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I'm having trouble getting excited about the fact that Chapel Hill won an "extreme web makeover" from a company in Kansas called Civic Plus. Just because it's free doesn't make it a good deal. Would you take a free makeover from Tammy Faye?
Based on their own website and on their portfolio, I don't really think Civic Plus has much to brag about in the design area. What's worse, this "prize" locks the town into a proprietary hosting and content management system. Will we be able to export this information in the future when we inevitably want to change change platforms?
I think a better long-term solution will be to host and manage the site with local expertise. There are only dozens of companies in the city limits (not to mention the Triangle area) that would be willing and able to do this work. So will we be able to move from Kansas to Chapel Hill gracefully, inexpensively, and on our own volition?
Speculation about Carrboro's upcoming elections deserves its own thread. The Chapel Hill News today reported that Alderman McDuffee would almost certainly not run again and Gist quite possibly not with Herrera unknown. That leaves at least one open alderman seat and possibly as many as three. We already know that Mike Nelson will step down so there may be a competitive race for mayor as well.
The News speculated about three possible non-incumbent candidates, all fairly well-known: Catherine DeVine, James Carnahan, and Randee Haven-O'Donnell. All three are advisory board veterans, DeVine more associated with the arts, Carnahan and Haven-O'Donnell with planning and the environment.
All three are to some extent status quo candidates within the Carrboro context. The News did not report on any Steve Rose or Jeff Vanke type challengers. Reporter Dave Hart did not indicate whether he beat the bushes and couldn't find any.
adapted from Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday May 07, 2005
The great success of last Saturday's first annual Carrboro Book Fair led me to some reflection on the event's organizer, Internationalist Books and Community Center ("Ibooks").
Although the book fair was the brainchild of Ibooks volunteer and board member Ethan Clauset, sponsoring a high-profile event like this is reflective of the growth and organizational maturity of Internationalist over the past decade. A few years ago, Ibooks became an official nonprofit, increasing its options for fundraising. The nonprofit status dovetailed nicely with its member-controlled, volunteer-run collective organization.
Among Ibooks' recent accomplishments is its development of a Radical Lending Library for its members. The store also helped local activists attend anti-war rallies in Washington and Fayetteville, free trade protests in Miami and the March for Women's Lives in Washington.
I was a bit turned off when I read the Herald-Sun's recent announcement that they would introduce a Faith and Family section to the paper. This smacked of the familiar right-wing conflation that would twist social relations to conform to some conservative religious viewpoint.
Based on today's debut of the section, it turns out to not be so bad. They've wrapped the religion pages around a page with a couple of secular articles on family matters (including a topic big in my household: kindergarten).
There was a bit of a tease presented in the form of a photo of two women embracing, looking as if they might be about to kiss. No it wasn't for an article on girl-on-girl faith&family fun. It was for a discussion of trends in baby showers.
Still, the section's title does not have the inclusive sensibility that I would look for in our local paper. It is offensive to those whose families follow the faith-free path.
This weekend the Town will be christening Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. I am very excited to see this name change finally hapenning, and the Town has put together quite a celebration to commemorate the event. The fun starts Sunday at 2:30 at the intersection of Stephens Street and MLK Boulevard (near Town Hall) and winds up at the Hargarves Center with performances by an interracial choir and Liquid Pleasure - who are probably Chapel Hill's longest continuously gigging party band. There'll be something for everyone.
Y'all come!
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