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Local figure

Bill Thorpe

William H. "Bill" Thorpe served eleven years on the Chapel Hill Town Council (1977–1981, 1983–1987 and from 2005 until his death in 2008), including a term as mayor pro tem. In 1984 he initiated the measure that made Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday an official town holiday, and he led the 2005 renaming of Airport Road for King.

Source: The Carrboro Citizen: Chapel Hill council member Bill Thorpe dies (October 2, 2008)

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Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineChapel Hill's noise ordinance and student parties, 1939–19911939–1991 · 27 events · Chapel Hill's aldermen passed an ordinance against unnecessary noise in 1939 and an anti-noise ordinance in 1968, and after complaints about fraternity bands a 1972 code required town permits for bands and amplified sound. After students objected to complaint-based enforcement, the town set decibel limits in 1978. A 1980 crackdown on fraternity parties led to talks with students and a 1981 ordinance that allowed louder parties only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights with permits; a fraternity soon lost its permit privileges for six months. In 1987 the Town Council cut the permitted level to 75 decibels and the weekend cutoff to midnight, denied Pi Kappa Phi a permit for its Burnout benefit and tabled a student-written amendment; it granted the Burnout permit in 1988. In 1989 it revived its noise committee instead of tightening the limit as neighbors asked. In 1990 it defined nighttime nuisance noise and set fines, and in 1991 it lowered the permitted limit to 70 decibels. StorylineFrom campus buses to Chapel Hill Transit, 1968–19901968–1990 · 162 events · Student-run buses began crossing the UNC campus in 1968, and a bus system for the University and the two towns was planned from 1970. Town buses ran for five weeks in 1971 before their money ran out, and voters then turned down a bus tax. Carrboro refused to join a later plan, but in February 1973 Chapel Hill voters approved bonds and a tax. With a federal grant, a University contract for bus passes and used buses from Atlanta, Chapel Hill Transit began running on August 1, 1974 and carried about 259,000 riders in its first eight weeks. The drivers formed a union in 1975, the town leased University airport land for a bus garage, and the buses carried more than two million riders in their first year. Service was cut in 1976 and night buses gave way to shared-ride taxis in 1977, and in 1979 federal aid lowered the bus tax and paid for 17 new buses. From 1980 the town replaced its aging buses with new General Motors buses that knelt at the curb and carried wheelchair lifts, finished a maintenance and operations facility and reshaped its routes, running nine from the fall of 1982. Ridership slipped in 1981, fares rose, and the drivers petitioned against the town's purchase of uniforms until they began wearing them in 1983. Ridership, down to 1.81 million in 1984-85, rose again from 1985 to more than 10,000 riders a day as the system added routes and buses. In 1988 a Blue Line began running to Duke, and in 1989 the council approved a park-and-ride lot on N.C. 54, the University opened one on Estes Drive, and the state funded 14 more buses and more park-and-ride lots. In 1990, after carrying more than 2.1 million riders the year before, the buses began running from a new park-and-ride lot on N.C. 54 East, 14 new buses arrived, and drivers complained that tight schedules forced them to speed. StorylineHonoring Martin Luther King Jr. in Chapel Hill, 1970–19931970–1993 · 46 events · Mayor Howard Lee proclaimed a Martin Luther King Day in Chapel Hill in January 1970, though UNC declined to close, and the aldermen named the day again in 1973. UNC's Faculty Council struck King's name from a proposed yearly observance in 1977, but a King Memorial Lecture began in 1978 and a campus-wide celebration in 1982. In 1984 Chapel Hill made King's birthday a town holiday. Andrew Young, Max Robinson and Randall Robinson were among the King Memorial Lecture speakers of the 1980s, Carrboro's mayor proclaimed a King Day in 1981, and King's daughters Yolanda and Bernice spoke at UNC's celebrations in 1984 and 1989. UNC held classes on the first federal King holiday in 1986 but, after students petitioned, closed for it in 1988 under new state legislation. Rallies and marches on Franklin Street marked the holiday in 1987 and 1988, and Maya Angelou and June Jordan spoke at UNC in 1988 and 1989. In 1991 a King holiday gathering at the post office opposed the Persian Gulf war and UNC's tenth annual celebration brought C.T. Vivian, and in 1992 an NAACP march and a service at First Baptist Church marked the day. In 1993 UNC housekeepers held a Unity Day dinner in King's honor. StorylineTown elections and bond votes, 1979–19891979–1989 · 73 events · In November 1979 Chapel Hill elected Joe Nassif mayor over council members Robert Epting and Gerry Cohen and Harold Foster, returned outgoing Mayor James Wallace and two incumbents to the Town Council and added Joe Straley. Its voters approved a fire station bond but rejected a downtown parking deck and the Ridgefield open space purchase. Carrboro re-elected Mayor