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(03/17/10 4:26am)
A county survey of well and septic systems in a historically black, low-income neighborhood near the county landfill revealed contaminated wells that could threaten residents’ health.Orange County commissioners were presented with the report, which assessed 11 wells and 45 septic tanks in the Rogers Road neighborhood, part of which is not connected to public water lines.Of the septic tanks, two were in need of maintenance, 10 were non-compliant with septic tank standards and 12 were identified as “malfunctioning.” Five were called “end-of-life” failures. “Malfunctioning can be defined when you have sewage discharging to the ground or backing up into the home or air space of the septic tank system,” said Tom Konsler of the Orange County Health Department.Three of the wells surveyed contained total or fecal coliform in their water, which could create health problems such as stomach cramps and vomiting and indicate other contamination.It’s not the first study of its kind. A report from the Gillings School of Global Public Health in the fall also found contamination. Previous studies by the county have shown none.Rev. Robert Campbell, an advocate for the community, thanked the Orange County health department for its work.“If we continue collaborating and forming a partnership, we can resolve this issue,” Campbell said.The report suggests several remedial actions, such installing liners in wells and installing neutralizing systems to help with acidic water.Konsler said the report will now be distributed with residents. The county will then work to get funding to connect the community to public water and repair septic tanks.
(03/03/10 6:20am)
Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt is taking action to reverse a change in health coverage that requires some employees of towns across the state to ask for abortion coverage.Kleinschmidt wrote a letter to express his dissatisfaction with a Feb. 11 change in the N.C. League of Municipalities’ CIGNA health care plan. He said requiring employees to opt in for coverage would politicize their health issues.The league is a federation of more than 530 communities across the state, and the CIGNA insurance plan is one option available to its members.Although Chapel Hill employees do not use the league’s plan, Kleinschmidt said the town should be concerned because city employees are covered by some of the league’s other insurance options.With the new policy, communities covered by the league’s health care plan do not receive insurance payments for elective abortions unless the town chooses to adopt those benefits.Previously, all elective abortions were covered under the plan.“They must now choose whether to engage this challenging issue in a political atmosphere that invites an onslaught from those who would desire to politicize reproductive health issues, or to do nothing and thereby deny their employees the benefits of comprehensive reproductive health care,” Kleinschmidt wrote in the letter.The new policy still allows coverage of abortions for medical reasons of necessity, rape or incest, regardless of whether the town adopts coverage for elective abortions.The league has made no recommendation as to whether a community should adopt elective abortion coverage.Kleinschmidt said N.C. General Assembly Rep. Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, played a role in inducing the change.Stam said he contacted several league members in January about the policy because some cities did not want elective abortion coverage.“Most towns, I’ve discovered, were even unaware they covered elective abortions,” Stam said.Kleinschmidt contended that Stam pushed the change in insurance policy as a bullying measure to get more influence.“He’s not using sound legal theory, just scare tactics,” Kleinschmidt said. “It’s wrong-headed legally and politically.”Stam said he has never used a scare tactic in his life.Kleinschmidt suggested an “opt-out” policy for the league, where towns that felt strongly that abortions should not be covered would invite that debate into their community rather than offering the same plan across the state.“While it is my hope that elected officials in the participating municipalities will choose to put the health interests of their employees ahead of their own political comfort, I fear that that will not be the case,” he said in the letter.The league should consider changing the reproductive health benefits, Kleinschmidt said.“Any time an employer seeks to provide comprehensive health care, the full scope of reproductive health care should be provided,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/24/10 5:03am)
