Carolyn Pearce

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Inauguration Filled With Gratitude

By Carolyn Pearce | December 4

New and old faces came together Monday night to celebrate the inauguration of Chapel Hill's newest leaders and to say goodbye to its previous ones. Kevin Foy, Chapel Hill's new mayor was sworn in along with new Town Council members Ed Harrison, Mark Kleinschmidt and Dorothy Verkerk and incumbent member Edith Wiggins. But a large portion of the ceremony was dedicated to honoring the town's retiring officials. Chapel Hill residents expressed appreciation to former Mayor Rosemary Waldorf as well as retiring council members Joyce Brown and Lee Pavao before the new officials took their

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Town Votes To Continue Equity Talks

By Carolyn Pearce | November 27

After 14 months of negotiations, the Chapel Hill Town Council accepted the University's stance on fiscal equity Monday night but emphasized a need for more negotiations. Town Council members voted unanimously to acknowledge receipt of a Nov. 16 letter that Chancellor James Moeser sent in response to the town's request that the University help cover the costs of its own development. But although town officials acknowledged receipt of the letter, they said it leaves more to be desired and expressed discontent with the University's response to the town's demands.

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BOT Delays Commitment to Landfill Cleanup

By Carolyn Pearce | November 20

The Board of Trustees announced Friday that it is delaying the University's commitment to cleaning a landfill on the Horace Williams Tract, despite town stipulations. Although the BOT agreed with most of the town's recent Memorandum of Understanding -- a 17-point proposal outlining the town's expectations of the University as it develops the tract -- its response differed with the town on three of the suggestions.

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Effects of Bilingual Ballots Not Yet Determined

By Carolyn Pearce | November 12

Spanish instructions were installed this year inside Carrboro voting booths, making voting for non-English speaking Hispanics easier. But Orange County Board of Elections Director Carolyn Thomas said the board does not know how the bilingual ballot instructions affected voter turnout in Nov. 6's election because it does not calculate the numbers of Hispanics who vote. "We won't start keeping those numbers until 2002," Thomas said.

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Nelson Clinches 4th Term

By Carolyn Pearce | November 7

The Carrboro mayoral race featured an experienced incumbent against a political newcomer -- and on Election Day, experience prevailed. Incumbent Mike Nelson secured his fourth term as Carrboro mayor Tuesday with a landslide victory over challenger Stacy Smith, according to unofficial election results. Nelson said he believes his experience in local politics was the key factor in his victory. "I think my record of working hard for Carrboro for eight years was the contributing factor," Nelson said.

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Mayoral Hopefuls Mount Final Pushes

By Carolyn Pearce | November 6

Chapel Hill and Carrboro mayoral candidates made their final campaign push Monday, shaking hands and posting fliers in a last-ditch effort to secure votes for today's election. Chapel Hill mayoral candidates Lee Pavao and Kevin Foy -- both Chapel Hill Town Council members -- spent the day campaigning around the town and talking to people on Franklin Street. Foy, clad in a white and red T-shirt with his name and "mayor" written on it, strolled Franklin Street on Monday afternoon, handing out pamphlets and encouraging residents to vote. "I've been running around, dropping off campaig

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Lido's Opens; Owner Hopes for Diversity

By Carolyn Pearce | October 30

A new bar opened this weekend on Franklin Street at the space formerly occupied by The Artist's Escape -- but don't expect their scenes to be the same. Lido's Bar opened Thursday night under a new manager, Chris Coty, a third-year student at the UNC School of Law. Coty said he hopes the bar will attract diverse crowds by incorporating different themes on different nights. Coty said he wants to attract some of the same crowd as The Artist's Escape, which was frequented by lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders but closed last spring.

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Parties Eschew Blame for Fire

By Carolyn Pearce | October 23

Misinformation provided by a local gas company to a construction company was the cause of last Tuesday's gas fire, a spokesman for Thalle Construction Co. said Monday. An Orange Water and Sewer Authority construction project at the intersection of East Franklin Street and Estes Drive was under way when a backhoe owned by Thalle Construction hit a natural gas main pipe at 8:51 p.m., sparking the blaze.

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County May Be Site of New Campus

By Carolyn Pearce | October 15

Orange County officials hope an $8 million satellite campus of Durham Technical Community College will come to Orange County by 2006. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with Durham Tech officials Thursday night to determine a course of action. "We asked the administration of Durham Tech and our (County Manager John Link) to develop a time frame of what needs to be done when," Commissioner Barry Jacobs said. Commissioner Alice Gordon said a task force is looking at a site in central Orange County for the campus.

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Student Group Hosts Forum For Candidates

By Carolyn Pearce | October 9

The Young Democrats sponsored a forum Monday night to introduce candidates for the Nov. 6 Chapel Hill mayoral and Town Council elections. All three of the candidates for mayor and nine of the 10 candidates for Town Council were in attendance.