July 2007

I got to watch the Simpsons last night!

On the rare occasions when I can go straight home after work I like to watch the Simpsons, which is on from 6-7 PM every week night.

But in the past the earliest bus I could get from Raleigh to Chapel Hill when I finished work was at 5:40. By the time the bus got to downtown Chapel Hill and I walked to my apartment it was usually 6:50. No Simpsons for me.

Well TTA has now added two extra routes in the morning and afternoon to give folks who work in Raleigh and live in Orange County more flexibility with their daily schedules.

The bus already left at 6, 7, and 8 AM. There are now 7:30 and 8:30 departures as well.

The old afternoon routes set off from Moore Square in downtown Raleigh at 4:30, 5:40, and 6:40. The new times are 4:40, 5:10, 5:40, 6:10, and 6:50.

What does this mean for me? Took the 5:10 bus home last night, walked in at 6:15 and got 45 minutes of Simpsons watching in!

I learned on Tuesday that our community lost a great warrior for justice and equality. Ever since I met her nearly 20 years ago, Lisa Garmon was a festive rabble-rouser and a tireless worker for what's right. She died of cancer on Tuesday.

I worked with Lisa on environmental issues, on making local media, on organizing peace and justice protests, on keeping Internationalist Books afloat, and on countless other causes. I remember her amazing energy and dependability. She was great for things like coming through with a last-minute food donation for your fundraising event. She was there for you.

Lisa was mostly a face-to-face grassroots organizer, so there's not much of an online legacy to show her work. One great testament to her is the early archives of HA!, a feirce feminist 'zine that she founded in the mid-90's. I remember working on the first issue only to hear that the printer had refused to publish it because it included penis graphics! Never mind all those female body parts, right?

Those interested in water quality may want to attend a Public Hearing for the Proposed Water Supply Nutrient Strategy for B. Everett Jordan Reservoir. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June July 12, at The Century Center.

This is one of three hearings being held by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality. A good overview can be found in their public notice.

The proposed rules call for much more stringent discharge limits for phosphorus and nitrogen. As well as the regulations themselves, a major concern for local government is who pays for the improvements. As Mayor Chilton pointed out at a recent board meeting, the Corps of Engineers laid out the lake to take significant run off from more densely populated areas, those areas are already ahead of the curve on controlling run-off (as compared to others in the watershed), and we will not consume Jordan Lake water.

The proposed rules are here.

As you intelligent readers know, free and fair media is essential to a funtioning democracy, and self-expression is essential to a healthy society. We are fortunate to have The People's Channel here in Chapel Hill who have been doing a great job with minimal resources to keep the airwaves open to residents for whatever we might need to say and do.

That's why I am thrilled to support their upcoming event "A Celebration of Localism" which will highlight the importance of "keeping it local" and also raise badly needed funds for The People's Channel. TPC's Director Chad Johnston has been a strong voice for independent and locally-produced media both here and at the state and national level. We're lucky to have a resources like him in our community.

I think it's great that the event being done with the support (and hosting!) of the Preservation Society. They are also about localism, but in a different way than many of us think of it. I hope to see you there!

It was a huge hit last year. Now it's time for... the Second Annual Carrboro Film Festival. We want your films!

The 2nd annual Carrboro Film Festival is seeking submissions from filmmakers who have breathed in the good, local air of Orange County.

Nic Beery & Jackie Helvey, the festival's founders, say, “The creativity in this region is wonderful with artists, musicians and writers. Last year's Carrboro Film Festival showed that there are amazing filmmakers as well. This festival is a celebration of local filmmakers' work and an outlet to get their films shown to a large, receptive audience. We encourage everyone to submit their work for the possibility of their film to be shown this year.”

The deadline for submissions is August 30th, $15 per submission. Late deadline is September 20th, $30.

The only requirements are that the filmmaker at one time in life had a brush with Orange County and that the film is no longer than 20 minutes. Films can be in any format: film, video or even digital photos.

Submission forms are on www.carrborofilmfestival.com.

Am I the only one who was shocked to read that Chapel Hill's newly hired Economic Development Officer is suggesting we should build more big box chain stores?

While he and the committee agreed that several areas of the town could be better developed to maximize business and slow "leakage" of retail traffic to other municipalities, Kleinschmidt's face crinkled into an involuntary scowl when Bassett introduced the concept of a "lifestyle center" such as a mall or big box outlet that could single-handedly draw business to an area.

The committee also discussed potential targets for a retail makeover, including University Mall, Eastgate Shopping Center, downtown's West End and the interchange of I-40 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Kleinschmidt agreed that leakage must be stopped, but added, "KFCs and Wachovias ... that can't be it. That can't be right."
- heraldsun.com: New economic director takes look at growth, 7/17/07

WCHL reports that mall manager Nathan Millian attempted to throw Cindy Sheehan off Carr Mill property when she was meeting with Mark Chilton and impeachment activists yesterday. Eventually Shehan was allowed to stay at Panzanella. Here is the MP3.

Regardless how you feel about Ms. Sheehan's politics, is this any way to treat a nationally-known guest? It's certainly no way to treat anyone else.

What motivates Nathan Millian to butt heads with a Mayor's lunch guest? I don't buy the disruption of business argument. Ms. Sheehan brought a lot of free publicity to Carr Mill and the Town of Carrboro. Why did Mr. Millian squander it by being so rude?

Next month I'll be sharing housing in Chapel Hill with a few other low-income folks. The place is nice and recent energy bills have been fairly low. But the place is fairly old, and there is at least one major problem--a very hot attic--so I'd be interested in getting an energy audit if we could afford it. Pointers to providers would be appreciated. Apologies if this is a FAQ, but casual googling and a look at the OC extension service website found nothing. (And apologies if you find this OT, but I disagree: while the personal is not always political, these days personal energy use is very political. But feel free to point to other venues.)

Many members of the Chapel Hill community have been working for years to increase voting awareness and participation among students. All that effort might be for naught if the Orange County Board of Elections decides to move the one-stop early voting site to the new Robert and Pearl Seymour Senior Center on Homestead Road. According to the News & Observer, Morehead Planetarium will be under construction and will not be able to host the voting site.

The news of the potential relocation of the voting site to the Senior Center, a location that is not within walking distance for students, is especially disheartening after the recent passage of the same-day voter registration bill, which many believe will help increase voter turnout among students. If we want to encourage students to take an interest or an active role in their community, we should not relocate polls to a center that is out of reach for most students.

Last week I created a Google map of all of the candidates in Orange County in this year's municipal and school board races. Now excellent electoral map maker Damon Seils has added two very helpful resources: a map of every polling site in the county, and another map of the voting precincts. All of these maps will be permanently available on the election info page: http://orangepolitics.org/elections-2007

Now watch what happens when I combine the candidate map with the precinct map. Pretty cool, huh?

As you may know, last session the State Legislature passed a law which allows cable and phone companies to avoid many of the public service requirements that have existed for over 30 years. Those requirements mainly have to do with channel space and support for Community Media Centers, like Chapel Hill's own The Peoples Channel, and Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) Access channels. The bill has turned out to be a very serious blow to local governments and nonprofits like us. Many of us concerned with the legislation worked together to produce a new piece of legislation that would remedy two major problems with the bill: funding for Community Media Center and PEG channels, and deployment of broadband to rural and economically distressed communities.

The bill, S-1068 moved along quickly in the Senate and is now on the House side, but there is a fear that they won't take it on before the session ends or at all. I haven't given a call to action thus far because we thought this bill would have no problems and I know you all have busy lives. However, we need to make calls by tomorrow (Wednesday).