Two former John Edwards aides were accused of theft and perjury Tuesday as a dispute regarding sex tapes involving the former U.S. senator and his mistress continued in a hearing in Hillsborough.Edwards’ former presidential campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter, had asked for former aides Andrew and Cheri Young to hand over tapes and photographs she said are private.The Youngs, in contempt of court since early February, turned over what they said were the final items belonging to Hunter. But Hunter’s attorneys said they think more items exist.The couple surrendered a flash drive, a video camera Hunter’s attorneys said belonged to her and a photograph of a list, called the “slut club” list.Hunter’s attorneys jumped on the items presented to the court.“They had no right to that camera,” said Hunter’s attorney, Alan Duncan. “They knew it wasn’t theirs, they took it out of her house and never had consent to do it.”The list, described in Young’s book, “The Politician”, contains names of 34 men, Duncan said. Judge Abraham Penn Jones ordered the contents of the list never be disclosed to anyone.“That gets into exposing people and such,” he said. Russell Gilmore, a forensic computer technician, was the sole witness during the hearing. Jones asked Gilmore to sort items on the Youngs’ computer into photographs, videos and documents altered by and relating to Hunter. Gilmore said he should be finished in three weeks.Originally, there were said to be eight “personal” photographs pertaining to Hunter on the laptop. Gilmore said today a folder entitled “HMMM” contains up to 150 personal photographs.Hunter’s attorneys said they believe that former Young attorney David Geneson may be in possession of a copy of a purported sex tape recovered from an Atlanta lock box earlier this month.The Youngs’ attorney, Robert Elliot, said Geneson does not have such a tape, but he would contact Geneson and have him draw up a proper affidavit for the court by Thursday.“To think this man is going to jeopardize his license by only telling half the truth is ridiculous,” Elliot said.Hunter’s attorneys said the Youngs were withholding the truth and should be put in prison for 75 days.“Mr. Young couldn’t say for sure and was hesitant to say where things were,” Duncan said. “He has the earmarks of somebody trying to hold the truth back.”Elliot said the Youngs have followed every court order to the best of their ability, and said they kept no more materials relevant to the case.Andrew Young said at the Feb. 10 hearing that, to the best of his knowledge, all materials had been submitted. Elliot said the camera, the list and a flash drive were the final items in the Youngs’ possession.“They have turned their house over, and there is nothing else,” Elliot said. “These are good and decent people who have had to endure this situation, and Young’s only fault was too much loyalty to a man who betrayed him.”Jones said he had trouble deciding whether to reverse the contempt.“He’s given up a lot since Jan. 28, so I’ve seen compliance,” he said. “It’s just hard to do things when I’m having to make judgements about his credibility.” Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(02/17/10 5:10am)
At Carrboro’s McDougle Elementary, students will have to wait at least another year before a bilingual curriculum is introduced.Members of the school improvement team wrote a letter to the county Board of Education requesting to delay a dual language program that was set to start this fall.Concerns include funding the program, finding adequate Spanish-teaching materials and hiring capable teachers, said Sonia Frischemeier, a member of the school improvement team.Frischemeier said she would like to see the program created one day but does not think now is the time.“The program would be successful when certain concerns the program faces are addressed,” she said.A dual language program is in effect in several Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools elementary schools. Students learn lessons in English for half of the day, and the rest is taught in a foreign language.The goal is to make students bilingual by the time they reach fifth grade, said McDougle Elementary principal Amanda Hartness.“I’m the fourth principal in four years at McDougle,” she said. “When I first came on, the faculty asked the program be delayed because we had not been meeting standards of achievements, so we needed to focus on getting our school where it needs to be.”McDougle is attempting to meet requirements of No Child Left Behind, a federal act that sets specific targets to ensure students meet certain performance standards, she said.“As a parent and a taxpayer, I hate to see these things happen, because you implement these programs and then, in year two or year three, you don’t have the funding to keep them going,” Frischemeier said.Liz Buchman, president of the parent-teacher association, said she believed the school made the right decision to delay the program.“I’ve been at McDougle for eight years, and the school has gone through an enormous amount of transition,” she said. “To add one more thing right when this ship is turning around concerns me.”A school with multiple populations, such as McDougle, must make sure that each group of students meets certain academic requirements, she said. Glenwood Elementary offers a Mandarin Chinese program.“It makes the students more globally competitive,” said principal Minnie Goins. “Parents say it has made them more resourceful.” Buchman said her faith in Hartness’s leadership helps her further support the decision.“Today in our culture, we want everything, and we want it right now,” she said. “I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/11/10 5:53am)
