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Change in wind for public art
CHAPEL HILL — Next week a Washington, D.C., artist will put the finishing touches on a $420,000 stone wall and 40-foot marble bench outside the new Town Operations Center at Chapel Hill’s rural edge. The project is the latest example of the town’s Percent for Art program, which since 2002 has required municipal building projects to devote $1 out of every $100 spent to public art on the site. Now, the town’s Public Arts Commission wants the Town Council to double its commitment and dedicate 2 percent for art in public building projects. SEECA may ask state to take it in
WINSTON-SALEM -- The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art - facing millions of dollars in crippling maintenance costs - is exploring a radical solution: giving itself to the state. Such a move would still need the approval of the state's top elected officials in the Council of State, which will meet Tuesday. They have not released an agenda yet, a spokesman in the governor's office said.
"We have indicated to the state our willingness to transfer our operations," said Thorns Craven, SECCA's board chairman."The (James G.) Hanes Foundation" - SECCA's most generous contributor, in land, facilities and annual donations - "have indicated their willingness to transfer the land," Craven said. "It's up to the state to say, 'OK, we've been made this offer. Who's in a position to accept it, and how do we do that?'"
Nonprofit will buy land to expand Battleground Park
GREENSBORO -- Slowly, Americans are regaining land lost, not during, but after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781.The private, nonprofit Guilford Battleground Co., using a low-interest $420,000 loan from the Weaver Foundation, has just purchased for safekeeping 2 acres of battlefield outside the boundaries of the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. The property is at Old Battleground Road and British Lakes Drive.The Guilford Battleground Co. will hold the land to prevent development until Congress can provide money for the park to buy the land from the company. A house on the property will be demolished, and the property will be converted to its 1781 look. The battlefield over which Americans and the British fought originally covered 1,000 acres. For years after the clash, the site became obscure. Locals had trouble pinpointing the location.
Parents pledge to keep an eye on Eastern
GREENSBORO -- Eastern Guilford High parents brought vim and vigor, along with facts and figures, in their fight to get students in one location this year.They lost.
The Carolina Corporate Center, former home of Lucent Technologies, won't house students displaced by a fire Nov. 1 that destroyed their school. The Guilford County Board of Education plans to put students in a village of so-called pods, or modular classrooms, until a new school can be built.Most parents acknowledge they have lost the Lucent battle. Many expressed distrust because, they say, district officials discount their views, and uncertainty because the district has missed other estimates and deadlines. What their efforts have boiled down to, parent Allen Kimbro said, is, "Every parent wants what's best for their kid." There's still plenty of fight in Eastern parents if the school system doesn't deliver on its promises.
Bill seeks review of subsidized films
RALEIGH -- State Sen. Phil Berger has a ready answer for those who say his proposed revision to North Carolina’s incentives program for filmmakers threatens freedom of expression: So what? Berger has suggested tightening the rules after the uproar over "Hounddog," a movie shot near the coast last year that includes a scene simulating the rape of a 12-year-old girl.Critics say Berger’s proposal could have a chilling effect on the statewide industry by requiring government officials to preview scripts from every film project seeking North Carolina’s 15 percent refund of in-state production costs. "My response to that is, 'Well, if you don’t like it, then don’t ask for government money,’" said Berger, a Republican from Rockingham County. "But if you want a government handout, then you should abide by whatever rules government sets out." Berger plans to introduce a bill this session aimed at preventing another "Hounddog" controversy by having state administrators clear scripts before incentive applicants start filming. North Carolina is one of the nation’s leaders in filmmaking, and the industry is important to its economy. Over the years, the state has reaped an estimated $7 billion from more than 800 movie productions, 14 network and cable TV series, and numerous national and regional commercials.Other filmmaking states that North Carolina regularly competes with require advance script review. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico and South Carolina are among states with incentive programs similar to North Carolina’s, but which also require advance review by their state film offices.
HOT advocates make their pitch today
GREENSBORO -- When Heart of the Triad advocates make their pitch to area elected officials today, they will be closely watched by people who worry that the plan will bring unwanted development and new roads to their rural way of life.The Heart of the Triad is an ambitious plan to put the Triad "on the world map," in the words of Robbie Perkins, the former Greensboro council member who is co-chairman of the committee working on the plan.Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, Kernersville and Forsyth and Guilford counties are being asked to adopt the plan. The plan calls for transforming 6,300 acres along the border between Guilford and Forsyth counties. The area could include centers of transportation logistics and high technology and a playground and living area for high-income retirees. It also could have an "intellectual-asset center" by creating partnerships among universities or with countries such as India or China.
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Un-Affordable Housing: Cities keep low- and middle-income families from home ownership
Many North Carolina cities use affordable-housing policies to provide housing to low-income citizens. No doubt started with the best intentions, those policies ignore fundamental economic realities and produce the opposite effect than was intended. Does Rockingham need a sales tax increase?
The Rockingham County commissioners are asking voters to approve a sales-tax increase on May 6. This report identifies nearly $28 million in revenue and savings the county could use to meet its needs — more than 16 times the amount that the proposed tax increase would produce. Does Guilford need a sales tax increase?
The Guilford County commissioners are asking voters to approve a sales-tax increase on May 6. This report identifies nearly $83.4 million in revenue and savings the county could use to meet its needs — over five times the amount that the proposed tax increase would produce. Does Lee need a sales tax increase?
The Lee County commissioners are asking voters to approve a sales-tax increase on May 6. This report identifies almost $10.3 million in revenue and savings the county could use to meet its needs — over 6.6 times the amount that the proposed tax increase would produce. |
