Dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs can be idyllic neighborhoods. Kids play freely and neighbors visit each other with little threat from cars. In the Carrboro Transportation Advisory Board, we’ve been asked to preserve this environment by blocking connections to new developments. Residents have asked why we recommend to do otherwise – isn’t that exactly what Carrboro…
Category: Opinion
As the season turns, keep safety in mind
By Margot C. Lester The promise of warmer weather this weekend is another reminder that bicycle ridership jumps in the spring. Bike shops are getting busy as folks bring in their rides for tune-ups or trade ups. For everyone on the road, it’s time to tune in to bike safety. Each year, more than 900…
Fixing our crumbling economy: Employee Free Choice Act will help
By Louisa Warren It’s no surprise to anyone that our economy is in shambles. At 8.7 percent, North Carolina’s unemployment rate is the highest in a generation and nearly 400,000 North Carolinians are out of work. Job loss is continuing at staggering rates and our national economy shed almost 600,000 jobs in January. Couple that…
Common sense and taxes
By tradition, we take the term “revolt†very seriously here in Orange County. The practice goes back prior to the founding of the country; and thanks in part to a little rebellion that brewed up in Orange and Alamance counties in the mid 1700s, the groundwork for a revolution was set.
Letter: Clarification needed
I read with astonishment the response by the Carrboro Planning Board’s James Carnahan to Alderman Dan Coleman’s remarks regarding the Colleton Crossing issue. Accordingly, I am addressing my response to Mr. Carnahan for some clarification. Dear Mr. Carnahan: I am confused by your remarks regarding the Carrboro’s Connector Roads Policy regarding the Colleton Crossing issue….
Letter: Thanks for the support
Even in a difficult economy, supporters of Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center stepped forward Feb. 8 to help ensure we continue to fulfill our promise to provide free, non-clinical cancer support services to anyone affected by cancer – patients, survivors, their families, friends and caregivers. Nearly 500 people opened their hearts and wallets at this…
Correction
Last week in our Classified Trivia we ran a list of well-known persons and asked: living or dead? We regret to inform you that since the penning of the questions and their publication, pin-up queen Betty Page passed away.
The forgotten education perspective
By Chris Fitzsimon The legislative budget process begins in public this week as appropriations subcommittees kick off their daily meetings to look for savings to balance next year’s budget. The conversation begins just days after news that Gov. Beverly Perdue now expects a $3.6 billion shortfall next year, a deficit that experts with the N.C….
The New Deal and the New New Deal
The New Deal and the New New Deal: Countering conservative claptrap By Robert Reich The stock market reached a six-year low last week. Why? Some blame loose talk (including that of former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan) about nationalizing the nation’s banks. Others blame Obama’s new plan for helping homeowners who may not be able to…
ICE on ice
Several weeks ago, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners took a rather brave step. At a time when immigrants are being bashed by a growing demagogy, the commissioners declared no way, no how to joining in immigration enforcement under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) program. The program was originally designed to detain and deport…
Considering connector roads
By James Carnahan I disagree with Alderman Dan Coleman’s statement (Citizen, 2/5/09) that Carrboro’s Connector Roads Policy “fails in its stated goal ‘to disperse newly generated traffic and to give a sense of connectivity and unity to the town as it grew.’†I believe the policy will help us realize the stated goals incrementally over…
Letter: Coleman right on roads
Dan Coleman’s comments on the connector road policy are very much on target. It is reassuring to see that the board of aldermen is beginning to recognize that the policy cannot achieve objectives that are intrinsically conflicting. You cannot preserve or enhance “connectivity†of adjacent neighborhoods if you destroy their quiet residential character by opening them…
Balanced effort needed for NC’s children
By Rob Thompson North Carolina’s children are in a tough spot. With a massive budget shortfall this year and an even larger shortfall projected for the next fiscal year, all public programs are on the chopping block – including vital public programs that ensure our children grow up safe, healthy and well educated. Child advocates…
Why are there so few male mentors?
By Graig Meyer Across the Triangle, there are dozens of mentoring programs trying to support young men by providing them with male role models. We know firsthand what newspaper headlines tell us: Too many boys in our society are failing school and falling between the cracks. Like most mentoring programs, the program that I run…
Finding common ground on birth control
By Paige Johnson It was a snow day like no other. With schools and businesses closed, a record number of North Carolinians tuned in to watch the 44th president sworn into office. For many viewers, the day ushered in a belief that we can finally move beyond the entrenched differences that divide us. Two days…