Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The gun situation is not hopeless | NC Policy Watch

I add this to that:

"Dear Mayor HEMMINGER,


Congratulations on your election and beginning of your
service as Chapel Hill Mayor.

I have read and heard a couple of comments by you in the
wake of the death of one-year old Maleah here in Chapel Hill. It is a horrible
story and a deep pain to be shared among us.

What I have not heard from you though, beyond yearning for a
change in state laws, is anything specific that you plan to do as a result of
this tragedy.

Have you announced any initiatives to reduce the number of
guns in Chapel Hill simply by announcing that you want to do so?

Have you spoken of any efforts to help us all understand
more about this little girl’s life and the lives of the people both involved
and affected by her death? In other words, what can we learn about our
neighbors that will help us as a community reduce the chances of anything like
this happening again?

I am a lawyer and I realize that there are limits on what
you can and should say while the cases of the accused are being adjudicated,
but that should not discourage you from speaking about how much more we need to
do to understand and help anyone in our midst who might be headed in the
direction of those who apparently committed this crime.

There are many small actions you might undertake such as
encouraging all businesses in Chapel Hill to post “no weapons” signs on their
premises. I believe that is still allowed under state law, but of course you
would want to check that.

How about a creative effort to help many of us relate better
to those people who have committed crimes, run afoul of the law in some way, or
who may be tempted so that we can try to embrace more of them. It does take a
village……

I look forward to you getting down to specifics on what you
will do as Mayor to help us avoid a “next time”.

Thanks,

Terry

Terry MAGUIRE

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Why not?

Why, exactly, did roughly 90% of voters not vote in the Chapel Hill elections for Mayor and 4 Town Council seats? I think everyone would be better off if we knew.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

UNC demands

Consider going through this with comments, agree/disagree.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Ann J. Loftin: Why you should vote Nov. 3 | News & Observer

These other candidates have to come up with something that they really support as opposed to being opposed to everything. This is not compelling.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Chapel Hill muralist Michael Brown prepares to paint again

Ok.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

More snake bites in NC?

I read that NC has more than most states - why? True of Chapelboroham?

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Daily Tar Heel :: Chapel Hill mayoral race draws 3 candidates

Many of us have three choices - vote for HEMMINGER, KAHN or not to abstain.

Monday, August 31, 2015

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Angry Bent of Party Let Trump Rise - The New York Times

I'd like to start writing a Letter from Chapelhoroham.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Friday, July 24, 2015

LUMO Topics | Open Comment

Quite something. The detail..... who has time for this stuff?

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Launch Chapel Hill

I'd like to see core statistics on how this has worked, and how all of the previous startups are faring today.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Carrboro Family Displaced by Fire - Chapelboro.com

Why cannot we be told as prominently what the cause turns out to be and therefore what we may learn from such an incident?

Friday, June 26, 2015

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Google Fiber

I hope it works out.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Thursday, June 11, 2015

8 Awesome Benefits of Walking - Spry Living

There is another piece today in the same place called "Why we don't walk". Very well done.

Large Disparities Exist Even in State's Healthiest County

Embarrassing, not surprising.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

1.1 Rainwater harvesting from rooftop catchments

Why not do this for all of Chapel Hill? A pipe taking water from our roofs back to holding tanks? We have water pipes and sewage pipes; why not rainwater pipes leaving our homes and offices in the same way as sewage but different pipes?

Sidewalk Labs, a Start-Up Created by Google, Has Bold Aims to Improve City Living - NYTimes.com

Opportunities?

Monday, June 1, 2015

About - TransparencyCamp

Lots of people here ought to attend!

​A tale of two cities - CBS News

What is most worth preserving here in Chapelboroham? Painfully little, I think, other than at UNC?

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Town of Chapel Hill, NC : News Releases : Letter to Governor from Openly Gay Mayors

This all seems to follow personal and not Town agendas. Was this the result of a Town Council vote? If the Mayor wants to speak his mind, go for it, but don't assume that he speaks for the Town which this implies he does. It's fine in this instance, but I still see it as an abuse of office.

Kahn Announces Chapel Hill Mayoral Bid - Chapelboro.com

Let's hope for a robust campaign.

When to Blame the Sidewalk - NYTimes.com

There actually is merit to this!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

France 3 Côte d’Azur - JT 12/13 Côte d'Azur

Town profiled here that is allowing residents to reduce taxes by doing some of the town's chores themselves. What a great idea!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

In Newark, a Vertical Indoor Farm Helps Anchor an Area’s Revival - NYTimes.com

How much of the food we consume in Chapelboroham do we grow or make here? Opportunity to do so much more?