Severe burn injuries and a disastrous earthquake haven’t broken the spirits of three Haitian patients recovering from surgeries at UNC Hospitals.Four victims of the Jan. 12 Haitian earthquake were transferred last month to North Carolina hospitals, including the three at UNC Hospitals, said surgeon Samuel Jones, assistant director of the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center. All had life-threatening burn injuries.Two of the patients received skin grafts a week ago and are now walking and working with a therapist, Jones said.Another patient went into surgery Friday for a procedure that precedes a skin graft. A dressing of pigskin and human skin was removed to clean the wound.“We can evaluate temporary skin to see whether it is staying on or falling off so we can see if we can put the patient’s skin back on them,” Jones said.The patient who was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem was discharged Friday, said hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Davis. She said the patient worked with a social worker to get to Orlando where his mother-in-law lives.The UNC Hospitals patients will remain in the hospital for four to six more weeks.“We are beginning the recovery and rehabilitation process,” said Bruce Cairns, director of the burn center. “We have professional social workers that can identify what resources are available and what is appropriate for the patients and their families.”One patient has a son who is being tutored by a schoolteacher at UNC Hospitals, Jones said.The son and his father also have family members from New York who have visited and taken the son out in downtown Chapel Hill.“They have gotten him out of the room and added some normalcy back to his life,” Jones said.He said the hospital staff has rallied around the new patients.“We’ve all made sure that they have a place to stay, food to eat,” Jones said. “There is support on every level, from the burn center to administrative personnel in the hospital and the burn center.”And Cairns said the center’s patients have maintained positive attitudes despite their injuries.“Things are tough in life,” he said, “but they seem to find the good in the situation.”
(01/27/10 6:18am)
Three victims from the disastrous Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake arrived at UNC Hospitals on Tuesday and are awaiting surgery for severe burns.The patients are in fair condition after suffering from burn injuries covering between 10 percent and 35 percent of their bodies, said Bruce Cairns, medical director of the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center.“They hadn’t had a meal, hadn’t showered, hadn’t changed clothes since the earthquake,” said Grace Schmits, nurse manager at the burn center. “The hospital was able to come up with resources to get them those things.”The admitted victims will remain at the hospital indefinitely.State Burn Disaster Coordinator Randy Kearns said since southern Florida hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, many are being directed to hospitals up the coast.“We received a phone call at six this morning that over the weekend, they had received over 300 patients in south Florida,” he said.Refugees in Florida hospitals and on the U.S. Naval Ship Comfort will continue to be relocated to other hospitals to help with overcrowding, Kearns said. UNC Hospitals might take on more patients should the need arise.One patient suffered burns when his car exploded at a gas station during the earthquake. His wife carried him 10 miles back to their home, Cairns said.“There was no way to transport him or get news back to the family, and eventually, somebody told his wife and she went to get him.” Chemicals spilled on another patient who was working when the earthquake struck. The third received a grease burn when on the street.The patients are expected to return to full functionality after the burns come off and skin grafts are performed, said Dr. Samuel Jones, the surgeon treating the patients.Before performing surgery, physicians will have to identify what kind of bacteria patients were exposed to. The doctors must ensure the injuries are free of bacteria because if patients go into surgery with infections, the infections could spread.“We can’t move forward as aggressively as we normally would because we have to take these things into consideration,” Cairns said. Though patients and their relatives speak Haitian Creole, several community members who speak the language have offered their assistance, said Dalton Sawyer, UNC Health Care’s director of emergency preparedness and continuity planning.The horror of the events will stay with the victims forever, but their spirits remain unbroken, Cairns said. They are focused on their loved ones and their homeland.“They have asked that we continue to do everything that we can to help their country,” he said. “Anything that anybody can do is the best counseling that we can give.”Sawyer said the hospital will be compensated for the medical costs through the national Refugee Act.Treating the victims of the disaster and interacting with their families has had a profound impact on the hospital employees.“We see the images, we hear the stories, but there’s something particularly heart-wrenching when you can put a name, a face, a story to a tragedy,” Cairns said. “It becomes very personal, and anything you have heard or seen of this event starts to become part of you.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/26/10 2:59pm)
Three patients from the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti arrived today at UNC Hospitals with severe burns. They had not had medical treatment or a change of clothes since the magnitude-7.0 earthquake.
