Showing posts in the “Chapel Hill” category
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
Samiha Khanna ·
15 Mar 2010, 10:49 AM ·
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In a follow-up to our cover March 10 cover story, “Gaga for Google’s fiber,” we’d like to update metrics of the involvement of the Triangle’s top three participants.
Durham’s still ahead in Facebook presence, with 2,180 fans on its “Bring Google Fiber to Durham N.C.,” page, while 935 people have signed up for “Bring Google Fiber to Raleigh!”. The western part of the Triangle is not far behind: the Facebook group “Bring Google Fiber to Chapel Hill & Carrboro N.C.” boasts 906 members.
The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and UNC-Chapel Hill, will hold a public forum at 7 p.m. today at Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., to receive public comment regarding community interest in the fiber optic trial and how residents would use an ultra-high speed Internet network.
On Thursday, Durhamites hope to make a splash by corralling thousands of locals into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park at 11 a.m. Thursday to spell out “We want Google” on the field, to pose for an aerial photograph. More here >>
Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, Raleigh, Wake County, business, media, national, news Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Google, Google Fiber, Internet, Raleigh, Triangle
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 ·
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, 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
Joe Schwartz ·
8 Feb 2010, 11:55 AM ·
2 Comments
Carlo Robustelli, former aide to Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, has been named director of Orange County operations for Durham Technical Community College.
We profiled a Robustelli in December, when he concluded two and a half years in the Chapel Hill mayor’s office as Foy opted against running for re-election.
Robustelli, who took classes at Durham Tech and transferred the credits to UNC, now is charged with running student services, recruitment and overseeing daily operations for the Orange County campus.
“I am delighted that Carlo Robustelli has joined us,” Durham Tech President Bill Ingram said in a press release. “He is uniquely qualified to help us strengthen and sustain Durham Tech’s programs and services in Orange County.”
Chapel Hill, Durham, Orange County, education Bill Ingram, Carlo Robustelli, Durham Technical Community College, Kevin Foy
Joe Schwartz ·
3 Feb 2010, 6:26 PM ·
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Durham’s El Centro Hispano announced plans today to open an Orange County branch, which would fill the gap left when El Centro Latino shut its doors in November.
Leadership from both nonprofits will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Seymour Center auditorium in Chapel Hill to garner input on the collaborative effort.
Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, executive director of El Centro Hispano, said her organization is ready and willing to provide much-needed translating, English lessons and job finding services for Orange County’s Spanish-speaking community.
“We are confident that the structure we have here will allow us to give good service to the community,” she said.
El Centro Latino closed after a 10-year run as a nonprofit due to a lack of funding and constant turnover of its leadership.
Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Orange County El Centro Hispano, El Centro Latino, Orange County, Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, Seymour Center
Joe Schwartz ·
2 Feb 2010, 4:47 PM ·
2 Comments
James Hansen, one of the nation’s leading experts on global warming, joined a group of UNC students today in calling for the university to become coal-free.
Standing in front of UNC’s Cogeneration Facility, which powers the campus, about 20 students held signs encouraging Chancellor Holden Thorp to “be a climate champ.”
They were joined by Professor Jose Rial, a UNC glaciologist, Patricia Leighten, a Westwood neighborhood resident who lives about a quarter-mile from the plant, a handful of Sierra Club members and Carrboro Alderman Sammy Slade.
The speakers praised Thorp’s creation of an Energy Task Force and said it provides an opportunity for UNC to become a national leader in renewable and clean energy.
“The best way for the Energy Task Force to address energy use on campus is to get UNC off of coal as quickly as possible,” said Stewart Boss, a freshman and media outreach coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Coal-Free UNC Campaign. “Coal is the dirtiest possible energy source we could be using today.”
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Chapel Hill, Orange County, environment Coal-Free UNC Campaign, Cogeneration Facility, Holden Thorp, James Hansen, Jose Rial, Sammy Slade, Sierra Club, UNC
