property are too hilly and have creeks that would impede construction, Osterweil said.
Also disputed is the use of the town commons for a free market, held at 1:30 p.m. the first Saturday of every month.
The Really Really Free Market has received scrutiny lately because of liability concerns. Since the market's debut in 2004, participants have been using the Carrboro Town Commons to share food and to give away unwanted goods.
While Carrboro officials haven't charged a rental fee for use of the space, the town will now enforce a $400 charge if food continues to be served, according to the film.
"I think that part of what's been irking the town is that there's no one responsible," Osterweil said.
The town is concerned about health and liability issues surrounding serving homemade food, she said.
The attendees further discussed problems typically associated with open spaces and free markets and how the group can act to keep these community activities operating.
Members said they think that town officials support the open space but aren't willing to pay to keep it there.
The Carrboro Greenspace Collective will meet today at
7 p.m. in the back room of Open Eye Cafe.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/27/07 4:00am)
Horace Williams, who founded the philosophy department at UNC in the late 19th century, would have turned 149 years old this month.
About 20 people came to celebrate the would-be birthday at the Horace Williams House.
Neighbors of the Rosemary Street home, Williams' admirers and Preservation Society of Chapel Hill members gathered at the house, now the society's headquarters, to remember the legendary professor.
"The person who coached the greatest sport was a poor boy from Carolina with the last name Williams," said Mike Troy, Hillsborough's poet laureate.
"And the sport wasn't basketball," he said, citing Williams' passion for debate.
Troy also praised Williams' influence on the University and dedication to his students.
Born in 1858 in rural Gates County, Williams worked on his father's tobacco farm until, at the age of 21, he had raised the $250 he needed to come to the University, Troy said.
After graduating in 1883, he went on to attend both Yale and Harvard divinity schools. It took a message from University President George Winston, who had been Williams' Latin professor, to get him to return to Chapel Hill to teach.
"I think out of his desire to help his state and honor his mother, he came back to North Carolina," Troy said.
Williams came back to teach philosophy and live in the Rosemary Street house in 1891. He taught until his death in 1940.
"Horace Williams made all of his students his children," Troy said.
Williams and his wife, Bertha, never had children of their own.
Every Tuesday, he would host a seminar in the basement of their house, Troy said.
"Horace and Bertha didn't go places on vacation. They were always here for the boys," Troy said.
Williams didn't use textbooks to teach; he taught his students through debate and conversation.
"He was a great teacher, and what he did for us, and for others before us for fifty years, was not to give us his philosophy . but to communicate to us his alertness, his originality, his power to think," Thomas Wolfe wrote in "You Can't Go Home Again."
Williams often hosted students in his parlor, urging them to think for themselves and move forward even when life didn't go as expected, Troy said.
"They say that he taught them how to think, but really, what he taught them was how to rethink."
"When he left, he left all sorts of things to his homeplace," Troy said.
The Horace Williams House, now owned by the University, housed several families after Williams' death.
Troy said he was concerned with the house's future as other University-owned land is developed.
The preservation society has rented the house for 35 years. It's the only historic house open year-round to the public in Chapel Hill, said Ernest Dollar, director of the society.
Some say Williams' ghost still haunts the house with little tricks.
"Everybody feels that this is an energetic place," Troy said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/07 4:00am)
A much-discussed and debated merger between Central and Hillsborough elementary schools will not come to fruition anytime soon, Orange County Board of Education members said.
The merger first was discussed as a solution to substandard test scores at Central Elementary.
The school has failed No Child Left Behind standards and had to offer parents the option to transfer their children to other elementary schools this year.
Controversy has surrounded Central Elementary's disproportionately economically disadvantaged student population - about 70 percent of Central's students are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program, while only 14 percent of Hillsborough Elementary's students participate in the program, board member Al Hartkopf said.
The leaders heard questions about the status of the merger from parents at a meeting Monday night.
Board of Education chairman Dennis Whitling warned that parents hoping for answers might not get them at upcoming meetings.
The board plans to hold community meetings on the first two Thursdays of September for parents after discussing the issues with both schools' PTAs.
On June 18 the board reviewed Whitling's merger plan to make Central Elementary K-2 and Hillsborough Elementary third through fifth grades.
Board member Elizabeth Brown made a motion to accept Whitling's proposal, but it died when no one seconded.
At a July 9 meeting, the board tossed around ideas for how to balance the schools' socioeconomic differences.
