Web Run

Impact fees may jump
[Feb. 5, 2005] With a $100 million school bond looming, Chatham County commissioners Monday will likely consider increasing impact fees by 167 percent for new homes in the fast-growing northeastern part of the county. It's part of a plan to carve out four districts with four different rates of impact fees determined by growth and the anticipated needs of the school system. Surprisingly, some developers and slow-growth advocates agree that it's a bad idea, primarily because they say the rates aren't equitable. By WEB RUN - N&O

Chatham park is nearing completion
[Feb. 5, 2005] Bear Creek - Plans are coming together for the new park in southwest Chatham County, which is being built near Chatham Central High School. Construction began in 2003 for Phase I of the park, which includes a multi-use field (combination soccer/baseball), walking trail, playground area and sand volleyball court. Working continues on the multi-use field, although fencing is in place and lights will soon be installed. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Exhibit stems from the heart
[Feb. 5, 2005] For the next week, Chatham Arts Gallery is displaying 60 wineglasses decorated by a cocktail of artists, business owners and two county commissioners. To complete the set, glass plates festooned with designs by Northwood High School art club students also will be auctioned Friday at Edwards Antiques on Hillsboro Street, with proceeds going to Chatham Arts and the American Heart Association. "Art for Hearts," as the wineglass exhibit is called will raise awareness of heart health and Chatham artists. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham hires utilities director
[Feb. 4, 2005] He worked his way up from meter reader to the superintendent of water for the city of Graham, and starting Feb. 14, Will Baker will fill the long vacant position as Chatham County's public utilities director. In that role, Baker will be in charge of a major water expansion heading into the rural reaches of the county, and overseeing constant upgrades of the county's troubled water treatment plant, which serves about 9,000 customers and can process as much as 3 million gallons of water daily. By WEB RUN - N&O

Agency seeks to conserve woodland
[Feb. 4, 2005] No one knows where all the new roofs will pop up in Chatham's future, but one thing seems certain: Developers won't hack into 345 wooded acres in the northeastern portion of the county. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is negotiating with N.C. State University to purchase the parcel, which is a segment of the former 1,734-acre Hope Valley Forest. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Vigil set in man's shooting death
[Feb. 3, 2005] Carrboro - Still the family and friends of Demarcus Smith grieve. Smith was just 24 years old when he died of a gunshot wound to the chest on June 17, 2004. A neighbor, Jimmy Ray Goldston Jr., 24, of Pittsboro, has been charged with first-degree murder. Goldston's trial is scheduled for July. To remember Smith and to pray for justice, his family is holding a candlelight vigil for him at Terrell's Creek Missionary Baptist Church, west of Carrboro, Saturday at 6 p.m. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Chatham proposes watershed change
[Feb. 3, 2005] Small-town Bynum is on its way to having 185 more homes -- 63 of which will dot the Haw River corridor, making environmentalists cringe. Despite protests from those environmentalists, the Chatham planning board has decided to alter the county's watershed protection ordinance, a move that allows 15 more of Bynum Ridge LLC's homes into the river corridor. Previous watershed restrictions in the corridor, which stretches a half mile from the river, would have allowed only 48 homes. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Projects give tax base a boost
[Feb. 3, 2005] New, high-end subdivisions are significantly adding to the tax base in Chatham County, where the value of property has increased by one-third in four years, according to the county tax office. The county's real estate tax base is estimated at $5.7 billion -- 30.6 percent more than last year's $4.4 billion, according to preliminary revaluation figures. In 2005, the average value of a residential property is expected to be $167,048, compared with $127,109 in 2004. By WEB RUN - N&O

Chatham panel votes to tweak density rules
[Feb. 2, 2005] The Chatham County Watershed Review Committee voted Tuesday to recommend that commissioners change their watershed protection ordinance to allow for denser development along some waterways in certain conditions. That vote was one of three that culminated in the Planning Board's recommendation to approve the 605-acre, 185-home Williams Pond subdivision.
The gated subdivision would be located off Bynum Ridge Road, near the historic Bynum Mill neighborhood. It also abuts the Haw River on one side, which flows into Jordan Lake. By WEB RUN - N&O

Player who made miracle shot does it again
[Feb. 2, 2005] Greensboro - Siler City native Jordan Snipes has done it again. After an incredible throw that won the Guilford College Quakers the game against Randolph-Macon on Monday night, WFMY News 2 invited Snipes to try to repeat his feat. By WEB RUN - WFMY

From 87 feet, Snipes swishes his way to ESPN fame
[Feb. 2, 2005] Sophomore guard Jordan Snipes of Guilford College didn't want to go to sleep Monday night. He didn't want to wake up and find out his 87-foot cross-court shot was just a dream. With 0.6 seconds left in the game and his team trailing by one point, Snipes grabbed the rebound from a missed free throw and heaved it the length of the court, swishing the basket and winning the game for his team. The Siler City, N.C., native scored a career-high 34 points Monday night in his team's 91-89 overtime upset of conference rival Randolph-Macon. By WEB RUN - USA Today

Siler City's native's game-winning shot gets national attention
[Feb. 1, 2005] For Siler City native and Guilford College basketball player, Jordan Snipes, sleep was the only thing more improbable than the 87-foot, game-winning, buzzer-beating, ESPN-aired heave that on Monday night became The Shot Seen 'Round The World. It was Guilford's first win in the Yellow Jackets' home gym since 1992. And it was Snipes' most eventful moment in life since he suffered a collapsed lung in a Jordan-Matthews High School football game. The video was everywhere. By WEB RUN - News-Record
Also: Video of Snipes' game-winning shot

92-foot basket with less than a second left in OT stuns Jackets
[Feb. 1, 2005] Watch 10 games, 100 games, 1,000 games, you'll never see anything like this. Not quite like this. This was surreal. The ball comes off soft, under the basket and into the hands of Quakers guard Jordan Snipes, a former Jordan-Matthews high school quarterback. Snipes, already with 31 points, hurls the ball baseball-style, it kisses the rafters and drops cleanly through the hoop 92 feet away. By WEB RUN - Times Dispatch

School leasing weighed
[Jan. 29, 2005] Rent-to-own schools? That's the new concept at least one development company is shopping around to several bond-wary school districts around the state. The idea is for a private developer to build schools and then lease them to school districts for about 40 years. Then the buildings would be given to the districts for a nominal fee. By WEB RUN - N&O