This ordinance was approved. The data center moratorium is effective for a year and applies to all unincorporated areas of Orange County. Meanwhile, county staff will study the potential impacts of data centers and draft land use ordinance amendments and performance standards to regulate them.
At about minute 32 you can hear @davidlneal.bsky.social talking about Duke Energy and data centers, and how different choices could help us all live long and prosper (sorry could not help myself). www.wfae.org/show/charlot...
Screen shot of agenda excerpt: "BACKGROUND: At its March 5, 2026, Business meeting, the BOCC voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare a presentation addressing the following: "1) The potential impacts of large-scale data center development in Orange County, including electricity demand, water usage, land use compatibility, environmental considerations, and potential impacts on residents’ utility costs, and water quality. "2) Policy options available to the County, including, but not limited to, a temporary moratorium on data center development, revising the Orange County Land Use Plan and UDO, and the legal process required to implement each option. "3) Recommendation(s) for Board action. "The staff provided the presentation at the March 17, 2026, Business meeting. The Board voted unanimously to hold a public hearing at its April 21, 2026, Business meeting to allow for the opportunity to declare a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers as a land use, inclusive of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers, Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities, Data Centers, Data Processing Facilities, and similar uses. The Board also voted unanimously to direct staff to develop amendments to the County’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to define and regulate both “large-scale” data centers, inclusive of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers, Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities, Data Centers, Data Processing Facilities, and similar uses during this moratorium."
At its April 21 meeting, the Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to impose a 1-year moratorium on large-scale data centers as a land use. The board will meet at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill.
This is exciting news, even if the project timeline is glacial.
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A zoning capacity calculator! 🤯 I'd love to see a tool like this for Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
On top of the questionable editorial decision by @indyweek.bsky.social, it's hard to see why a senator would go to this effort to smear a potential future colleague by repeating these anonymous—and, as far as we can tell, baseless—allegations. Politics is exhausting enough without this nonsense.
Read the whole thing: appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=...
"The majority's revisionist history belongs not in a judicial opinion, but in a George Orwell novel our schoolchildren should be reading in a high school English class."
Justice Anita Earls offers a typically brilliant dissent in today's embarrassing North Carolina Supreme Court decision on the state's obligation to ensure all schoolchildren can access a sound basic education. #ncpol
EXCLUSIVE: Carrburritos, a popular Carrboro burrito restaurant, will soon take over the Carr Mill Mall suite previously occupied by Grata Diner. The space is most famous for being the former home of Elmo’s Diner.
Here are the details:
Transgender Day of Visibility is Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
Carrboro stands with, celebrates, and defends its transgender residents and employees
The Transgender Pride Flag will be flown at Town Hall in honor of the holiday from Friday, March 27 - Thursday, April 2
https://monkeylink.co/d4aadd
Due South's Leoneda Inge hosts a segment remembering the late Rev. Jesse Jackson
www.wunc.org/2026-03-27/h...
The US government collected over $1 billion in immigration fees then refused to process the applications. No denials. No refunds. Just silence. This is the largest fee fraud in the history of the American immigration system. Here's what's happening. 🧵
Participants in the CROP Hunger Walk begin their annual trek through Carrboro and Chapel Hill to vent attention to hunger and poverty in our communities.
Participants in the CROP Hunger Walk begin their annual trek through Carrboro and Chapel Hill to bring attention to hunger and poverty in our communities.
In 2014, NYC lowered the citywide default speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. In the year that followed:
- Traffic fatalities fell by more than 22%
- Pedestrian fatalities fell by more than 25%
Yes, adding physical traffic calming is imperative but just lowering the limit can have a halo effect.
This is a heartbreaking loss for Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
The events, which are organized for older LGBTQ adults, include a film series in Raleigh and a gathering in Chapel Hill to highlight the role that libraries have played in queer communities.
www.wunc.org/term/news/20...
This is a peak UNC Chapel Hill story.
They've put a popular undergrad tour guide on probation after an undercover UNC employee went on her tour and disapproved of a few things she said.
It's astonishing how fragile this university often is.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZThTSf6dk/
#academicsky
One of the biggest and least understood shifts in immigration enforcement isn't happening at the border. It's happening at your local sheriff's office. A thread on 287(g). 🧵
Several clinics in NC, have announced they will no longer provide gender-affirming care for youth under 19. The Trans Youth Emergency Project is here to help & is hosting a Town Hall on 3/17 at 6:00 PM EST. RSVP:
I guess people mean well but these policy prescriptions that assume the private sector’s good faith and interest in “job creation” feels especially cruel given our political moment. What are we even talking about here???
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/o...
Amid discussions from the CHCCS Board of Education about which elementary schools to close, Carrboro Elementary School will not be in consideration.
Instead, the school district is making headway on its plans to replace the facility. Here’s the latest:
This guy gets it.
Screenshot of a confirmation that a ballot for the upcoming election was accepted by the Orange County Board of Elections.
The Orange County Board of Elections received and accepted my ballot for the primary election. Kind of a big deal, considering how many steps it takes to vote by mail in North Carolina! ✅
A lot of people, including me, were wondering how an IRB could ever approve this study.
The answer is that no IRB did. The person who “signed off” on approval from the only ethics board that reviewed it had resigned three years earlier. His signature was used without his knowledge.
A person with mittens holding a heart-shaped sign that reads "I Love Due Process".
Every person in this nation — regardless of immigration status — has the right to due process. We will defend that right with everything we've got.
📸 Scout Tufankjian
Endorsement Alert • Damon Seils, Former Mayor of Carrboro • "Karen Stegman has the experience in local government and the unifying vision we need to expand housing opportunities, prevent sprawl, and strengthen the social safety net in Orange County. I'm thrilled to endorse her candidacy for county commissioner." stegmanfororange.com
After many years of admiration, I finally get to see Karen Stegman's name on my ballot! — Vote early in person until February 28, or on Election Day, or request your mail-in ballot by February 17. 🗳️
#carrboro #chapelhill #hillsboroughnc #orangecountync @karenstegman.bsky.social
My article about Minnie Bruce Pratt and North Carolina’s place in lesbian-feminist history is out! Read it here (limited gift link) www.tandfonline.com/eprint/K9Q4K...
[NEW] Voter fraud is almost nonexistent in North Carolina.
Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.
carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...
