CHAPEL HILL PONDERS BUILDING APARTMENTS OVER COAL ASH DEPOSITS: All but one Chapel Hill Town Council member backed more talks Wednesday about putting a new police department headquarters, more town services, and possibly housing, on an old coal ash site. Council member Adam Searing said he couldn’t support housing on top of coal ash. He would not move his family there, he said, adding that he suspected “most people on this (Zoom) call would not be willing to move their kids onto this coal ash dump.” Studies conducted by the town’s consultants found coal-related contaminants, including arsenic, lead, barium, chromium and selenium in the soil and groundwater. High levels of mercury also were found in the groundwater. In lieu of one of my long-winded diatribes about methyl mercury, Bolin Creek eventually feeds into Jordan Lake, giving elemental mercury many opportunities to cross that organic threshold. Clean it up, clean it all up.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article258978953.html

VP KAMALA HARRIS TO ADVOCATE FOR UNION JOBS IN NC: Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Durham Wednesday to promote “good-paying, union jobs” in North Carolina — one of the country’s least friendly states to union activity. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will join the vice president to discuss “the Biden-Harris administration’s investments in our workers,” Harris’ office said in a statement. Location details for their visit had not been announced as of Tuesday afternoon. North Carolina features the country’s second lowest union activity, according to figures from the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. North Carolina and South Carolina have routinely traded rank as America’s least unionized state, with 2.6% and 1.7% of workers, respectively, belonging to unions in 2021. This is refreshing. Many elected Dems are glad to receive support from unions, but shy away from promoting them. NC needs unions more than ever these days.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article258914038.html

"LIBERTY" ISN'T A LICENSE FOR SELF-INTEREST: It is out of concerns for public health – especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic -- that prompt mandates for safety mask wearing and requirements for vaccinations. Beyond the legitimate reasons of the relatively very few who have specific personal health or religious concerns, these regulations are about the good of the community. Those who oppose them are, quite frankly seeking to legitimize their own self-interest – for personal reasons or to exploit political divisiveness. Those who cry “freedom” in their refusal to wear a safety mask are, in fact, denying freedom to those, for example people who have suppressed immunities or are otherwise vulnerable, who truly are not able to take or benefit from more widely available safety measures. To understand the consequences of this kind of self-interest, visit a hospital – particularly in a rural community. The facilities are overwhelmed. Emergency rooms are jammed and urgent treatment delayed. Hospital rooms are filled with the overflow in hallways, lying on gurneys. Care workers – doctors, nurses and other critical staff are overworked and stressed. For nearly two years they have performed heroically. They deserve our praise -- and more so our cooperation that would ease their burden. It is said there are three main characteristics that define whether a living creature is "sentient": the ability to feel emotions, awareness of your own mortality, and the desire to protect the weak and infirm of your species. These anti-maskers definitely possess the first characteristic, but the second and third seem to be missing. There are animal species that score better on that scale.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/editorial-liberty-isn-t-a-license-for-self-interest/20154306/

CAWTHORN'S CANDIDACY CHALLENGE NO LONGER VALID UNDER NEW MAPS: The court-ordered redraw of North Carolina's congressional map voids, for the moment, an effort to keep U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn off the ballot in North Carolina, though challengers are expected to regroup and file again. Cawthorn initially filed to run in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District, which at the time ran west of Charlotte. But the redraw completed Wednesday shifted district lines and shuffled district numbers. Now the 13th District covers southern Wake County and areas to the south. Until Cawthorn formally withdraws from that district to run in another, which he is expected to do, Cawthorn is a candidate in the new 13th. And to challenge his candidacy, the voters involved have to be district residents. None of them are, and a letter went out to their lawyers Thursday from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, declaring their effort "no longer valid under North Carolina law." Wherever he decides to run, we need voters to take up the challenge. You can't run, and you can't hide.
https://www.wral.com/cawthorn-candidacy-challenge-no-longer-valid-state-says/20156979/

DURHAM COUNCILOR CHARLIE REECE RESIGNS, HEADED TO EUROPE: Council member Charlie Reece announced Monday night that he will resign from the Durham City Council effective March 7. Reece said his wife will need to temporarily spend a substantial amount of time in Europe for business. “Early last year, our family business began exploring the idea of buying a European company in order to expand our business opportunities there,” Reece said. “Two months ago, we did just that, and as a result, our Chief Executive Officer, who also happens to be my lovely wife, Dr. Laura Helms Reece, will need to spend a lot of time working in Europe for the foreseeable future,” he said. Laura Reece has been the CEO of Rho, a full service contract research organization based in Chapel Hill, since 2011. You will be missed, but you leave a great example to follow.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article258636468.html