Honeysuckle Road has been in desperate need of resurfacing for quite a while. It was beginning to look like a patchwork quilt due to all the cuts and asphalt patches.

It finally was resurfaced in October and was a vast improvement, no more bumps or low spots. I told my wife that it would take no more than 30 days before it was cutup for one reason or another. It didn’t take that long.

About three weeks later, OWASA made a cut in the asphalt coming out of Tilghman Circle and across Honeysuckle Road. It has not been torn up yet, but today, an OWASA employee rang my doorbell and handed me a letter stating that on Wednesday, Nov. 28, they would begin replacing the waterline on Tilghman Circle. I assume that the waterlines will be replaced on Honeysuckle Road also, which will result in asphalt patches across and along the edge of the street. It will be years before the road is resurfaced again, so we will have to deal with those patches for a long time.

It doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that there could be better co-ordination between the town, which I assume is responsible for issuing the contracts for resurfacing and OWASA, but maybe I expect too much.

Stuart Nelson

Chapel Hill

$8 million a day

The other day my grandson and I were having a conversation about the $8 million – A DAY we – the U.S. – gives to Israel.

I was complaining that our country is so far in debt! We are borrowing from China and have to pay interest to China for the money we borrow, yet we give Israel more than $8 million a day. How can we afford to do that?

His response was “That’s a lot of money $8 million a day! What do we get in return for giving them all that money ?”

I didn’t have an answer – do you?

Bette G Smith

Chapel Hill

Double standard?

The letter from Miriam Thompson (CHN, Nov. 28) is based on massive misunderstanding. It ignores the fact that Hamas had fired more than 2,000 rockets at Israeli civilians in the preceding two years. The low death rate from these attacks reflects the fact that every Israeli home and building is required to have a bomb shelter. The letter also ignores the large number of Israeli children now suffering from the continued trauma of taking refuge from frequent Hamas rockets.

Why is it OK for the U.S. to have assassinated Bin Laden, but apparently is shameful for Israel to have killed his Hamas equivalent?

And it is incredible that so many well-meaning people should ignore the fact that almost all the deaths of Gazan civilians were the result of the Hamas policy of deliberately placing rocket launchers within residential areas. Thus, any attempt to destroy the launchers causes civilian casualties. This cruelty, designed to produce hatred of Israel, is directly contrary to the Geneva Conventions, and it displays who the real villains are.

Finally, were it not for U.S. aid to Israel, there would be no Iron Dome, the sole purpose of which is to save civilians from rocket attacks. This has been especially evident in the attempted attacks aimed at Tel Aviv, home to Muslims and Christians as well as Jews.

Miriam K. Slifkin

Chapel Hill

Creek clarification

Your editorial “Speaking and Listening” needs clarification about Obey Creek.

First, as The Chapel Hill News reported Sept. 25 (“Blank Slate for Obey Creek?”), the $500 million Obey Creek plan is no longer on the table.

Second, although Town Council touts Glen Lennox’s success, and approved moving toward a development agreement for the site, the Nov. 5 Obey Creek resolution does not require a similar framework for public participation.

Instead, with no plan in place, council authorized the town manager, town attorney and developer to use developer funds to hire planning and legal consultants to do design a citizen review process and lay the groundwork for negotiating a development agreement.

Third, Obey Creek will impact neighborhoods and businesses far beyond southern Chapel Hill because of its potential to impact Morgan Creek, traffic along Fordham Boulevard and, if developed as a significant retail site, Chapel Hill business owners.

Finally, Glen Lennox and Obey Creek are at different stages. Clay Grubb and council have spent two years in the data-informed, collaborative process that produced a plan for that neighborhood.

Obey Creek, on the other hand, remains in its planning infancy. Both council and the developer disregarded the plans produced by the S15-501 Discussion Group; Council and the community have rejected two of the developer’s proposals.

Although the council’s resolution includes a provision for public participation, many question using developer funds and input to establish the process scope and timeframe going forward. Two council members and others have expressed concerns that negotiation of a development agreement in tandem with the community process presumes a larger scale development than environmental constraints, traffic infrastructure and site location may support.

In the absence of compelling, data-supported reasons for rezoning Obey Creek, it is hard to understand why town management and staff will be working with the developer to establish a special process for this site.

As the Glen Lennox process shows, detailed studies and community participation should determine need for potential contract set the stage for contract negotiations – not the other way around.

Jeanne Brown

Chapel Hill

Gerrymandering

We are thankful that you ran an article on Nov 28 about redistricting plans, but the article misrepresented the concerns of parents from 074A. I’d like to clarify our position.

• We understand that redistricting has to happen but it makes no sense to create a gerrymandered satellite that takes kids past three closer schools to the fourth farthest away one

• The satellite concept has implications for time spent on the bus, the time of the morning little kids leave (less sleep for them), the amount of money the district needs to spend on gas, the increased carbon footprint of five buses going four schools away.

• No optimization was done to create even one “optimized” plan; the data has not been open

• The children of parcel 074A are being treated differently from other children in the district. It seems that they are being penalized for being a large strong neighborhood, for having good test scores and SES scores that work well for achieving balance.

• Segment 074A will be in the mix again when the next school opens. Why bus 200 kids for a couple years then move them again? This is a short-term solution for Northside.

I think the BOE just closed their eyes and ears and refuse to listen to our reasoning. I hope with the involvement of the media, things will be heading a correct and healthy way.

Hong Zhong

Chapel Hill

Books life changing

It made my heart sing to see that the first two entries in the Nov. 28 Roses and Raspberries column involved giving books!

Both Schley Grange and Pam Pease are heroes for donating hundreds of books to children in need. And as we usher in the giving season, their generosity can serve as an example to all of us. The simple and straightforward act of giving books can confer life-changing benefits to the children receiving books; kids who grow up with books are more likely to enter school kindergarten-ready, read at grade level in third grade, graduate from high school, and develop a love of reading which will last a lifetime!

Readers can find out how to join Schley Grange and Pam Pease on the frontlines of book giving at bookharvestnc.org.

Ginger Young

Founder and director

Book Harvest