TANNER SLAYDEN

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Homecoming show far from Common

By TANNER SLAYDEN | January 10

Oct. 31 - Hip-hop artist Common played at the newly renovated Memorial Hall on Sunday night and proved to be one of the more memorable acts ever to kick off Homecoming. "I don't even remember the Homecoming concert a couple of years ago," said senior Eric Gardner. "I'm pretty impressed they got Common." UNC alumnus Kaze and DJ 9th Wonder also appeared on stage, opening for the rapper. "Stand up, this is a hip-hop function," Kaze said to fire up the crowd. "Let's turn this 1,500 seat Memorial Hall into a sweaty jukebox joint."

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Dirty South moves to Carrboro

By TANNER SLAYDEN | October 10

It makes sense that funny things should come in unique packages. Take Dirty South Improv's new venue - located behind Elmo's Diner in the Carr Mill Mall - for example. The club has a back-alley facade, but the inside resembles The Comedy Store's world-renowned decor. The group's members took the stage for the first time Friday night and showed that comedians make the venue, not vice-versa. "It is so unreal that we finally have a permanent space," said Zach Ward, owner and executive director of DSI. "We are finally ready to do shows tonight."

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Stone Center features author

By TANNER SLAYDEN | August 30

History’s depiction of the civil rights movement is sugarcoated, and the South has become one of the most important arenas for race and national debates, author Timothy Tyson said in a speech Monday. Tyson, author of this year’s summer reading book, “Blood Done Sign My Name,” is a professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He spoke in the Great Hall of the Student Union as part of the day for first-year students to attend group discussions about the book.

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Businesses welcome Hall's impact

By TANNER SLAYDEN | August 29

Tony Bennett’s performance in September at Memorial Hall will do more than pack the renovated theater — it will get people stepping out in downtown Chapel Hill. “That’s part of the whole idea,” said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts, who is in charge of several campus performance spaces. “It’s a whole evening out.” Kang said Memorial Hall will positively affect both the University and businesses downtown. “What’s good for the town, is good for us and vice versa,” he said.

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Formal talks rejected

By TANNER SLAYDEN | November 23

The Chapel Hill Town Council rejected Monday the possibility of meeting with the University about proposed changes to the zoning district that governs UNC. The Office/Institutional-4 zoning district was created for the University in 2001 to guide construction on large tracts of land on the main campus and related sites. Town Manager Cal Horton's proposal would have created a four-member council committee to hold public meetings and to discuss eight proposed changes to OI-4 with a University committee.

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Town Council to consider discussing zoning changes with University

By TANNER SLAYDEN | November 22

The Chapel Hill Town Council will decide tonight whether it wants to meet with University officials to discuss eight proposed zoning changes. Town Manager Cal Horton and the planning board each submitted recommendations last month regarding proposed changes to the Office/Institutional-4 zoning district, a special zoning district for the University created in 2001 for large tracts of land on the main campus and other college, hospital and public culture sites.

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Group tackles myriad biases

By TANNER SLAYDEN | November 16

The Inter-Faith Council's homeless shelter and its residents aren't only fighting for new facilities - they're also fighting a negative perception from members of the downtown business community. Located at the corner of Rosemary and Columbia streets in the Old Municipal Building, the men's shelter has been fixed in the heart of downtown since 1990. "The perception of the homeless is more negative than the homeless in actuality," said Charles House, the owner of University Florist and Gift Shop at 124 E. Franklin St.

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Council knocks concept plan

By TANNER SLAYDEN | November 16

The mixed-use development proposed to be built northeast of the intersection of U.S. 15-501 and Erwin Road received a negative response from the Chapel Hill Town Council at a public hearing Monday night. The public hearing was cut short and will be continued in January. The council criticized Wilson Assemblage, proposed by Design Response Inc., for dramatically changing the concept plan and increasing traffic concerns with its current plans.

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Students hover above standards

By TANNER SLAYDEN | November 10

A group of eighth-graders rode hovercrafts around the hallways of McDougle Middle School on Tuesday morning, yelling and cheering on their friends - and their teachers didn't stop them. "I only ask the students to be quiet for the first three minutes and the last three minutes," said Peggy Dreher, the teacher of the Activities in Math and Science class. "This class breaks all the rules." AIMS is an applied elective that encompasses math, science and a little bit of everything else, she said.

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Council ponders lots 2 and 5

By TANNER SLAYDEN | October 28

The Chapel Hill Town Council should move on to the next phase of its plans for redeveloping parking lots 2 and 5, but council members have been advised to solicit more opinions about the possibility of a four-story Wallace Deck. The council received comments on the plan at a public hearing Wednesday night, though members will not make any decision on the issue until their Nov. 8 business meeting, when the council will decide whether to authorize developer solicitation on the projects.