August 2013
The Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Task Force continues its work but has a
new barrier to contend with that may preclude the Orange County Board of
Commissioners from taking action. As reported in this story
by Chapelboro, an EPA complaint filed by the Rogers-Eubanks
Neighborhood Association in 2007 alleges the Orange County Planning and
Inspections Department (OCPID) "intentionally discriminated on the basis
of race by denying water and sewer service to the African American
residents of the Rogers Road Community." The full letter from the EPA to
the OCPID can be read here.
At
the recent task force meeting held on July 17, 2013, Board of Commissioners representatives Renee Price and Penny Rich abstained from several votes on recommendations of what
to include in the task force's final report, citing the EPA complaint.
Over the next two weeks, Orange County will be holding public outreach sessions to get feedback from central and rural Orange County residents about the Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan. Residents are invited to discuss options for new, expanded and existing bus services under the plan. Bus routes to be brought for public input will include rural service routes, regional service routes, and the Hillsborough Circulator.
Four meetings will be held throughout northern Orange County in August. The dates and locations are as follows, and can also be found on the OP calendar.
At first the changes to the rules regarding charter schools didn't make sense. What school would hire teachers without college degrees and without doing a background check?
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/31/3948579/nc-charter-school-bill-is-very.html
The missing piece was the rise in the number of out-of-state companies that are running for-profit charter schools in NC. The major cost in a school is salaries, so the easiest way to make a profit is to hire teachers with no college degree and limited employment opportunities due to problems that would show up on a background check.
http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/October-2012/Getting-Schooled/
Sure, that's simplistic, but what other way is there to interpret the legislature's actions?
I have replied to all debates and said I will attend
On June 20th a hearing was held at a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education meeting about the need to address racial inequities in how students are disciplined. As we gear up for another school year, I hope that efforts continue to be made to eliminate these inequities. Some activities have already begun. More and more of our neighbors are attending Undoing/Anti-Racism/Dismantling Racism workshops, and the CHCCS this summer held one of these workshops specifically for students and another that many staff attended. (Workshops will be held in the fall and are open to the public. For more information: Undoing Racism/Racial Equity Workshops in Chapel Hill; Dismantling Racism Workshops in Durham.)
A number of folks spoke at that June 20th hearing, including public defender James Williams, who shared these remarks:
Chapel Hill/Carrboro Just Housing Coalition is an informal alliance that is forming to work against injustice and for affordable housing in our community.
We are seeking organizations, citizens, and elected officials in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro area concerned about equitable and just living options and wages for all residents of our community.
Read more about the "tsunami" of events that is creating a housing crisis in our community.
If you would like to formally join our coalition, we would love to have you on board. You are welcome to attend our upcoming meeting, or stay tuned for a community petition and call to action.
Participating organizations: Human Rights Center of Chapel Hill & Carrboro; Mutual Aid Carrboro; Real Advocates Now Emerging (RANE) of Orange, Person and Chatham Counties; Carolina Coalition for Disability Justice
Date:
Friday, August 9, 2013 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Location:
Human Rights Center, 107 Barnes Street, Carrboro, NC
This is a follow-up to several earlier posts about Section 8 Housing in Orange County. Read them first for background.
On behalf of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Just Housing Coalition, my assistant and I just talked to a lawyer with Justice NC, who confirmed that the reduction in HUD funding due to the federal sequestration is going to result in lower voucher values for Section 8 recipients.
On Friday August 16th Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill
will host a debate/discussion at 6 p.m. regarding the new zine “The
Issues Are Not The Issue” with the author (a former environmental
activist) and current organizers from Katuah
Earth First! and Panagioti from the Earth First! Journal Collective.
Panagioti Tsolkas New father and current editor on the EF! Journal
collective and EF! activist organizer since 1997. From 2000-2004 he was
a trainer for the Ruckus Society. In 2004 he ran for the Mayor of Lake
Worth, Florida. Since 2005, Tsolkas has been co-chair of the grassroots
Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, a group which files
litigation regarding development issues in the Everglades and has been
on the planning committee for 3 national Earth First! Organizers
Conferences (2000, 2006 and 2008). In 2009, Panagioti spent 5 months
traveling with the Earth First! Roadshow group. In 2010 Panagioti
co-founded Uncivil Landscapes, a work collective which creates part-time
income opportunities through native landscaping for local activists in
South Florida. He is presently on the steering committee for the Night
Heron Grassroots Activist Center in Lake Worth. Tsolkas was named
‘Troublemaker of the Year’ in 2009 and ‘Activist of the Year’ for 2010
by New Times magazine (Broward/Palm Beach edition). He has no formal
education past 10th grade; he is diploma-free and proud.
Date:
Friday, August 16, 2013 - 6:00pm
Location:
Internationalist Bookstore 405 W. Franklin St.
On Saturday Aug 17th, come out from 2-5 p.m. at Internationalist Bookstore at 405 W. Franklin St. in
Chapel Hill for the “Earth Nightly News” program and Independent Media
Workshop with editors from the Earth First!
Journal Collective out of Lake Worth, Florida and the Appalachian
office in Western NC. Find out how you can get involved in EF! Media projects
and more. Participants will discuss where they get their news, which forms are
most used, and how under-reported events and organizing can get more attentions
through alternative press.
The Earth First! Journal has been a circulating
printed newspaper and magazine for over 32 years. As the voice of the international
direct action movement, the EF! Journal Collective maintains a number of media
projects to help communicate the actions and ecological news to the world. Join
us for a presentation, live news program and discussion about reading, writing
and producing independent media.
Presenters from the journal include:
Leah Rothschild, editor and project manager of the Earth First! Journal
for the past 5 years. Leah was a committee member of the Forest Cafe in
Edinburgh from 2002-2005, an organizing member of the anti-G8 campaign
in Scotland in 2005, lived at the Bilston Glen Anti-Bypass Protest Site
in a threatened ancient woodland, an organizing member of Reclaim the
Commons in Chicago in 2006, and is a founding member of Parasol
Project—a community arts organization in Tucson, Arizona. Leah toured
and lived on a veggie-powered school bus during two national tours, has
had writing published by a number of university and independent presses
and has a Bachelor of Art (BFA) degree, with honors, from the Edinburgh
College of Art in Scotland.
Panagioti Tsolkas
New father and current
editor on the *EF! Journal*collective and EF! activist organizer since
1997. From 2000-2004 he was a trainer for the Ruckus Society. In 2004 he
ran for the Mayor of Lake Worth, Florida. Since 2005, Tsolkas has been
co-chair of the grassroots Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, a
group which files litigation regarding development issues in the
Everglades. He has been on the planning committee for three Earth First!
Organizers Conferences (2000, 2006 and 2008), and in 2009 spent 5
months traveling with the Earth First! Roadshow. In 2010 Panagioti
co-founded Uncivil Landscapes, a work collective which creates part-time
income opportunities through native landscaping for local activists in
South Florida. Tsolkas was named ‘Troublemaker of the Year’ in 2009 by
New Times magazine (Broward/Palm Beach edition). He has no formal
education past 10th grade; he is diploma-free and proud.
Date:
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Location:
Internationalist Bookstore 405 W. Franklin St.
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