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(09/29/08 4:00am)
Due to a reporting error Monday's pg. 1 story" ""Bill Thorpe" long-serving Town Council member" dies"" misspells Thorpe's wife's name. Her name is Jean. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.Bill Thorpe" long-time Chapel Hill Town Council member and fighter for civil rights died in his home Saturday night from heart problems. Thorpe was the voice for the least fortunate during his total of 11 years on the council and almost 4o years living in Chapel Hill.He was known for his ability with people and for his love for politics. He would work the council chamber or any other room" greeting everyone with a smile and asking names and hometowns.""He had a big talent and ability to where he would never meet a stranger"" said Fred Battle, the former president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who has known Thorpe since 1970. And he was one who would look to help everybody.""Thorpe fought for renaming Airport Road after his idol Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 2005 and in 1984 was instrumental in Chapel Hill becoming one of the first Southern municipalities to officially recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.""He really kept our feet to the fire as far as remembering what out values were"" council member Mark Kleinschmidt said. He always understood that issues that we worked on involved the lives of people.""Thorpe is survived by his wife Jean" a retired educator and two children.Dailytarheel.com will post related stories during the day.
(09/29/08 4:00am)
MONDAY SEPT. 29 1:22 p.m. -- Bill Thorpe known as the voice for the little man in Chapel Hill died in his home Saturday. He was 67 years old.He was known for his ability with people and for his love for politics. He would work the Chapel Hill Town Council chamber or any other room" greeting everyone with a smile and a firm handshake.""He had a big talent and ability to where he would never meet a stranger"" said Fred Battle, the former president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. And he was one who would look to help everybody.""Thorpe took a leave of absence earlier this month and died from problems related to a long-standing heart problem.In his 11 years on the Chapel Hill Town Council and almost 40 years living in town"" Thorpe pushed to provide more affordable housing and was an ever-present reminder of the town's history and where it is trying to go.""He understood that we needed to create places for people" Council Member Mark Kleinschmidt said.Thorpe was instrumental in Chapel Hill becoming one of the first Southern municipalities in 1984 to officially recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.And twenty years later he went to Mayor Pro Tempore Edith Wiggins with a resolution to rename Airport Road after his idol Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.It was controversial because Airport Road was a major thoroughfare in Chapel Hill and it had a lot of history in terms of its name" Wiggins said.He returned to the council shortly afterwards and advocated successfully for a program to give college students an opportunity to do internships with the town.Thorpe was born and grew up in Oxford, N.C., Battle said. He moved to Chapel Hill in 1970 and was elected to the town council for the first time nine years later.Thorpe's years on the council were seperated by almost two decades.He was a political force in Chapel Hill as president of the Hank Anderson Breakfast Club and as a consultant for many local candidates.Politicians craved the club's endorsement and bragged when they received it.Eugene Farrar, current head of the local NAACP and the chaplain for the breakfast club, cited Thorpe's blunt way of speaking as a way that he bridged racial lines and represented the whole community.One thing about Bill Thorpe" he spoke his mind and people knew when he would come out on an issue that it's coming from the heart" Farrar said.After his return to the council in 2005, Thorpe offered a historical perspective to the board members and the public.He would call Kleinschmidt almost every week to talk and made a habit of getting to know the people behind the policies and decisions the council made.He really kept our feet to the fire as far as remembering what out values were"" Kleinschmidt said. He always understood that issues that we worked on involved the lives of people.""Thorpe is survived by his wife Jean" a retired educator and two children.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/02/08 4:00am)