Robert Drakeford, Hillsborough brought back Fred Cates as mayor, and county voters defeated a $20.4 million bond package, schools included. In 1981 the new Association for a Better Carrboro took three aldermen's seats from the Carrboro Community Coalition while Mayor Drakeford won a third term, and Chapel Hill voters unseated council members Bill Thorpe and Joe Herzenberg. In 1983 Jim Porto was elected Carrboro's mayor as ABC candidates won every aldermen's seat, Chapel Hill re-elected Mayor Nassif and returned Thorpe to the council, and Hillsborough Mayor Lucius Cheshire, beaten by Frank Sheffield, resigned early. In 1985 former mayor Jim Wallace won the office back in a race he called a quasi-referendum on Rosemary Square, and in 1986 Chapel Hill voters approved $11.8 million in bonds, a new library among them. In 1987 Jonathan Howes was elected mayor, Joe Herzenberg won a council seat and Eleanor Kinnaird unseated Carrboro Mayor Jim Porto. In 1989 Howes and Kinnaird were re-elected, and Hillsborough elected Horace Johnson, by the Daily Tar Heel's account its first Black mayor. StorylineChapel Hill's growth debate and its density limits, 1981–19871981–1987 · 26 events · Chapel Hill had regulated density by floor area ratios since 1981 and added limits on dwellings per acre in 1983, and in 1984 a court upheld its denial of the Oxford Hills apartments. In 1984 Chapel Hill residents worried about water, traffic and open space formed the Alliance of Neighborhoods, and a town task force warned that developments already approved would strain water and roads. The Alliance's petition for a six-month moratorium on new development drew 3,835 signatures, but in November the council turned it down and set hearings on growth rules instead. In 1985 and 1986 the council tightened its Development Ordinance, lowered its density caps and adopted a new land use plan, and it issued no apartment permits in 1986 as a glut left more than 1,300 apartments vacant. StorylineThe South Africa divestment campaign at UNC and Chapel Hill's sanctions, 1982–19941982–1994 · 59 events · From 1982 students pressed UNC to sell its holdings in companies doing business in South Africa. Students voted two to one for divestment in 1983, but the endowment board refused, citing its duty to maximize returns. The BSM renewed the campaign in 1984, the endowment board sold four holdings in 1986, and the University agreed to divest in 1987. Students voted for divestment again in 1986 and built shanties at South Building, where some were arrested; UNC had sold more than $4 million in holdings by October 1987. Chapel Hill adopted sanctions against South Africa in 1986 and repealed them in January 1994, and that March the endowment board lifted its ban on such investments.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 50 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Chapel Hill's Charter Commission sends its charter changes to the aldermen unchanged After a public hearing on January 20 that drew only six citizens, the Chapel Hill Charter Commission held its final meeting and forwarded its whole package unchanged: two more aldermen with overlapping four-year terms, a four-year term for the mayor and a vote for the mayor on every question. It asked the aldermen to send a rewritten charter to the General Assembly rather than to a local referendum. People: Bill Thorpe, Ross Scroggs Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 25, 1975, p. 2
  2. Hank Anderson starts a Saturday breakfast meeting of Black and social justice leaders Anderson began hosting a Saturday morning breakfast at Dip's Restaurant where African American and social justice leaders discussed problems and political strategy. The group later made endorsements in Chapel Hill and Carrboro elections and carried his name. People: Hank Anderson, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · OrangePolitics: Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast (November 3, 2011)
  3. Chapel Hill town workers air grievances before aldermen candidates at Hargraves Center At a People's Alliance forum on how the town treats its workers, sanitation and bus employees told seven candidates for the Board of Aldermen of outdated equipment and no safety or training program, full-time drivers no longer guaranteed a 40-hour week, a grievance procedure that ran through the supervisors complained of, and no recognition of union representatives. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Hargraves Recreation Center, North Roberson Street, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 20, 1977, p. 1
  4. The South Orange Black Caucus questions town candidates at a forum The South Orange Black Caucus, a political group working to elect candidates who would answer the needs of the Black community, held a forum at which local Black leaders questioned candidates for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro town boards, Carrboro mayor and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board. Questions ranged from bus service and housing for low-income people to the resignation of Hank Anderson, the town's Black recreation director. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Hank AndersonSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 24, 1977, p. 3