Allan Scott, a Hillsborough Elementary parent, created a Web site this spring for opponents of the merger: savehes.blogspot.com.
He also distributed a survey to Hillsborough parents.
He said 38 percent of the 200 parent respondents would move their kids from the school and 20 percent would leave the district if there was a merger.
On Monday the board focused on the incorporation of 29 students whose parents elected to transfer their children from Central to Hillsborough Elementary.
The transfer is complicated because Hillsborough is year-round, and the board had to make special adjustments. The students will start five weeks into the school year.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/07 4:00am)
HILLSBOROUGH - Mohammad Taheri-Azar, the UNC alumnus who drove a sport utility vehicle through the Pit, appeared in court Wednesday to ask for a reduction in his bond and to set a date for his trial.
His bond request was denied.
James Williams, Taheri-Azar's public defender, asked Judge Michael Morgan to lower the $5.5 million bond to somewhere in the $500,000 to $750,000 range so that Taheri-Azar's family could post bail.
(08/22/07 4:00am)
Orange County school district will start the year with a full operating budget and a better idea of how to deal with students transfering schools under No Child Left Behind.
The Orange County Board of Education will approve the 2007-08 school year operating budget at the next board meeting Sept. 4.
Balancing the Budget
Shirley Carraway, the Orange County school district superintendent, presented a draft budget with a $36,000 shortfall at the Monday meeting.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
Local artists are gearing up for a Chapel Hill street festival where they can showcase their work and get in touch with potential customers.
The town's 35th annual Festifall will take place Oct. 7, and local artists are getting ready for the big event. The arts and crafts street fair will span West Franklin Street.
About 75 arts and crafts booths, food vendors, nonprofits and musicians will participate in Festifall.
Made to wear
Chapel Hill's Isabel Marcusson uses a djanting to pour melted beeswax onto T-shirts.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
Downtown Chapel Hill has dozens of shops, restaurants and exhibits to visit, but residents can travel just out of town for a lazy summer afternoon hanging out by the water.
The town is about a two-and-half hour drive from the closest beach, but lakes that offer swimming, boating and fishing opportunities surround the area.
"I love boating and being on the water," said Ryan Bialas, a second-year UNC Medical School student.
Bialas was out on University Lake, the closest lake to campus, this weekend with Rebecca Wertman, also a second-year UNC Medical Student. The two went to the lake to row and enjoy a picnic.
"It was a nice day outside," Bialas said. "We thought we'd come out here and hang out."
Greg Ajrris, a Carrboro resident, comes to the lake to fish with his father and brother.
"I've probably been going here 22 years," Ajrris said.
He usually catches bass, shell crab and catfish.
Carrboro's University Lake and nearby Cane Creek Reservoir offer fishing, boating, bird watching and sunbathing, said Bob Glosson, senior assistant lake warden.
Both lakes have bass, bluegills and catfish, among other fish. An N.C. fishing license is required.
Jordan Lake state recreation area, in Apex, is the only area lake that offers swimming and camping.
The hours for the lake's several beaches vary throughout the year.
There is beach access on Ebenezer Church Road, in addition to other spots off of U.S. Highway 64.
A license also is required to fish at Jordan Lake. The lake is filled with bass, crappie, catfish and pan fish.
After Labor Day, weekday access to Jordan Lake will be free, but a $5 per-car charge will be collected during the weekend.
University Lake is open 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday to Monday, and Cane Creek Reservoir is open during the same hours Thursday to Saturday. On Sunday the reservoir is open 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
University Lake and Cane Creek Reservoir offer canoe and flat-bottomed boat rentals. Orange County residents can rent boats for half of a day for $6 for the first person and $2.50 for each additional rider.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
Orange County leaders will revamp a 1980s proposal to ensure smart growth.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners is putting together a comprehensive plan to guide the county's growth through 2030.
This is the only new draft since the 1981 comprehensive plan, which was created to last 20 years.
The plan, which encompasses eight major areas, will be finished next year, Orange County planning director Craig Benedict said.
Between 2000 and 2006, Orange County grew almost 4 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. North Carolina grew about 10 percent in that time.
The project will address seven county growth issues: land use, economic development, housing, natural and cultural systems, recreation and parks, services and community facilities, and transportation, according to a county brochure.
It also will include a detailed profile of the county to use for reference.
"In the first phase we're working with standardized information and also goals that are overarching these topics," Benedict said.