It was the morning after the 2005 Halloween celebration, and the mayor of Madison, Wisc., said it couldn't continue like before.For four consecutive years, nights of looting ended with pepper spray. There was just utter bedlam"" said Mike Hanson, a Madison police officer. Town officials decided at a 5 a.m. debriefing that something was going to change.They charged admission to get onto State Street, the Franklin Street of the University of Wisconsin, and set up stages for bands and space for food vendors.And in the next two years crime decreased, Hanson said.The changes in Madison have greatly altered the event and received mixed reviews from the UW students who drive it.But if Chapel Hill authorities are looking for ways to make Halloween safer, they will likely turn to Madison and other cities for an idea of what to do.One of the big pieces here is just putting a little bit of structure around an event that historically has been impromptu and unplanned"" said Joel Plant, a mayor's aide who helped to plan and implement the change.Plant said he talked to Laurie Paolicelli, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau, a few months ago about what Madison had done to calm Halloween festivities. Paolicelli could not be reached for comment Friday.Chapel Hill town officials have considered charging for admission, implementing a curfew, and closing bars early in order to decrease the number of people on Franklin Street for Halloween this year.Town staff met Aug. 26 but did not decide on a plan.The charge of $5 in advance and $7 at the gate in Madison has altered the character of the event, UW senior Elizabeth Yoder said.They completely changed what it was all about"" Yoder said. It seems like they ruined the tradition.""The city of Madison has reduced police costs by more than $100"000 since 2005 although there was a slight increase for 2006.And Plant said the number of visitors has not decreased significantly. He said about 35000 people bought tickets in 2007.In recent years Greenville N.C." blocked off the streets for the Halloween celebration in an effort to control crowds.""We leave it up to our law enforcement people to determine what needs to be done"" Mayor Pat Dunn said.In Athens, Ohio, police increased the presence of undercover alcohol enforcement while increasing education for Halloween festivities at Ohio University.They saw a decrease in underage alcohol arrests despite the increased presence, Ohio Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc said.Halloween events in Madison, which take place on a Friday and Saturday near Oct. 31, saw virtually no property damage or serious injuries in both 2006 and 2007.There is an expectation of behavior" and people have been following it" Plant said.Halloween crowd brings business" riskContact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/08 4:00am)
Chapel Hill is trying to downsize Halloween on Franklin Street.
Town officials have discussed implementing a curfew, charging for entrance to Franklin Street, offering alternate activities and closing bars early, Mayor Kevin Foy said Wednesday.
"The trend is toward larger and larger crowds; the trend is toward longer and longer nights, and that's a trend that we need to reverse," Foy said.
(08/19/08 4:00am)
Federal prosecutors began to investigate the death of Eve Carson just a week after her body was identified.
United States Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner wrote in a letter to District Attorney Jim Woodall that a federal investigation opened on March 14.
Wagoner's office would have responsibility for prosecuting the case federally if she chooses to seek an indictment.
"In this case, I don't know that there will be any federal charges and that's not up to me," Woodall said.
Wagoner could not be reached to comment on the extent or current state of the federal investigation.
The criminal case could be prosecuted federally with proof of a carjacking or of use of Carson's bank card, according to federal law.
Woodall said in court Aug. 11 that Demario Atwater and Lawrence Lovette, who have been charged with first degree murder in the case, drove Carson in her car to a Bank Of America in Chapel Hill. They also allegedly withdrew $1,400 from locations in both Durham and Chapel Hill.
Pictures that circulated to law enforcement and press in the weeks after Carson's death show a man who prosecutors say is Lovette driving what appears to be Carson's Toyota Highlander at the ATM of a Chapel Hill Bank of America.
Woodall said local prosecutors often work with their federal counterparts, although mainly on drug charges.
"We just have to work together on logistics, on timing and that kind of thing," he said.
The letter, dated April 23, also professes support for Woodall's decision to request that affidavits remain sealed.
"The unsealing of these search warrant affidavits would be detrimental to the federal investigation, which is ongoing," Wagoner wrote.
The documents, which included search warrants for the homes of both Lovette and Atwater, have since been unsealed.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
Velma Perry moved to her Northside home 40 years before the first students came to the neighborhood.
But since the days when Perry's dad built her Lindsey Street house while working for $2.50 a day, prices have risen and a once-working-class black neighborhood has become majority students.
