All posts by Joe Schwartz
Joe Schwartz ·
18 Mar 2010, 3:34 PM ·
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Coal-Free UNC bookended Wednesday’s campus Energy Task Force meeting with two events, one to sway opinion through song and the other through intellectual testimony.
In between the rally and the panel discussion, university energy consultants told the task force that it would take significant legislation to drive up the cost of coal and decrease the expense of green energy to make alternative energy economically feasible for the campus.
A dozen members of Coal-Free UNC, which has been campaigning since last year to quash burning coal at UNC’s Cogeneration Plant, sang a parody of the school’s alma mater and fight song with coal free lyrics at the Old Well.
“I’m a Tar Heel born, I’m a Tar Heel bred, and breathing coal, I’m a Tar Heel dead,” they caroled to the six journalists and two onlookers in attendance.
After the boom box died down, the Coal-Free UNC leaders walked across the street to South Building and delivered two letters to Chancellor Holden Thorp’s office. One signed by 43 faculty members calls on the campus to end coal use by 2015. The other asks Thorp to meet with students on coal. Administrative assistant Barbara Leonard received and logged the letters, which will be passed on to Thorp, she said.
Read next week’s Independent for a breakdown of the Energy Task Force meeting and more on the panel discussion.
Continue reading past the jump for an audio recording of the coal-free alma mater and the full lyrics.
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Chapel Hill, Orange County, environment, politics alma mater, biofuels, coal, Coal-Free UNC, cogeneration plant, Holden Thorp, Old Well, Sierra Club, torrified wood, UNC Energy Task Force
Joe Schwartz ·
16 Mar 2010, 5:57 PM ·
1 Comment
The Sierra Club Coal-Free UNC Campaign is using a meeting of UNC’s Energy Task Force and St. Patrick’s Day as pegs for a green rally Wednesday afternoon.
The group will gather at 1:30 p.m. at the Old Well on Cameron Avenue, just blocks away from UNC’s coal-fired cogeneration plant that heats and cools the campus, to sing the alma mater and fight songs with “coal-free lyrics,” according a press release.
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Chapel Hill, environment Chancellor Holden Thorp, Coal-Free UNC, Sierra Club, UNC Energy Task Force
Joe Schwartz ·
11 Mar 2010, 11:24 AM ·
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Update (8:35 p.m. Friday): A group of Technician alumni, current staff and others concerned about the newspaper’s fate will gather at 8 p.m. Saturday at Mitch’s Tavern to hatch a plan. All are welcome to attend. So far, the Facebook page announcing the event shows 23 confirmed guests.
The Technician, N.C. State’s student newspaper for the past 90 years, is facing extinction because of a lack of staff.
The paper’s editorial board made a desperate plea for help in Wednesday’s paper, the day after no one applied for the editor in chief post.
In today’s edition, news editor Nick Tran gives readers a window into the problems. Former editor Ty Johnson, an occasional contributor to the Independent was suspended when his grades dipped below the required 2.5 GPA for senior leaders of N.C. State’s Student Media Association. The suspension created a chilling effect, where others questioned if they could handle the burden of both reporting and classwork. Continue reading »
Raleigh, Wake County, media NC State, Student Media Association, student newspapers, The Technician, Ty Johnson, Tyler Dukes, Write 30
Joe Schwartz ·
5 Mar 2010, 12:09 PM ·
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Dan Pollitt, who dedicated his life to fighting for civil rights in courts and academia, died this morning at age 88, according to the Carrboro Citizen, which first reported the story.
Dan Pollitt and his wife, N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, with President Barack Obama at a campaign event.
Pollitt, who married State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird in 2009, is a past chairman of the faculty at UNC and helped lead the charge against the speaker ban in 1963.
He will be remembered as a champion for equality and justice, especially in liberal circles.
Rob Schofield, director of research at the progressive think tank N.C. Policy Watch, called Pollitt a “brilliant attorney who used his intellect and commitment to fight for the underdog.
“Throughout the last half decade, there was scarcely an important civil rights or social justice cause in our state that Dan didn’t impact for the better,” Schofield wrote at the N.C. Policy Watch blog. “He will be missed tremendously.”
Pollitt was also an occasional contributor to the Indy. You can read his work here.
North Carolina, Orange County, politics Carrboro Citizen, civil rights, Dan Pollitt, Ellie Kinnaird, NC Policy Watch, speaker ban
Joe Schwartz ·
3 Mar 2010, 4:21 PM ·
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Topeka municipal leaders renamed the town Google, Kansas. Others across the country are forming Facebook groups and bringing tech gurus together hoping to be selected for Google’s high-speed Internet project.
Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC are forming a joint task force, holding a forum and inviting residents to complete a survey.
The group is geared toward becoming a pilot community for Google Fiber, a program announced last month that seeks to build and test Internet service that’s one gigabit per second — 100 times faster than what’s available today.
To qualify, towns of 50,000 to 500,000 people must apply by March 26 and demonstrate that they have adequate resources and infrastructure to make the partnership successful.
The forum is set for 7 p.m. March 15 at Chapel Hill Town Hall.
Read next week’s Independent for a story on what else local municipalities are doing to try to woo Google.
Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Orange County Add new tag, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, fiber, Google, UNC
Joe Schwartz ·
1 Mar 2010, 5:57 PM ·
1 Comment
Twenty-eight candidates are vying for 16 seats tied to Orange County this election season. This cycle, which centers on a May 4 primary and climaxes during the Nov. 2 election, features a crowded race for a spot on the Orange County Board of Education and experienced contenders competing both in the sheriff and county commissioner at-large races.