Benedict said the first project will be creating the profile and setting goals for the rest of the project.
The profile is scheduled to be completed this fall.
The information on county growth issues will be prepared during phase two, which will take place during the next eight months, Benedict said.
"We'll be developing objectives on what we expect to achieve in coming years," Benedict said of the second stage.
Each of the eight elements will have a lead advisory board, with about 10 resident representatives who will be responsible for developing goals and content, according to the plan brochure.
The planning board will oversee the lead advisory boards, coordinate joint meetings and review elements of the draft. The planning board also will serve as the lead advisory board for some of the elements of the project.
Some of the topics, such as natural and cultural systems, are directly related to the environment. Other elements also will deal with environmental issues in some way.
"My hope is that energy conservation is a very key part of the plan when they're done," County Commissioner Mike Nelson said.
The board of commissioners adopted eight principles to guide the comprehensive plan, one of them focusing on energy conservation.
Other principals include fiscal responsibility, natural resource preservation and sustainable growth.
Reducing single occupancy vehicles and preserving open space are some environmental priorities.
Benedict said many things that affect a town's environment most likely also affect nearby areas.
"No one local government lives by itself," he said.
The planning board is encouraging public participation with several meetings.
Orange County residents can attend countywide meetings, open houses and public hearings.
The next public hearing will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough.
The county commissioners and the planning board will hold the joint session meeting to get public input on the draft county profile.
The plan will be reviewed and adopted in fall 2008.
Contact the City Desk at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
County officials say they struggled this year to strike a delicate balance between tax increases and the demands of growing school districts.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved the operating budget late in June, reaching a compromise between the needs of tax payers and the school district.
With an original tax increase of 3.7 cents per $100 of property value, leaders at the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school districts feared their needs could not be met.
In the final budget, the board increased the property tax to 4.7 cents, giving the proceeds from the 1 cent increase to the schools. The districts also received $800,000 from money originally allotted for county operations, said Donna Coffey, Orange County budget director.
"In total, the schools got about $2 million more than the manager had recommended," Coffey said.
She explained that the commissioners limited the tax rate increase to cover only this year's incurred debt service at their January retreat.
"Every year I try and balance the requests of parents with the understanding that there are people on fixed income ... that have difficulty paying more taxes," said Barry Jacobs, vice chairman of the board of commissioners.
"Those are the two holes and the budget rotates somewhere in between."
Even with the increase, schools still were pressed for funds.
"We cut over $1 million," said Jamezetta Bedford, chairwoman of the CHCCS Board of Education.
Orange County Schools received $1.26 million, about $440,000 short of what they needed, said Ted Triebel, vice chairman of the Orange County Board of Education.
Orange County schools' leaders cut five to six custodial positions, about three of which already were filled, he said. Twelve already-filled permanent substitute positions also were cut, along with 15 percent of central office funds.
"And that allowed us to have enough money to cover the . deficit of what the county commissioners gave us and what we needed to have," Triebel said.
The city schools board of education, which has an additional district tax to fund its budget, eliminated a few positions that weren't filled yet.
"We did not have to cut any personnel," Bedford said.
Both districts did have to prioritize programs.
Orange County Schools hired two additional ESL teachers, but wasn't able to expand the high schools' elective programs or hire any new technology teachers, Triebel said.
City schools' leaders were able to increase security at schools, but had to make some cuts to the high school academies.
The 4.7-cent tax increase puts the total tax rate at 95 cents for Orange County. Including Orange, only seven counties in the state have tax rates of 90 cents or more, as of the 2006-07 fiscal year.
"There's really not much left to cut," Bedford said. "We have to buy books and toilet paper."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
School starts Monday for local school districts, but education leaders say they are short a few teachers.
Schools across the state are experiencing teacher shortages, and in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, school will start with 19 vacant positions.
"What's different about some of the positions that we have open has to do with the specialization attached to them," said Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district.
While most of the shortages are part-time positions, the absences do not go unnoticed, Knott said.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district is looking for a Mandarin Chinese teacher and a few special education instructors. Some autism specialist positions also remain vacant, Knott said.
She said the district's first priority is to fill all full-time positions, which account for some of the vacancies.
The district is working to fill them before Monday, Knott said. If that's not possible, leaders will try to place substitutes for the short term.
The Orange County Schools district hasn't been hit as hard by the trend. Its six vacancies won't impact schools significantly, said Greg Hicks, the district's director of licensed personnel.
