Eric Shepherd Martin

News

Board to mull parks plan amid greenspace talks

By Eric Shepherd Martin | November 21

In a town that prides itself on being environmentally conscious, issues of green and public space have been heavily debated. Tonight the Carrboro Board of Aldermen will consider approving updates to the Recreation and Parks Comprehensive Master Plan. The plan helps guide the Recreation and Parks Department in the development of land and facilities. One significant update would involve more focus on connecting Carrboro's greenway trails to regional systems, such as the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail in Durham, Chatham and Wake counties.

News

Board considers rezoning, stream buffers

By Eric Shepherd Martin | November 21

The Orange County Board of Commissioners met Monday night for a quarterly public hearing. The meeting allowed the public to comment on a number of zoning amendments, as well as the Orange County Strategic Growth Plan. Land amendments The board considered rezoning a portion of land owned by Brian and Lydia Gilmour from commercial to strictly agricultural residential, preventing businesses from developing there. According to county documents, the Gilmours have no intention of having a business on the land, which was zoned commercially when controlled by a previous owner.

News

Calling all voters

By Eric Shepherd Martin | October 24

Volunteers of several organizations began a telethon Monday in an effort to increase voting in North Carolina. Held in Carrboro and Raleigh, the phone bank is a joint effort between more than 25 statewide organizations, including Democracy North Carolina, Equality North Carolina and the Conservation Council of North Carolina. For the next two weeks volunteers will call members of each organization who have not voted in the recent past in an effort to get them to the polls.

News

Last lawn event this Friday

By Eric Shepherd Martin | October 18

For many students and Chapel Hill residents, the beginning of the weekend as celebrated at the Carolina Inn means food, drinks and live music. But after Friday the laid-back ruckus will die down for a little while. The last Fridays on the Front Porch, an event held by the inn every Friday during the summer, will be this week. The event, which begins annually in late April, was started by the Carolina Inn in 2002 as a happy hour and has gained steam each year, said Mark Nelson, the inn's director of sales and marketing.

News

Board considers new school

By Eric Shepherd Martin | October 17

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will consider approving the final construction plans for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' newest elementary school at its meeting tonight. The commissioners meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road. If approved, city schools would be authorized to solicit bids for the construction of Elementary School No. 10, which will house 585 students. "It is very important that we get this set up because it's very important that the school open," Orange County Commissioner Alice Gordon said.

News

Parents light up for after-school programs

By Eric Shepherd Martin | October 12

If Roxanne had a child she might have had a reason to turn on her red light today. Each of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' nine elementary after-school programs will hold events today in honor of the national Lights On Afterschool program. The program, which was started six years ago, asks parents with children enrolled in after-school programs to drive with their car lights on.

News

Weaver Street feet cut loose

By Eric Shepherd Martin | October 10

It's official. Bruce Thomas, also known as "The Dancing Man," will dance at Weaver Street Market once again. On Monday managers of Carr Mill Mall and Weaver Street Market, as well as Carrboro officials, announced a new policy for use of the Weaver Street Market front lawn. The policy, called the Carr Mill Mall Open Space Policy, now allows individuals to use the lawn for "informal artistic expression." "When I got the message I felt appreciation, happiness - it was really a relief," Thomas said as he sat on the lawn.

News

Not your average maize

By Eric Shepherd Martin | September 26

ROUGEMONT - Members of Durham's The Summit Church sat outside the McKee CornField Maze on Saturday after their first run through. Ice cream in hand, they discussed their experience in the crop field. "It was something the kids really enjoyed, and it was just a cool experience," said Danny Franks, connections pastor for the church. The McKee Maze, which opened for the season earlier this month, was created six years ago by one-time tobacco farmers David and Vickie McKee, who said they built it as a way to diversify the area and pull in a few extra dollars.

News

Leaders review Shearon Harris

By Eric Shepherd Martin | September 22

Local government officials came together Thursday and shared concerns about the safety standards of the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, located in Wake County. The meeting was composed of members of the Chapel Hill Town Council, Carrboro Board of Alderman and Orange County Board of Commissioners. Orange County Engineer Paul Thames began the discussion by giving a brief history of the plant. He informed officials that the plant had not met nationally imposed fire-safety standards for at least 14 years.

News

Zombie history fun, even without brains

By Eric Shepherd Martin | September 21

I was 11 years old when I first saw George Romero's 1978 classic, "Dawn of the Dead." And I watched it seven times that day. Now, due to a recent revival of the genre in movies, comic books and Gorillaz albums, a greater fan base than ever exists to worship the living-impaired, many of whom live their daily lives ordering C-grade zombie flicks on eBay.com and thinking up theoretical survival plans. My friends and I, for example, plan to barricade ourselves behind the iron-barred door to the Skylight Exchange (it's the heaviest we could find).