  5. Bill Thorpe leads the voting for the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen In his second run for office, Bill Thorpe led the field from the early returns and won one of four seats on the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen, with Bev Kawalec, Marilyn Boulton and Gerry Cohen. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Bev Kawalec, Marilyn Boulton, Gerry CohenSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 9, 1977, p. 1
  6. Chapel Hill forms a committee to display the town's civic history The Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen agreed to form a committee for civic history commemoration to find and display pictures of all the town's mayors and town managers and the names of all its aldermen since incorporation. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill Municipal Building, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 16, 1978, p. 5
  7. Chapel Hill aldermen decide to seek a southern bypass and a larger planning district At a work session the Chapel Hill aldermen agreed informally to ask the state Department of Transportation for a southern bypass around the town and to seek legislation extending the town's planning district north, and Mayor James C. Wallace proposed dropping the town's suit against the Interstate 40 route in exchange. The board also let aldermen keep meeting with the town manager on Monday mornings before board meetings. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Municipal Building, Chapel Hill · Also named: James C. WallaceSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 1, 1979, p. 1
  8. Chapel Hill aldermen honor the Tar Heel basketball team On April 9, 1979, the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen passed a resolution, signed by Mayor James Wallace and all the aldermen, congratulating Coach Dean Smith and the UNC basketball team on their ACC championship season, and another honoring the Chapel Hill Senior High basketball team. People: Bill Thorpe, Dean Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: James WallaceSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 10, 1979, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill Town Council puts parking and fire station bonds on the ballot and drops an open space bond The Chapel Hill Town Council put a $2.6 million bond for downtown parking, including a deck on Municipal Lot No. 1 on Rosemary Street, and a $450,000 bond for a fire station at Weaver Dairy Road and N.C. 86 on the November 6 ballot. After two hours of heated debate it voted 5 to 4 to rescind its July 9 open space resolution and then voted down a $300,000 bond to buy open space. People: Bill Thorpe, R. D. Smith Place: Municipal Building, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Municipal Lot No. 1, Rosemary Street, Weaver Dairy RoadSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 6, 1979, p. 1
  10. Mayor James C. Wallace says he will not seek a second term Chapel Hill Mayor James C. Wallace announced that he would not run for re-election in November and would instead run for a Town Council seat so he could return to teaching at N.C. State University, where he had been on leave since becoming mayor in 1975. He favored four-laning the U.S. 15-501 bypass, a southern bypass and the town's proposed planning extension south of Chapel Hill, which the county commissioners opposed. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: James C. Wallace · Also mentions: U.S. 15-501 bypassSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 1979, p. 1
  11. UNC opens the Health Affairs parking deck addition before the town certifies it The University put the nearly finished N.C. Memorial Hospital parking deck addition into use, including for football parking on September 22, without the certificate of occupancy the town's 1978 special use permit required. Mason Farm Road area residents and some council members objected, since the permit also required the town to solve traffic on their streets first; Town Manager Gene Shipman wrote University officials on September 28 that the town had not given permission. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Manning Drive, Chapel Hill · Also named: Gene Shipman · Also mentions: N.C. Memorial HospitalThe Daily Tar Heel, September 26, 1979, p. 1
  12. Chapel Hill Town Council rezones a 29-acre Eastowne tract for limited business Against the advice of its Planning Board and planning staff, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 8-1 to rezone 29 acres in the Eastowne area, across from Blue Cross-Blue Shield, from residential to limited business use for a proposed office building, with Jonathan Howes voting no. The Daily Tar Heel called it the town's first zoning map change in 10 years, and Planning Board chairman Roscoe Reeve said the council was no longer listening to the board. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Eastowne area, Chapel Hill · Also named: Roscoe ReeveSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 19, 1979, p. 1
Show all 50 dated events
  1. Chapel Hill drops its building fee for insulating existing buildings On January 14, 1980, at the suggestion of council member Bill Thorpe and with the town manager's support, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted to eliminate the town's building fee for installing insulation in existing buildings, to encourage energy conservation. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 16, 1980, p. 3
