News briefs: Rally Wednesday on Peace and Justice Plaza | News & Observer

Rally today on downtown plaza

CHAPEL HILL A rally being called “Forward Together, Not One Step Back!” will be held at 5:30 p.m. today on Peace and Justice Plaza, outside the Franklin Street post office.

The rally, on the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington featuring Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, is one of 13 simultaneous rallies happening in each congressional district across the state.

The purpose is “to bring to light the unconstitutional and immoral acts of the N.C. General Assembly and the influence their decisions have had on our local communities, and to demand that our Congress People renew Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act,” according to a statement from organizers.

Speakers include Bill Turner, Paige Johnson, Ellie Kinnaird, Jenn Frye, Gene Nichol, Tye Hunter and others. The rally is being organized by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and other organizations.

Friends of Downtown to hold candidates forum

CHAPEL HILL The Friends of the Downtown will hold its 2013 candidate forum at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Franklin Hotel.

The forum will begin with candidates who have not run for office before (George Cianciolo, Loren Hintz, Gary Kahn, Paul Neebe, Maria Palmer, Jonathan Riehl, Amy Ryan and D.C. Swinton), followed by the incumbent candidates (Sally Greene and Ed Harrison), and then Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt (running unopposed).

Each candidate will have two minutes to introduce themselves. After each question, an audience member will ask one follow-up question on the topic. If time permits, each candidate, in the same order, will get a follow-up question.

Gatherings of the Friends of the Downtown are free and open to the public, with parking available in the lot behind the Franklin Hotel (only on the side facing the hotel) and in the hotel’s gated lots as available. Parking is also available in the new town lot behind Chipotle and in the town lot next to 411 West.

Community Center to close Sept. 9-15

CHAPEL HILL The Chapel Hill Community Center at 120 S. Estes Drive will close for annual maintenance Sept. 9-15.

Public Works staff will perform annual preventive maintenance on the facility. A cleaning service team will strip and wax the floors and perform annual maintenance on the facility. The gymnasium floor will be refinished, and a coat of polyurethane applied.

Portable restrooms will be provided to the public next to the playground.

Economic district open house Sept. 4

HILLSBOROUGH The Orange County Planning and Inspections Department will hold an open house on access management planning activities in the vicinity of U.S. 70 and Old Highway 10 (near Durham County).

The event will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the Shared Visions Retreat Center (historic Murphey School), 3717 Murphey School Road in Durham.

As an implementation measure of the Eno Economic Development District (EDD) Area Small Area Plan, an access management plan has been developed for the Eno EDD to provide better transportation systems and capacities as development moves forward in an area. A county public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, at the Department of Social Services at 113 Mayo St.in Hillsborough.