Recent Comments
Re: “WakeUP to Paul Coble & Co: Stop blocking a public vote on the 1/2-cent transit tax for Wake”
Oraneg County Commissioners have the transit tax referendum approval on their June 5 agenda for action!
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/120605…
Re: “2012 Primary Voting Guide”
how about a box listing the early voting sites in Wake/Durham/Orange rather than force your readers to search the web for the info?
Re: “Meet 22-year-old Lee Storrow, your Chapel Hill town councilman”
excellent story. Lee ran a great campaign. He even called me in June for campaign tips and historical insights and I haven't lived in Chapel Hill since before Lee was born. I raised $1109.60 when I was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council at age 23 in 1973. -Gerry Cohen
Re: “Light or commuter rail?”
excellent story, tho fact checking I would point out that the 11:45 Raleigh to Charlotte train originates in Raleigh, it is the 4:50 pm train that starts in New York.
Re: “Taylor eligibility hearing scheduled for noon, Thursday, Nov. 11”
The one year residency requirement for sheriff was passed in 1830. In 1868 or 1870 a new constitution was adopted which set out qualifications and disqualifications for office. There is a string of state supreme court decisions that says the General Assembly may not add additional qualifications beyone what is set out in the constitution (registered voter age 21+ not a felon). There is even an 1873 case saying the General Assembly may not add additional qualifications for sheriff (that case did not deal with residency but a different provision of the 1830 law).
Re: “Anybody in Raleigh FOR high-speed rail? No, seriously —”
I want to preface my comments by saying that I was the one member of the Passenger Rail Task Force to vote no on the 7-1 vote, because I did not think that all the crossing closures mandated by NC1/2 were really necessary and because I thought the disruption to Glenwood-Brooklyn, Norfolk Southern Rail operations and other neighborhoods, as well as additional property takings were worth the operational benefits of NC3. That being said, the comments of LB above that the project would take four years and other construction comments are really distortions and out of context. The entire Richmond-Raleigh project would take 4 years, the stretch from north of Georgetown Road down to Peace Street would probably take 6-9 months to build. That's not to minimize the disruption though. The new NC4 alternative (or a "mitigation to NC1/2" name that federal regulations might require it to be called in order to not start the process over) seems a real win-win -- no Fairview closing, no disruption to NS yard operations, Glenwood Brooklyn and other neigborhoods, no Harrington and West closing, the ability to have a center platform down at the new Union Station -- in fact the ONLY thing the NC4 does not have that NC3 did was eliminating the crossover at grade north of town between NS and CSX. The cost of a 1200 foot rail bridge between just north of Logan Trading to the NS trestle near west street would surely be less than the extra cost that NC3 had over NC1/2. There are lots of elevated rail bridges arond the world, there arelots of elevated highway bridges, nothing new here. NC4 has not been really vetted operationally or costwise, and I know that there are several issues of disruptions to historic properties such as the Cotton Mill across from Logans, but this alternative seems a really great potental solutin at first glance. I've been involved in transit issues in the Triangle for almost 40 years and hope that this novel isea can get us out of the box. I would ask that folks NOT villify those who favored NC3.
Re: “4-year terms for Raleigh City Council? Mayor McFarlane and Councilor Baldwin go another round.”
Actually the current system dates from 1972, not 1947. 1972 was when then councilmember Michael Boyd, dissatisfied with the 1947 system where all council members were elected at-large and the council chose the Mayor, tried to get the council to change the system and when that failed he circulated a petition and get the necessary 5,000 signature that forced a referendum, where the voters adopted the current system. That referendum law is still in effect -Gerry Cohen