"We're in pretty good shape right now in terms of teacher-pupil ratios," he said.
The city school district usually has about 300 new students each year. This year district leaders hired about 125 new teachers so far, Knott said.
She said many young people don't find teaching an attractive career choice.
"You get up every morning and have 20 little faces looking at you every day and counting on you," Knott said.
She said that many teachers of the baby boomer generation are retiring, causing a teacher gap. Education institutions are not turning out enough graduates to meet the demand, Knott said.
In Orange County, some prospective teaching positions were cut because of inadequate funds.
The county school-board members wanted to hire two biotechnology teachers, three reading teachers and two elective teachers for the high schools, but they lacked funds, said Ted Triebel, vice chairman of the Orange County Board of Education
"There's some things we really would have loved to have done, but we didn't get to."
Teacher shortages might mean more students in each classroom.
Overcrowding sometimes prompts parents to transfer their children to private schools, said Susan Holland, a home-school parent and spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill Homeschoolers.
"I don't think that the teacher ratio in general is driving up the reason people home-school."
She said home schools vary in their student-teacher rations, from a one-on-one to a one-to-five ratio.
"Teaching at those ratios, there's no way that a public school could ever do that," she said.
Knott said even with the shortages, the city school district continues to have attractive classroom sizes.
"Our classrooms are not terribly overcrowded," she said.
The average class size for city school district high schools for the 2005-06 school year was less than 25 students, according to N.C. School Report Cards.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/20/07 4:00am)
The No Child Left Behind program impacted local schools this year, affecting students, faculty and district funds.
Carrboro and Frank Porter Graham elementary schools, of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and Central and Efland-Cheeks elementary schools, of Orange County Schools, failed to meet the NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress standards. The schools offered parents the option to transfer their children to other district schools.
Elementary schools receiving Title 1 funds must offer parents the option to transfer if progress standards are not met for two years in a row, said Stephanie Knott, assistant superintendent for community relations.
"If they feel like the education program at Carrboro is not meeting their child's needs, they have the option to go to another school," Carrboro Elementary Principal Emily Bivins said.
Orange County Schools has received about 86 transfer applications from parents, said Mary Alice Yarbrough, the district's director of federal programs and director of elementary education.
Parents have been notified of their new school and have until Wednesday to confirm their intent to transfer.
The city school district already has transferred 13 students to new schools, Knott said.
"I think that the fact that only a few families have chosen to leave speaks loudly, speaks volumes to the support that we give," said Kris Castellano, a member of the school-improvement team.
Estes Hills Elementary will start the year off with six students from Frank Porter Graham Elementary and three from Carrboro Elementary.
Ephesus Road Elementary accepted three new students from Frank Porter Graham Elementary and one from Carrboro Elementary, Knott said.
Part of the Title 1 money is used to help pay for the transferred students' transportation to their new schools.
Knott said the schools also must amend their school-improvement plans.
Both Efland-Cheeks Elementary, which hasn't made AYP in math for the past two years, and Carrboro Elementary, which didn't make AYP in math this year, will offer more comprehensive math instruction for its students.
"We'll do some very concrete kinds of things in mathematics that don't trip kids up related to the language," Bivins said.
The two schools will focus on making sure children fully understand critical concepts.
"We're doing a lot more small-group instruction," said Ron Roche, principal of Efland-Cheeks Elementary.
Last year Carrboro Elementary sent teachers on home visits to help struggling children.
Both Carrboro and Frank Porter Graham elementary schools only missed one of their target goals, while both Efland-Cheeks Elementary and Central Elementary missed 3 of their target goals.
Both Orange County elementary schools did meet some growth standards. Central made "high growth" in reading, and Efland-Cheeks Elementary's fourth- and fifth-grade students made "high growth" in math, district officials said.
"We know that the benchmark has been raised," said Roche. "And we have to meet that challenge."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/20/07 4:00am)
When Carrboro teenagers start new classes this fall semester, they'll do it in a smart, sustainable and energy-efficient building.
About 600 students will start school Aug. 27 at Carrboro High School, which is built east to west to maximize incoming natural light.
Only freshmen, sophomores and juniors will enroll this year in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' third high school. A fourth class will be added next year.
"It feels more like a university setting," said Victoria Sylvestre, the ceramics, painting and drawing teacher.
"It's really raised the bar."