Although Perry says that relations between the constantly changing student neighbors and long-time residents have improved greatly in the last few years, there have been many bumps along the way.
The Good Neighbor Initiative, now in its fifth year, aims to increase cooperation among long-time and new residents of the Northside, Pine Knolls, and Cameron-Mcauley neighborhoods.
As part of the initiative, representatives of the Chapel Hill Police Department, UNC and Northside nonprofit Empowerment Inc. will walk through the neighborhoods today and give packets of information to new residents.
"The importance of this is to break down some of these barriers and introduce themselves to each other," Empowerment Executive Director Delores Bailey said.
The executive branch of the student government is also expected to help out with the event, which will start from the Hargraves Center on Roberson Street at 3p.m.
"Living here is dependent on having a good relationship with the town," Student Body President J.J. Raynor said. "The University is dependent on a good relationship with the town."
Perry laughs easily and tells stories of years of people-watching with a memory that does not betray her age of 87.
Perry has seen a neighborhood change from the porch of her big white house and says not all students were good neighbors.
"They didn't want to respect the neighborhood," she said. Students would throw loud parties and run through the streets at night.
"If you've got to get up in the morning, you need some sleep," she said.
But she said the students' behavior has improved greatly over the past few years, and the neighborhood is quiet again, partially because of increased University involvement.
"It was the best thing in the world," Perry said.
She recalls in particular two male neighbors who gave her their phone number the first day in town and said to call if they disturbed her.
There is still work to be done, she said, as Northside sees a whole new wave of students every year.
"Every time we get a bunch of new ones, we have to train them again," Perry said.
Assistant University Editor Kevin Kiley contributed reporting.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
Eve Carson worked early into the morning of March 5, visible from Friendly Lane through a window with raised blinds.
She told her roommates that she was staying home to prepare papers for school.
Carson, one of the most high-profile and beloved students on campus, seemed an unlikely victim in a town that has few random shootings.
But as the prosecutor has laid out the alleged events and many documents have become public, it is increasingly apparent that anyone could have been in Carson's shoes.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
Click here to view the multimedia presentation "Pit Attack: UNC's campus reflects one year later."
The man who terrorized campus when he drove a Jeep through its heart will likely spend more than twenty years in prison.
Mohammed Taheri-Azar said only "yes sir" when asked Tuesday if he intended to kill the nine people who were injured in the March 2006 attack.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
A UNC tennis star faces felony charges after he hit two pedestrians with his car early Sunday while driving drunk.
Junior Chris Kearney was driving southbound on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard when he veered off the road shortly after 2 a.m., Chapel Hill Police Sgt. Scott Taylor said.
"Mr. Kearney had been drinking, and he ran off the road to the right," Taylor said.
About 200 yards from Rosemary Street, Kearney ran into a stone wall before hitting two females on the sidewalk, Taylor said
Kearney, 20, walked away from his totaled 2004 Nissan Murano, but was arrested nearby shortly after, police said. Kearney registered a 0.18 blood alcohol concentration.
The victims' names haven't been released, but the women were transported to UNC Hospitals and their conditions were serious but not life-threatening as of Sunday night, police said.
Kearney is being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
He is scheduled to appear in court today on two felony charges of hit-and-run with personal injury, in addition to misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated, DWI by provisional licensee, reckless driving and two counts of possession of a fictitious license.
Kearney was Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007 and was selected to the All-ACC team in 2008.
The Athletic Department could not be reached for comment.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/08 4:00am)
The area has plowed into the first year of a 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, but many problems still remain to be addressed.
In response to resident and business owners' complaints of excessive soliciting downtown, Chapel Hill is in the middle of a project attempting to take a comprehensive look at the problem.
The Real Change from Spare Change Program, which began in November, has raised more than $14,000, including $10,000 from The Daily Tar Heel, for the street outreach program of the Downtown Partnership, Assistant Director Meg McGurk said.
