Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Sunday edition of the Chapel Hill News was a fitting tribute to the date. November 11 marks the beginning of Carnival Season in Germany, and it lived up to the occasion with a front page story of a man peeing in his compost while seeing a UFO.

This story probably inspired the next headline: “More Obey Creek input sought.” It probably was Obi-Wan Kenobi who took the picture of the mountain range near Chapel Hill from outer space, although “Your Best Shot” was supposedly taken near Chapel Hill. I must have overlooked these gorgeous mountains in our backyard for all the years living here away from the Alps.

The letters to the editor are always enlightening, and it is often difficult to discern if they are satirical or earnest.

Sunday’s contribution referring to the planned Orange County Smoking Ban was a perfect example. Is the Chapel Hill News(paper) aspiring to masquerade as “The Onion” of North Carolina?

Walter Niedermann

Chapel Hill

Candidate’s claim spurious

We won’t know which candidate got the majority of votes in County Commission District 2 until the Board of Elections allocates the early voting back out to each precinct in mid-December.

But we can make a reasonable guess by looking at the data we already have, and this data points to Democrat Renee Price being the likely popular vote winner in both districts. Chris Weaver’s claim of “winning” District 2 is spurious at best. Winning only the Election Day vote is a meaningless milestone.

For a point of comparison, Representative-Elect Valerie Foushee received 4,821 votes in the Orange County portion of District 50 on Election Day, to Rod Chaney’s 4,975.

Does this mean she “lost?” Of course not, because the majority of voters don’t vote on Election Day!

Foushee overwhelmingly won the portion of her district that is in Orange County, by a total of 16,770 to 10,723 votes. This disparity exists because Democrats vote early at a significantly greater rate than Republicans.

When absentee and early votes are allocated out by precinct, evidence suggests that they will show that Renee Price easily won the vote in both commission districts.

Jason Baker

Chapel Hill

Tragedy must bring us together

I was in high school at Durham Academy when Eve Carson was murdered on the streets of Chapel Hill. I am crushed now as a sophomore at Elon University four years later to read that another life was ripped from my hometown.

Faith Danielle Hedgepeth’s murder is a burning reminder of how even in the most solid communities, evil finds a way to take its toll again and again.

At one moment our community can all be cheering for the same team or as with Faith’s tribe, be united in the achievements of an individual, but just as quickly these communities are tested. Again we as North Carolinians must reach out to one another to mourn and share strength, love and hope.

Often we see the differences more than the similarities in life. We are trained to break apart, separate, and categorize people by their race, gender and social class.

It seems that it takes suffering together to see how closely knit we truly are. The gap she left behind may not be as wide for some of us but we all stand together looking into the darkness that her light once illuminated.

Her murder created a hole that must be filled with unity and solidarity and we must move forward as a deeply interdependent society that cares for one another, no matter what category it is one might fall into.

Hampton Smith

Chapel Hill

Drama dispute raises questions

When I learned from Dave Hart’s Nov. 11 article on Chapel Hill High School’s new production of “Alice in Wonderland” that Thomas Drago and the CHHS drama department had lost $4,000 by commissioning New York playwright David Rimmer to produce what turned out to be an unusable script, I thought it was perhaps I who had fallen through the rabbithole.

Considering that money was involved, it is shocking to me that the agreement with the playwright was apparently so casual.

I can only assume the answer to both my questions is no, or else there would have been little room for the disagreements that occurred when Drago sought rewrites on the faulty script.

I do not mean to question the value of a strong, well-funded arts program; rather, I take issue with the judgment shown in approving this expense at a time when the school district has cut positions and forgone purchases of supplies and equipment.

Explanations take such a dreadful time, to quote Lewis Carroll, but I hope the CHHS drama faculty can provide some good ones after reviewing what happened.

Jon Hill

Analysis paralysis

At the last Town Council meeting the ongoing controversy surrounding the bus ads was discussed once again.

This time the conversation focused on whether the town would follow its own policy of prohibiting religious and political ads on public buses. Seems to me the proper course of action is obvious: Follow current policy and remove the ads because the policy specifically prohibits the kind of ads the Church of Reconciliation placed in the town’s buses.

The town should also refund any fees paid for such ads.

The current path of debating whether or not to follow policies set by the same people who are debating them is a waste of our tax money and valuable time.

Mr. Mayor and Town Council members, please follow the policies you’ve already taken the time to put into place rather than debating what has already been decided.

Lastly, the Town Council has every right to change existing policies, but it can take up this debate as an agenda item at a future Town Council meeting.

If a new policy is passed allowing the ads...then follow that policy when it is enacted.

The current path of no decision only serves to undermine the Town Council’s credibility.

Marc Joseph

Chapel Hill

United against hatred

(Editor’s Note: The following exchange of letters was shared with us by Steve Schauder, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Durham/Chapel Hill)

Recently, the Church of Reconciliation was vandalized with swastikas painted on their building. The Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill sent the pastor of the church, Mark Davidson, the following note:

Dear Reverend Davidson,

The Jewish Federation of Durham/Chapel Hill is saddened to hear about the recent vandalism to the Church of Reconciliation. We condemn all acts that perpetuate hate, and we are especially troubled when Nazi symbols are used, as our synagogues and cultural organizations have also been targets.

The Federation unequivocally condemns this act of vandalism against the Church of Reconciliation.

It is our hope that all community leaders can stand together to voice opposition to such hateful acts, and together promote respectful dialogue as a way to express differences of opinions.

Sincerely,

Jeff Koweek

President, Jewish Federation of Durham/Chapel Hill

Steve Schauder

Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Durham/Chapel Hill

Reverend Davidson responded with the following note:

Dear Mr. Schauder and Mr. Koweek,

On behalf of our congregation, let me express my heartfelt gratitude for your kind-hearted expression of support and solidarity. It was indeed a shock to be branded with a symbol that is so abhorrent to us and to everything we stand for.

Your compassionate outreach to us, as well as several other letters of strong support from the Jewish community and the larger community as well, have been a great solace to us.

Interfaith friendship is a source of light in those times when there is no particular crisis, but it is resplendent when trouble arises. May those bonds always remain strong between us.

Grace and Peace,

J. Mark Davidson

Pastor, Church of Reconciliation