Chapel Hill Town Council members will soon receive taxpayer-funded, high-speed Internet access and new equipment in their homes after passage of a proposal at Monday night's council meeting. The decision gives council members high-speed Internet access in their homes, software, computers and accessories such as printers to use during their terms in office.
Carrboro offers loans to needy and prospective businesses in the downtown area in a program that aims to promote directly local commerce. The Revolving Loan Fund is available to encourage businesses to locate in the downtown area. The amount given in loans by the town comes from interest earned in previous loans and changes every year. James Harris, Carrboro's community and economic development officer, said the loan gives businesses an opportunity to get loans at a lower interest rate than they could get at a bank.
Land owned by Chapel Hill and Carrboro is slated to be converted from a landfill into affordable housing and open space. In a special presentation to the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the Greene Tract Work Group recommended that 104 acres of land be converted to other uses. The work group was commissioned by the Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro governments to develop recommendations for land use. In a year, the group has had eight meetings and a public input session.
After several shootings at schools around the nation, some districts eliminated their bans on cellular phones in school. Education officials recognized the value in reporting emergencies through the use of cell phones following the Columbine High School shooting and similar incidents.
The Orange County Board of Education has decided to delay the treatment of high school fields despite poor conditions of the Cedar Ridge High School fields. Administrators at Cedar Ridge say the athletic fields have bare patches and rocks, which creates difficulties for fall sports. Kenneth Davis, assistant director for Orange County school maintenance, said the drought is one cause of the fields' problems. "The fields had sprinklers, but they stopped being used because of the drought," Davis said.
Members of the Orange County Board of Education say they remain patient and optimistic as their search for a new superintendent continues. The school board has sent out about 50 applications for the position, vacated by Randy Bridges in May when he left to become superintendent of the Rock Hill, S.C. school district. Although only about 24 applications have been returned, board members say they are not worried. Allison Schafer, policy director and legal counsel for the N.C. School Boards Association, said the low number of applications returned is not unusual.
With the region's drought becoming more severe, Orange County officials have created a program to fight the problem and prepare for future disasters. H2Orange, which went into effect in mid-August, is a coalition of agencies and nonprofit organizations working to educate the public about the severity of the drought, both now and in the future.
