About This Web Site

OP Happy Hour

Ruby Sinreich — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:32:21 -0600

Hey, it's been a while and I miss y'all! Let's get together for a seasonal OrangePolitics Happy Hour where we can meet up face to face for bonding, kvetching, etc. Community leaders are encouraged to come, so bring your favorite neighborhood activist or elected official.

Thursday, January 28th from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Place to be determined, but I'm liking The Station lately...

Making the most of OP

Ruby Sinreich — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:43:16 -0600

Now that the election is over (mostly) I'm turning some attention back to some nagging issues here on OP. This site is never going to be gorgeous or as easy to use as one with a full-time staff dedicated to making it so, but I think there are ways to make some small changes that can have a big impact.

For example, I already added "more" links to some of the featured posts in the left hand sidebar of the front page, so that now you can get a bigger picture of the active conversations on the site, and you can browse all of the top-rated posts of the week (and see which ones are at the bottom, too). In addition, there are still site stats available to registered users which show you which members and which posts are the most active (for better or worse).

The wisdom of crowds

Ruby Sinreich — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:57:27 -0600

I was a little worried that the polling in Chapel Hill would screw up the annual Pundit of the Year contest, but since PPP Polls had Penny in 6th and she actually came in 1st, I think we can safely say that pundits had to rely on their own intuition. No-one (not even Penny) predicted Penny would come first in Chapel Hill so no contestants won on the order.

The following people did predict the winners correctly in all of the races though, and most of them put their entries in before Tom Jensen announced the PPP figures anyway: Jason Baker, Penny Rich, Mark Chilton, Erin Crouse, and Greg Bell! Each of them will get a gift certificate for OP's Zazzle print-on-demand store.

In averaged results, the contestants as a whole picked the winners in every race except for School Board. However, we got the order wrong on the Chapel Hill Town Council and Carrboro Board of Aldermen due to the success of challengers Penny Rich and Sammy Slade. Read on for aggregated predictions...

OP regulars on WCHL election coverage

Ruby Sinreich — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:13:08 -0600

Several of the OP regulars will be guests on WCHL as they cover the election results tomorrow. Tune in to hear the dulcet tones and considered opinions of Mark Marcoplos, Fred Black, Tom Jensen, Nancy Oates, and yours truly. You are also encouraged to call in with your own comments and analysis at 929-9245.

Too much time on your hands? Read this!

Ruby Sinreich — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:41:12 -0500

In attempt to restore sanity to the endorsements thread, I'm taking my response to the comments about comments over here.

Cam's comment was posted around 7pm and the first time I saw it was around 11am the next day, at which point I took it down and responded to Fred's comment. I am just not as obsessive about reading the site as some folks are, and that's OK with me. I don't plan to do much more responding to him because I just don't have the time and it doesn't seem productive in any way.

I still don't understand why some people who claim to have such problems with this web site spend so much time here. For example, as of this moment Fred has posted 305 comments on OP in the past year, more than any other user of the site.

Pundit of the Year 2009

Ruby Sinreich — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:51:23 -0500

It's about that time, y'all. LIke it or not, the election is a few days away. It's time for our annual contest to see who is the biggest political nerd in Orange County. Click here to take the 2009 Pundit of the Year survey.

Submissions are open until 7:30 pm on Tuesday. Results will be announced by Thursday night. The grand prize - in addition to the obvious fame and adulation - will be a free OP t-shirt or hat in the size and color of your choosing.

Anyone who predicts the winners correctly will be announced here (unless requested otherwise) and whoever comes closest to predicting the ORDER of the winners will be named the Pundit of the Year.

Happy Birthday to Us

Ruby Sinreich — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:18:29 -0500

Today marks six years since I flipped the switch on this blog and started this community of progressive local politics bloggers (and commenters). I looked back at the entries from September 2003, and found some nostalgia (red light cameras) and some the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same (candidate forums and Carolina North). In recent years, the OP community has developed a tradition of raising money on the occasion of our birthday. However, last year's fund raising only generated $140 toward the $420 that I pay for our hosting annually. (This is high because I use a service that keeps Drupal up-to-date and running smoothly.)

Missing in Action?

Terri Buckner — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:16:49 -0500

The most recent posts on OrangePolitics are about HOV lanes, Joe Herzenberg, and the Herald-Sun redesign. What's missing is the lawsuit Carrboro won against Marilyn Kille, reports on recent voter forums, discussion of Monday night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting and the unresolved issue of appointing Bill Strom's replacement. There's not even any mention of the highly contentious chicken slaughter. Ruby's pre-occupied with a new baby and a career. There was a recent post asking if OP is a public resource or Ruby's private playground. The answer may be in how people use the site rather than Ruby's intention.

An open invitation to Orange County candidates

Ruby Sinreich — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:45:36 -0500

Last night, I sent the following e-mail to all of the declared candidates in 2009 municipal and school board races:

Hello, candidates. Congratulations on your decision to stand for election in Orange County this year! In case you are not aware of it, I'd like to introduce you to the progressive local politics blog OrangePolitics and ask you to contribute to this online community of people interested in Orange County issues.
read more

Election 2009 - let's do this

Ruby Sinreich — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:43:54 -0500

Hey all! Thanks for doing such a great job of keeping the conversation going while I am jugging a new job and my newly expanded family! With the municpal and city school board elections coming up, I want to make sure OP continues to be a key source of information for voters. In the past, our election section has carried nonpartisan candidate information, links to media guides, and listing of events. On the new OP we can do much more.