July 2014
Charles Blackwood and David Caldwell faced off in a second Democratic primary election Tuesday to determine who will be Orange County's first new sheriff in more than 30 years.
The map below shows the precinct-level results of this runoff election. The results are shown as the ratio of votes for Blackwood to votes for Caldwell. (As usual, these preliminary precinct-level results are inaccurate to the extent that early votes may have differed from votes cast on election day. See the raw numbers in this Google spreadsheet. Thanks to Damon Seils for providing the map.)
A total of 8413 Orange County residents voted out of a possible 91,173. So, only 9.23% of voters participated in choosing our next sheriff.
Rooftop solar power provides clean, local and independent energy, all while saving money on your electricity bill. Solarize Chapel Hill is a non-profit, grassroots effort that makes it easy both to find out if solar is right for you, and to get solar on more roofs.
By organizing neighbors together for group discounts, vetting solar installers, and helping you maximize the tax incentives, Solarize Chapel Hill makes it simple and affordable to go solar. More than 300 people participated in our recent program in Carrboro, so we know that many in Chapel Hill could become more energy independent and save money by adding solar.
The biggest challenge is getting the word out about how affordable solar power has become. We are currently recruiting volunteer Neighborhood Solar Ambassadors to get the word out in neighborhoods around Chapel Hill.
If you are interested in becoming a Neighborhood Solar Ambassador or just want to learn more, please join us at TRU in Chapel Hill (114 Henderson Street) on July 22 at 7pm for drinks, appetizers, merriment, and the opportunity to learn more about Solarize Chapel Hill. FIRST ROUND AND APPETIZERS ARE ON US! More info at www.solarizeChapelHill.org
Date:
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - 7:00am to 8:30am
Location:
TRU bar and deli, 114 Henderson St. Dwntwn Chapel Hill
From April to May, Solarize Carrboro helped more than 300 people find out if their home was right for solar. While many are still evaluating their proposals, more than 30 homes and businesses have already committed and are going solar. These solar rooftop power plants will generate enough electricity to replace FIVE MILLION pounds of coal, all while keeping our energy dollars local.
We are excited to announce that in September we are kicking off new Solarize campaigns for Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and the rest of Orange County. If you are interested in helping organize, please join us on July 22 at 7pm at TRU bar + deli (114 Henderson St, Downtown Chapel Hill) for drinks, appetizers, merriment, and the opportunity to learn more about Solarize Chapel Hill. FIRST ROUND AND APPETIZERS ARE ON US! More info at www.solarizeChapelHill.org or let us know you are coming on facebook
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Tomorrow the Orange County Board of Elections will adopt a plan for early voting for the fall election. The Board will consider both the locations and hours for early voting. When it comes to locations, the board should keep the same voting locations used during the spring primary to maintain consistency. After considering a number of options, the plan adopted for the primary included five early voting sites, including a location in rural Orange County at Master’s Garden Preschool, and a location adjacent to UNC’s campus at North Carolina Hillel. I’ve been a strong advocate for securing a site that is accessible to the faculty, staff, and students who attend UNC, and while NC Hillel might not be the perfect site, it is accessible to pedestrians from UNC and we should maintain stability from the primary.
This morning I attended the Orange County Board of Elections meeting where they determined the early voting plan for the Fall 2014 elections. I have been attending BOE meetings in Orange County for several years, and this was by far the largest turnout (over 50 people by my count) I have ever seen.
This meeting was called to consider adjusting the fall early voting plan to include voting hours on Sunday. At the board's meeting a week ago, some citizens representing Jews for Justice requested expansion to Sunday to provide a non-weekday voting option that didn't fall on the Jewish holy day, Saturday. The meeting opened with the Chair asking the audience to try to keep their comments brief. The board intended to limit public comment to 30 minutes, with each side receiving 15 minutes for their speakers to speak. I spoke in support of extending voting hours to Sunday, as did Hillsborough Commissioner Jenn Weaver and Carrboro Board of Aldermen Member Randee Haven- O'Donnell. Several other citizens spoke in support, including representatives from Jews for Justice, the League of Women Voters, and the Orange County Democratic Party.
There are numerous developments in various stages of the planning process in both Carrboro and Chapel HIll, so many that it is hard to keep track of them. Here we provide a rundown of the status of developments of most interest in Southern Orange County.
Carrboro
A summary of active development applications can be found here and is updated monthly. The Town staff also created a map of the active developments. Active or recently approved developments are:
I attended the last two Orange County Board of Elections public meetings as a resident who cares about easy access to voting for all citizens. Tuesday’s meeting was a complete sham. While the meeting’s purpose was advertised on the Board’s web site as “[t]o receive public input on the 2014 November One-Stop voting hours and location,” the Board’s actions said otherwise.
Citizens eager to provide input filled the room to overflowing, and yet Chairwoman Knight opened the meeting by directing each “side” (her word) to organize (how?) to speak for 15 minutes in support or opposition to adding Sunday early voting hours. By allocating 15 minutes to each “side,” she pre-determined that the board would hear equal opposition and support, and have no opportunity to understand the balance of citizen opinion in the room. This pre-determined allocation led, for example, to the board hearing a very long statement by a representative of the Republican Party but not allowing an African-American supporter of Sunday voting to speak at all, despite his repeated attempts to do so.
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