VOLUME 147 ISSUE 32 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2024
CHATHAMNEWSRECORD.COM
ERIK VERDUZCO / AP PHOTO
Waters rise in the Land of the Sky Emergency personnel watch as floodwaters rise in front of The Grand Bohemian hotel in downtown Asheville on Friday. Hurricane Helene devastated parts of western North Carolina with torrential rainfall and “biblical” flooding over the weekend. See NSJ A1
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Chapel Hill has BRIEF hands bound in new this week subdivision approval
Ruling allows public high school students to profit from NIL
A judge in has cleared the way for the state’s public school athletes to profit off their fame in a court case involving a high school football player who has committed to play at Tennessee. The lawsuit challenged North Carolina’s restrictions on athletes cashing in on the use of their name, image and likeness, known as NIL. It was filed on behalf of Greensboro Grimsley quarterback Faizon Brandon, who is the nation’s top-ranked recruit in the class of 2026, according to 247Sports. An attorney for the family said, “Justice has been served, not only for Faizon but for all public high school students in North Carolina.”
Election faces “daunting” level of uncertainty Election officials say they will do everything in their power to ensure that voters in North Carolina, a crucial presidential swing state, will be able to cast their ballots despite the devastation of Hurricane Helene only about a month before the November election. North Carolina state election board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said Tuesday that 12 county election offices in the hard‑hit western part of the state remain closed. She described the storm as causing a “daunting” level of uncertainty, with early in-person voting scheduled to start in just over two weeks.
“We do not have a lot of legal leeway to deny this. I find it really problematic that we’re bound so tightly.” Chapel Hill Town Council Member Elizabeth Sharp
While the issue of stormwater is apparent, the council is unable to utilize that as a finding to deny requests By Ryan Henkel Chatham News & Record
“The preliminary plat is the first step in a multi-step process and before anything can be built, more detailed plans will be submitted to the town and reviewed by our staff to ensure they meet our town ordinances including those for stormwater,” said Mayor Jessica Anderson. The applicant, John Mackowiak, proposed to create nine total lots on 4.7 acres of property across three existing lots located at 120, 121 and 130 Grand Alexander Court for R-1 residential development. While a good portion of the council opposed the po-
CHAPEL HILL — The Chapel Hill Town Council found itself in a bind in a recent approval for a major subdivision approval. Despite qualms about apparent stormwater issues on the property, the council had no choice but approve a preliminary plat for a proposed Aquabella Major See COUNCIL, page A7 Subdivision.
Years in the making, OBX beach homes are collapsing into the ocean “If you built something on the beachfront it may not be there forever.”
Nearly a dozen homes have been lost since 2020 By Ben Finley The Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. — A slow-motion catastrophe has been playing out in the coastal North Carolina village of Rodanthe, where 10 David Hallac, superintendent houses have fallen into the Atlantic since 2020. Three of the Cape have been lost since Friday. Hatteras The most recent collapse National was Tuesday afternoon, Seashore when the wooden pilings of a home nicknamed “Front Row Seats” buckled in the surf. The structure bumped
against another house before it bobbed in the waves, prompting now familiar warnings about splintered wood and nail-riddled debris. The destruction was decades in the making as beach erosion and climate change slowly edged the Atlantic closer to homes in the someSee OBX, page A10
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Chatham County poised to mark a first in arts education programming Chatham Arts Council announces expansion of Artists-in-Schools program in response to community growth By Melinda Burris Chatham News & Record THE CHATHAM ARTS Council (CAC) is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its interactive Artists-in-Schools initiative (AIS). The once fledgling program had just two participating artists working in two schools, it will serve 14 public schools in Chatham County this year. “Nearly twenty artists with Chatham County or Triad area roots” will participate, explained CAC Executive Director Cheryl Chamblee in a phone interview. The program will include artists working in a variety of art forms and mediums and will “include residencies at every Chatham County elementary, K-8 See ARTS, page A2