  2. The Chapel Hill Town Council endorses OWASA's Cane Creek Reservoir Ahead of the Army Corps of Engineers hearings, the council formally endorsed the proposed 3-billion-gallon reservoir, citing the draft environmental impact statement's finding that Cane Creek would give purer water than the Haw River or B. Everett Jordan Lake. The same night it approved the Phase IV plan for North Forest Hills over Piney Mountain Road neighbors' protests, with R. D. Smith and Bill Thorpe opposed, and put off acting on the town's ban on drive-in windows. People: Bill Thorpe, R. D. Smith Place: Municipal Building, Chapel HillThe Daily Tar Heel, August 27, 1980, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill Town Council sets more stoplights to flash late at night To save energy at the state's request, the Town Council voted to have signals at Pittsboro and McCauley streets, Raleigh Street and Cameron Avenue, and Cameron Avenue and Ransom Street flash caution from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and asked the state to put three South Columbia Street intersections back on regular cycles. After complaints the town on October 2 asked that all Columbia Street lights return to full-time and the rest flash only from 1 a.m. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Cameron Avenue, Columbia Street, South Columbia StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 24, 1980, p. 3
  4. The Chapel Hill Town Council refuses to let The Oaks Apartments become condominiums On October 13, 1980, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-3 to deny Brant Homes of Greensboro the special-use permit change it needed to sell the 124 apartments of The Oaks as condominiums, going against its staff and Planning Board. Mayor Joe Nassif argued that a town with no new apartment starts since 1974 could not afford to lose rental housing; a motion to reconsider failed 5-4 on October 27, after the developer had dropped its lawsuit against the town. People: Bill Thorpe Place: The Oaks Apartments, Burning Tree Drive and N.C. 54 East, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe NassifThe Daily Tar Heel, October 15, 1980, p. 1
  5. Chapel Hill Town Council approves the Piney Mountain public housing duplexes Voting 7-2 on September 28, 1981, after almost two hours of debate, the Chapel Hill Town Council granted a special use permit for 16 public housing duplexes in the Piney Mountain development off Airport Road, a site the Chapel Hill Housing Authority had chosen for a HUD-funded project. The Piney Mountain Resident Association, which said the project would lower property values, had asked for a delay and said it would sue the town and HUD; Marilyn Boulton and Jim Wallace voted no. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Piney Mountain, off Airport Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: Marilyn Boulton, Jim Wallace · Also mentions: Airport RoadSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 30, 1981, p. 1
  6. The South Orange Black Caucus endorses candidates for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro elections By October 28, 1981, the South Orange Black Caucus had endorsed Joe Herzenberg, Bill Thorpe and Lightning Brown for the Chapel Hill Town Council, Mayor Robert Drakeford and aldermen candidates Hilliard Caldwell, Braxton Foushee, Doug Sharer and Nancy White in Carrboro, and Ted Parrish, Wallace Hill and Ron Strom for the school board. After the election, Foushee blamed the caucus's backing of Caldwell, four candidates for three seats, for the Coalition's losses. People: Bill Thorpe, Hilliard Caldwell, Braxton Foushee Place: Chapel Hill and Carrboro · Also named: Joe Herzenberg, Lightning Brown, Robert Drakeford, Doug Sharer, Nancy White, Ted ParrishThe Daily Tar Heel, October 28, 1981, p. 3
  7. Chapel Hill voters return Boulton and Kawalec and unseat Thorpe and Herzenberg In the Chapel Hill Town Council election of November 3, 1981, incumbents Marilyn Boulton (2,602 votes) and Bev Kawalec (2,327) were returned and newcomers David Pasquini (2,213) and Winston Broadfoot (2,180) won the other two seats, defeating incumbents Bill Thorpe (2,012) and Joe Herzenberg (1,770). Only 31.6 percent of registered voters cast ballots, and the winners read the result as a call for tighter town spending. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Marilyn Boulton, Bev Kawalec, David Pasquini, Winston Broadfoot, Joe HerzenbergSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1981, p. 1
  8. The Chapel Hill Town Council orders uniforms for bus drivers over a driver-led petition The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 6 to 3 on November 4, 1981, to go ahead with buying uniforms for Chapel Hill Transit drivers, using $11,000 already budgeted, after drivers gathered 1,200 passenger signatures calling the purchase frivolous and the Transportation Board had recommended against it. Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe and Joe Herzenberg voted no. People: Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg · Also mentions: Chapel Hill TransitSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 6, 1981, p. 3