Lindy Pendergrass, who won his first term as Orange County sheriff back when Michael Jordan hit the shot to down Georgetown, is seeking his eight term and will square off against Hillsborough Police Chief Clarence Birkhead in the democratic primary. Republican Buddy Parker, who lost to Pendergrass in 2006 and earned just 19 percent of the vote, awaits the winner in the general election.
Meanwhile, the Board of County Commissioners race will see three-term incumbent Barry Jacobs face a challenge from former Hillsborough Mayor Joe Phelps and current Carrboro Alderman Joal Hall Broun in contest for the at-large seat. Long-time incumbent Alice Gordon doesn’t face competition for the District 1 seat and three newcomers, Earl McKee and Renee Price on the Democratic side and Greg Andrews on the Republican end, are seeking the District 2 slot.
District 1 consists of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and two-thirds of the Chapel Hill Township, while District 2 makes up the northern parts of the county.
Candidates have a one-in-two shot to gain a seat on the Orange County Board of Education with eight hopefuls eyeing one of four seats. Two incumbents, Chairwoman Anne Medenblik and second-term hopeful Debbie Piscitelli, face Will Atherton, Brenda Stephens, Laura Nicholson, Donna Coffey, Keith Cook and Charles Williams.
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Orange County, politics 2010 election, Anne Medenblik, Barry Jacobs, Bill Faison, Board of County Commissioners, Brenda Stephens, Buddy Parker, Cathy Wright, Charles Williams, Clarence Birkhead, clerk of court, Debbie Piscitelli, Deborah Brooks, Donna Coffey, Earl McKee, Ellie Kinnaird, Greg Andrews, James Stanford, Joal Hall Broun, Joe Hackney, Joe Phelps, Jon Bass, Keith Cook, Laura Nicholson, Lindy Pendergrass, NC General Assembly, Orange County, Orange County Board of Education, Orange County sheriff, register of deeds, Renee Price, Rick Smith, Ryan Hilliard, Soil Conservation District Supervisor, Verla Insko, Will Atherton
Joe Schwartz ·
25 Feb 2010, 4:25 PM ·
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Members of the NAACP stood on the front lawn of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools administration building Thursday morning, calling a plan to add new honors courses a harbinger of resegregation.
“We will not stand for the resegregation of our schools,” Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Chapter President Michelle Cotton Laws said, standing behind a banner reading “the struggle continues” and flanked by parents and activists both black and white. “Separate is not equal.”
Earlier this month the school board voted to add six honors courses in science and social studies, following four meetings and a public hearing.
The vote split 4-3, with the three black members opposed. The NAACP says adding honors courses without first addressing the achievement gap that cuts along race and class lines only heightens the disparity in local classrooms.
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Carrboro, Chapel Hill, education achievement gap, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, honors classes, Michelle Cotton Laws, Mike Kelley, NAACP
Joe Schwartz ·
17 Feb 2010, 12:14 PM ·
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Durham’s El Centro Hispano plans to open its Orange County branch on April 1 in Carrboro Plaza, though they are yet to secure a lease, leaders said in both Spanish and English at the Seymour Center on Tuesday.
The group hopes to bring financial stability, consistent leadership and a successful service and funding model to Carrboro after El Centro Latino closed in November, leaving a hole in translation, job finding, after school and legal services for Spanish speakers.
“There are no guarantees. We are out on a limb,” El Centro Hispano Board Chairwoman Susan Denman said. “It’s because we support what Carrboro and Chapel Hill have been doing, and we have faith in the foundation the board has laid.”
More than 100 community members, some former volunteers or members of churches that supported El Centro Latino, attended the meeting during which El Centro Hispano outlined its plans for Orange County and pinned for support.
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Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Durham County, Orange County, education Carrboro Plaza, El Centro Hispano, El Centro Latino, Latino Community Credit Union, Seymour Center, Susan Denman
Joe Schwartz ·
11 Feb 2010, 5:29 PM ·
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It’s a slow news day down at the Orange County Board of Elections with only two candidates filing for office. N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney surprised no one by declaring his intent to run for a 16th term. Newcomer Renee Price signed up to run against fellow challenger Earl McKee for a county commissioner seat in district two.
“We’ve had a quiet day,” said Tracy Reams, Orange County Board of Elections chairwoman. “We’re hoping to get some more candidates in here. I think when you have races that are opposed, more people feel like their vote matters.”
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Orange County, politics Carrboro Town Hall, clerk of court, Joe Hackney, Morehead Planetarium, NC General Assembly, one-stop voting, Orange County Board of Commissioners, Orange County Board of Education, Orange County Board of Elections, Orange County sheriff, OrangePolitics, register of deeds, Renee Price, soil conservation supervisor, Tracy Reams
Joe Schwartz ·
11 Feb 2010, 3:53 PM ·
3 Comments
UNC burned 104,586.00 tons of coal at its cogeneration plan in 2009, public records show.
During the past five years, they’ve used 568.703 tons of coal purchased from eight mines all in Virginia or Kentucky.
You can access the data here. Next week’s Indy will feature an analysis of the mines and their practices.
Regina Stabile, director of institutional records and reporting compliance, filled our public records request Wednesday, the same day that our story on UNC coal use hit the stands. The request, which asked for the amount and cost of coal used each year since 2005 along with the name and location of the mines, was filed Jan. 29.
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Chapel Hill, Orange County, environment coal, Cogeneration Facility, Energy Task Force, Regina Stabile, UNC
