Unsprawling Carrboro Sprawl is becoming recognized as a major problem for regions and we need to tame it here locally. Sprawl generally takes the form of low-density single-family home developments and their attendant strip malls. Sprawl increases commuting and car use, it increases parking requirements, and it often alienates those lured to the suburban life…
Category: Opinion
Letter to the editor
Employees voices needed Kirk Ross’ recent article about Weaver Street Market’s Food House plans was a timely and clear articulation of Ruffin [Slater]’s vision for Weaver Street Market. I’m concerned however, as a bread baker whose job is moving to Hillsborough, that an article admitting his plans have raised concerns among workers fails to give…
Letter to the editor
Leadership vacuum Re: the June 7 article “Mental health care reductions take effect,†I think the fundamental problem with the reform effort is a lack of leadership from anyone with the right combination of clout and concern. Outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom and Governor Easley both own a large share of…
Letter to the editor
Fox-owned? I was at the Monday forum. I heard about sixty parents and teachers pleading, often eloquently, to make full funding of our schools our community’s top priority. And you give three paragraphs to the one gentleman who put his own concerns above our childrens’? Tell me, is The Carrboro Citizen a subsidiary of Fox…
Letter to the Editor
Thanks to OWASA The Orange County Board of Health would like to express its appreciation to OWASA for its commitment to ensuring that their customers have safe drinking water. Following a recent lead investigation involving a few buildings at UNC, OWASA offered to test all customers’ tap water for lead at no charge. Exposure to…
Letter to the Editor
Grannies out of line The Ragin’ Grannies are way out of line here. How dare they use Memorial Day as a day when they try and get their political points across? It’s a slap in the face to the men and women who serve this country and to the families of the men and women…
For the record
Illiberally sprinkled Last week marked the official beginning of hurricane season, and as if on cue, within the day, two tropical storms had made landfall — one on the Pacific coast of Mexico, while the other, Barry, landed at Tampa Bay, crossed the Florida peninsula and headed back out into the Atlantic for a weekend…
‘No’ is not a solution
By Chris Fitzsimon Columnist Final approval of the Senate budget came Thursday morning with no discussion. That was guaranteed yesterday when Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand moved to cut off debate for both days. The next round of the budget battle comes as House and Senate leaders try to work out the differences between their…
Exile on Jones Street
By Kirk Ross Columnist Way sneaky This has been a hard stretch to follow, but as near as I can tell, state Senate leaders have cleverly cornered GOP legislators by putting together a budget that offers up a nice range of tax breaks for high earners and businesses while underfunding soft-hearted issues like health care…
Exile on Jones Street
Halfway there — well sorta. The release of the House budget followed in quick succession by the crossover deadline (even though it was extended) marks a traditional midpoint in the legislative session. But this year, it’s more of a scene setter for the debates and battles ahead. For after meeting for more than a month…
In support of Voter-Owned Elections
By Robert Morgan RALEIGH – This past week I traveled to Raleigh to reunite with some old friends and colleagues, such as former congressman Tim Valentine, former legislators Wib Gulley and Ronnie Smith and several North Carolina political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans. They came to Raleigh to respond to a plea I made to…
Price makes statement on Iraq War funding bill
By David Price Rep. David Price submitted the following statement during debate of the Iraq War supplemental funding bill. Price voted against the bill, which he faulted for not including provisions to bring about an end to the war. He noted, however, that the bill includes important benchmarks for political progress in Iraq, and he…
An alternative path to chemical security
By Rob Thompson According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are 700 chemical facilities in the United States that put more than 100,000 people at risk of death or serious injury. Stephen Flynn with the Council on Foreign Relations recently described the chemical plant threat as “[t]he equivalent of weapons of mass destruction prepositioned in…
For the Record
Denial of service You would think that here in the tenth largest state in the wealthiest country ever that cutting back on children’s’ health care to save money would be off the table. Think again. Then count to ten, because it isn’t. In fact, it’s one of the ways to “balance†the budget that our…
Letter from the editor: I love a mystery
By Kirk Ross Thanks to the efforts of the redoubtable Herb Bresky, I have in my hand an edition of Nyle Frank’s Carrboro Centipede (“Of the Pedes, By the Pedes and for the Pedes) dated Jan 20, 1971. Under the headline “Carrboro Chosen as Capitol of the Invisible Kingdom,†King Nyle I outlines an ambitious…