(01/21/10 6:26am)
The construction of a new branch of UNC Hospitals in Hillsborough the state says is needed could fall through due to legal roadblocks.The hospital still has to complete an appeal process started by a wary nearby medical center.Sixty-eight beds would be relocated from UNC Hospitals to the location in Hillsborough, said town of Hillsborough planning director Margaret Hauth.“They aren’t necessarily expanding capacity,” she said. “That will happen in the future. But the main reason now is they are trying to move beds around.”The $228 million new facility is set to be built off Interstate 40 Exit 261 in the Waterstone development, across the street from Durham Technical Community College.Construction for the 80-plus acre site is slated for completion in 2014.But an appeal made by Alamance Regional Medical Center more than a month ago has brought the process to a standstill, said Ray Lafrenaye, vice president of facilities and plant development at UNC Hospitals.Alamance’s primary concern is that moving these beds to the proposed community hospital in Hillsborough could limit the number of patients in need of aggressive treatment the Alamance medical center could send to UNC because the research hospital would have fewer beds available.The state has approved UNC’s application for a Certificate of Need, which deems the construction of the hospital as a necessity. Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing at UNC Hospitals, said the appeal stands in the way.But Alamance officials said it could help resolve outstanding issues.“When you apply for a C.O.N., other hospitals have the ability to appeal on the grounds that you are encroaching on their territory,” Hauth said.Tracey Grayzer, director of public relations at Alamance Regional Medical Center, said the hospital is worried about a duplication of services, and said the appeal process could clear up any misunderstandings.“The appeal forces everyone to sit down at the table and have full disclosure on the project,” she said.Lafrenaye said the project is still in design stages.“We have a $2 million threshold for planning fees, and until we get formal approval, we can’t go over that threshold,” he said.Attorneys on both sides are currently in talks about when the appeal will be settled, he said. The idea of building the new branch was first discussed last March, Hauth said.She said she is expecting to receive building plans for the project this spring.McCall said need for a satellite clinic seemed more practical in the recession than an expansion on-site. “When things changed in the economy, people’s investments were lost, and our amount of capital changed,” she said. “Building the expansion off-site was the best option forward before we built another bed tower on campus.”County planning director Craig Benedict said the project’s proximity to Durham Technical Community College could help the school’s medical program grow.“We are excited about giving our students hands-on experience,” said Wanda Maggart, Durham Tech’s senior vice president for institutional advancement.Businesses and medical facilities could springboard off the hospital’s construction, Benedict said.“Having a new facility connected with UNC in the middle of the county is a great asset to the economic development opportunities in and around Hillsborough,” he said.But those opportunities hang on the decision made after the appeal. Contact the City Editor citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/13/10 5:32am)
Mayors Mark Kleinschmidt of Chapel Hill and Mark Chilton of Carrboro inched through their towns Tuesday, wary of the pavement in front of them as they wrestled against their walkers.Carrboro resident Ellen Perry rolled ahead in her wheelchair, encouraging them to feel the bumps and cracks beneath their feet.Perry, who has cerebral palsy and is the owner of Advocacy in Action, wanted to demonstrate the difficulties of maneuvering through Orange County as a disabled person and urge improvements.So she invited town leaders to walk in her shoes.“All of Franklin Street is filled with bumps that they don’t think about,” she said. “Those sidewalks are filled with trip hazards for people with disabilities and people who can’t pick up their feet.”Emily Cameron, a landscape architect with the Orange County Public Works Department, joined the walk for a second time.“We did this three years ago, and it’s good to go back and reassess these issues,” she said.“We’re in preparation for the budget year, and we can look at where the money would come from and how that money could match with the council’s goals in addition to Ms. Perry’s goals.”Cameron said the budget council has its own list of pending infrastructure projects and she would pass on Perry’s complaints to see how many are covered.One such complaint includes the area near Carr Mill Mall. Perry challenged Chilton to open a door at the entrance while holding the walker.