Blogs

Thanks to the News & Observer for reporting that "Blogs are changing politics." I know that's a real newsflash for all you OP readers.

This story raised two questions for me:

1. Didn't Tom Jensen already write an informative column about this exact same subject (elected officials blogging)? Ah yes, here it is: "Blogs keep us plugged in on politics," 12/16/06.

2. How many of the people in this article had blogs before OrangePolitics started?

Pearce said the Triangle's political bloggers are centered in Orange County because its politics tend to be more liberal.
- newsobserver.com | Blogs are changing politics, 2/2/07

Hmm, yeah that's probably it. There's no other reason Orange County would have a disproportionate number of political bloggers.

Can anyone help me find documentation on the formal petition process in Carrboro and Chapel Hill?

I've looked at the town websites and must be missing something obvious (or not so.....)

Thanks!

Yesterday, at our day-long retreat, the Board of Aldermen worked through several dozen possible next steps for our economic development strategy and chose three to refer to staff and three to refer to itself.

Staff will be looking into:

-A leakage analysis of the Carrboro economy. Leakage analysis looks at what goods and services are being purchased in Carrboro from non-local sources and develops strategies to develop local alternatives. Although discussion of leakage locally typically focuses on retail sales, our consultant Michael Shuman points out that significant leakage occurs in such areas as food, energy, financial services, absentee landlords, and transportation. Leakage analysis is foundational to related initiates that, Shuman recommends, could include fostering entrepreneurship, building business support networks, mobilizing demand (what he calls “think local first” campaigns), and better systems for making equity available to locally owned small business. (Shuman’s powerpoint presentation developed for Carrboro should be available on the town web site soon)