The 41 classrooms, each with windows and some with slanted ceilings to reflect light, are equipped with digital projectors and document cameras that can be moved and aimed to film from any angle. Foreign language students can hone their skills in the language listening lab.
"I've been asking for 12 years for one of these," said Romain Morales, a Spanish and health teacher.
And fall's favorite athletes are not left in the dirt. A state-of-the-art training room contains beds and a whirlpool to treat injuries.
Secure, loving and nurturing are some of the words the high school's faculty uses to describe the open and innovative environment.
The school's main hallway opens up to the cafeteria commons, an open area with tables of different shapes and sizes, where students will eat lunch.
The student support services suite is housed on the second floor, overlooking the cafeteria. The school psychologist, nurse and substance abuse counselor, among others, each have offices there with doors leading directly to the hallway so that students can access each office individually.
Off the upstairs hallway are the two academic wings, each wing featuring a teacher learning center and a student project room. Instead of using their classrooms as offices, teachers will have their own cubicles in the learning center where they can set their laptops and receive voice mail.
"We don't want them to become possessive of their classrooms," Principal Jeff Thomas said.
The project rooms sit in the middle of the wings and have windows to the hallways so that teachers can observe the students at work.
But some of the real technology works behind the scenes.
Besides solar panels to help heat water and provide electricity, light sensors to minimize fluorescent lighting and organic carpet, the school has three cisterns that will each hold 35,000 gallons of rainwater to help with toilet flushing and irrigation.
This will save Carrboro High 1.2 million gallons of water per year, Thomas said.
School officials are in the process of obtaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the building. This national ranking system labels buildings "green" for their sustainable qualities.
Sylvestre, who was on the design team for the school, taught some of the incoming students last year.
"The kids are really savvy, and this really treats them how they should be treated."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(07/19/07 4:00am)
The 2009 Chapel Hill Town Council elections face a new dynamic after a law was signed Monday authorizing public campaign funding.
The bill, passed Thursday by the N.C. Senate and signed into law by the Speaker of the House, is the first in the state to allow public funding for municipal elections.
The pilot program will be implemented for the 2009 and 2011 municipal elections and will fund candidates' campaigns with a public grant.
Increasing local campaign costs and involvement of special interest parties, such as development companies, in neighboring municipality elections are concerns that prompted the Town Council to meet with local representatives, such as Rep. Verla Insko (D-Orange), to develop the bill, council member Mark Kleinschmidt said.
"This has been a public priority for a long time," he said.
Before implementation in 2009, the town will hold public hearings to determine the size of the grant and requirements for potential candidates.
"The candidates need to demonstrate their viability . to qualify for the fund," Kleinschmidt said.
Borrowing from a similar public financing program for state appellate judicial elections, candidates might have to collect a small number of contributions and adhere to strict spending and fund raising limits to qualify.
"I would hope that it would help all candidates realize that political office isn't out of reach; at least because of money," Kleinschmidt said.
Council member Sally Greene said she thinks the law will be great for all candidates, including students who might decide to run without financial constraints usually associated with campaigns.
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said the program might appeal those who previously couldn't afford to run for a Council seat.
"The real question is, 'Who is it that never ran . that might run now?'"
Chilton was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 1991 as a University senior.
He described the political atmosphere of the time as unique because of the 1990 election between incumbent N.C. Sen. Jesse Helms and Harvey Grantt, former mayor of Charlotte.
"There were a lot of students that were unusually active," Chilton said. "Some of that spilled over into 1991, when I happened to run for the Town Council."
Kleinschmidt was elected to, the Town Council in 2001 after finishing law school at UNC.
"The process of raising money was certainly a challenge," Kleinschmidt said.
"Because of the cost of financing a campaign, I had to think about the race so far in advance."
But both Kleinschmidt and Chilton said that lack of funding might not be the main deterrent in some student campaigns.
"I think that there are many obstacles to students and recent graduates in pursuit of elected office," Kleinschmidt said.
"I think this is only one."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(07/12/07 4:00am)
Local election season got its official start on Friday when the county's Board of Elections opened its door to 2007 candidate filings.
Chapel Hill Town Council members Sally Greene, Cam Hill and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom and Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman arrived at the Board of Elections office in time for the noon opening.
The filing requirement applies to anyone who wants to run in local elections, including mayors, Carrboro aldermen, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education members and Chapel Hill town council members.
Chapel Hill
(04/26/07 4:00am)
Sustainability was the focus of discussion at Wednesday's Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership Board of Directors meeting.