  9. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Joe Nassif and puts Preston, Howes, Smith and Thorpe on the Town Council In the Chapel Hill municipal election of November 8, 1983, Mayor Joe Nassif was re-elected without opposition, and newcomer Nancy Preston (3,500 votes), incumbents Jonathan Howes (3,049) and R. D. Smith (2,665) and former council member Bill Thorpe (2,336) won the four Town Council seats; Katherine Wright finished fifth and incumbent Joe Straley last, 73 votes behind Thorpe. Turnout was 27.8 percent, and the Daily Tar Heel reported that it was the first time two Black candidates, Smith and Thorpe, had been elected to the council in the same election. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe, Joe Straley, R. D. Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Nassif, Nancy Preston, Katherine WrightSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 9, 1983, p. 1
  10. Joe Nassif takes the oath for a second term as Chapel Hill mayor with the new Town Council On December 5, 1983, after farewell speeches by departing members Joe Straley and Jim Wallace, N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Willis Whichard swore in newcomer Nancy Preston, returning former member Bill Thorpe and incumbents R.D. Smith and Jonathan Howes, and Mayor Joe Nassif took the oath for his second term. The council elected Bev Kawalec mayor pro tem and re-elected David Roberts town clerk. People: Bill Thorpe, Jonathan Howes, R. D. Smith Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Nassif, Nancy Preston, Bev Kawalec, Willis Whichard, Joe Straley, Jim WallaceSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 7, 1983, p. 3
  11. Chapel Hill makes Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a town holiday On Council member Bill Thorpe's initiative, Chapel Hill made the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. an official town holiday, the first town in North Carolina and one of the first municipalities in the nation to do so. People: Martin Luther King Jr. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Carrboro Citizen: Chapel Hill council member Bill Thorpe dies (October 2, 2008) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 16, 1984, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, January 20, 1987, p. 3
  12. Chapel Hill Town Council sets aside money for the Triangle's National Sports Festival bid At a meeting that heard the first public comment on the 1984-85 budget, the council passed a resolution providing up to $16,670 toward expenses of the Triangle's bid to host the U.S. Olympic Committee's National Sports Festival. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill Municipal Building, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 28, 1984, p. 4
  13. Chapel Hill Town Council extends its talks with the Fraser Company on Rosemary Square At the town manager's request the Town Council extended its negotiating period with the Fraser Company of North Carolina on Rosemary Square, the $16 million mixed-use project for Municipal Lot No. 1 on Rosemary Street between the post office and NCNB Plaza, with condominium hotel suites, a 300-car public deck, a 200-car private deck, shops and a plaza. It also approved more money for legal and financial consultants, which Town Manager David Taylor put at up to $40,000. At the same meeting council member Bill Thorpe pressed for affirmative action, noting that the police department had one Black lieutenant and the fire department one Black captain while all 22 town trash collectors were Black. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Municipal Lot No. 1, East Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: David Taylor · Also mentions: Rosemary StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 12, 1984, p. 3
  14. Chapel Hill Town Council tightens its door-to-door peddling ordinance In mid-November 1984, the Chapel Hill Town Council revised the town code's peddling ordinance, sponsored by council member Bill Thorpe, who tied the change to the town's rapid growth and the need to identify strangers selling door to door. Peddlers now needed a 60-day permit from the police department, could not sell or solicit after sunset and had to carry their driver's licenses; charities and nonprofit groups could get free courtesy permits, and the town manager could deny permits to applicants with recent felony, theft or fraud convictions, with appeals to the council. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 16, 1984, p. 2
  15. Town Council member Winston Broadfoot dies Chapel Hill Town Council member Winston Broadfoot, 64, died of natural causes at his home, the Daily Tar Heel reported in its week in review. Council member Bill Thorpe remembered him as "a very hard worker who was also highly opinionated." People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Winston BroadfootSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 25, 1985, p. 6
  16. The Chapel Hill Town Council turns down a move to shrink itself to seven members A proposal by council members Bev Kawalec and Marilyn Boulton to cut the Town Council from nine members to seven, rather than fill the seat of the late Winston Broadfoot, failed when a motion to hold a public hearing on it was defeated; Bill Thorpe, David Pasquini and Jonathan Howes spoke against it. People: Bill Thorpe, Jonathan Howes Place: Municipal Building, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bev Kawalec, Marilyn Boulton, David Pasquini, Winston BroadfootSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 27, 1985, p. 1
