December 2010
Announcing Orange Grapevine, a new general discussion forum for residents of Orange County and interested persons in the adjoining counties, Alamance, Chatham and Eastern Durham
ORANGE GRAPEVINE ("the grapevine")
Announcing Orange Grapevine, a new general discussion forum for
residents of Orange County and interested persons in adjoining counties.
This mailing list, hosted by ibiblio and mirrored by a blog, group and
website provided by Google will offer people living in or near Orange
County a collection of resources they can use to discuss and exchange
resources on a wide variety of topics of interest to them. A short list
of those topics might include the following:
General:
-
local news
announcements
local politics: campaigns, candidates and elected politicians, political
parties
local government: local issues, Q&A, RFI, suggestions and
recommendations, news
announce, promote and recommend local businesses, yours or others
classifieds (sell, buy, donate, barter)
I'm posting here because Elizabeth Edwards lived in Chapel Hill. Her funeral will be this Saturday at the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh from 12:15 - 1 PM. The News and Observer report that the Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas will be outside protesting against gay and lesbians. Is there any sort of local grassroots presence that aims to show up and create a respectful ring around the church? The link is below.
I'm a little late in posting about this, but I wanted to make sure that everyone saw Fiona Morgan's excellent report published by the New America Foundation about the Triangle's media (released in September).
Fiona used to be a staff writer for The Independent Weekly, and frequently covered new and emerging media as well as the on-going demise of the old media dinosaurs, so she had a head start when she set out to explore and evaluate the state of our information ecosystem. I recommend reading the entire report - it's 45 pages, not including references (download the PDF) but here's her summarized conclusion:
While the Triangle has weathered the economic downturn better than much of the country, cutbacks at the region's major newspaper have led to shrinking coverage of suburban and small-town communities just as the population of those communities continues to grow. As a result, the number of boots on the ground providing accountability coverage of the dozens of local government bodies, regional planning issues and impact of state government politics on local communities has diminished.
Via Peggy Misch:
How Should the Bill of Rights Affect You?: Wed, Dec 15, 12 Noon: Proclamations read on civil and human rights from Chapel Hill and Carrboro Mayors and Chair of Orange County Commissioners on Bill of Rights Day. Join in reading one of ten amendments to the US Constitution. Speakers focusing on current concerns of infringement of rights -- FBI raids on US citizens and detentions of immigrants. Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee, 942-2535. Steps of Courthouse, Peace and Justice Plaza, corner of East Franklin and Henderson Sts.
Date:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 7:00am
Every year when the piles of leaves appear along the side of the streets my family has to suffer through my complaints about the absurdity of this practice. I thought I'd post this blog entry to share the joy.
Generally speaking, if your yard is big enough to need raking, it's big enough for a pile for the leaves to sit and compost. My yard is approximately 0.2 acres and every year I rake the leaves into piles underneath the trees and bushes where they sit and compost. After a day or two or after the first good rain the leaves stop blowing around and I can forget them while they protect the tree roots from cold weather and decompose into new soil.
This board often discusses possible reductions in town expenses. Though it is a small line item, seems like someone should pick up the pen and line this one out. Am I missing something? Why should we not just stop the seemly silly process of sending out trucks and personnel to pick up leaves?
Its been a really intersting six months or so for economic development in Orange County. Change is definatly afoot. But what will rise from the ashes? I don't think anyone really knows for sure. But that isn't going to stop me from guessing.
From the N&O today:
"The roll call Friday was 277-148 by which the House passed a bill to avoid a
Jan. 1 spike in income taxes, renew jobless benefits and cut Social
Security taxes.
A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the measure."
Representative David Price voted 'yes'. Republican Senator Burr voted 'yes.' And of course President Obama will sign it.
Thank you Senator Hagan! on Wednesday in the Senate vote, she voted 'no.'
A summary of the bill from DemocracyNow yesterday:
WCHL is reporting that
Orange County Economic Development director Brad Broadwell has resigned. This is on the heels of the Town of Carrboro Economic Development Director James Harris announcing his retirement. Is this a opportunity or a disaster for local economic development? Is this a coincidence or a shake up by local government to prepare for change?
Join us for our weekly movie screening at 7pm! This week's movie is the animal rights film "The Witness"
From the site (www.witnessfilm.org/):
"How does a construction contractor from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood become an impassioned animal advocate?
In the award-winning documentary THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how
he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a
kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and
bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. With humor
and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in
consciousness."
For a trailer visit www.witnessfilm.org/.
Location:
Internationalist Books and Community Center 405 W Franklin St Chapel Hill, NC
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