January 2006
Help celebrate 25 years of Internationalist Books:
The volunteers at Internationalist Books and Community Center openly invite the general public to participate in shaping the vision for the bookstore as we commemorate our 25th Anniversary in 2006. We are looking back on the legacy of our founder Bob Sheldon as a source of inspiration, and looking forward to the next 25 years as a dedicated center for political change. We need your help.
We're holding an interest meeting on Tuesday January 24th at 7:00pm at the bookstore to enlist those who would like to be involved in the ongoing planning effort for many programs throughout the year. We're looking for former volunteers who have been away from home for a while but would like to return to short-term service. We're looking for friends of Bob Sheldon who would like to help us carry on with his legacy. We're looking for motivated community members who are looking for new ways to champion the rights of workers, and other underrepresented groups.
Chapel Hill Town Council Member Bill Thorpe is proposing an internship program as a way to get more students engaged in local government. Personally I have supported every proposal I've ever heard to get students involved locally, including reserving seats on town advisory boards to be filled by current students.
Thorpe takes a different approach, offering academic credit and plugging them in on the staff side instead of the leadership side. Still, it could help, or maybe even lead to other opportunities.
Thorpe hopes students will be able to earn college credit and be compensated for their experience.
"What I'm doing is asking the town to certify their internship program, hooking up with the University for the students to receive credit."
Currently, the town hires interns throughout the year and provides monetary compensation but not academic credit.
Thorpe envisions that interns would be able to work in any town department.
We all knew it was coming, In today's News and Observer, Progress Energy confirms plans to build 2 more nuclear reactors at Shearon Harris with a target completion date possibly 10 years from now.
McGehee, Charman and CEO of Progress Energy, says he "doesn't expect major opposition to the Shearon Harris plan, especially after the company lays out its arguments that nuclear power is safe, clean and reliable."
Hmm...
According to the N&O, "The final decision whether to build a nuclear reactor won't be made for about two years. However, Progress Energy plans to begin holding town hall meetings within several weeks to start making its case to the public for the need for more nuclear power." Progress Energy will also need to convince the N.C. Utilities Commission that the plant is necessary.
Progress Energy invites you to email your thoughts www.progress-energy.com
Good coverage of the story at http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/392027.html
In addition to all the interesting local blogs listed on the OP local blogroll, I'd like to call your attention to some of the really outstanding political blogs around central North Carolina:
Facing South - The Institute for Southern Studies has been a strong voice for the progressive south for decades. Now their blog tackles current events across the region in a substantial way. Their post-Katrina reporting has been invaluable.
N.C. Conservation Network - This group connects environmental groups across the state and the blog adds a more personal tone to the issues.
BlueNC - Like a dailyKOS for North Carolina. Covers statewide and legislative issues, each registered user can write their own blog on the site.
Chapel Hill provides many public services to its citizens. Over the years we've recognized the importance for all people to have equal access to basic necessities like water, sewer, electricity, telephone, transportation, roads, sidewalks, parks, etc. (The ones the town doesn't directly provide the state regulates.) As the town moves into the twenty-first century we find that other types of access are just as important, especially in the new global economies.
One of those new types of access is Internet access. (Wi-Fi is one way to access information on the Internet.) It is steady stream of information that allows people to do all kinds of valuable and important things. In only a few years we have seen this access move from a mere toy to an extremely valuable tool. Very soon Internet access will be more than a tool but a resource that we all can not live without.
Guest Post by Jacquie Gist
Help Save Our Democracy!
Please call Congress Member David Price's office NOW this weekend and encourage him to support John Conyers House Resolution 635 calling for the creation of a select committee to investigate the administration. The Congressman needs to know that many in his district consider this the most important thing he can do this term and we will remember his vote come election day.
Contact David Price:
e-mail
Chapel Hill office: 919-967-7924
DC office: 202-225-1784
Local blogger Crazy John pledged last Thursday night to not drive for one week. He's documenting each day on his blog.
Day 1: John becomes increasingly aware of the world around him.
Day 2: John takes the bus, enjoys seeing friends and sometimes getting rides from them.
Day 3: John's resolve is weakened when he realizes that the buses don't run on Sunday and his feet are killing him. "I walked to Carrboro and back in my foot-unfriendly Chuck Taylor's. I can't believe those shoes were worn in the NBA for decades."
What will happen next? Will John's feet make it through the week?
Have you gone car-free, readers? How do you make it work? What can local governments do to make it easier?
The following is an announcement from the Carrboro Cybrary:
On Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 pm, the community is invited to the Century Center for a discussion about the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding the growth of the state's Hispanic immigrant population as viewed through the context of Esmeralda Santiago's memoir When I Was Puerto Rican .
Latinos living in North Carolina face both tangible struggles involving language and education and more intangible questions of cultural identity and authenticity. The complexities of the immigrant experience are at the heart of Esmeralda Santiago's memoir When I Was Puerto Rican and are the focus of Carrboro's next Community Book Forum. On Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 pm, the community is invited to the Century Center for a discussion about the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding the growth of the state's Hispanic immigrant population. The discussion will touch on Santiago's book, the current debate surrounding immigrants in the state's higher education system, and the experience of Latinos in our own communities.
Who will the Carrboro Board of Aldermen appoint to the vacated alderman seat tonight? Will it be a good day for ‘conservatives'? Or will Alito have to share his big moment with Dan or James or Catherine or Lydia or... ?
There's been precious little speculation on OP about who we can expect to be appointed. Frankly, I'm stumped. What's the best thinking out there? What voting process do people want the BoA to use tonight?
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