  17. Chapel Hill Town Council appoints David Godschalk to Winston Broadfoot's seat By a 5-0 vote the council named David Godschalk, a UNC city and regional planning professor and former chairman of the town's Task Force on Growth Management, to serve the seven months left in the term of council member Winston Broadfoot, who had died in January. Council member Bill Thorpe said he wished the public had had a chance to question him first. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Town Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: David Godschalk, Winston BroadfootSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 3, 1985, p. 2
  18. About 120 people hold a candlelight vigil against apartheid at the Chapel Hill post office About 120 people gathered in front of the Franklin Street post office for a candlelight vigil against apartheid sponsored by the Orange County Rainbow Coalition of Conscience, closing a postcard campaign that urged Sen. Jesse Helms not to filibuster sanctions against South Africa. Speakers included Council member Bill Thorpe, former council member Joe Straley, council candidate Joe Herzenberg and congressional candidate Kirsten Nyrop, and the group said it would ask the Town Council for a resolution discouraging local business with South Africa. People: Yonni Chapman, Bill Thorpe, Joe Straley Place: Post office, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joe Herzenberg, Kirsten Nyrop, Jesse HelmsSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 1985, p. 1
  19. Chapel Hill makes parking violations civil offenses and raises the overtime meter fine to $5 The Town Council passed an ordinance turning parking violations from criminal into civil offenses and raising the fine for overtime at meters from $1 to $5, with $5 more for each unpaid week in the first month and a $25 ceiling after 60 days. Council members said the change would discourage long-term parking downtown, much of it by students; as civil fines, the money could no longer go to the school system under state law. People: Bill Thorpe, Jonathan Howes Place: Downtown Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 16, 1986, p. 3
  20. About 130 people rally and march down Franklin Street on the King holiday About 130 people rallied at the Franklin Street post office on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and marched under police escort to First Baptist Church, where the Rev. J. R. Manley led a prayer. The UNC Anti-Apartheid Support Group and the Orange County Rainbow Coalition of Conscience sponsored the event, which the Daily Tar Heel called Chapel Hill's first community celebration of the holiday and which joined King's memory to the call for divestment from South Africa. People: Bill Thorpe, Fred Battle, R. D. Smith Place: Franklin Street post office to First Baptist Church, Chapel Hill · Also named: J. R. ManleySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 20, 1987, p. 3
  21. Chapel Hill Town Council denies a noise permit for Pi Kappa Phi's Burnout The Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5 to 3 to deny Pi Kappa Phi a special permit for amplified outdoor music before 5 p.m. at its 11th annual Burnout, a benefit for the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center set for April 10 at the fraternity house on Finley Golf Course Road near The Oaks. Interim Police Chief Arnold Gold cited neighbors' complaints of litter, vandalism and parking, and council member Jonathan Howes said the town wanted such events moved to the center of campus. Howes, Bill Thorpe and Nancy Preston would have granted the permit for one last year at the site. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Nancy Preston, Arnold Gold · Also mentions: Finley Golf Course RoadSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 16, 1987, p. 1
  22. Pi Kappa Phi holds a small indoor party in place of its Burnout benefit Denied a noise permit by the Town Council, Pi Kappa Phi held a smaller party with two bands playing indoors in place of its outdoor Burnout; 400 to 500 people came, against 3,000 to 4,000 the year before, noise at the property line stayed at 60 decibels, and T-shirt sales raised about $1,000 for the N.C. Jaycees Burn Center, against about $6,000 in 1986. Mayor Jim Wallace said he had heard of no trouble. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Finley Golf Course Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: Jim WallaceSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 13, 1987, p. 7
  23. Chapel Hill Town Council votes 5 to 4 for a student-written noise amendment on first reading Mayor Jim Wallace presented a noise ordinance amendment written by Student Body President Brian Bailey, and the Town Council voted 5 to 4 to enact it after moving the weekend cutoff from Bailey's 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. It allowed 80 decibels at permitted campus events and 70 decibels without a permit Thursday through Saturday. Because the vote fell short of two-thirds, the amendment needed a second majority vote, set for April 29. People: Bill Thorpe, R. D. Smith Place: Municipal Building, Airport Road, Chapel Hill · Also named: Jim Wallace, Brian BaileySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1987, p. 3
