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So there's an election again on Tuesday, in which Democrats get to select whether Elaine Marshall or Cal Cunnigham will run against US Senator Richard Burr in the fall. (I'm partial to Elaine, but I really don't care which one wins as long as he or she beats Burr.) Voters in the northern and western* part of Orange County will also be settling a near-tie for fourth place in the nonpartisan Orange County Board of Education race.  By all accounts (http://www.orangepolitics.org/2010/05/whats-at-issue-in-the-school-board-runoff), your choices seem to be dumb and dumber, so good luck with that!

I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize there would be one-stop early voting for this run off until it started a couple of weeks ago. You can only do it at the Board of Elections office in Hillsborough and it ends Saturday afternoon. Get the info at http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/onestop.asp or just vote on Tuesday at your own poll site like you would on any other election day.

With so little to draw people out, I wonder if this will be one of the state's lowest turnout elections ever? 

* Corrected 6/21/10. 

Part of the latest Weaver Street Market newsletter states that Weaver Street Market has sold their property at the corner of Greensboro and Main Streets to Mark Pantlin of Raleigh. (This was the former location of WCOM and Community Realty.) Apparently they had high hopes for this high-profile property in the center of Carrboro, but finally resigned themselves to just taking the money and avoiding the hassle of a new venture and new development. I keep hearing the word "Walgreens" come up in discussions of this corner, so this makes me nervous.

A friend and I did a little research to see if we could find out more about this developer. Pantlin lives in Cary, and on a LinkedIn profile he says he is President of Pantlin Development. (But he only has one connection on LinkedIn, and the NC Dept of State says Pantlin Development was dissolved in 2009.) I found him on this neat CorporationWiki network map (at left), which also lists some other companies to which he may be related.  It also looks like he donated to the Republican National Committee in 2001 and to George Bush in 1999.  

Of more concern is the possibility of a national chain not just locating, but developing a lot (or multiple lots, probably) in the heart of Carrboro. Since it would be right across the street from an existing chain drug store, you can't even really argue that it's meeting some community need.

Guest post by Barbara Janeway on the results of the Transition Carrboro Chapel Hill brainstorming May 15 at Century Center:

Want our community to be safe and resilient through the coming effects of unstable economy, climate change, and the end of cheap oil? A great start was made on this issue at The Great Unleashing, held May 15 at Carrboro's Century Center, sponsored by Transition Carrboro Chapel Hill.

Over 150 people attended and created the agenda for the day themselves, identifying issues to work with. From these, 28 discussion groups met throughout the day, and brainstormed! By day's end, a powerful 'unleashing' of ideas had occurred, and 21 Action Groups were formed. Many positive visions of our future were communicated!

These Action Groups have begun to meet regularly. And those who join will begin the work of transition in our region, to a more stable local economy with more vibrant local resources. Anyone is welcome to join an action group. The groups will do work on issues such as: more affordable housing, communal gardening, energy independence, children's sustainable education, skill-sharing, health, and many more.