CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL

7/3/2020 12:02am

A stack of books from the Chapel Hill Public Library on Thursday, May 14, 2020. The Library has since decided that it will not be reopening in Phase One of North Carolina's COVID-19 recovery plan.

Chapel Hill Public Library announces it will no longer charge late fines

Chapel Hill Public Library will no longer charge users overdue fines for late items. Under the new policy, users will receive a series of reminders to return the materials before receiving a bill for replacement costs and losing their ability to check out other items. Their ability will be restored once the items are returned or paid for. Town leaders said late fines had a disproportionate impact on “low-income and traditionally marginalized populations.”

6/28/2020 10:55pm

Chapel HIll Police vehicles standby at the Chapel Hill Police Department on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. The Chapel Hill Police Department has increased their patrols in and around UNC's Campus in response to the sexual assault in the Shortbread Lofts parking deck.

Chapel Hill Town Council passes fiscal year 2020-2021 budget, racial equity resolution

By Taylor Heeden

At its June 24 meeting, The Chapel Hill Town Council passed its incoming fiscal year budget and a racial equity resolution that prohibits chokeholds, among other changes, and paves the way for a new community task force that would reexamine policing and public safety in Chapel Hill.

6/18/2020 9:40pm

Town Council Members give thumbs-ups to the camera at a Town Council Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

Chapel Hill Town Council talks Juneteenth, COVID-19 at special meeting

By Crystal Yu

At its specially called Wednesday meeting, the Chapel Hill Town Council discussed transit, COVID-19 response and affordable housing.

6/12/2020 8:51am

Two Chapel Hill police officers walk east on Franklin Street on Sunday, June 7, 2020.

Residents speak out about police funding at Chapel Hill Town Council meeting

By Taylor Heeden

In a public comment period lasting over two hours, Chapel Hill residents expressed their concerns about the portion of police funding represented within the Town Council's 2020-2021 fiscal year budget.

6/11/2020 10:45pm

Food is bagged and loaded onto the school bus as part of the Food for Students Program. Photo by Tom Simon.

Food for Students to provide meals to Chapel Hill-Carrboro students through summer months

By Britney Nguyen

As Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School students move into the summer break and the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect families' economic situations, the school district and community partners will continue to feed students under the Food for Students program.

5/27/2020 10:19pm

2 passengers with masks sit on a Chapel Hill Transit bus on the FG route. Photo Courtesy of Jeffrey Sullivan.

Chapel Hill Transit will move to an adjusted schedule starting June 1

By Crystal Yu

Starting Monday, Chapel Hill Transit will operate with the reduced occupancy of 10 people per bus, coinciding with the University's plan to resume some research operations on-campus.

Coal ash and construction keep sections of Bolin Creek Greenway closed

By Elizabeth Egan

A year on, parts of the Bolin Creek Greenway remain a work in progress. Construction — and an unlikely culprit — are to blame.

4/14/2020 8:52pm

Chapel Hill Town Council members Jessica Anderson, Mayor Pam Hemminger, and Michael Parker vote during a meeting at Town Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020.

Chapel Hill Town Council discusses COVID-19 response and 2021 budget

By Audrey Selley

At their meeting on April 13, the Chapel Hill Town Council updated citizens on steps being taken to minimize the local fiscal damage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

4/5/2020 11:58pm

Pine Knolls is a historically Black neighborhood just west of Merritt Mill Road, where UNC provided housing for some janitorial staff and subsidies for other Black workers facing postwar hardship.

'A struggle and a conflict': The history and future of Pine Knolls

By Sofia Lesnewski

Pine Knolls is a community that has struggled with self-preservation in the past, and today, that self-preservation is still uncertain.

3/26/2020 8:37pm

Chapel Hill Town Council gives latest coronavirus updates at special meeting

By Henry Haney and Brittany McGee

In a special Chapel Hill Town Council meeting Wednesday, Town Manager Maurice Jones explained that Chapel Hill activated the Emergency Operations Center, closed many public facilities, suspended public meetings until March 30 and has moved to the Saturday route schedule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3/24/2020 10:55am

Orange County Commissioners Candidates Amy Fowler (via laptop), Mark Marcopolos, Mark Dorosin, Jean Hamilton, and Penny Rich discuss ther platforms at the CHCCS PTA Council Orange County Commissioners Candidate Forum at Chapel Hill Town Hall on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.