  24. Chapel Hill Town Council tables the students' noise ordinance amendment and forms a committee to study noise Student Body President Brian Bailey's amendment, which would have raised the limit for outdoor parties to 80 decibels and moved the weekend cutoff from midnight to 1 a.m., had passed 5-4 on April 13 but needed a second vote. At the request of Bailey and Vice Chancellor Donald Boulton, the council voted unanimously on April 29 to table it, leaving the ordinance passed in February in force, and to form a committee of students, faculty and residents to study noise; a revision committee chaired by assistant town manager Ron Secrist first met on August 19. People: Bill Thorpe, R. D. Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Brian Bailey, Donald Boulton, Ron SecristSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 21, 1987, p. 4
  25. Chapel Hill brings public housing under direct town control Squeezed by federal cuts to the money for its 312 low-rent apartments, the Chapel Hill Housing Authority, independent of the town since 1962, saw its board vote 5 to 4 on March 23, 1987 to become a town agency. In mid-April 1987 the Town Council voted to abolish the authority and give its powers to a new Chapel Hill Department of Housing under interim director Tina Vaughn. Mayor Pro Tem Bill Thorpe cast the only vote against, saying tenants would have to reapply for units some had lived in for years, while authority chairwoman Rosemary Waldorf said tenants would gain a stronger voice. A 2025 account also ties the change to a rent strike and other problems in the 1980s. Chapel Hill and Shelby are the only North Carolina municipalities with that structure. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Rosemary Waldorf, Tina VaughnThe Local Reporter: Chapel Hill Council gets update on Public Housing operations · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 8, 1986, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, April 1, 1987, p. 7; The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1987, p. 5
  26. The N.C. Supreme Court clears the way for Rosemary Square The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled against the downtown residents who had sued Chapel Hill and the developer, finding no unconstitutional joint venture in the town's agreement to pay $3.3 million for 125 of the 516 parking spaces in the proposed $19 million Rosemary Square hotel, retail and parking complex. The court had taken the appeal directly, bypassing the Court of Appeals, at the request of the town and the developer. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Rosemary and Henderson streets, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 4, 1987, p. 3
  27. Fraternity and business speakers oppose the Pittsboro Street Extension at a state road hearing About 100 people came to a N.C. Department of Transportation public hearing at Grey Culbreth Junior High School on the area thoroughfare plan. Speakers for Kappa Alpha and for the owner of University Square opposed the proposed one-way Pittsboro Street Extension, which would have cut through Little Fraternity Court, taken three fraternity houses and cost University Square 60 parking spaces; the DOT study priced it at about $5.5 million. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Grey Culbreth Junior High School, Culbreth Road, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University SquareSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 1, 1987, p. 1
  28. Chapel Hill hires a Raleigh firm to design the $2 million Municipal Building expansion On a 3-1-1 committee vote the town hired Hager, Smith and Huffman of Raleigh to design a new council chamber and offices behind the Municipal Building, and council members Bill Thorpe and Nancy Preston said the town would adopt a policy favoring local firms before work on the planned $4 million library. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill Municipal Building, Chapel Hill · Also named: Nancy PrestonSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 3, 1987, p. 3
  29. Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County hold a public hearing on their joint planning agreement At a joint hearing, residents of the Fox Meadow subdivision objected to the proposed agreement, which would put them in Carrboro's future area rather than Chapel Hill's. The agreement gave the two towns planning say over a 44,000-acre area outside their limits, kept a 38,000-acre rural buffer under the county, and barred development in the University Lake watershed until OWASA finished a water quality study. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe, Hilliard Caldwell Place: Grey Culbreth Junior High School, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University Lake watershedSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 16, 1987, p. 4
  30. Chapel Hill Town Council votes to pave the town's remaining dirt streets at residents' expense The council voted 6-2 to give 56 publicly maintained dirt streets, more than eight miles in all, a low-cost mat-and-seal surface and to charge the whole cost to the property owners, about $85 each by the staff's estimate, after a 4-4 tie defeated the town manager's plan for the town to pay a quarter. Nancy Preston and Bill Thorpe voted no. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Nancy PrestonSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 28, 1987, p. 3