“If I really needed this, it is a real challenge to open this door,” he said.Perry suggested that the door be lightened to solve the problem.She directed Chilton over cracks in the sidewalk, making a point to stop in front of Southern Rail restaurant, where the pavement is broken and uneven.“The walker slows me down, and it hurts my hands, especially when I lean on it,” Chilton said. Chilton handed off the walker to Kleinschmidt at the Carrboro-Chapel Hill line on South Merritt Mill Road.Kleinschmidt said although he made this walk with Perry three years ago, he’s never done it with a wheeled walker underneath him.A large tree root in front of Italian Pizzeria III posed a problem for Perry and Kleinschmidt.“It’s making me aware of every spare foot in front of me,” Kleinschmidt said. “I never thought there were two sides to the sidewalk, but clearly, there are.”Timothy Miles, chief operations officer for the Orange County Disability Awareness Council, said people’s attitudes also act as barriers against disabled persons.“Restaurants don’t carry large-print or Braille menus, or servers tend to take the order of the person who is not disabled rather than the person who is,” he said.Miles said the disability council offers awareness training to area businesses to help change this.But Perry said a lot of infrastructure still needs improvement. She said she especially wants to see the towns even out the sidewalks.“I’ve heard of people who trip and fall and break their arms and legs,” Perry said. “And I want to fix it.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(12/04/09 5:38am)
It didn’t matter that it was early or that there was a slight chill in the air. Dennis Nichols and Fenner Boyd still rang their silver bells Thursday.The two members of the Durham Civitan Club stood outside the Wal-Mart at New Hope Commons in Durham wearing red Salvation Army vests and seeking donations from holiday shoppers.Nichols rang his bell louder as shoppers approached him. After they dropped their change into his red kettle, he smiled and wished them a happy holiday.“We’ve been doing this for 30 years or more as members of the club,” Nichols said. “A lot of people thank us, most of the time, for what we are doing.”Boyd said people’s donations often surprise him.“It always seems like the people who can least afford it give more frequently than those that can,” he said. “But then, there’s a lot of people willing to give.”Soon, the sound of change dropping into Nichols’ bucket might give way to the silent swipe of a credit card.Starting this holiday season, the Salvation Army is accepting credit cards as options for potential donors — but only in a few places, to test it out.Maj. Bruce Smith, the Durham Corps officer of the Salvation Army, greeted shoppers at the Wal-Mart entrance Thursday. He said he hopes the credit card option will encourage people to give.“We have only four locations in Durham using credit cards this year, and we hope to see how it goes,” he said. “We hope that it enables more people to donate.”Smith said the Durham branch of the Salvation Army seeks to raise $85,000 in red kettle donations this year and another $75,000 through mail donations.“Last year, we were here for two days, and our club alone collected close to $1,300,” Nichols said.Salvation Army officials cannot yet estimate how much of the red kettle donations might come from credit cards, Smith said.“Even in these tough economic times, people are willing to dig deep and try to give,” Smith said. “We still see a lot of donations.”As many as 30 different civic clubs in Durham greet shoppers and collect donations each year, he said.“I’m always thankful for the volunteers who come and ring the bell this time of year,” he said. “I really enjoy it, because we are really helping others share in the joy of the season.”For him, he said, the holidays are about being with family and helping others enjoy the happiness of the season.When they’re not on the job, Nichols and Boyd celebrate in their own ways.Nichols said he enjoys sitting back, enjoying a piece of his wife’s made-from-scratch chocolate cake and listening to “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.”He said he likes to spend time with his children and five grandchildren.And Boyd, though he doesn’t have grandchildren, still enjoys simply passing the time during the holidays. “It’s a great season,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/19/09 6:06am)