Board members discussed the importance of a mixed-use sustainable downtown, the partnership's main concern, as well as the growth of environmentally sustainable technology, or "green" technology.
"We really want to make sure we're strategically placing the right business in the right location for downtown growth," partnership Executive Director Liz Parham said.
Board members discussed the need for developing clusters of businesses that could become destinations in their own rights.
Tom Tucker, chairman of the board, said green technology could aid these clusters.
He added that the economy is moving toward sustainable technology, which future projects like Carolina North inevitably will use.
The board discussed how to organize the various suggestions.
"To me the first thing we need is a well-respected, well-articulated master plan," Mayor Kevin Foy said.
The board voted to form a sub-committee that would focus on forming such a plan and more immediate problems, such as keeping Kidzu Children's Museum downtown.
Now into its second year, the museum has brought families back to downtown, but the current space is too small for the customers it serves. Its lease runs out in August, said Jonathan Mills, president of Kidzu's board of directors.
The museum has gotten offers to move outside of downtown and even outside of Chapel Hill, Mills said.
"If we don't address Kidzu, we're going to lose Kidzu," Parham said.
To stay in downtown, the museum needs either the town or University to donate a space, as rent on Franklin Street is too expensive for the museum, Mills said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/23/07 4:00am)
The first time Trudy Matheny saw her farmhouse, she said she knew she belonged there.
(04/19/07 4:00am)
In a budget work session Wednesday, the Chapel Hill Town Council debated controversial issues and heard passionate arguments by some council members against the proposed method of consolidating two of the town's three payroll cycles.
Chapel Hill pays its employees on weekly, biweekly and monthly cycles, all ending on different days.
With 800 to 850 town employees, the three different cycles have become burdensome to administer, requiring additional staff, according to a memorandum from Finance Director Kay Johnson and Accounting Services Manager Rhonda Sommer.
In the proposals, they explained that two years ago the town started requiring all new employees to accept biweekly cycles.
The payroll committee, which was created to examine payroll efficiency, is proposing the elimination of the weekly cycle.
"We are the only local government in the area that has weekly employees," Johnson said.
To that, council member Bill Thorpe replied, "We are the only ones that do a lot of different things," adding that he is proud of Chapel Hill's distinctions.
While Mayor Kevin Foy supported the proposal, which includes on-site money management classes from the State Employees Credit Union for employees facing the change, Thorpe and council member Sally Greene loudly voiced their opposition.
"My position from hearing from some of those folks . is that they should be able to keep that until they retire," Greene said.
She said the employees on the weekly payroll are paid the least and are used to receiving their much-needed money on a weekly basis.
"You're just creating this disruption for this small number of people," council member Mark Kleinschmidt said.
Thorpe said it's difficult for the council members to imagine the hardships of the employees living on the low salaries.
"I hear the mayor say that he's for it," Thorpe said. "The mayor has plenty of money!"
Despite the arguments, council members affirmed the need for reform and the motion to accept the payroll committee's proposal was passed.
The council also discussed proposed Capital Improvement Projects and agreed that the town's tennis courts need new lighting and that fire station No. 3 needs renovation.
A recommended 4 percent compensation for town employee salaries for the 2007-08 fiscal year was supported, as well as the idea to create a code enforcement officer position to oversee implementation of council ordinances.
The board also accepted a recommended $25,000 increase in funding for the Human Services Advisory Board for the next fiscal year.
Foy said $250,000 already has been allocated to cover a public housing deficit.
Inclusion of several other proposals in next year's tight budget, such as a proposed town project manager position, will be discussed at later council meetings.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/16/07 4:00am)
Like the millions worldwide who travel great distances for daily necessities, Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents walked four miles Saturday for local and international hunger.
Sunday marked Chapel Hill's 21st Annual CROP - Community Reaching Out to People - Walk, an event held nationally by Church World Service and sponsored locally by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service.
Church World Service uses 75 percent of the money raised from each CROP Walk to aid international and domestic hunger and development problems. The remaining 25 percent comes back to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area to aid local hunger.
"We get between $15,000 and $20,000 for local purposes," said Chris Moran, executive director for the IFC.
Charles Williams, assistant to the executive director at the IFC, said the money will go to the organization's food pantry and its community kitchen.
"This year we're on target to serve over 92,000 meals," he said. "This money goes a long way."