  31. Chapel Hill returns Nancy Preston and Jim Wallace and elects Roosevelt Wilkerson to the Town Council With about a quarter of registered voters casting ballots, Nancy Preston led the council race with 4,399 votes, followed by Roosevelt Wilkerson, pastor of St. Joseph's Methodist Church, with 3,632, Joe Herzenberg with 3,535 and outgoing Mayor James Wallace with 3,151. Incumbent Bill Thorpe lost with 2,807, and the two UNC student candidates, Rob Friedman and Charles Balan, finished seventh and last. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Nancy Preston, Roosevelt Wilkerson, Joe Herzenberg, James Wallace, Charles Balan, Rob FriedmanSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 5, 1987, p. 1
  32. Chapel Hill Town Council makes left turns from Shadowood Apartments onto Airport Road illegal The council passed a law barring left turns out of the Shadowood Apartments entrance onto Airport Road after drivers ignored an entrance designed to discourage them, sending traffic out the back to the light on Piney Mountain Road; police also asked for the Airport Road speed limit to be cut from 45 to 35 miles an hour. People: Bill Thorpe Place: Airport Road, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 12, 1987, p. 3
  33. Mayor Jonathan Howes files for a second term and draws no opponent Howes, director of UNC's Center for Urban and Regional Studies and a council member since 1975, filed as the first candidate in the 1989 mayor's race and was unopposed when filing closed, naming downtown, housing and the homeless, transportation, recycling and drugs and crime as the main issues. For four council seats, incumbents Art Werner, Julie Andresen and David Pasquini ran with newcomers Alan Rimer, Joyce Brown, Bill Thorpe and Helen Urquhart, while David Godschalk stepped down. People: Jonathan Howes, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Art Werner, Julie Andresen, David Pasquini, Alan Rimer, Joyce Brown, Helen Urquhart, David GodschalkSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, July 13, 1989, p. 5
  34. Chapel Hill renames Airport Road as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard At a ceremony beginning outside Town Hall, Airport Road became Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the small Martin Luther King Street became Jackie Robinson Street. Fred Battle, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, had led the push for the change after noticing that the only public facilities named for Black people were in Black neighborhoods. People: Fred Battle, Bill Thorpe, Martin Luther King Jr. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Airport RoadSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 29, 2005, p. 6 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, June 24, 2005, p. 21
  35. Bill Thorpe petitions the council to name the post office plaza for local activists Council member Bill Thorpe presented a petition to rename the Franklin Street post office plaza for Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley, an idea born at Joe Straley's memorial service. The council chose to hold a public hearing, and its naming committee proposed naming the plaza for an ideal with plaques for local peace and justice activists. People: Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Charlotte Adams, Diana McDuffee, Joseph A. Herzenberg Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 29, 2006, p. 3
  36. Chapel Hill names the post office plaza Peace and Justice Plaza The Town Council named the space in front of the Franklin Street post office Peace and Justice Plaza, after a petition to honor Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley. Lucy Straley, then 92, told the Daily Tar Heel the plaza had long been the couple's main backdrop for protest. People: Lucy Straley, Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe, Charlotte Adams Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 13, 2007, p. 3
  37. Bill Thorpe and Dean Smith are to be added to the Peace and Justice Plaza marker The town announced that the names of former Council member Bill Thorpe and UNC basketball coach Dean Smith would be added to the granite marker, which already honored 13 local leaders, at a Peace and Justice Celebration on Sunday, October 11, 2015. People: Dean Smith, Mark Kleinschmidt Place: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel Hill · Also named: William ThorpeSearch the index · North Carolina Newspapers: The Carolina Times, October 10, 2015, page 2
  38. Chapel Hill residents walk and sing in memory of Mama Dip The day before Mildred Council's funeral at Chapel Hill Bible Church, William Thorpe of UNC Walk For Health led a walk through Chapel Hill in her memory, with people singing "This Little Light of Mine" from porches along the way. People: Mildred Council, Bill Thorpe Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: William ThorpeSearch the index · WRAL: Walking, singing through Chapel Hill in memory of 'Mama Dip'

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