The white section of Old Chapel Hill cemetery contains many large, elegant tombstones. But the other side could be mistaken for a field scattered with a few graves.Historians hypothesize many former slaves and freedmen might be buried in the black section of the cemetery in unmarked graves.After a survey this week by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, the forgotten could be discovered.“In researching the past, there are so many people who have been lost and forgotten because of vandalism,” said Ernest Dollar, executive director of the society.The society is using two types of surveying — ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity — across a quarter of the black section of the cemetery to look for unmarked graves, he said.Environmental Services, Inc. and Thacker, Seramur and Associates are helping the society conduct the survey.“Most of the graves were marked with field stones or markers that have tipped over or rotted away, and people have tried to realign them, leading to unmarked graves,” said Keith Seramur, the technician whose company conducted the geophysical surveys.Ground-penetrating radar will detect ground disturbances and refilling, Dollar said. Electrical resistivity will provide more clues as to whether a burial occurred, he said.“If you do survey across an area and in some places, the soil has been dug up and put into the ground, you get areas of lower resistivity,” Seramur said. “They will show up as anomalies when you map out resistivity levels.” These anomalies will often show up in rows and delineate areas of unmarked graves, he said.Dollar said the society became directly involved with the cemetery after the 1985 UNC-Clemson University football game. Fans used the black section of the cemetery as a parking lot.“A lot of the graves there were destroyed,” Dollar said. “That’s what really galvanized the community to start preserving the cemetery.”The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The historical society estimates 1,600 people are buried at the cemetery.Dollar said he believes there are unmarked graves because both whites and blacks worked, lived and died in the area in the late 18th century, but there was a gap of time when no burials of black people were recorded.The first documented burial in the cemetery was George Clarke, a white University student, who died in 1798. The first burial of a black person was recorded in 1853.“If this isn’t preserved, it’s lost history,” said Jay Thacker, the technician who conducted the electrical resistivity testing.He said while the society is only conducting testing in a specific quarter of the cemetery, he would like to see more testing done if it sees good results.“This is important to the community,” said Beth Compton, an assistant technician on the survey. “If these were my ancestors, I would want to know where the lost graves are.”Dollar said it is imperative that these people be remembered.“The African-American section really deserves this amount of time, energy and respect,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/04/09 5:45am)
Parents hope the two new faces on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Board of Education will make the district more inclusive.Incumbent Greg McElveen and newcomers Michelle Brownstein and Joe Green won the top three spots to serve on the board.Brownstein took the largest percentage of the vote with 27.35 percent, followed by McElveen with 17.34 percent and Green with 16.33 percent. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district is one of two in Orange County. The Board of Education oversees policies for the three high schools, four middle schools and 10 elementary schools, which enroll more than 11,000 students. Parents said they hope the new board will bring about change in the school system.“The system is not as well-rounded as it should be,” said Deborah Stowe, co-president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Smith Middle School.Stowe said she believes those students who are not academically gifted are being overlooked.Brownstein is a retired surgeon whose four children currently attend Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public Schools. She said one of her goals is to increase communication between parents, students and school officials.“I am looking forward to getting to work toward the success of all our children,” she said.McElveen, who was appointed to the board last year, said he hopes to offer more support to teachers and staff and ensure all students are nurtured and challenged. Green, director of the UNC Upward Bound Program, said his experience as a teacher in both secondary and collegiate education gives him a wide range of experience.Candidate MaryAnne Gucciardi didn’t win after receiving 14.87 percent of the vote, but said she is supportive of the new board.