County names top educators

The Chatham County Teacher of the Year and Teacher Assistant of the Year were announced recently. Carol Bartholf from Northwood High School is the Teacher of the Year. Denise Holt from Siler City Elementary School is the Teacher Assistant of the Year.

There were 17 candidates for the county teacher of the year honor, one from each school and the Paul Braxton PreK. Each school-level teacher of the year received a $500 check and a plaque from the Chatham County Board of Education. Each candidate was chosen by teaching peers at his or her school and completed a portfolio prior to being interviewed by a district selection committee.

Bartholf has been a teacher in the Exceptional Children's Department at Northwood High School for the past 12 years. She received an additional $1500 and plaque from the Board.

There were 16 candidates for the county teacher assistant of the year honor, one from the Paul Braxton PreK and all schools except SAGE Academy. Each school could nominate a teacher assistant using the following criteria: 1) dedication to students; 2) school involvement; 3) professionalism; and 4) effective communication throughout the school. School-level honorees received a $100 check and a plaque from the Chatham County Board of Education.

Holt has been a teacher assistant at Siler City Elementary since 2006 and works with early grades. She received an additional $200 and a plaque from the Board.

CHAPEL HILL

Southern dog park to close on Friday

The dog park at Southern Community Park will be closed for maintenance on Friday, July 10 (rain date is July 13).

Proper maintenance ensures that the park stays in good condition, town officials said. The dog park at Homestead Park will be available for use during the temporary closure.

For more information, please contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 968-2784.

Growth task force needs up to six more members

The Town of Chapel Hill Sustainable Community Visioning Task Force is seeking up to six new members to help advise the Town Council on the design and location of future development in Chapel Hill for the next five to 10 years.

The new members must reside within the Chapel Hill Town limits, the Town's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction or Joint Planning Areas. The task force seeks new members to achieve greater diversity by inclusion of underrepresented groups.

Applications must be received at Town Hall by noon Friday, July 17. The next meetings of the Task Force will be at 7 p.m. today and July 22 at the Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson St. It is expected that this task force will meet at least twice monthly for the next six to 12 months.

For an application form, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=118 or contact Garrett Davis in the Planning Department at 968-2728 or gdavis2@townofchapelhill.org. Information about the task force is available online at www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1131.

-- From staff reports

Complaints mounting against Peak Fitness

The departure of Peak Fitness from the Triangle has been less than smooth, and many members are scrambling for refunds that may not come.

The N.C. Attorney General's Office has registered 328 complaints against the Charlotte-based chain this year, more than half of the 633 registered against the company in the past three years. And 136 of those have been filed since April 1.

Complaints vary from people upset about billing practices to those who question the ethics of selling memberships in the months before the facility closed. And while Peak arranged for its members to use another gym, some want their money back.

To file a complaint go to www.ncdoj.gov or call 877-566-7226 or 919-716-6000 to have a complaint form mailed to you

The AG's office is now looking into trying to recover some of the money consumers lost, but there is the possibility that none will be recovered.

While fitness clubs and gyms always rank high on the list of businesses about which the Attorney General's Office receives complaints, Peak is "certainly one of the biggest ones in the past few years," spokeswoman Noelle Talley said.

Jeff Stec, Peak's president, said Peak would leavethe Research Triangle Park market in roughly three months' time. Reached last week, he said the downtown Raleigh, North Raleigh and Cary locations are all closed. In addition, he said, the two Chapel Hill clubs have now become one. The remaining Chapel Hill location on Farrington Road is now called Motion Fitness.

-- Staff writer Sue Stock

Learn about public financing program tonight

The Town of Chapel Hill's "Voter Owned Election Program" will be discussed at at a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Voters this November will be electing a mayor and four Town Council members.

The pilot program is voluntary. Prospective candidates who choose to participate must demonstrate a level of public support and comply with spending restrictions and reporting requirements in order to receive public money.

Chapel Hill received authorization from the North Carolina General Assembly to establish the program for public funding of local municipal election campaigns. Chapel Hill is the first local government in North Carolina to have received this legislative authority.

A Voter Owned Election gives candidates a voluntary option for a new way to run for office. Candidates who are registered with the program agree to:

•Collect a large number of $5 to $20 qualifying contributions to demonstrate community support

•Limit campaign spending

•Agree to comply with strict administrative rules

In return, participating candidates receive limited amounts of campaign dollars from a publicly financed fund for use only for allowed campaign expenses.

For more information, go to www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=881.

-- From staff reports

UNC

Thorp predicts budget cut around 10 percent

In a letter to faculty, staff and students last week, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said cuts to the new fiscal year's operating budget are expected to total 10 percent.

Those won't be across-the-board cuts at UNC or, most likely, at other public universities. UNC system officials generally frown on that practice, preferring to be analytical in their budget-cutting and find places that can best take the hit or are underperforming.

Thorp's memo, sent last Wednesday, says the budget picture in Raleigh "remains bleak."

"Revenue projections haven't improved during the fourth quarter," he writes. "Significant cuts will be necessary for all state agencies."

A 10 percent cut at UNC-CH will mean a loss of about $60 million.

One bright spot: A new contract UNC-CH just signed with Nike for sports apparel and equipment includes a $2 million gift to the Chancellor's Academic Enhancement Fund.

-- Staff writer Eric Ferreri