Public Health & Safety

Guns in Parks: Wrong for Chapel Hill

On Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council will discuss complying with new state laws passed by the General Assembly in 2013 that specify that cites and towns cannot bar concealed handguns in parks and greenways (House Bill 937, now Session Law 2013-369). We’ve received many e-mails from community members who are concerned about this new law, but unfortunately we have limited ability as a Town Council to react to these changes. Many cities and towns in North Carolina have struggled to figure out how to come into compliance with these new laws. In Asheville and Durham, their City Councils unanimously passed resolutions in opposition to these new laws. The town of Kernersville attempted to keep up their signs banning guns in parks, but recently chose to remove them after pressure from the group Grass Roots North Carolina, who threatened to sue the town if Kernersville did not change the signs. Discussions about gun violence and the second amendment have taken on a new intensity in our country in the last year. These issues at times can be polarizing, but the nuances are

Open Office Hours with Mia Burroughs and Lee Storrow


Join Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School Board Member Mia Burroughs and Chapel Hill Town Council Member Lee Storrow for open office hours to discuss your concerns in Orange County. We'll provide refreshments, just bring yourself. Whether you have a specific concern, or just want to hear more about what local government and the school system are doing, we want to hear from you!

Date: 

Monday, January 13, 2014 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Location: 

Joe Van Gogh Coffee 1129 AD Weaver Dairy Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Rogers Road Proposal Under Consideration this Week Deserves Support

My op-ed from today arguing that the proposal under consideration this Thursday reflects the best of our progressive traditions while beginning to repay our debt to the Rogers Road community:

In 2011 a conservative faction of the Greensboro City Council moved to expand their White Street Landfill, located in the overwhelmingly African-American northeast portion of the city.

As the attorney for community members opposing this expansion as well as a long-term resident of Orange County, it was endlessly frustrating to me when expansion supporters pointed to our own Rogers Road to justify their decision.

Inching toward connectivity

Merritt Crossing, updated 2013

Yesterday I attended an informational meeting about the proposed Tanyard Branch greenway and bridge that the Town of Chapel Hill is planning to build from the end of McMasters Street (near Northside Elementary) to the other side of Bolin Creek, ending at Jay Street, which is a dirt road that connects to Village Drive. (Tanyard Branch is the name of the stream that comes in from Carrboro and feeds into Bolin Creek at Umstead Park.)

This is a project that I personally stand to benefit from greatly. My comment from a year ago on being districted in the Northside Elementary walkzone explains that this will change our daily walk to school from 1.2 miles up a steep hill to .5 miles through the woods. This small greenway will also eventually connect to Phase III of Chapel Hill Bolin Creek Greenway, which will bring the path from MLK to Umstead Park. UNC is also creating a "Campus-to-Campus Connector" from Carolina North which will run paralell to the railroad tracks and just feet from Village Drive. This Tanyard Branch connection will someday make it much easier for people to get to central Chapel Hill from downtown, which is great.

Project Connect

The 7th annual Project Connect will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2013 from 9:00am to 3:30pm at the Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson Street, in Chapel Hill in Orange County.

Project Connect is a one-day, one-stop center that connects people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness with a broad range of short and long-term services. These include housing, employment, health and dental care, mental health care, veterans' and social service benefits, legal services, and more. Community members can support Project Connect by donating and/or volunteering. For more information, visit: www.projectconnectorange.org.

This year, over 50 social service agencies and 300 volunteers will serve an expected 300 guests. Since 2007, the event has served over 900 people in Orange County. The event is a key strategy of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. "Project Connect makes a powerful impact on our homeless neighbors, providing respect and hospitality and a wide range of assistance," said Jamie Rohe, Orange County Homeless Programs Coordinator. "The event enables service agencies to efficiently reach many people in a single day, and it educates the community about the issues of homelessness."

For more information, please visit www.projectconnectorange.org or directly contact Jamie Rohe, Orange County Homeless Programs Coordinator, at 919-245-2496 or jrohe@orangecountync.gov.

Date: 

Thursday, October 10, 2013 - 9:00am to 3:30pm

Location: 

Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson Street, Chapel Hill

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