Did you vote early, did you vote today, what did you see? Any candidates at the poll sites? Any rude campaign workers?
And most importantly, where are the candidates' parties tonight?
I won't be attending any of them as I'll be glued to the computer watching results, phoning it in to WCHL occasionally, and then recording my customary election wrap up video. (Should I use Ustream again? http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6682869 It's so full of ads.)
UPDATE: The polls just closed, and I'm adding this widget to show tweets about the election results:
Pardon the commercial at the beginning, here's my run down of the results in David Price's return to Congress and the 1/4-cent sales tax referendum's narrow loss. I meant for it to be short, but it's 13 minutes long. Sorry! I need an editor. ;-)
The only reason I early-voted at Homestead in the first place is
that for some strange reason a 3:30 pm UNC football game meant there
could be no 9 am - 1 pm early voting at Morehead Planetarium. That's
another story though.
So I had to go to Homestead instead. It was so crowded for a minute I
thought I was at Woodstock 1969. People everywhere, cars everywhere. I
think I saw Country Joe and the Fish waiting in line. The woman
directing traffic said the wait to vote was 25 minutes. So I found a
parking space for my VW Van with the peace sign on the side, turned off
my Strawberry Alarm Clock eight track and got into line.
I waited ONE HOUR. (That's UNO HORA for our Spanish speaking
friends.) If I knew it was going to be one hour I might have just
turned around and left. Some people probably turned around and left
when they heard it was 25 minutes.
The Carrboro Anarchist Bookfair is coming up on November 13 (That is NEXT weekend)...
The Bookfair will be at The Nightlight from 1-7pm, but we will be having some events here at the store during the day of the bookfair, including (but not limited to!) a meet and greet with Croatan Earth First!, a discussion with Tricia Shapiro, author of Mountain Justice, and a movie screening of The Chicago Conspiracy.
Date:
Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 8:00am to 2:00pm
Location:
Nightlight, 405 1/2 West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill
For this year's Buy Nothing Day, I-Books will be the place to go if you want to get out and buy absolutely nothing! (Seriously, we won't let you buy anything here)
More details to come, but expect there to be fun crafts and skillshares on black friday at I-Books
See also: http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day
Date:
Friday, November 26, 2010 - 7:00am
Location:
Internationalists Books & Community Center, 405 W Franklin Street, Chapel Hill
James Harris, the Town of Carrboro Community and Economic Development Director, will retire February 1, 2011 according to a email from the Carrboro Business Association email list sent today.
Mr. Harris has under his belt over twenty nine years of service to the Town. Of great interest to our community is his management of one of the States most successful revolving loan fund programs. The very shape of Carrboro's downtown is due to this program. Successfull businesses such as Weaver Street, the Cat's Cradle, Orange County Social Club, and Neil's Deli were all participants in the CRLF program. Please share in the comments the memories you may have of Mr. Harris and his service to the town.
After last night's defeat of the 1/4 cent sales tax we're really under the gun. A number of important community services could be cut. We could witness the closing of libraries, crippled EMS, county employee layoffs, cuts to school budgets, and more. So what are the Commissioners going to do to fill the budget gaps and invest in the future?
Now is the time for some seriously creative thinking. I know the County Manager, Staff, and Commissioners have been thinking about this hard. But what would you do? How would you raise one time or recurring funds to keep the lights on?
Complete Streets in Chapel Hill, a community information session and workshop, will be held at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The Town of Chapel Hill workshop will use some fun activities to share and receive ideas on how best to incorporate Complete Streets principles and practices into the Town’s activities. Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street. Creating complete streets means addressing issues such as traffic calming, street design, landscaping, lighting and utilities to better enable safe access for all users.
Town staff participated in a Complete Streets workshop in April to learn more about Charlotte’s experiences and how their lessons could apply in our community. Staff then began exploring how current policies and standards can support and inform a Complete Streets policy for Chapel Hill.
The goal of the workshop will be to share information and to begin understanding what priorities the community has for the various elements of complete streets in Chapel Hill.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade is scheduled for Saturday, December 11, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. until approximately 12:00 noon. Presented by the Chapel Hill Jaycees, the parade this year promises to be a celebration of our community spirit.
We encourage all entries to have a holiday theme and awards will be given for Best of Parade, Most Original, Best Holiday Theme, Most Creative, Best Scout Troop. Our winners put a lot of thought and creativity in their entries and that is what makes this holiday parade so special!
On Tuesday, November 16, the University will hold a public meeting to explain the permitting process required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) prior to development at Carolina North. The meeting will take place from 5:15-6:30 p.m. in the large conference room of the Chapel Hill Public Library.
Many of you have followed the planning for Carolina North. On July 1, 2009 the University entered into a Development Agreement with the Town of Chapel Hill that outlines the first 20 years of development at Carolina North.
