Blogs

A WRAL report on a recent study out of the University of Wisconsin has Wake County as the healthiest county in the state.

Orange County placed a respectable second overall with first place finishes in the categories of health behaviors, clinical care, and social and economic factors and second place finishes in morbidity and mortality.  Unfortunately, our overall score was depressed by an eighth-place finish in physical environment.  I guess we know where we have our work cut out for us.

The Orange County scores are at: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/north-carolina/2013/orange/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot/by-rank

As Terri Buckner describes in her commentary in yesterday's Chapel Hill News, we could be seeing the end, as we know it, of our very successful recycling program in Orange County.

Some will say that since the county has already privatized recycling in the urban areas, this proposed expansion to county residents should not create any concerns. But if all recycling in Orange County is privatized, the current system is effectually dead, including all the outreach and education, the goodwill recycling and composting at public events like Hog Day, the dedicated staff constantly seeking new markets, and the service to both school systems that has always been handled by the county. In other words, we'll be left with the same kind of recycling program that everyone else in the state has.

In 1997 as part of the state's required plan, we adopted a goal of 61 percent waste reduction. We're just a smidgeon away from achieving that goal (59 percent). We've accomplished something amazing, something worth fighting to protect.

For the last year I've been working with the Community Policing Advisory Committee and the Chapel Hill Police Department to dramatically revamp its Citizen's Police Academy. The new Academy will give participants an inside look at the police department and its work. You'll get to operate a simulator and see what it's like to respond to a domestic call that turns violent, sit in a squad car, watch the SERT and K9 teams in action, and talk to the Chief of Police about tough issues. Along the way you'll learn about the Department's work, how you can help make a safer community and much more. Participation will involve attending one evening session on April 24 or 25 as well as an afternoon session on Sun. April 28.