That amount is far from the original goal of $70,000 they hoped for that would have funded two full-time positions in the outreach program.
"It seems like it's small, but when you are trying to fund basic human service needs that amount of money is huge," she said.
McGurk said one man who has been collecting change for 10 years off the sidewalks of Franklin Street brought a bag with $27.04 to one of the participating organizations.
"He always knew that it wasn't his money to spend," she said. "He realized that the change needed to go to people to get off the street."
The street outreach team recently connected six people with housing, she said.
Project Homeless Connect brought homeless people to the Hargraves Center in October to be connected with essential services, and a second event has been scheduled for September 2008.
"I think that agencies' eyes were opened even wider knowing that these are complex issues and complex problems to solve," said Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services.
The IFC is looking to open a new men's shelter and find a building to combine the pantry and the kitchen in one place, Moran said.
In March, Orange County hired Carson Dean as coordinator of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness.
He will work with the partners in the 10-year plan to oversee the implementation of the broad comprehensive strategies.
"The 10-year plan has already established set goals and strategies," Dean said at the time. "My job is to come in and breathe life into these strategies."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/08 4:00am)
TUESDAY, 9:30 p.m. -- Affidavits and search warrants related to the death of former Student Body President Eve Carson will remain sealed to protect an ongoing investigation, an Orange County Superior Court judge ordered Tuesday.
Allen Baddour ruled that the release of the documents interfere with the cases of Lawrence Alvin Lovette and Demario James Atwater, both charged with first degree murder in Carson's death.
"The right of access to criminal trials is not absolute," Baddour wrote in the order. "Disclosure of sensitive details in an ongoing, and not yet complete, investigation, including information not generally known to the public, would interfere with the ongoing investigation, and could interfere with fair and impartial trial proceedings."
The order came a day after Baddour heard a motion from The Durham Herald Company to unseal the information. The warrants include March searches of the Durham homes of Lovette and Atwater.
In addition to interfering with police, release of the documents could compromise the identities of two confidential sources in the Carson case, Orange District Attorney Jim Woodall argued in court Monday.
"They feel that their safety is threatened," he said.
He joined with the attorneys for both defendants in asking the court to keep the document sealed for at least 60 days.
Attorney John Bussian, arguing on behalf of The Durham Herald-Sun, said the information should be public under both First Amendment and Common Law rights.
"There has to be detailed evidence as to why an ongoing on-going investigation would be jeopardized," he said. "Without seeing it, I'm sort of shadowboxing right now."
The issue will be heard again June 27, according to the order.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/24/08 4:00am)
Multimedia: Rogers Road - A community in question
The first search for a waste transfer station was brief.
In March, commissioners decided that the station would go at the site of the current Orange County Landfill.
But public outrage forced the Orange Board of County Commissioners to reopen the search, and they now must decide what will play a role in the siting of waste facilities.
(04/22/08 4:00am)
Chapel Hill town staff Monday recommended approving a project that will close The Town House Apartments.
The popular student rental spot will be replaced by single-family homes expected to cost an average of about $300,000 if the Chapel Hill Town Council approves a special use permit in the coming months.
Town House's 111 rental units would be demolished to make way for the 346 units of the Residences at Grove Park.
"We feel that the site of the current apartments is an ideal redevelopment opportunity," said John Florian, an N.C. vice president of Ram Development Co., which has a contract to buy the property if the permit is approved.
The apartment complex is located between Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Hillsborough Road, a little more than half a mile from the main UNC campus.
The debate Monday centered on the number of parking spaces allowed for the developer as they ask for an increased density which would increase vehicle traffic.
Town staff agreed with the applicant's request that they be allowed to have 580 vehicular parking spaces.
Grove Park would include 39 units of affordable housing. Robert Dowling, executive director of the Orange Community Housing and Land Trust, which would have the responsibility to sell those units, said his organization cannot handle the extra work.
"There is some risk that staff members of the land trust will be stretched too thin and leave," he said.
