Blogs

World Class: It Ain't Always Pretty

Does a picture say a thousand words? Anita Wolfenden took this one near her home on Mason Farm Road. Will the final product "aid the University?s desire to enhance the setting of the entire community"? (Carolina North planning document). I enlarged this photo but still could not find the buffer.

click to enlarge

Pee-ew

"Something stinks south of Mebane"
Late last month, community members, a few farmers and Orange County health officials met to air out concerns that the byproduct of municipal wastewater treatment - sewer sludge - being applied to farmland is contaminating water wells and causing sickness in the community. Though there is no evidence yet that the fertilizer is a health risk, one Oak Grove resident believes there is reason for fear.
-The News of Orange County, 2/4/04

It was my understanding that OWASA does something similar with recycling their waste as fertilizer at local farms. It sounds like these farmers are patronizing Synagrow Industries of Texas and Burlington's treated wastewwater instead of OWASA's crap. Does our shit stink?

Barry Jacobs to Run for State House!

You heard it here first, folks. Barry tells me he will run for the newly-formed State House District 50. Of course we still have to wait to hear the final fate of the latest redistricting plan (PDF).

Read some advance endorsements of his campaign by OrangePolitics readers.

What's Up With Pacifica

I haven't been keeping up with Carrboro's supposedly-controversial Pacifica development, but it seems to be making headlines a lot.

The planners of Pacifica say they will move ahead with the housing project, despite town officials' refusal to cap the developers' share of the financial burden.

Pacifica, a controversial subdivision approved by the Board of Aldermen last June, will add 46 units to an 8.3-acre lot at the end of Hanna Street and Watters Road.

Touted by some developers and aldermen as a tool for integrated affordable housing, Pacifica sparked criticism from those who argued the subdivision would increase traffic and noise in the surrounding community.
-Chapel Hill Herald, 2/5/04

It always seemed to me to be a good proposal, and I've assumed that opposition came from the anti-infill NIMBYs in the area. Am I right or am I missing something? Pardon the bad analogy, but is this Carrboro's Meadowmont? What's this "cap" business?

Unfinished Business

Guest post by Will Raymond

Here's a last bit of business from the 2003 Council campaign.

A little background. Before attending Daily Tarheel forum, I went to the Board of Elections to check out all the candidates' campaign reports. I was looking for one thing, but was completely surprised to find another.

The surprise? The pattern of contributions to Candidate Bachman was unlike any other of the candidates. She was receiving most of her money via large contributions from a few in the development community. This was unlike her fellow candidates whose contributions varied across the spectrum and came from a broad range of residents.

Based on this anomalous pattern, I decided to ask Candidate Bachman two questions at that night's forum.

One, given that she was seeking to correct an image problem - that she was unduly influenced by outside interests � how could taking 60% of her funds from this group of contributors possibly help her rework that image? Two, was this very unusual pattern of contributions continuing?

She ducked the first question. On the second question, she told me I could wait until January to take a look.

Pages

 

Community Guidelines

By using this site, you agree to our community guidelines. Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in moderation or eviction.

 

Content license

By contributing to OrangePolitics, you agree to license your contributions under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Creative Commons License

 
Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by WeebPal.