Category: Technology

  • Sara Gregory’s Daily Tar Heel Chapel Hill Crime Map

    The Daily Tar Heel’s online editor Sara Gregory has created this excellent tool for visualizing crime in Chapel Hill. This is an example of effectively using low or no cost Internet technologies to serve our community. Some of us on the Town’s now defunct Technology Board wanted to leverage technology like Google Maps to better […]

  • 2009 NRG Chapel Hill Candidate Forum

    Thanks to Madeline Jefferson, Bob Henshaw, Julie McClintock, Janet Smith, Alan Snavely, Mickey Jo Sorrel and the rest of the membership of Neighborhoods For Responsible Growth (NRG) for both sponsoring the recent candidate forum and making the following video available to the wider community. Also thanks to my neighbor (and former Chapel Hill Mayor) Jonathon […]

  • Look To The Stars and Dream

    Even after 40 years the Moon landing remains one of the touchstones of my life. I am fascinated by science. Growing up I, like many other kids of the ’60’s, dreamed of traveling to space. I wanted to join NASA and help make those dreams reality. It seemed a given that rational investigation and thoughtful […]

  • Temporarily Google Gagged

    If you use Firefox you might have noticed that Citizen Will has been flagged by Google as a possible “bad site” around 11:26am this morning. This is an error on Google’s part and they have been notified. It appears an old version of a WordPress (the blogging software I use) plugin triggered the alert. Strangely […]

  • Community Oversight of the Planning Board

    My previous posts tracking requests for information, feedback and general commentary to our Town staff and elected folks seem to be fairly popular. I’m going to continue to post correspondence which might be of public interest. The Town’s Technology Board (now defunct) was the first advisory board I regularly interacted with. The first meeting I […]

  • Raymond: Ready for Service

    I’m formally applying for Bill Thorpe’s Council seat this week. As I said before (Filling Bill’s Seat, Not His Shoes), serving the community as a Council member is a responsibility I take quite seriously. It is an awesome privilege, an incredible honor, a humbling trust that promises personal satisfaction if one serves to improve the […]

  • Carolina North Development Agreement: Dr. Owens Responds

    Dr. David Owens, Gladys Hall Coates Professor of Public Law and Government at UNC and advisor to Council on the development agreement process, has responded to my Oct. 14th. Will, Roger Stancil passed your queries along to me. You asked if the Council is in some way bound to follow this approach should they determine […]

  • Passing Gas

    One problem I’ve had in trying to change the way our Town does business is that the issues I’m trying to address – higher energy costs, revenues drying up, development policy that drives diversity from our community, financial instability – haven’t reached a level of concern for the greater community. I’m a proactive guy, work […]

  • Airport Conundrum: Southwest Orange County Community Wonders Why

    Sponsored by southwest Orange County residents Tony Blake, Walt Lobotsky, Clifford Leath, Deonna Angelillo, and Susan Lombardo, tonight’s community meeting (WEBSITE) discussing the siting of a new UNC airport, was packed. Roughly 270 folks, from all around the county, attended the meeting to find out the latest on UNC’s (and now, as reported, Orange County’s […]

  • Warrantless, Illegal Surveillance: Price, Maybe. Feingold, Hell NO!

    [Update:] Quisling Democrats capitulated in a vote 293 to 129. Rep. Price votes NO!!. Good for him. More here: House Approves Unconstitutional Surveillance Legislation . Yesterday I couldn’t get an inking of how my local “progressive” Democrat US Rep. David Price would vote on the latest attempt to defend the indefensible. Would he vote to […]

  • David Price Letting Telecom Lawbreakers Off the Hook?

    Called David Price, my local Congressman, this afternoon to see if he planned to vote NO on tomorrow’s House Bill HR 6304 which proffers blanket immunity to those telecoms, like ATT (Bellsouth, Cingular), that knowingly broke Federal and State wire-tapping laws on behalf of our current lawless madministration. His current stance: no opinion. In fact, […]

  • Tracey Coleman on Rogers Road: Most Popular Video To Date

    At 1460 hits, this video is by and far the most popular one I’ve posted on youTube. No surprise to me as Tracey did an incredibly eloquent presentation on the flawed Solid Waste Advisory Board’s search for a new trash transfer site.

  • Election 2007: The Chamber’s Yes, No and Unsure Questionnaire

    X-Posted from my 2007 Campaign web site. Even though the Chamber made it clear that extended replies where not welcomed in the 2007 questionnaire ( Election 2007: The Chamber’s Yes, No, Unsure – Again!), I took the opportunity to answer each of their questions beyond the constraints of “yes, no, unsure”. The questions are broad, […]

  • Triple the Fun at Shearon-Harris

    Coming on the heels of last month’s $65,000 NRC fine, Progress Energy continues to promote two more reactors at their Shearon-Harris site. There are several unresolved issues involving Shearon-Harris that makes siting further reactors more than problematic. Until waste disposal, security, adequate fire protection, safe storage and a slew of other issues are dealt with, […]