COVID-19 fallout could alter town budget schedules and funding priorities

By Victoria Johnson

To limit the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, the Town of Chapel Hill has canceled all advisory board, commission and town council meetings until further notice, including a council budget work session originally scheduled for March 18.

3/16/2020 9:09pm

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger speaks alongside council member Rachel Schaevitz during a Chapel Hill Town Council Work Session at the Chapel Hill Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.

Chapel Hill Town Council is accepting applications for vacant seat

By David Richman

Following the resignation of Chapel Hill Town Council Member Rachel Schaevitz, the council is accepting applicants to fill the vacant seat while also looking at decreasing the number of seats on the council from nine to seven.

3/13/2020 3:49pm

A false active shooter call put Carrboro Elementary on lockdown Tuesday morning. Parents had the option to have their children bused to Carrboro Town Hall, where parents could check out their kids. The police found no substance to the active shooter call.

Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro declare state of emergencies to address coronavirus

By Sonia Rao

Orange County and Carrboro have just declared state of emergencies in response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

3/6/2020 12:15am

A pair of construction workers work on an ongoing project on East Rosemary Street on March 4, 2020. The project includes a sky bridge that will stretch across East Rosemary Street.

Here's what you missed at Wednesday's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting

By Meredith Radford and Jordan Barish

The Town Council unanimously passed the motion authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Grubb Properties for the East Rosemary Downtown Redevelopment Project. Additionally, the Council also passed a motion to move forward in an incentive agreement with Well Dot, Inc. (Well).

3/1/2020 8:06pm

(From left) Surviving Chapel Hill Nine members Albert Williams and James Merritt, marker artist Steven Hayes, Chapel Hill Town Manager Maurice Jones, and two other Chapel Hill Nine members Dave Mason Jr. and 'Clyde' Douglas Perry stand behind the new marker on Franklin Street. The marker was dedicated on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.

60 years later, the Town of Chapel Hill erects a marker for the Chapel Hill Nine sit-in

By Brittany McGee

Paying homage to the Chapel Hill Nine's courage and the Civil Rights Movement in the Town of Chapel Hill, a new marker went up on West Franklin Street on Friday.

2/27/2020 10:46pm

The Chapel Hill Public Library. Photo courtesy of Daniel Siler.

Chapel Hill Public Library petitions to get rid of library fines

By Sofia Lesnewski and Brittany McGee

"Within three weeks of going fine-free, Chicago Public Library saw a 240 percent increase in returned materials and an increased number or new users," said Meeghan Rosen, the assistant director of Chapel Hill Public Library.

2/25/2020 8:48pm

Food Council members and elected officials learn about the importance of school gardens at a school garden tour at Estes Hill Elementary led by the CHCCS Sustainability Director Dan Schnitzer. Photo courtesy of Ashley Heger.

To combat food insecurity, Orange County's food council aims to change policy

By Jordan Barish

The 15-member council has seats for each elected body, including representatives from the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, Carrboro Town Council and Chapel Hill Town Council. A fifth designated seat goes to a representative from the Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board, whose role is to represent agriculture and farming.

2/24/2020 9:46pm

Chapel Hill poet laureate CJ Suitt says he is excited to give voices to traditionally underrepresented communities with his position.

Chapel Hill's first poet laureate wants to write outside the 'suit-and-tie culture'

By Elsa Karcher

“I think folks who don’t see themselves represented when it comes to the suit-and-tie culture of a town council, might be able to see themselves and their stories represented in the poems that I share, in the clothes that I wear, in the music that I listen to, in the performance art that I do for the community."

2/24/2020 7:15pm

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger speaks during a Chapel Hill Town Council Work Session at the Chapel Hill Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.

Chapel Hill mayor and council ask Guskiewicz to keep Silent Sam out of Chapel Hill

By Amena Saad

Though the future of Silent Sam remains in limbo, the Town of Chapel Hill doubles down in their position that the statue does not belong on the campus of UNC or anywhere else in Chapel Hill.

2/23/2020 9:29pm

(From left) Yvete Mathews, 61, of Chapel Hill, and Tai Huynh, a junior computer science major, rally at a demonstration organized by Community Empowerment Fund calling for affordable housing accommodations for people at or below 30% AMI on Rosemary Street on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.

Town of Chapel Hill hopes to begin issuing affordable housing bond this fall