February 2014
On Monday, 2/24, the Chapel Hill Town Council will debate on passing a resolution calling upon the State Legislature and the Governor to expand Medicaid. This is an opportunity, under the Affordable Care Act, to enroll up to 500,000 uninsured adults in our state whose income is below 138% of the Federal Poverty Line. Similar resolutions have been past by the Durham City Council and the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
The Resolution points out that our NC State Legislature can at any time accept available federal money to expand Medicaid to our poorest NC citizens. This would provide about 30,000 medical jobs in our state and insure that NC tax dollars stay in NC to serve our citizens and our state economy.
Kathleen Murray
Member of Healthcare for all NC
OrangePolitics will be holding our fourth-annual live online candidate forums for the upcoming primary elections for the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the Orange County Sheriff and the Orange County School Board, as well as for the special election for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.
What races will be held?
- This year there will be primaries in the following races:
- Board of Commissioners, District 1
- Board of Commissioners, District 2
- Board of Commissioners, At-Large
- Orange County Sheriff
- Orange County Register of Deeds
- Orange County School Board
- Orante County Clerk of Court
What are the districts?
Candidate filing closes this Friday, so don’t forget to join us Friday night at Steel String Brewing in Carrboro to meet candidates in this year's elections at our Candidate Coming Out Party.
In terms of the county’s public bodies, the national issues of Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act will come before the Chapel Hill Town Council and Orange County School Board, while Carrboro and the County Commissioners will both hold hearings on their respective land use ordinances.
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS
Regular Meeting: Tuesday, February 25, 2014, 7:30pm, Town Hall Board Room
Long before European settlers came here, Native Americans lived in the area that is now Orange County. Native Americans created a prominent village on the banks of the Eno River—centuries before the place came to be called Hillsborough. Through the village of the Occaneechis ran a well-established path—a path which the Europeans called the Indian Trading Path, the Catawba Path, the Old Trading Path, or the Western Trading Road. In its full extent, the Trading Path ran from the vicinity of Petersburg, VA, to Mobile, AL.
More locally, the Trading Path had a well defined route from the Eno River to the Haw River. West from the Eno River, it more or less followed the current route of Old NC 10, Bowden Road, and Old Hillsborough Road to the present site of the Hawfields Presbyterian Church on NC Hwy 119.
The news much awaited by transit supporters in Orange and Durham Counties finally came yesterday when the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) announced approval of Triangle Transit's request to enter Project Dvelopment phase on the 17-mile Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project. More details can be found in this press release:
DURHAM-ORANGE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECT
GETS FEDERAL GO AHEAD FOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Research Triangle Park, NC (2-25-14) – The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced today that Triangle Transit’s request to enter Project Development on the 17-mile Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project has been approved.
“We are pleased with FTA’s decision,” said Fred Day IV, Chair of the Triangle Transit Board of Trustees. “This represents an important milestone in the course of this project.”
Triangle Transit General Manager David King said, “We can now proceed to complete the environmental process, advance our engineering and make final alignment decisions. We will also use this time to strengthen our financial plan and work with our municipal and university partners on land use and housing issues around stations. We appreciate FTA’s vote of confidence in our work on this project.”
Triangle Transit asked the FTA for entry into the New Starts program in December 2013. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 will be completed by January 2016.
The light rail line would run from Chapel Hill to East Durham with proposed stops as UNC Hospitals and UNC, Mason Farm Road, Friday Center, Hillmont, Leigh Village, Patterson Place, South Square, Duke University, Duke University Medical Center, the VA Medical Center, downtown Durham and Alston Avenue/NC Central University.
The Project Development phase is scheduled to take two years. Project Development is followed by a three year phase called engineering. Construction would follow the engineering phase and would likely take four to five years before light rail service could begin. More information is available at ourtransitfuture.com.
The project cost is estimated at $1.34 billion dollars (in 2012 dollars). Voters in Durham and Orange counties have approved a one-half cent sales tax to fund the local share of the rail project along with new and expanded bus service.
February is heart month, now drawing to its close. Have a heart. Don’t break a heart. Extend your heart to others, to your work, to your professional legacy. Do you love what you do? Is your heart in it? Can you find away to attach your passion to your work? If so, you’re a lucky person, cause when you love what you’re doing, it scarcely feels like work anymore.
Sometimes it’s the work you love. Often it’s the people you work with. Get involved in a volunteer project. March for a charity. Get positive. Stay positive. Have a heart.
And GIVE your heart. Are you an organ donor? If not, click here and learn more: http://www.donatelifenc.org/.
This morning I filed with the Orange County BOE. Ill be running for BOCC District 1, against Mia Burroughs. Contributions will be welcome. Hope to meet everyone in the community. Gary Kahn.
The Chapel Hill Public Library will be hosting an all-day enrollment session from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, March 24, to sign up for the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the library and its community partners will continue to offer regular sessions in their enclosed computer lab for residents to meet one-on-one with Certified Application Counselors throughout the month of March. Reservations and walk-ins will be available during these free, regularly scheduled sessions. Call the library at 919-968-2780 for session times, reservations, and to find out what information to bring in order to get signed up with a healthcare plan.
Certified Application Counselor Kate Douglas Torrey notes, "With the March 31 deadline for 2014 enrollment fast approaching, it is really important for folks without health insurance to sign up, avoid the penalty, and get covered. Did you know that from Oct. 1 through Dec. 23, 89 percent of those who enrolled in North Carolina got some financial assistance - affordable health care is now within reach for many people." Librarian Shannon Bailey adds, "The counselors are doing an amazing job assisting so many citizens, helping them through the process and facilitating signup."
The Chapel Hill Public Library is partnering with UNC Healthcare, the League of Women Voters of Orange-Durham-Chatham, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, and UNC's Student Health Action Coalition. To learn more and stay posted on ACA services at the Library, stop by the library, visit their website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
A department of the Town of Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill Public Library offers connections, choices, and community. To find out more about the library, its collections, programs, and services, visit www.chapelhillpubliclibrary.org or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Date:
Monday, March 24, 2014 - 10:00am to 8:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
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