October 2012

voter reg stays strong 12,879 since Jan 1, and 5,048 since Aug 1

With one week of regular voter registration left (ends Friday the 12th, a full business week for the Board of Elections plus Friday is just a postmark deadline for those mailing in their forms) plus the two week registration period at early voting, here are the new voter registration numbers for Orange, both since January 1 (also includes the Amendment One drives) and just this fall.

Morgan Creek Festival

Join Morgan Creek Valley Alliance supporters and the Chapel Hill Stormwater Management Division to celebrate one of Chapel Hill's natural treasures -- Morgan Creek! The Morgan Creek Festival will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at N.C. Botanical Garden, 100 Old Mason Farm Road. The festival will feature music by Tim Stanbaugh and Friends; a presentation on the natural history of Morgan Creek by Johnny Randall; exploration of Meeting-of-the-Waters Creek for kids and parents; a guided hike with Mark Chilton to learn more about historical mills of Morgan Creek; birding with New Hope Audubon's Tom Driscoll; and a guided plant walk with Dave Otto. For more information about Morgan Creek, visit www.morgancreek.org and www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1897.  

Date: 

Saturday, October 20, 2012 - 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: 

N.C. Botanical Garden, 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill Special Topics Session: Large Crowd Management

The Town of Chapel Hill Special Topics sessions continue for the community with a presentation on large crowd management at noon Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Chapel Hill public safety leadership has gained attention for its unique ability to manage large crowd celebrations. Police Chief Chris Blue and Fire Chief Dan Jones will discuss some of the strategies that Chapel Hill employs to manage such large scale events.

From Halloween to NCAA basketball championships, large crowds in downtown Chapel Hill can easily soar to the tens of thousands of people. Enormous crowds confined in a congested half-mile stretch of Franklin Street can present public safety concerns related to personal and property crime, crowd panic and large scale civil disorders. Additional concerns focus on alcohol poisoning, injuries and gang-related violence.

The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Chief Blue began work with the Town of Chapel Hill in 1997. A UNC graduate who grew up in Chapel Hill, he is married with two daughters.

Chief Jones came to Chapel Hill from Florida in 1990 to become fire chief. He has 38 years of experience in the fire service, rising through the ranks. His wife and daughter are teachers, and his son-in-law is a police officer.

The Special Topics series began during the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive planning process as a way to share information with interested residents who want to know more about issues, trends and studies that affect the future. For past topics, see www.townofchapelhill.org/video

The public event will be aired live on Chapel Hill Government TV-18 and streamed on the Town of Chapel Hill website at www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1850. For more information about the special topic series, contact Catherine Lazorko at clazorko@townofchapelhill.org or 919-969-5055.

 

Date: 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 12:00pm

Location: 

Council Chamber, Chapel Hill Town Hall

October Open Editors Meeting

Date: 

Sunday, October 21, 2012 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Location: 

Tru Deli & Wine (114 Henderson Street, Chapel Hill)

Chapel Hill Town Council Hears From Citizens On Bus Ad Policy

In a fairly crowded business meeting tonight, the Chapel Hill Town Council member heard from more than 30 members of the public on Chapel Hill Transit's current bus advertising policy. Contraversy around the ad was sparked by the placement of an ad by the Church of the Reconciliation urging the end of U.S. military aid to Israel. Speakers included several members of the Church of the Reconciliation, the director of the N.C. ACLU and local Jewish leaders among others.

The central question on the issue was whether the transit system consitituted a "public forum." This is important because under Supreme Court precedent regulations on speech in public forums are subject to greater scrutiny than regulations on speech in non-public forums.

Welcome back, Dwight!

I have no idea what the story is behind this, but I bet it's interesting. Seven months after resigning as the head of Economic Development for the Town of Chapel Hill and taking effectively the same position for the City of Raleigh, Dwight Basset has come back to his old job. I wonder how all those people who blamed his departure on Chapel Hill's supposed E.D. failings will interpret this? 

Personally I hope Bassett returns with some fresh ideas about local economies and especially about citizen particpation, which is one area where Chapel Hill has a lot to learn from Raleigh. 

Some highlights from the Town's announcement:

Dwight Bassett will return to the Town of Chapel Hill as Economic Development Officer (EDO) and part of the Town team devoted to policy and strategic initiatives supporting the goals of Chapel Hill 2020, Town Manager Roger Stancil announced today (Monday, Oct. 15).

Early voting updates

Wanted to start a space where everyone could report their voting experiences. I was voter #19 at Rams Head this afternoon (10/18, first day of early voting) at about 12:08, and while it wasn't crazy busy, there was a steady flow of voters. The woman who voted after me asked me to take her picture as she filed her ballot because it was her first time voting — thought that was very cool. 

Getting Everyone On Board -- Our Obligation to Children in Poverty

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund gives the 2012 Crown Lecturer in Ethics on income disparity and the state of America's poor children. Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. In l968, she served counsel for the Poor People's Campaign, started by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings. Her most recent book is called "The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation." The Crown Lecture in Ethics 2012 is co-sponsored by the Sulzberger Family Fund of the Center for Child and Family Policy. Free and open to the public.
Contact: Kemp, Karen 613-7394

Date: 

Thursday, October 25, 2012 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Location: 

Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy, 201 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708

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