“I just want to congratulate everyone and offer my best wishes,” she said.Susana Dancy, who received 11.32 percent of the vote, and Christine Lee, who received 12.35 percent of the vote, also offered their congratulations to the winners.The new board also must deal with budget cuts, what Renuka Soll, secretary of the Seawell Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association, identified as her main concern. “I have a fourth grader, and they cut one teacher, and now the classes are extremely overcrowded,” she said. “I hope that things like music and art and P.E. don’t get cut, because I think it really enriches the kids.”Lynn Lehmann, president of the Chapel Hill High School PTSA, said she wants new board members to continue to carry out the ideas of Lisa Stuckey and Jean Hamilton, both of whom did not seek re-election.“Lisa was a fine representative of the district, striving for fairness, equality and bridging the gap,” she said. “She deserves a huge thank you for what she has done.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/29/09 4:49am)
An apartment fire which displaced 33 people last Thursday could have been contained by fire sprinklers, fire department officials said.But only a handful of local apartments have sprinklers.Out of 124 apartment complexes, condos, and townhouses in Chapel Hill, 34 have sprinklers installed, said Chapel Hill Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Matt Lawrence.Out of 30 apartment complexes in Carrboro, only one has sprinkler systems installed, said Carrboro Fire Chief Travis Crabtree.Last Thursday’s blaze affected SunStone Apartments — a three-story, 24-unit apartment building with no sprinklers — and was centered on a rear balcony, Lawrence said. The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire.“The sprinkler systems are in place as a life safety measure, not merely as building protection,” said Lawrence. “They provide an extended amount of time for people to evacuate the building.”In 1997, Carrboro amended an ordinance requiring fire sprinklers to state that only newly built complexes must have them. The sprinkler requirement does not apply to apartments built before 1997.“The majority of apartment complexes were constructed before sprinkler systems became more stringent,” Crabtree said.SunStone must install a sprinkler system when reconstructing the burned building, he said.“If that building had sprinklers, then probably the only people affected would have been the people in that particular unit,” Lawrence said.Crabtree said complexes with no sprinklers see more damage.“The difference is dramatic. In buildings with sprinklers, the sprinkler system either extinguishes the fire or keeps it in check,” Crabtree said. “People are usually able to return to their buildings and spend the night there.”Students in apartment complexes often do not consider fire sprinklers when they sign leases.“When my roommate and I looked for apartments, we didn’t even take notice of the fact that they didn’t have one,” said Bailee Lockamy, who lives in Mill Creek Condominiums.Amanda Dellinger, manager of The Verge apartments, which were built in 2003, said that her complex has sprinklers and an organized fire safety system.“Smoke detectors are hardwired together. We also have flashing strobe lights above every door that will alert residents,” Dellinger said.She said while sprinkler systems are safer, they keep running until a fire department turns them off.“If there is an incident on the third floor, the first and second floors will be soaked through,” she said. “It causes a lot of water damage.”Crabtree said that the Carrboro Fire Department installed sprinkler systems in local Habitat for Humanity houses which prevented disaster when a fire started.“If the sprinkler system had not been in place, you would have seen someone asleep in a chair who would have asphyxiated from the smoke,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/27/09 4:29am)
In parking lots near campus, unlocked car doors and exposed iPods and GPS systems are perfect ingredients for an easy crime.Chapel Hill Police Department incident reports since Aug. 1 show a relatively high frequency of car break-ins along North Columbia Street, South Fordham Boulevard, and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.There were about 85 car break-ins in August and September in Chapel Hill, according to police data.Many of those incidents occurred in parking lots of apartment complexes such as Mill Creek Condominiums, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Pinegate Apartments, located off of U.S. 15-501.
