January 2009
Some of you may know Brad. If not, you may know someone like him. He used to be an attorney in Pittsboro and an active soccer dad in our community. He is now serving a fifteen year prison sentence in Florida at the Apatachee Correctional Institution. He has been there for about a year. He was arrested in Pittsboro as part of a “sting operation” conducted by the Florida State Police. Brad pleaded guilty to a series of internet-related sex offenses.
My family knew Brad for several years prior to his arrest and we were shocked when we learned about what he had done. Brad and I have exchanged letters quite a few times since his incarceration.
I got a touching letter from Brad this week. He wrote it on the morning of Inauguration Day. He described his hope that he and his fellow inmates would be allowed to watch the inauguration on television. He was optimistic because they had been allowed to watch television on election night. He wrote, "On election night it was nice to see a number of the older inmates – black and white - teary eyed and quiet when Obama was declared the victor. I was teary eyed, too."
I have heard a rumor that Orange County is set to significantly raise property taxes. Can anyone comment on this?
From the County:
The 11th Annual Orange County Agricultural Summit will be held on Monday, February 9, 2009 starting at 8:30 a.m. until lunch. The summit will be held at the old Orange Enterprise building, 500 Valley Forge Road in Hillsborough.
This year the featured speaker will be Steve Troxler, the Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of North Carolina. In addition, topics of discussion will include, youth in agriculture, farm diversification, government programs that assist farmers in energy conservation and how to enhance farm income with hunting leases.
Lunch will be served using locally grown agricultural products as part of the $5 registration fee. Seating is limited, please respond no later than February 5, 2009.
To register and for additional information contact the North Carolina Cooperative Extension - Orange County Center at (919) 245-2050.
Date:
Monday, February 9, 2009 - 3:30am
Location:
Orange Enterprise building, 500 Valley Forge Road, Hillsborough
It seems that hardly a week goes by without another Carolina North meeting, and yet I am increasingly confused about what is going on. I guess I need to actually GO to one of these meetings, especially given the front-loaded nature of the latest arrangement between the Town and the University.
Via e-mail from the Town of Chapel Hill...
Please share this information
CAROLINA NORTH
Public Information Session January 29
Chapel Hill Development Proposal
7 p.m. Thursday, January 29 * Chapel Hill Town Hall * 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
A Public Input/Information Session on Carolina North will be held in the Chapel Hill Town Council Chambers at 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. At the session, a Town representative will explain the review process for the University proposal to develop an academic, mixed-use campus. Upon request, with 2 days notice, the Communications and Public Affairs Department (968-2743) will provide an interpreter for the hearing impaired or any other needed type of auxiliary aid.
Carolina North is expected to be contained within about 250 acres of the Horace Williams Tract’s 1,000 acres and be built in phases over the next 50 years, as proposed. The property lies just to the north of Estes Drive adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The January 29 session will focus on providing information and soliciting comment about the regulatory tool that has been endorsed by the Town Council and University representatives as the preferred tool for guiding development at Carolina North: establishment of a Development Agreement with a base zoning district. The session is intended to provide information about issues being addressed by policy-makers and by Town/University staffs.
For more information, contact the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department at (919) 968-2728 or
carolinanorth@townofchapelhill.org. Additional material is posted online at www.townofchapelhill.org/carolinanorth.
Date:
Thursday, January 29, 2009 - 2:00pm
Former Chapel Hill journalist and elected official Roland Giduz died this weekend at age 83. He lived much of Chapel Hill's history for the past half-century, including playing a part in the battle over integration. In the 1964 he supported white business owners who wanted to keep things separate, and in 1969 he ran against Howard Lee for Mayor. But in 2008, he said he was "appalled" to have supported segregation.
The state of the local media is a subject of much concern here on OP, and there have been some very interesting shifts in recent weeks. The most exciting change is the announcement by the Carrboro Citizen that they will be expanding to cover Chapel Hill and increasing circulation by 20%. (See this OP post by CC editor Kirk Ross last fall soliciting our feedback on the expansion.) They have hired Margot Carmichael Lester who is an experienced reporter and a local native. It is really gratifying to see this locally-owned paper succeed. I think it's good for the entire community.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Kentucky-based Paxton Media Group, which bought the Herald-Sun several years ago, is continuing the downward spiral of that paper. Recently, they yanked Chapel Hill Herald editor Neil Offen and swapped him out with Durham metro editor Dan Way.
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