Ruby Sinreich's blog
I know I'm stepping into a hornet's nest with this one, but what is it about this one little word ("merger") that sends parents in both school systems into such a tizzy?
After nearly two hours of grappling with its options, the school board
for the Orange County Schools modified its enrollment plans for the
district's only year-round elementary school Monday night.
In a 4-2
vote, the board approved changes recommended by district administration
that will allow 30 students already at Hillsborough Elementary School
to re-enroll there next year.
Some parents who had feared their
children might be among those not allowed to return had dressed in
orange shirts and spoken at board meetings, posted to a blog devoted to
challenging the changes, and even hired an attorney to challenge the
board.
[...]
Board member Liz Brown voted against modifying the plan because she
felt it didn't do enough to help Central and Efland-Cheeks elementary
schools retain middle-income students.
The Town of Chapel Hill now has some drawings that visualize the plans for the high-rise mixed-use development they are constructing downtown on parking lot #5, known as the Downtown Economic Development Initiative. In my opinion, this is a visionary project that has suffered from not having enough public input at the right times.
So how does the Town make this critical information available to the public? Oh, it's "on display" down at Town Hall. So those of you who work downtown or have a lot of free time during the day can stroll down to the Mayor's office and check it out. The rest of us will have to make due with looking at photos of the plans on the N&O and Herald web sites.
I would like to give a big raspberry to the hooligans who stole the bicycle and cart used by two local volunteer food programs. Boo, hiss.
I didn't even know about these two efforts, so the silver lining is that we all get a good reminder that there are hungry people in our own community, and we can always be doing more to help.
The cart is silver-colored, made of aluminum and is about eight feet long. A person pulling one on a bicycle can haul about 300 pounds on it.
[...]
Two groups use the cart and bike in their work, Ryans said. One group called Comida no Migra, which means food not border patrol, uses them to distribute free food in the Abbey Court area, where many Hispanic people and day laborers live.
That group has been distributing food to that area for about two years.
The second group, which shares some members with Comida no Migra, is called the Northside Free Grocery Program, Ryans said. That program was started about five or six months ago, he explained.
Thanks to the VIllage Project's blog for reminding us about three community meetings in April for the public to comment on Orange County's new draft Comprehensive Plan.
Open House*
April 3, 2008, 3:00-7:00PM
Planning and Agricultural Center, "Food-Lab"
306-F Revere Rd., Hillsborough
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