(10/07/09 4:37am)
Mayoral candidates delved into their college pasts as they clamored for votes from students at Tuesday’s debate.UNC Young Democrats and College Republicans collaborated to host the event with the goal of overcoming student apathy.All four candidates were asked about student involvement in the upcoming election and issues such as development and safety. College Republicans chairman John Eick said he hoped the meeting counteracted voter apathy. “In many ways, these elections are more important than presidential elections because they have direct impact on the lives of students,” he said.Young Democrats co-president Charlie Sellew said that part of the lack of student interest is ignorance about local issues.“We want to make people more aware of what’s going on and who the candidates are so that they know who they want to vote for,” Sellew said. “We want to see higher numbers, and this is one way to do that.”The Roosevelt Institute, a student think tank, moderated the event. The organization posed a series of eight questions, and each candidate answered a total of four questions.University-related buildingAugustus Cho: “It’s important to get Carolina North off the ground. You only have four years to establish a lifetime of memory.”Matt Czajkowski: “I was a strong advocate for the Innovation Center, which I think will be a cause for celebration amongst students.”Revitalizing Franklin StreetMark Kleinschmidt: “When I was here as a student, it was a real downtown. … One thing we could think about is Franklin Street as a national highway. One thing we could do, and I would think about, is taking the road back.”Cho: “I would propose that we block off the corners of 100 East Franklin and 100 West Franklin and turn it into a walk-in mall where families can come in and have a good time.”Parking in the townKevin Wolff: “When we look at competing areas around us, they have ample and free parking. If you want free parking, action instead of rhetoric and dialogue, you have to vote for me.”Czajkowski: “The only way to add parking spaces is to go up. We have to find the money, but we haven’t had a detailed discussion about how we could do that in conjunction with retailers and businesses.”Chapel Hill safetyWolff, referencing the 2008 death of UNC Hospitals employee Valerie Hughes, who died near campus after being hit by a bus:“I have two boys, and when I read the headlines, I get emotional. I look at each one of you, and I don’t want to think that my town’s government is responsible for the end of your life.”Kleinschmidt:“I learned as a student that we knew what we needed to enhance our safety. We empowered ourselves because we knew where those places were. I listened, and I will continue to do that as mayor.” The debate concluded with a session of two-minute closing statements from each of the candidates, followed by student questions.“The biggest thing for me is that I appreciate the fact that they came here. I don’t think I would have had a chance to see them otherwise,” senior Shaddi Hasan said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/30/09 4:57am)
Orange and Chatham County Democrats are determined to keep the public option alive in the national health care debate.The Orange County and Chatham County Progressive Democrats and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom invited the public to discuss health care at the Orange Water and Sewer Authority building on Tuesday night.The meeting was a teach-in to inform people about health care reform and what they could do to voice their opinions, said Jack Sanders, chairman of the Orange County Progressive Democrats.“It’s not just Republicans versus Democrats, it’s the health care industry versus the citizens,” he said.Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives vetoed two amendment proposals which included public options, introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. But Heide Kober, president of the Progressive Democrats of North Carolina and one of the featured speakers, said there is still hope for a government-run health insurance organization making it into the health care bill. “That is why you have to support the Progressive caucus with all you’ve got — so they know we have their back, ” she said.Kober and other speakers emphasized the impact corporations have in the debate.“The corporatocracy has twisted our democracy into a cruel farce. What is your life worth? Can that be traded on Wall Street?” Kober said. “It is in the corporation’s interest to keep the American system broken and the American people bleeding.”Adam Sotak, director of Democracy North Carolina, said corporations are dominating the health care conversation.“We need to break the connection between corporate money and people running a democracy,” Sotak said.Adam Searing, director of the N.C. Health Access Coalition, also offered insight about the national politics surrounding health care.“The high water mark is the bill in the House, which has a subsidy to make coverage affordable, allows people to keep their private plans, and give small businesses and others the opportunity to move to a public plan,” Searing said. Miriam Thompson, secretary of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said she wants to speak to U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C. Thompson said Hagan needs support from constituents to support the public option.“Bills are going to the floor, and we need to be more present than ever, with a very clear message.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/23/09 4:04am)
The pitter-patter of keyboards can be heard throughout Orange County, a sign that the social network trend is changing the way local governments and organizations communicate.