Government
Randee Haven-O'Donnell and I have a guest column in today's Chapel Hill News on Carrboro's efforts to actualize sustainability through locally-based economic development. Our approach is based largely on the thinking of Michael Shuman, author of "The Small-Mart Revolution," who served as a resource during the Board of Aldermen retreat back in January.
To read the column, go here. You can also read and comment on the N&O's OrangeChat.
Let me add to what is in the column that many of the ideas are not new to our area. Some of our most heralded economic success stories -- Weaver Street Market, Carrboro's Revolving Loan Fund, the Farmer's Market, Piedmont Biofuels -- are along the lines of the local living economy model. The recent Culture Shock initiative is also very much along these lines.
I've heard some folks call them the David Price Six, which has a nice ring to it. But it's also notable that Representative Price has requested to drop the charges against the six protesters who occupied his office in an effort to get him to more vigorously oppose the war.
Six local protesters go on trial this afternoon on trespassing charges in connection with an anti-war demonstration in U.S. Rep. David Price's office in February.
On March 26, the six -- Laura Bickford, Ben Carroll, Alisan Fathalizadeh, Sara Joseph, Dante Strobino, Tamara Tal -- pleaded not guilty to the charges. They had called on Price to oppose all further funding for the war and to seek an immediate withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq.
Since then, Price has written a letter to District Attorney Jim Woodall asking him to drop the charges against the six, protester Carroll said in a release.
In this weeks Carrboro Citizen you'll find the Charter of the Town of Carrboro. You may wonder who besides a politician or bureaucrat would enjoy reading this document? Well me for one.
Why? Because within this ancient legalese lies answers to why things happen in Carrboro. Time and time again here on OP people ask why a Town does this or that. Most, but not all, answers to these questions can be found in this document. Barring interpretation and enforcement of-course.
Now I may not sit down and read the whole thing at once. But I will digest this document in small chunks. Plus I'll use it as a reference. Its so much easier to read a big paper folded long ways like a city bus rider than a 8 1/2 x 11 PDF IMHO.
Last Friday, delegates from six local government bodies met with Congressman David Price to discuss concerns about fire safety and related issues at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Of particular focus was the concern that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has not been fulfilling its responsibility for regulatory enforcement. Since the chemical plant fire in Apex, safety questions at Shearon Harris have garnered increased local scrutiny as have uncertainties surrounding evacuation procedures.
In attendance were:
Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill Town Council
Randy Voller, Mayor of Pittsboro
Mike Nelson, Orange County Commission
Tom Vanderbeck, Chatham County Commission
Mike Gering, Hillsborough Board of Commissioners
Dan Coleman, Carrboro Board of Aldermen
[Jim Warren of NCWARN also attended as a resource]
In addition to the fire safety issue, the following areas were discussed:
-spent fuel storage
-adequacy of evacuation planning
-threats to nuclear facilities
Local activist (and former renter of dorm fridges--anyone else remember that?) Erik Ose has a piece today in Salon.com titled, "I saw John Edwards in the shampoo aisle." Maybe some other OP-area readers have had similar encounters, though I have not.
I'm pointing this out because, first of all, it's weird when you see the name of someone you know in the national news when you weren't expecting it (Ose, not Edwards!).
Further, does this have repercussions for our local economy? What if Orange County resident Edwards spent $400 on eight hair cuts at Moshi Moshi? Or on sixteen haircuts at Sid's? Or even more haircuts at the barbershop in Northside?
And now, onto the actual issue here: I have been wondering what local folks think about this issue, of our wealthy neighbor who is also advocating for the poor. Is this a problem? Contradiction? Or none of our friggin business?
(Elizabeth Edwards, if you are reading this... please forgive me!)
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