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

With State Control, North Carolina Republicans Pursue Smaller Prizes - NYTimes.com

What have they done to Chapelboroham so far?

The Daily Tar Heel :: Carrboro to consider getting rid of Chapel Hill zip code

And all of the people who have Chapel Hill postal addresses who do not live and pay taxes in Chapel Hill ought to get different addresses, too!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

analyzing businesses by percentage of customers pedestrians v. vehicular - Google Search

Imagine analyzing businesses by the percentage of their customers who arrive in vehicles v. those who come by foot, bicycle, public transport - anything other than a car or truck.

Fundraiser Will Support Kids "Learning Outside" - Chapelboro.com

Would like to know more.

A Cranky Blogger Crusades to Preserve the Ordinary in New York - NYTimes.com

A man after my own heart! We need him here!

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Monday, March 30, 2015

Chatham County : Rezonings & Subdivision Cases

All sorts of interesting projects here. I saw work starting next to Walmart today on 15-501. Did not see a sign - to the south, same side of street.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Kirk Ross: Tax plan could be game changer | News and Observer News and Observer

This is why...

"Think about all the strategies employed to stop the retail “leakage” to Durham, Chatham and Alamance counties. A lot of that is aimed at capturing sales taxes. But if sales taxes are no longer allocated based on point of sale, would it still make sense to worry so much about people spending money on the other side of the county line? Would the tradeoffs of big retail developments make as much sense? Would residential housing and non-retail commercial space suddenly make more sense?

And, maybe most important of all, if there’s no longer a battle over capturing sales taxes, would we see less jurisdictional competition and more cooperation between neighbors?"


Kirk Ross: Tax plan could be game changer | News and Observer News and Observer

I would love to understand this better. Reason to reject some planned developments until this gets decided?

Chapel Hill mayor takes offense | News and Observer News and Observer

More reason to change the leadership of Chapel Hill.

Hillsborough could get boost from MTS Trail | The Herald-Sun

Good. Keep the trails coming!

Popular PBS program brings nationwide notoriety to Kinston - Local - Free Press and Jones Post

What is our version of this in Chapelboroham? I am not sure I can identify it.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Paige Ladisic will serve as 2015-16 Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tar Heel

Welcome!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

The Daily Tar Heel :: Orange County hosts Wishbone Tiny Homes owners to speak to aging population

I sure think this is the answer.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Business owner proposes solution to lack of parking in Chapel Hill

What better evidence does anyone need of why it is important to clean house in November on the Chapel Hill Town Council? It's the thinking that irritates me and while we will have to wait to replace these two, we at least can get started!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

BOUNCING BULLDOGS - Home

Hmmm.

Access to Town of Chapel Hill e-mails

From: Terry MAGUIRE [mailto:tmaguire@newspaper.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:39 PM
To: lsorg@indyweek.com
Cc: Catherine Lazorko
Subject: FW: Update on Ephesus Fordham

FYI

From: Terry MAGUIRE [mailto:tmaguire@newspaper.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:38 PM
To: 'Catherine Lazorko'
Cc:
MSCHULTZ@NEWSOBSERVER.COM; efriend@wchl.com
Subject: RE: Update on Ephesus Fordham

Dear Catherine,

The public is entitled to see all correspondence and communication involving the Mayor and the Town Council Members that involves the conduct of Town business, that is not fall within a statutory exemption. (If you have not been following the case of former Secretary of State CLINTON, I urge you to catch up on that.)

What appears to be happening in Chapel Hill is that few e-mails sent by the the Town Council Members (I do not know if the Mayor uses a private e-mail account for any Town business) are being captured by the Town and maintained in a publicly-accessible manner. Instead, these individuals are conducting Town business through private e-mail accounts with no public record maintained of what they write.

If one searches in your archive using the From field, it is really hard to believe that we are seeing all of the e-mail sent by these individuals in the course of conducting Town business.

Further, it is really hard to believe that there have been only a dozen e-mails in your archive showing that they were sent to anyone named PERRY, just by way of example.

Has the Council ever discussed the practice of allowing members to use private e-mail accounts to conduct Town business?

Has any outside entity ever done an audit of the e-mail archive to see if it is doing what your words on this page http://www.townofchapelhill.org/town-hall/government/mayor-council  say it is:

An archive of council email is available, with content from January 1, 2011.”

