By Kathleen and Carl Hoffmann In order to address budget cuts and shrink costs, the Orange County Board of Commissioners and staff plan to reduce services at solid waste convenience centers. At four of the five convenience centers, they will cut hours and operations from six days to four days a week. Unfortunately, the fifth…
Category: Opinion
Letter: Project asked to add commercial space
Thank you for your article on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen’s granting a one-year extension on several development permits. As your article points out, these extensions are essential to give these projects time to get going in a challenging economy. One point omitted is that we only granted the Ballentine AIS a six-month extension, half…
Letter: Real health care reform needed
As I read of the efforts of the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry and other for-profit organizations spending millions of dollars to prevent health care reform, I am saddened and angered at the destruction of our democracy. I read that $1.4 million is being spent every day to prevent real reform. Lobbyists representing corporate America,…
Letter: Nominations sought
In times such as these, it is easy to put our personal philanthropy on the shelf while we focus on surviving the economic challenges of the day. Thank goodness for the many generous souls in our community who, regardless of how much or how little they have to give, remain committed to expressing their compassion…
We must change course on health care
Rep. David Price Our nation is the home of the world’s premier medical research and development enterprise and its most advanced medical technology. The Research Triangle is at the forefront of much of this work — to cure cancer, treat chronic diseases and train world-class health care providers. But our best efforts to prevent disease…
Schools will do more with less
Neil Pedersen Although the goals and major strategies of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will remain the same this school year, the environment in which we will educate children will be different. The district will be coping with reduced funding along with a number of other significant changes.
This is about more than health care
Chris Fitzsimon It’s not hard to figure out that much of the anger and rage on display at the town hall meetings on health care has little to do with the particulars of President Obama’s health care reform proposals. The signs bearing racist caricatures of African-Americans; references to Hitler, abortion and gun rights; and the…
The majority want health care reform
Barlow Herget To quote that old Republican Ronald Reagan, “There they go again.†I’m talking about the varied interests that are opposed to national health care reform. They know this is a critical time in the legislative process. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has adopted a plan and adjourned for summer recess. The Senate…
Ginning up the anger
Good people are going hungry tonight all over this land, and right here in neighborhoods scattered around these little towns. Jobs have dried up. Hiring is on hold. Hours are down. Benefits are going away. More and more people are joining the ranks of the uninsured, while the ranks of the underinsured are discovering the…
A sigh of relief
Chris Fitzsimon The 2009 General Assembly session will adjourn in the next few days, but the battle to characterize the session is already well underway. A recent News & Observer story carried the headline “Democrats tax hikes tickle GOP,†referring to the roughly $1 billion tax increase in the final budget agreement.
Needed now more than ever: The Americans with Disabilities Act
Vicki Smith Nineteen years ago, on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law. This landmark civil-rights legislation removed many barriers to participation in community life for people with disabilities. Whether the barriers were driven by policy, architectural design, communication or attitudes, the ADA was (and is) intended to guarantee people with…
Affirming a tradition
Michelle Johnson “This is the story of how a person gets radicalized,†said social-justice organizer Barbara Zelter, during her interview with Heirs to a Fighting Tradition. Before immersing myself in work with Heirs to a Fighting Tradition, I’d had the experience of observing people organize, use voice, breed hope and build collective action. But I…
Misplaced priorities
Look, a lot of us love Carolina, really and truly. And we know that among those who hold it near and dear are folks in positions of power and influence. I have witnessed ordinarily composed gentlemen in high office get choked up with eyes all teary at the thought that one child deserving of a…
There’s no such thing as fifth place
Damon Seils and Brad Hammill The resignation of Bill Strom from the Chapel Hill Town Council has touched off a discussion about the appropriate process for filling the vacancy. In the upcoming municipal elections, eight candidates are vying for four council seats. The town charter requires the additional fifth seat vacated by Strom to be…
Carrboro greenways: Today and tomorrow
Dave Otto Greenways serve many important functions in the community, including: linking neighborhoods, schools and parks; providing off-road transportation corridors; providing recreational opportunities; providing opportunities for environmental education; and encouraging healthy living. Carrboro has been creating greenways for many years in bits and pieces. New developments are required to build greenway segments and, as undeveloped…