Lee Spears

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Cooperation to Help Build Soccer Fields

By Lee Spears | April 27

Local soccer organizations are putting their heads -- and purses -- together to help the county solve its shortage of space for practices and games.A task force composed of county staff and three independent soccer associations in Orange County presented its latest report to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday.The task force, which has been meeting since February, gave commissioners specifics on how a new soccer field could be developed at the proposed Maple View Farm site.Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the task force's proposal so far seems sound."What I think is

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Sunday Brings Chill To Franklin Street

By Lee Spears | April 20

An estimated 35,000 people will flock to downtown Chapel Hill on Sunday to enjoy springtime weather and a wealth of local arts and entertainment talent.The 29th annual Apple Chill Street Fair, featuring arts, crafts, live entertainment and food, will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

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High School Ground Broken

By Lee Spears | April 19

Wearing hard hats and brandishing shovels, officials broke ground Tuesday at the construction site of Orange County Schools' new high school in Hillsborough.As trucks hauled steel beams onto the site in the background, members of the Orange County Board of Education, Orange County Board of Commissioners and Hillsborough Mayor Horace Johnson gathered to celebrate the newly begun construction of Cedar Ridge High School.The school, which is expected to hold 1,000 students, is set to open in August 2002 and will be Orange County Schools' second high school.Officials say the new high schoo

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YCC Calls Upon Town to Finance Arcade

By Lee Spears | April 6

A group of high school students is asking local officials to "invest in the youth of Chapel Hill" by helping them finance a new teens-only video arcade.Youth Creating Change, a group of middle and high school students from Orange County, is asking the Chapel Hill Town Council for $18,000 in start-up capital for the business.David Thompson, YCC president and Orange High School sophomore, said he envisions the arcade as a place where kids can gather to create a sense of community. "It's not just going to be a place to get rowdy," Thompson said.

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County Examines Schools' Budgets

By Lee Spears | March 30

The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with local school officials Wednesday to discuss concerns about next year's budgets for the county's two school districts.The Orange County Board of Education and Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education discussed increasing the number of school nurses in the county, possible alternative school options and the construction of new elementary schools with the commissioners.Members of all three boards agreed that schools are understaffed with nurses and are taking measures to remedy the problem.Commissioner Barry Jacobs said North Carolina reco

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Officials: Census Proves Local Housing Needs

By Lee Spears | March 26

Local officials are looking for new ways to meet the increasing affordable housing demands that accompany the growing populations of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.The 2000 U.S.

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Residents Express Ire, Pessimism

By Lee Spears | March 22

Local residents are critical of the UNC Board of Trustees' decision Thursday to approve the campus Master Plan, which could threaten neighborhoods near the campus.Certain elements of the Master Plan, UNC's blueprint for campus growth for the next 50 years, have residents worried that their neighborhoods are in danger.Residents who attended the meeting said the trustees were not sensitive to their concerns about losing their homes.Criticism centered around the Master Plan's proposed construction of a new access road from Fordham Boulevard to South Campus which will cut through the Maso

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School Board Considers Transfer Policy Changes

By Lee Spears | March 19

The Orange County Board of Education will make a final vote today on whether to clarify the guidelines of the student transfer policy.One proposed change to the student transfer policy would officially involve the superintendent in the transfer appeal process; another would keep students from changing schools for athletics.The transfer policy takes into consideration, among other things, racial balance, pupil-to-teacher ratio and students' documented medical need.School board member Robert Bateman said the proposals are timely because there will probably be many transfer requests due

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BOT Hears Developers' UNC Plans

By Lee Spears | February 23

The UNC Board of Trustees heard a presentation from consultants Thursday on developments in the proposed campus Master Plan.Chancellor James Moeser said at the Master Plan Committee meeting that the University's plan for long-term growth is "under major timing deadlines," due to a housing squeeze on South Campus.Moeser also said new family housing needs to be built soon to replace Odum Village before it surpasses its life expectancy.

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Morning-After Pill Easier to Obtain

By Lee Spears | February 20

New programs are making it easier than ever for women to get prescriptions for emergency contraceptives, better known as the morning-after pill, without first consulting a doctor.UNC students can get prescriptions for emergency contraceptive pills, known as ECPs, on demand from the Student Health Service pharmacy, said Dr.