Cheers,

Terry

From: Catherine Lazorko [mailto:clazorko@townofchapelhill.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:19 PM
To: Terry MAGUIRE
Subject: RE: Update on Ephesus Fordham

Terry, This email is not in the Town database. It is from Council Member Storrow’s gmail account. Forgive me, as it sounds like I am stating the obvious, and want to understand your interest. --Catherine


Description:
Catherine Lazorko
Communications Manager
Communications and Public Affairs
Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-5705
Phone: (919) 969-5055
Cell: (919) 265-7516
Twitter: @chapelhillgov
Participate!
townofchapelhill.org/participate














From: Terry MAGUIRE [mailto:tmaguire@newspaper.com]
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 5:25 PM
To: Catherine Lazorko
Subject: FW: Update on Ephesus Fordham

Dear Catherine,

I see your response, but I am interested in knowing where to find the e-mails that Council Members and the Mayor have sent that relate in any way to Town business, whether in response to something sent to the mayor and council address or not.

So where would I find this e-mail, for example, in your database?

Thanks,

Terry

From: Lee Storrow [mailto:leestorrow.ch@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2015 9:42 PM
To: Lee Storrow
Subject: Update on Ephesus Fordham

Friends and Neighbors, 

Thank you for writing to the council in the past about Ephesus-Fordham Renewal. I wanted to make sure you knew that the council will be discussing a progress report of the district at our upcoming meeting on Monday, January 26th. We'll be hearing about the three developments that have either been approved or proposed for the district, progress toward the continuing action the council voted on last year, and updates on a potential pedestrian bridge and flooding mitigation. Staff is also proposing that we call a public hearing in April to discuss potential amendments to the form based code. 

I know a number of community members have feedback and thoughts about the district, and I hope you'll share those with the council in advance of the meeting via e-mail (mayorandcouncil@townofchapelhill.org) or by attending Monday's meeting. Below is a link to this agenda item for Monday's meeting. 


As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts and feedback, and let me know if I can be of service in the future! 

Best, Lee 


Lee Storrow
Town Council Member
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-914-0311

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Storrow Will Run for Chapel Hill Town Council in 2015

He surely has not earned my support!

Source: Hoffman on Flight Back to UNC - Chapelboro.com

Let's hope this works!

Streetcar Revival Is Wavering in Some Cities - NYTimes.com

This is very discouraging, I must say, having lived in both Washington, DC and Arlington, VA.

Monday, March 16, 2015

About - Wikis from Wikia - Join the best wiki communities

This, specifically?

Let’s Get Digital! 50 Tools for Online Public Engagement | CommunityMatters

Which of these might work here?

CH Developer Offers Housing Incentive, but Section 8 Issue Persists - Chapelboro.com

I still don't think we have been very creative in coming up with much smaller units at much lower rents, built in an attractive and very utilitarian manner.

ALS

Is it so that about one in 10,000 people contract ALS? If so, how many people suffering with this do we have in Chapelboroham and how can the rest of us be most supportive?

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Google Fiber Taps CH Fiber Hut Location - Chapelboro.com

Hmm.

La ville du futur sera sans poubelles

And in Chapelboroham?

Architect Renzo Piano: The Future Of Europe's Cities Is In The Suburbs : Parallels : NPR

I really worry that we are doing far too little in the way of focusing on the centers of Chapelboroham and how life can be made better starting at the centers and working outward. For example, start with intersection of Franklin and Columbia and move out from there in concentric an sidewalk "circles",

Monday, March 9, 2015

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Cities for Tomorrow · NYT Conferences

Will Chapelboroham be represented?

Chapel Hill’s November Ballot Could Include $40M Bond Referendum - Chapelboro.com

Note my comment - "If these are higher priority than some existing Town expenses, then cut current spending to pay for the more important. If these are lower priority, then they simply have to wait until they rise in importance. These need to be viewed along with everything else on which the Town spends money."

Motive Remains a Mystery in Chapel Hill Murders - NYTimes.com

We run the dual risks of drawing too little or too much out of this.

Friday, February 27, 2015

The Daily Tar Heel :: Power companies working to restore snowstorm outages

What a great opportunity to tell the stories of the workers who make this happen.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

petco chapel hill new store - Google Search

Fascinating to get a post card announcing new Petco store in Chapel Hill, but to find nothing about this on the web. Where is the discussion of how this will compete/affect Phydeaux for example?

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Wednesday, January 21, 2015