How much would you pay for the fireworks display last week? Technically, we’ve prepaid for the July 4th show through our taxes, but the town put out a tip jar at the entrance gate and sent around an email with instructions on how to make a tax-deductible contribution through its Friends of Chapel Hill Parks […]
All posts in category Lifestyle
Big Bang Theory
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 9, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/07/09/big-bang-theory/
Tax increase
I told you so. Not that I like rubbing anyone’s nose in bad decisions, but going ahead with the library renovation without thinking through what we would have to give up to make it happen was a bad decision you could smell before you stepped in it. On the last lap of what was a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 22, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/22/tax-increase/
To your health
As the town’s money guy, Ken Pennoyer clicked his way through his PowerPoint slides last night, giving an overview of the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2013 (which begins July 1, 2012). One of the bright spots centered on the town’s reduction in health care costs for its employees. The high cost of health care […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 1, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/01/to-your-health/
Decision by Ouija
I don’t think I ever went to a slumber party as a kid that someone didn’t bring out a Ouija board to divine answers to life’s mysteries of who liked whom and would I ever be kissed. I don’t recall at what age I finally figured out that the little plastic table wasn’t picking out […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 2, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/04/02/decision-by-ouija/
Exceptions to the rule
The vote hadn’t even been taken last night before cell phone ban supporters on council began jockeying for exceptions for their constituents unhappy with a ban. First, a couple of ham radio operators made a last-minute plea to exempt federally licensed amateur radio operators. So Jim Ward moved that the cell phone ban ordinance be […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 27, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/27/exceptions-to-the-rule/
Save all of us from ourselves
The town has confidence in us to use our handguns responsibly in public parks, and perhaps to use our cell phones responsibly on public roads (unless we are single or in a marriage not recognized by the state or are childless or orphaned), but not to make decisions in the best interest of health regarding […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 26, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/26/save-all-of-us-from-ourselves/
Why not live here?
At last night’s Town Council meeting, town business management director Ken Pennoyer and a band of technology professionals waxed eloquent on the wonders of Gig U, the ultra-high-speed connectivity coming to town. Following the presentation that detailed ways the new service would improve our lives, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt crowed, “Why doesn’t everyone want to live […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 20, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/20/why-not-live-here/
Price of free speech
My column in The Weekly last week offended some Hilltop Condo owners. I had chastised the senior citizens who made multiple pleas to council to retain two rogue parking spaces residents had created in a driveway curb cut on W. Barbee Chapel Road so they wouldn’t have to drive two-tenths of a mile to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 16, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/16/price-of-free-speech/
Waving or waiving our values
Tonight Town Council members vote on two measures that are both for show. One vote is for a resolution urging North Carolina voters to vote against a state constitutional amendment that will ban certain people from marrying. The other is to decide whether to ban certain people from talking on cell phones while driving. On […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 12, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/03/12/waving-our-values/
Hope springs eternal
A developer walked into a Town Council meeting, armed only with a PowerPoint presentation and high hopes. Does this joke sound familiar? You’ve heard it twice in the past couple months, first with Shortbread Lofts and most recently with Charterwood. So you know how it goes. Neighbors will object to the building height and density […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 21, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/02/21/hope-springs-eternal/