Dowling asked the council to consider allowing developers to give money instead of the currently required 15 percent of all units to affordable housing.
The public hearing will be continued until June 9 to allow the staff time to respond to comments.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/18/08 4:00am)
The next elementary school in the area could be in a majority black neighborhood.
Steve Scroggs, assistant superintendent for support services, presented the potential sites for Elementary School No. 11 to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board Thursday.
Rogers Road and Northside communities are possibilities for the new school, which is expected to be needed in about two years. The third option is a site at Carolina North, the mixed-use development.
"People see putting a school in their area as a very positive thing," board chairwoman Pam Hemminger said.
(04/18/08 4:00am)
Six search warrants and affidavits related to the shooting death of Eve Carson remain sealed at the request of Chapel Hill police.
Police Chief Brian Curran confirmed Thursday that Superior Court Judge Carl Fox ordered the contents kept from public record.
The documents include search warrants for the homes of both Demario James Atwater and Lawrence Alvin Lovette, Curran said. Both have been indicted for first-degree murder in the case.
Documents can be sealed to protect witnesses or to prevent the distribution of information that only the suspect would know, he said.
"That's how we separate real witnesses from fake ones," Curran said.
But The Durham Herald Company, which operates the Chapel Hill Herald, is suing to have the warrants unsealed.
"We suspect that the information in those warrants should be a matter of public record," Herald-Sun Editor Bob Ashley said.
The April 28 hearing, at which a judge is likely to decide whether to open the files, might give the public its first glimpse of the events of the morning Carson died.
"I do think on the 28th there will be some information," said Jim Woodall, Orange County district attorney and prosecutor in the case.
"I'm assuming the judge will want some discussion of what the state alleges to be the facts in this case."
The (Raleigh) News & Observer is reporting that a surveillance photo police say is of Lovette attempting to use Carson's ATM card was time stamped at 3:55 a.m., slightly more than one hour before police found Carson's body at the intersection of Hillcrest Circle and Hillcrest Road.
The newspaper is reporting that the ATM was at Bank of America near University Mall, about a three-minute drive from the crime scene.
Police would not confirm the time of the photo or say whether they think Carson was in the car.
More information might be released at a May 5 hearing, when Woodall expects to announce whether he intends to seek a death sentence for Atwater.
Staff Writer Kristen Cresante contributed reporting.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/16/08 4:00am)
A project to capture gas from the Orange County landfill to generate electricity for carbon credits will proceed.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners granted county and University officials permission to move forward on developing a final contract that will address engineering, commercial and legal issues.
"We do believe this will be a win-win for the University and the county," UNC Director of Energy Services Ray DuBose said.
The county and University came before the board Tuesday for the first time since they entered into a memorandum of understanding for the partnership Jan. 17.
With the development of Carolina North expected soon, the University is anticipating a need to fully utilize the program by about 2013.
The capital cost of the project is estimated at $5.5 million. The University and county anticipate a contract of at least 20 years.
"The partnership has prevailed," said Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey.
The commissioners also heard Tuesday from several residents asking that the Richard E. Whitted building be converted to a Cultural Center for Hillsborough and Northern Orange County to serve as a home for the arts.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/16/08 4:00am)
The county might consider issues of social justice as it decides on a site for a waste transfer station.
(04/15/08 4:00am)
Rogers Road residents will argue today that social justice concerns should exclude their neighborhood as a possible site for a waste transfer station to handle the county's garbage.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve general criteria that will eliminate many possible sites for the transfer station, but not the location of the current Orange County Landfill.
Residents say the landfill, which has been in the Rogers Road neighborhood since 1972, has lowered property values and possibly caused health problems in the predominantly black neighborhood.
(04/15/08 4:00am)
A group of local homeowners still believes their housing concerns have not been addressed.
Eight Culbreth Park households will receive home inspections, which might lead to later improvements, the Chapel Hill Town Council decided Monday.
