Discuss

I'm not convinced that the cross-burnings was teen mischief. The size and construction of these crosses is more likely to be done by someone with reasonable skill and access to the needed materials and equipment. Additionally, the placement of a cross in the vacinity of St. Paul's Episcopal, which was a target of this anti-gay group from Kansas leads me to believe that this event was thought-out and more organized.

The folks who did this, at the least, are idiots, if not sinister bigots.

according to the herald sun: " Burning a cross on someone else's property without permission is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by anything from probation up to 120 days in jail. *If the burners wore hoods or masks NAD it could be proved they had an intent to intimidate*, the offense would rise to the level of a Class 1 felony, which carries a maximum prison term of 15 months. But probation would be mandatory if the burners had no previous criminal records. "

http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-611408.html

Has anyone else seen what the "literature" left at the scene says? There's a little snippet from the link above:

They read, in part: "Gangbangers ? by order of the Ku Klux Klan ? cease and disist [sic] immediately! Local police have let your activities go too far. TAKE NOTICE: YOU WILL ANSWER TO US!!! SINCERELY, 'KKK'

mark, i guess my question is, did you even read my post? i quoted the line that you quoted...

Oh now I really feel awful.

By the way, just for the record, I'm not a Republican. My views are my own. Much more moderate than one end of the spectrum or the other.

Thank you Mark.

This week's events in Durham in response to the cross-burnings:

-- The documentary "Unlikely Friendship" will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday at B.N. Duke Auditorium on NCCU's campus, followed by a panel discussion about the cross burnings.

-- On Sunday, there will be a city-sponsored unity rally from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Durham Armory, 220 Foster St.

http://herald-sun.com/durham/4-612668.html

I don't understand the school budget discussion. If the County is giving the school's enough to increase the per student allocation by $95 next year, then why is district management projecting all these dire losses in service? I understand that the enrollment loss might mean a net loss to the district but shouldn't some services cost less if there are fewer students?

On a day when Kate Branch was deconstructing the end of Elliot Rds. Branch's Book Store, another local businessman (I believe the owner of Great Harvest Bread) appeared before the Council to ask, again, for their intervention in the Eastern Federal mess. I remember him coming before the Council over a year ago to ask for "that fence to be torn down."

Ms. Branch spoke of what she did right and what she did wrong in running her local independent bookstore. The chief problem? Location. She said, to paraphrase, she both regretted not investigating in greater detail the arising mess occurring adjacent to her shop and not anticipating how long the commercial vacuum would be maintained. Who would've guessed it would stretch into years of nuttin' ?

The businessman spoke from the heart and asked the Council to do something, anything, to resolve the mess. "Not force", he said, but maybe another attempt Council/Town sponsored mediation. I can understand. He spoke of how they have a very loyal, dependable, customer base but they vitally depend on the 100 or so random weekend walk-ins that the theatre generated. His business was down %40 over the lifetime of this altercation and he needed something to be done about what I've heard called a "fenced in nowhere". The vacant lot is quite an eyesore but the consequences are more extensive than a weedy flat. As mentioned on another thread, the small business economic base of our community is under stress - from "big box" vendors, a deteriorating national economy, rising costs, etc. The last thing we need is additional malingering on a project that has contributed to a measurable decline in the Elliot Rd's business condition especially in light of the "smallness" of the problem.

The Mayor said this was the most "petty bickering" he had seen in "all his years with Council". He said it was "shameful" that nothing has been done. He called on the Town Manager to come up with a recommended action to move the process along. The manager was able to assist DEDC in the resolution of the Wicked Burrito mess, maybe he can call upon his staff to come up with a creative solution to get these "bickering" parties to tear the fence that separates them down.

Ouch! Forgot to mention that I heard Ms. Branch on WCHL's DG Martin 6pm show.

Quick aside. I found Mr. Martin's show to be a somewhat tepid replacement to the chorus of interesting voices that used to appear on WCHL (Robert Porter, et. al.). He seemed to draw his guests from a rather homogenous crowd. That was then. His show has since expanded in a number of interesting directions. He's even interviewed people from my strata (wow!). I miss the old lineup and really wished WCHL would look at restoring something like the old interview shows (maybe at 30 minutes), but, until then, I'll continue my increasing habit of listening to DG (at least until I get an antenna strong enough to pull in WCOM ;-) ).

Today's CHN has an interesting Opinion piece "Branch's struggle highlights woes facing businesses" covering the struggles of Branch's but ends with a bit I believe is well worth highlighting:

Local governments can do only so much to help in situations like this — but they can do something.
...
Village Plaza isn't downtown, so it's outside the Downtown Economic Development Corporation's bailiwick. But the town, and private citizens, should keep the same sort of pressure on the theater company: be a good corporate neighbor, fulfill your promise, do the right thing.

It may be too late to save Branch's, but we might be able to save somebody else.

Terri B., myself and others continue to call for a Town-wide economic development office that is chartered to expand opportunities from Eastgate to Meadowmont (ufff) to Southern Village to Midway to UNC/North and all points internal (maybe even subsuming the DEDC). Yes, our downtown is special and there's an extra onus on Town government to protect the center but not at the continued cost of ignoring the rest of Chapel Hill. I'm especially concerned we're ignoring trends leading to the next wave of economic activity - a predominance of creative information-based activities supported by a vital technology infrastructure.

As I've winge on about in other threads, there's been an increase in information-oriented economic activity within the homes and small offices of Chapel Hill - a kind of economic infill - that the current Town government doesn't seem to acknowledge or support. What you don't acknowledge can't be expanded.

I think the next smart-growth economic wave is all about this resurrection of "cottage industry". If you believe the UNC/North prognostications spouted by the "Centennial Campus Envy" booster-club, the need for "mom-n-pop" support consultancies is going to expand greatly. Carrboro is proactively addressing this trend by offering "seed corn" to UNC-generated businesses - attracting these future economic dynamos (small info businesses) by first acknowledging their relevance to the community.

Mr. Didow, at the DEDC, admitted that downtown businesses, like the one I work at, don't show up on the DEDC's radar - we're stealth generators of economic activity. I'm aware of a number of similar companies located within a 10 minute walk of Townhall that provide technology-based employment at pay rates suitable for living (if barely) in Chapel Hill. Yes, companies like mine don't significantly add to the business tax-base, unlike the type of downtown businesses DEDC does recognize - restaurants, etc. - but they do support a working population that are customers of those businesses, that live locally, that take the bus or ride their bikes to work.

When the Downtown Initiative is completed, don't we want the residents to work as locally as possible - if not from home maybe from across the street?

But that's downtown. I've found it strange as I've observed Town government at close range these last few years, that Downtown consumes so much attention while peripheral economic development or cutting-edge business development trends are apparantly ignored.

Maybe the Mayor or one of the Council candidates will be called upon to address this issue this year - maybe on how they'll instill a little proactivity into our Town's actions (municipal sponsored networking, locally integrated technology training scenarios [hats off to Brian R. and Terri B. are their work on this], etc.) as opposed to the current reactive stance.

HeraldSun's Rob Shapard filled in the story about Bob Krueger, the owner of the Great Harvest Bread, and his request to Council to do something about Eastern Federal.