Yesterday’s earthquake got me nostalgic for the days when anything that went awry we could blame Bill Strom. Fortunately, Penny Rich seems a capable substitute. I’d like to move beyond the shenanigans of Rich, but darned if she doesn’t keep serving them up to me like prosciutto and melon on a doily-lined platter. After her […]
Shaking budgets like an earthquake
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 24, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/24/shaking-budgest-like-an-earthquake/
Why Pennygate matters
When I worked as a cashier in a grocery store, I was not allowed to check out my mother. Store policy. Thirty years later when my son worked as a cashier at a different grocery chain in a different state, the policy at his store was that cashiers couldn’t check out any of their relatives. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 22, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/22/why-pennygate-matters/
Pennygate
Ethics? Ethics, and transparency, for that matter, are for the little people, Penny Rich seems to believe. At the May 23 Town Council meeting, in which she petitioned council to lift the alcohol ban from 523 E. Franklin St., Rich argued that the former museum belonged to “all the people.” And by that she evidently […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 18, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/18/pennygate/
Park your stories here
Downtown San Francisco merchants, fed up that no one in authority in town listened to their concerns about how lack of parking was hurting their business, came up with an idea to get some publicity. They pooled their resources and held a contest for the most outrageous parking ticket story. The prize? The consortium would […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 17, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/17/park-your-stories-here/
No news
A few years ago, a fire in an apartment complex killed five kittens. The Chapel Hill News story listed the names of all five cats. Last week, a fire in an apartment off Weaver Dairy Road killed a 7-year-old girl. The Chapel Hill News didn’t bother to print her name. We had to go to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 15, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/15/no-news/
Consequences
I suppose I shouldn’t be so hard on people in leadership positions. They’re probably too busy to think of the consequences of decisions they make. Like when Butch Davis, leader of the football program at UNC while it racked up nine or so charges of violating NCAA rules, offered his son a scholarship to play […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 8, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/08/consequences/
Children left behind
Why set kids up to fail? For that matter, why load up their parents and teachers with guilt? Not everyone is capable of shining academically. On a bell curve of IQ, there are just as many people to the left of the apex as to the right. Extraordinary nurture can elicit amazing results with unremarkable […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 2, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/08/02/children-left-behind/
School board matters (corrected)
Candidates for school board get far less attention than the mayoral and town council races. Yes, yes, providing quality education to the next generation, those who will be in charge of generating revenue to fund your dotage, is important to all of us, whether or not we have children. But the decisions the school board […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 29, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/07/29/school-board-matters/
Mayoral slate
Voters have three choices for mayor in November. Here they are, in alphabetical order: Watching Mark Kleinschmidt shake off his Gang of Five mentality and open himself to learning from all of his colleagues has been refreshing. He has held a seat on the dais since he was first elected to Town Council in 2001. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 27, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/07/27/mayoral-slate/
Challengers
In alphabetical order, here are the non-incumbents running for Town Council: Jason Baker brings experience from serving on the town’s Planning Board, the Comprehensive Plan Initiating Committee and the Transportation Board. Previously, he served on the board of the Orange Chatham Sierra Club and was an officer in the Orange County Democratic Party. In 2008, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 25, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/07/25/challengers/