But the residents say they want bigger change because the agreement that helped them find affordable housing in 1990 now prevents them from selling or renovating their homes.
Doris Lee, an accountant who works at UNC, originally submitted a petition in September 2007 after she could not take out a $30,000 loan to make renovations on her house.
"To me, it's not acceptable," she said.
The council's compromise came after the committee on affordable housing met with residents and a representative from the Orange County Housing and Land Trust.
The town originally provided a $14,000 second mortgage to the people who bought the housing in 1990. They agreed that when residents sold their homes, they would have to pay back an amount determined by a shared equity agreement.
Residents said they wanted the agreement revised because they would be unable to afford a Chapel Hill house if they wanted to move.
Karen Kandah, president of the homeowners' association, said she would have to pay the town $75,000 if she sold her house now.
"It doesn't pay to put investment into our homes if the city is going to take most of our profit," Kandah told the council.
The money from homeowners goes back into providing affordable housing in the town of Chapel Hill.
"The town doesn't make money on affordable housing," Mayor Kevin Foy said. "The town invests a lot of money."
Drought concerns remain
Police will now ease enforcement of water restrictions after the Orange Water and Sewer Authority moved from Stage 3 to Stage 1 on Thursday.
The council agreed to allow Foy to direct police officers to return to enforcing the lower restrictions.
Although OWASA controls water rates, the mayor must issue a proclamation that directs police enforcement.
That came only after representatives from OWASA received an initially frosty welcome.
Several council members questioned the wisdom of making the change only a few weeks after Stage 3 restrictions went into place.
"Why not wait a while?" council member Bill Strom asked.
Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Director Butch Kisiah told the council that his department will lose about $350,000 if Stage 3 restrictions remain in place.
Reservoirs are 70.4 percent full, but water levels still are the lowest that they ever have been at this point in the year.
"It is not risk free, but we can go back to more stringent restrictions in very short order should the need be there," OWASA board member Mac Clarke told the council.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/14/08 4:00am)
Fred Battle spent a week in jail.
He was one of thousands of students at N.C. Agricultural & Technological State University who police arrested for sitting at F.W. Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro to protest the exclusion of blacks.
"They couldn't house everybody," he said with a laugh.
More than 45 years after he got his civil rights start, Battle is stepping down as president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro branch of the NAACP.
Battle, a lifetime Chapel Hill resident, leaves after almost 15 years in the position and with many challenges still to come.
"It was a dream to have him in the community," said Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Thorpe, who has known Battle for 35 years.
Battle led the successful push to change the name of Airport Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 2005. He said he noticed that the only Chapel Hill public facilities named after black people were in black communities or housing projects.
The 11-month-long debate highlighted still-present local divisions on race issues, but Battle said Chapel Hill came together.
"We had the community around us in terms of support," he said. "Not just the black community but the white community, also."
Friends call him "Toro," after the lawn mower brand because of his physical and mental strength.
Even though Battle had a prostate operation and suffered a stroke within a couple of weeks in February, he still commanded attention at Saturday's meeting.
"He's anybody's leader," said First Vice President Eugene Farrar, who will take Battle's place June 1.
Battle said he is stepping down at his doctor's advice.
"The illness is nothing to play with. I want to be around for a long time," he said. "In order to be around . I'm going to have to cut back on some of my responsibilities."
Battle was part of the group that helped to revive the local NAACP in 1989. He became president in 1994.
Farrar played basketball and football with Battle at Lincoln High School. When Farrar moved back to Chapel Hill in 2001, Battle invited him for lunch at Mama Dip's.
"He's my bridge to get to the other side," Farrar said. "I couldn't ask for anyone better than Fred Battle to walk behind."
Battle said he will continue to attend NAACP meetings and serve on local and statewide committees.
The local branch still must advocate for affordable housing and education access, he said.
"I'm going to keep the struggle alive while I'm in good health, and you keep the struggle alive."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.