Another part of the process for development is application to the ACOE for an “Individual Permit”. The ACOE Individual Permit application addresses impacts to streams and wetlands by development at Carolina North. The University held an initial meeting on the ACOE permit in June. On November 16 we will present the draft application for the permit. The University expects to submit a permit application to the ACOE later this year. You can view an electronic version of the draft permit application at http://cn.unc.edu.
This meeting is not part of the ACOE’s permitting requirements but is an opportunity for UNC to share information and to receive comments on the draft application. In addition to University staff, a representative from the ACOE will attend the meeting to explain the permitting process and how the public may participate. Attendees will be invited to ask questions and share comments.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. If your questions pertain to the details of the permit or permitting process, please contact Jill Coleman, Facilities Planning, at jcoleman@fac.unc.edu or 919-843-3246.
If you are a community group or neighborhood representative, please forward this email to your members and others who may be interested.
From the school system today, asking for community input on what we want to see in next superintendent. Survey should be filled out by Dec 15th
As the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Board of Education works to recruit and hire a new superintendent, board members would like direct input from interested members of the community. Please take a moment to access and complete the survey through the attached link. This survey will help shape the search and decision-making processes. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions.
From Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning SupervisorOrange County Planning Department
UDO Open House - An open-house style public information meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 to provide citizens with the opportunity to speak informally with Planning staff members one-on-one about the UDO. The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the County Office Building at 131 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, in the Lower Level Conference Room.
UDO Public Hearing - Citizens can attend the formal Public Hearing on Monday, November 22, 2010 to express their views on the proposed UDO. The Public Hearing begins at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo St., Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Citizens not able to attend the public hearing can submit written comments to the Planning Department prior to the public hearing and those comments will be entered into the formal record.
For questions or additional information please contact the Orange County Planning and Inspections Department at (919) 245-2575. Additional information is also available on the Department’s website at: www.co.orange.nc.us/planning
Thank you.
Date:
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - 12:30pm
Location:
County Office Building, 131 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough
From Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning SupervisorOrange County Planning Department
UDO Open House - An open-house style public information meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 to provide citizens with the opportunity to speak informally with Planning staff members one-on-one about the UDO. The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the County Office Building at 131 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, in the Lower Level Conference Room.
UDO Public Hearing - Citizens can attend the formal Public Hearing on Monday, November 22, 2010 to express their views on the proposed UDO. The Public Hearing begins at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo St., Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Citizens not able to attend the public hearing can submit written comments to the Planning Department prior to the public hearing and those comments will be entered into the formal record.
For questions or additional information please contact the Orange County Planning and Inspections Department at (919) 245-2575. Additional information is also available on the Department’s website at: www.co.orange.nc.us/planning
Thank you.
Date:
Monday, November 22, 2010 - 2:00pm
Location:
Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo St., Hillsborough
Our local governments should partner with smart people in the creation of a new private community development corporation for all of Orange County. (aka Orange CDC) This CDC's main mission would be to assist and fund new for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in business sectors traditionally not supported by our local governments. Such as web and green technology. Why these sectors? Because they are high growth, create high paying jobs, and support companies that pay big commercial office rents. Another one of the Orange CDC's primary goals would be to TRANSCEND business leakage from the county. Not to stop leakage but to benefit from it when it does happen.
The Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education will hold two community forums. Board members will attend in order to listen to speakers' preferences regarding the top characteristics the Board should look for in the next Superintendent. Comments should be limited to three minutes to ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard. Please click on the link for additional details about these events and the search.
November 29, 7-9 pm: Hargraves Center, 216 N Roberson St., 27516.
December 13, 7-9 pm: East Chapel Hill High School, 500 Weaver Dairy Rd., 27514
The Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Board of Education will hold two community forums. Board members will attend in order to listen to speakers' preferences regarding the top characteristics the Board should look for in the next Superintendent. Comments should be limited to three minutes to ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard. Please click on the link for additional details about these events and the search.
November 29, 7-9 pm: Hargraves Center, 216 N Roberson St., 27516.
December 13, 7-9 pm: East Chapel Hill High School, 500 Weaver Dairy Rd., 27514
Date:
Monday, December 13, 2010 - 2:00pm
Location:
East Chapel Hill High School, 500 Weaver Dairy Rd., Chapel Hill
Hello, all! I'm Sarah Morayati, a UNC senior and former Daily Tar Heel reporter. I've followed OP for a while now, and now I'm covering local government and development for Reesenews, the news/multimedia website the UNC journalism school just launched.
Right now we're planning out our coverage focuses for the coming year, and even though we're only a week or two past launch, we'd love to hear your thoughts about how we can better serve the community.
