VOLUME 146 ISSUE 30 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
CHATHAMNEWSRECORD.COM
C HATHAM NEWS & R ECORD THE CHATHAM COUNTY EDITION OF THE NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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BRIEF this week
Siler City youth basketball registration is officially open Youth Basketball registration with Siler City Parks & Recreation has officially opened. From now until November 6 (or until full), families can register children ages 5 to 14 to participate in this upcoming season. Age is determined as of January 1, 2024, at the city will offer age brackets of 5-6 coed, 7-8 coed, 9-10 boys, 9-10 girls, 11-12 boys, 11-13 girls and 13-14 boys. The registration fee for all age groups is $25. Practice and games will take place at Paul Braxton Gym for 5-8 age groups, and all “home games” will be at Ernest Ramsey Gym for 9-14 age groups. “Away game” for 9-14 age groups will occur at various gyms in Chatham County. Player evaluations are set to take place the week of November 13. Practice will begin as early as November 27, and the season will run through February 24. Registration can be completed at http:// secure.rec1.com/NC/ siler-city-nc/catalog. For those interested in coaching, please contact Oliver Webster at Siler City Parks & Recreation at (919) 726-8617 or owebster@silercity. org.
Chatham County opens new 911 Center in Pittsboro Chatham County Emergency Communications began operating its new 911 Center in Pittsboro this past Wednesday. The new 911 Center is located inside Chatham County’s state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located on Innovation Way, which opened in May. The main benefit to the new center is its capacity, expanding from six telecommunicator consoles to the capability of operating 16 consoles. Other enhancements include more resiliency and redundancy with improved phone and network connections, more space, better ergonomics for telecommunicators, and natural light. Each console has a status light, which illuminates green when a telecommunicator is available and turns red when they are on a call. “This is an exciting day for Chatham County Emergency Communications and the entire community,” said Mike Reitz, Chatham County Emergency Communications Director. “Our new center will allow us the capability to expand over many decades as Chatham County continues to grow. We are already seeing an increase in calls, not only from the community, but from our partner emergency response agencies as well.”
GENE GALIN | CHATHAM NEWS & RECORD
Chatham Sheriff hosts annual Community Appreciation Night The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office family hosted its Annual Community Appreciation Night on Friday, Sept. 15. The event – complete with food, fun, games, and fellowship – was held on the lawn at 295 West Street in Pittsboro.
Pittsboro Mayoral Term increased to four years By Chuck Thompson Chatham News & Record
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Law enforcement officials with the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office seize illegal gaming equipment that was operating within the county.
Sheriff’s Office makes arrests for illegal gambling operations North State Journal SILER CITY — Undercover operations by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in nine arrests which include 36 felony and 39 misdemeanor charges. The operations focused on illegal gambling and gaming activities at various locations in Chatham County. Over several months, law enforcement targeted video gambling machines that were found to be in violation of North Carolina
State law. A total of 51 businesses were inspected during the months-long investigation with 17 establishments confirmed to be in breach of state law. Violations included possession of illegal gaming equipment, promotion of illegal gambling and cash payouts for winnings. A majority of the businesses inspected — 34 — were found to be fully compliant with the state’s See GAMBLING, page A3
PITTSBORO TOWN BOARD of Commissioners held their regular scheduled meeting Monday, September 11. Among the items on the agenda included a landscaping proposal change for Chatham Park and increasing the mayoral term from two years to four. The meeting began with Mayor Cindy Price asking for a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims and their families of 9/11, and not just those who perished on the day, but all those who have died since from illness resulting from the event. A request by the Chatham Park developers for changes to the landscape was approved. The request was for the removal of internal perimeter buffers that involve future individual properties within the development. Patrick Bradshaw, an attorney in Pittsboro representing Chatham Park LLC for these amendments, argued the point that perimeter buffers are not needed for the esthetics, and owners of the adjacent lots agree to remove buffers, so therefore, there is no need for such buffer zones. A public hearing was also held
Grammy Award nominee comes to local artists-in-schools program Chatham News & Record PITTSBORO — More students in Chatham County will have an opportunity to learn and experience live performance art with the expansion of the Artists-in-Schools program to middle school students. As part of National Arts in Education Week, the Chatham County Arts Council announced the commencement of the ninth season of its program putting artists in classrooms. The new school year marks a milestone for the Artists-in-Schools Initiative as it has expanded its
residency program to a traditional middle school. According to the Arts Council, professional teaching artists will teach in all of the elementary schools and Chatham Middle School this year. The program aligns with the core curriculum at the schools and includes theater, music, dance and poetry. Pierce Freelon, a Grammy Award-nominated musician, will be making his debut on the Artists-in-Schools with a tenday residency at Chatham Middle School. Freelon was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2022 for this children’s album
for the Turkey Creek Conditional zoning request on behalf of Chatham Park for multi-family use zoning at 264 Rock Springs Church Road. This was not included in the original Chatham Park design since this partial was purchased after the original request. Chatham Park hopes to use it for multi-family use. Multi-family residential conditional zoning (MR-CZ) “There is an interest to keep this public hearing open through next time,” Mayor Price said regarding this public hearing rezoning request to change from multi-use residential to light industrial. The public hearing on this matter was kept open; the request has been postponed until the November 13 meeting. The proposal to change the mayoral term from two to four years was approved unanimously, but it won’t go into effect until the next election term starting in 2025. Lastly, the Social District proposal for an uptown legal drinking zone on the sidewalks was tabled to be fine-tuned for the next scheduled meeting. The next regularly scheduled Commissioners Board meeting will be held September 25 at the Agricultural Conference Center.
uals” and says it will “harness Dark Energy to nurture the Black Whole.” Freelon, along with U.S. Dept. of State Hip Hop Ambassador Kevin “Rowdy” Rowsey II, lead Blackspace as Chief Dreamer and Executive Director, respectively. The group offers programming called “Wokeshops” in topics ranging from rap and puppetry to coding and 3D printing.
“Black to the Future,” which explores Afrofuturism. Freelon is also the co-creator of the Beat Making Lab, an Emmy Award-winning PBS web series, and founder of Blackspace, a digital makerspace “for youth in his commu- See ARTS page A10 nity to find radical Black creativity, visionary storytelling and emerging technology, ‘by any medium necessary.’” According to the Blackspace web site, the group offers “Black and Brown youth (Afronauts) a breathing space to manifest their dreams.” The group offers “African-centered events & rit-