I suppose on some level I realized that when I read the staid reports of drug arrests printed in the newspaper’s police blotter not all of those suspects submitted to custody willingly. But this is Chapel Hill. Those drug busts you see on TV — armed officers surrounding a car or battering down a door […]
All posts in category Community life
Another side of Chapel Hill
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 11, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/11/another-side-of-chapel-hill/
HB-2 & You & Me & Us & Them
I wish our state lawmakers would do something useful like pass legislation to quell the sex life of trees. My allergies tell me pollen season has started with a vengeance. Instead, the N.C. General Assembly that wants to see a driver’s license before you vote, now wants to see a birth certificate before you use […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 28, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/28/hb-2-you-me-us-them/
Walking the talk
Every once in a while an insight emerges from those early-morning meetings that makes them worth getting up for. Take the Community Prosperity Committee meeting last Friday morning (8 a.m., first Friday of every month, in Room C at the library; public is welcome). We’ve been working on strategies to attract more commercial development to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 7, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/07/walking-the-talk/
Aging in town
We know we won’t live forever, But most of us believe we’ll stay spry until our last day on earth. We convince ourselves that if we take a brisk walk daily, there won’t come a time when we can’t take that walk, that if we live a healthy lifestyle, we won’t ever have to battle […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 22, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/22/aging-in-town/
… and bathrooms for all
Now I feel bad. At a recent Town Council meeting I clarified to my colleagues my view that the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance — the town law that requires subdivision builders to make 15% of the homes affordable based on Area Median Income — does not mean developers must provide luxury housing to people who can’t […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 15, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/15/and-bathrooms-for-all/
On ice
The calls started coming in Sunday before the sun had reached high noon. Constituents who live on what’s known as “tertiary streets” phoned me because they knew I’d understand their cabin fever. All of us were iced in, and our good humor had begun to fray. Tertiary streets are those out-of-the-way neighborhoods that are the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 25, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/25/on-ice/
What we do best
Decades ago, a running coach told me, “The only way to run faster is to run faster.” Pre-empting Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan by nearly a generation, the coach’s advice has proved useful in all sorts of situations in my life. Now it appears I can apply it to Town Council work. The town has […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 18, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/18/what-we-do-best/
Maleah
Sometimes tragedies occur that shock everyone and leave us thinking, How could this happen? Such a moment came a few weeks ago in Chapel Hill, when 14-month-old Maleah Williams was shot in her mother’s arms in front of her home on Christmas Day. It’s human nature to want to find a cause when catastrophes befall, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 11, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/11/maleah/