In particular, we're hoping to be able to use the freedom that comes with our online platform to provide more in-depth coverage of news and issues. This can happen through long-form articles and series, experimental story forms, multimedia, etc. -- whatever works. Is there anything you'd like to see more of? Less of? Issues or news topics that have gone under-reported or covered too briefly?
Let us know what thoughts you have -- either here, on Twitter or by email (sarah [dot] morayati [at] reesenews [dot] org). We're listening!
Gather with friends to make the season bright at our annual holiday auction! The auction is the Orange County Rape Crisis Center’s primary fundraising event and supports our mission to stop sexual violence and its impact through support, education and advocacy. Find gifts for friends and family, or treat yourself to an early present!
I just heard that longtime Chapel Hill police officer Chris Blue has been selected as the new chief, as of December 1st. I've known Chris for many years as he used to patrol Northside and really got to know the people and issues there. He's very grounded in Chapel Hill, and although he has a long history with the CHPD I think he's also generally open to new ideas. He's even on Twitter!
While it's disappointing to see the Town continuing the longstanding tradition of white male leadership, I think Chris Blue is emminently qualified and will make a great chief.
There's been a fair amount of hand-wringing about the president's inability to improve the job market, especially without a cooperative Congress. While the president has little he can do directly, there's one idea that hasn't been considered: cracking down on overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
For 40 years, workers and businesses alike preferred a loose enforcement policy on overtime. Many workers who spend far more than 40 hours a week on the job are insulted at being considered an hourly worker, or a non-professional. There was a greater desire for flexible schedules than for time-and-a-half. The notion of overtime is so quaint that most people have probably forgotten that the laws exist and can be used to protect them against unreasonable demands of management.
On November 15th, around four p.m., local Earth First! activists gathered outside of the Royal Bank of Canada in Carrboro to protest the bank's investment in the world's most destructive project, the Canadian Tar Sands. We were holding signs, banners, and doing some chanting. The police arrived and told us that we could not stand anywhere on the sidewalk at all.
I just received the following memo from the Town of Chapel Hill email list. It shares some info on a proposal to move the town library permanently to University Mall. You can find it here on the Town of Chapel Hill website too.
TO: Council FROM: Mark Kleinschmidt, Mayor SUBJECT: University Mall Library Proposal DATE: November 22, 2010
During discussions regarding the temporary relocation of Chapel Hill library to University Mall, Madison-Marquette, the mall's owners, expressed to our staff their interest in exploring the possibility of permanently locating the library at the Mall. The proposal would be for a mall anchored at one end by A Southern Season, and at the other by the Chapel Hill Public Library, which they propose would occupy the current Dillard's Department Store space.
Target of FBI Raids, Jess Sundin, Will Speak in Chapel Hill on Nov. 30
Event is part of a national week of actions in solidarity with those being targeted by the FBI
Please join us Tuesday Nov. 30 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm, at the Chapel Hill Public Library (100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill NC). Minneapolis antiwar activist Jess Sundin, one of the people targeted by the Sept 24 FBI raids, will be speaking in Chapel Hill about the raids and the growing movement to defend those being attacked by the FBI.
On September 24, the FBI raided the homes of 14 well-known anti-war and human rights activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. They also raided the office of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee. That same day, two activists in Durham, NC were visited by the FBI. According to the FBI, the goal of the raids was to investigate alleged “material support for terrorism". These activists have done nothing wrong, yet face secretive Grand Jury trials, jail time and fines. Their freedom is at stake, along with everyone's freedom to speak our minds and to organize against war and occupation.
Come learn about the past and current history of FBI attacks on social movements in the US, and to understand your rights and what you can do to stand in solidarity with those being targeted! The event is FREE. Donations will be collected for the Minneapolis and Chicago's activists' legal defense fund.
I would like to encourage all who still have their money with banks that are
'too big too fail,' banks that are 'too big to be subject to austerity' --designations not afforded to
real people, who are the ones who end up picking up the tab
for the banks and get fleeced in the process--, or with banks that finance
criminal environmental practices such as tar sands oil extraction (RBC), to:
Please consider joining the international day of action on December 7th to withdraw your money and put it into a credit union or small independent locally owned bank instead.
Locally
we now have, the Latino Credit Union and Harrington bank, and if you
have a connection to someone who has an account with the State Employees
Credit Union, this works too.
Orange County is proposing to create a new Unified Development Ordinance which would combine and replace all of their existing laws about zoning and property development. At the some time some changes are being proposed to several long-range planning tools. This document was posted on the County Web page in November and is pretty massive in size, close to 800 pages.
Currently, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the County have a rural buffer which limits sprawl at the edges of our towns. I'm concerned about how the UDO might affect the buffer, so I've taken a few steps to prompt some discussion of the matter.
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