Ruby Sinreich's blog
Apparently a bunch of people came out to the Town Council meeting this week to oppose re-naming Airport Road to Martin Luther King Boulevard. I'm pretty surprised - I thought this was a no-brainer.
Local NAACP President Fred Battle bristled Monday at criticism of the idea to rename Airport Road for Martin Luther King Jr., which the Town Council will consider May 24.
Any time there's a call to rename something to honor a black person, the first objection that comes up is how much the renaming would cost, Battle said during a council forum.
"It hardens my heart to see that this type of attitude still exists in this community," he said.
Battle followed seven speakers to the podium, each of whom objected to renaming the road or offered other suggestions. Marie Weiden said she thought it would be better to rename Airport Road for Howard Lee, Chapel Hill's first black mayor and a longtime state senator.
- Chapel Hill Herald, 4/20/04
Internationalist Books and Community Center is soliciting nominations for the Third Annual Bob Sheldon Award. The deadline has been extended to April 25.
Each year, the Internationalist collective recognizes a member of the Triangle community who carries on Bob Sheldon's work and breathes life into his legacy by being gentle and persistent, being radical and free-thinking, being playful and patient, and leading by example...
Bob Sheldon founded Internationalist Books in 1981. He described the store's mission as follows: "We are dedicated to the position that we have no country: we do not support mindless patriotic pleas for 'national unity,' nor are we interested in keeping America number one. We support the unity and liberation of oppressed people worldwide and are working toward the day when all oppression and inequality will be removed from the earth."
For years, young black folks (mostly from Durham, we're told) have been congregating on the streets after Apple Chill. This wouldn't be a problem except that they clog the streets with their cruising, and they tend to get into fights with each other. Guns have been pulled more than once.
Making 'After Chill' a Town-sanctioned event should be a very effective way to make it uncool and therefore totally unappealing to young folks. Will the kids just find someplace cooler to hang out, or will this dissipate their energy? Either way, it will increase the safety of our strets in Chapel Hill. Kudos to Apple Chill for this effective response.
Now I know we have some problems, but I never would have guessed that the Triangle would rank #3 on the national urban sprawl index! The report, by Smart Growth America, says...
This study shows that sprawl is a real, measurable phenomenon with real implications for peoples’ everyday lives. Regions wishing to improve their quality of life should consider taking steps to reduce sprawl and promote smarter growth. Based on this research, Smart Growth America offers six policy recommendations:
1) Reinvest in Neglected Communities and Provide More Housing Opportunities
2) Rehabilitate Abandoned Properties
3) Encourage New Development or Redevelopment in Already Built Up Areas
4) Create and Nurture Thriving, Mixed-Use Centers of Activity
5) Support Growth Management Strategies
6) Craft Transportation Policies that Complement Smarter Growth
I was asked to share this gem from last's night's Planning Board meeting with you. Phil Szostak is an architect who is developing an addition for Olin T. Binkley Baptist Church. Binkley is a leading progressive institution in this community and is also very prominently located next to University Mall on The Bypass. So I found it very amusing that Phil kept claiming "we're just a little church." If that's so, then UNC is a community college, OK?
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