The CROP Walk aims to create a sense of community by involving people of all religions and University students, Moran said.
"One of the symbolic efforts behind the walk is to bring people together who recognize that there is a great divide between the haves and have-nots," he said.
With Delta Sigma Pi, a University business fraternity, running the registration table and providing crossing guards, participants walked down Rosemary Street, through campus and back to the starting point of Carrboro Town Commons.
Marie English, an East Chapel Hill High School sophomore with the University Presbyterian Church walkers, said the international hunger aspect of the walk was what initially interested her.
"Then I found out, oh, dang, it's also here," English said of local hunger problems.
Chapel Hill resident Vincent Wingate said he thinks the event increases awareness of the local angle.
"It also brings lots of different communities together with a common goal of helping the less fortunate in our society," said Wingate, who walked with Durham's Beth El Synagogue group.
This year, 300 to 350 people participated in the walk. John Dorward, IFC finance and operations director and CROP Walk treasurer, said the turnout was down from the average of 600 because of bad weather.
"Those who are hungry in our community still have to go out and look for food in the rain," Williams said.
He said the decrease in participants would not necessarily affect the $60,000 or so the event usually brings in because most of the money already has been collected by individual participants.
Williams said Chapel Hill's CROP Walk last year ranked 20th nationally in raised funds.
"We think of Chapel Hill-Carrboro as a rich community," Ruth Efird said. "There are many people that are unable to survive without help."
Efird, a nurse practitioner at the Orange County Health Department, ran the first aid station sponsored by the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's health ministry.
With a final safety message from Carrboro Police Capt. Joel Booker about the looming thunderstorm, the walkers set out. Smiling in spite of dreary skies, they were led by the pull of their dogs and the bagpipe music traditional to the event.
Among volunteers setting up for refreshments to be served at the end of the walk, Williams lingered at the Carrboro Town Commons, admiring four banners billowing in the wind - one each marking Chapel Hill's 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th CROP Walks.
"One day we'll have a 25."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
A controversial Orange County Board of Commissioners decision finalized plans to replace the Eubanks Road landfill with a waste transfer center but left area residents unsure about consequent traffic and property issues.
(03/26/07 4:00am)
In a proposal at tonight's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, Student Body President James Allred said he hopes to improve safety for both students and permanent residents.
Allred will present a proposal to install four emergency call boxes, or blue lights, and sidewalk lighting in downtown areas that both students and residents frequent at night.
The blue lights would be placed at four intersections: McCauley and Ransom streets, Mallette Street and Colony Court, Church and Short streets, and North Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. They would cost about $60,000 total to install.
The plan has been developing since the summer through collaborative work between student government and the Chapel Hill Police Department, Allred said. It first was brought to his attention through student requests.
"They should get what they're asking for," Allred said.
The proposal states that all of the installation costs, estimated at about $80,000 for the call boxes and the lights, will be paid by student government, and the maintenance costs, such as the monthly electricity and phone bill, will be funded by the town.
Allred said he hopes this proposal to the town, the first of his term, will improve town-and-gown relations. He also said this effort goes hand-in-hand with his Good Neighbor Initiative, aimed at blurring student-resident differences.
"It's important that town services reach out directly to students as well as permanent residents," Allred said.
And the petition also emphasizes the benefits not only for students downtown but for people living in downtown Chapel Hill.
"The entire Northside and Cameron-McCauley neighborhoods can expect a more communal atmosphere and an increased perception of safety," it reads.
The $20,000 pedestrian lights, which would be placed in areas with well-lit roads but darker sidewalks, would be located in the Northside district, the Cameron-McCauley district and on East Rosemary Street between Hillsborough and Boundary streets.
The funding for the installation costs would come from the safety and security component of student fees.
Students pay $1.75 annually for the component, which is managed by the safety and security committee. The 76 percent of its budget dedicated to student safety on and off-campus largely has been unused in past years, Allred said.
The student government's ability to fund the expensive installation of the lights and emergency boxes will be very helpful to the town, council member Mark Kleinschmidt said.
"One of the things that's really attractive is student government's willingness to jump-start the process," Kleinschmidt said. "It's a great way to get the ball moving quickly."
After Allred presents his petition to the council, it will be referred to town staff for review. From there, recommendations will be made to the council at a later meeting, said Linda Convissor, University director of local relations.
She said Allred is using his right as a resident to petition exactly how it is meant to be used.
"It looks like they've done their homework."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.