Here's a look at today's local headlines:

PAYBACK! Heels head into the ACC tourney this week ranked No. 1 after last night's victory, with a possible rematch with Duke in the final.

BUILDER SUES SCHOOLS: A contractor who submited the low bid for building Elementary School No. 11 in Northside is suing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools for a half million bucks. So why isn't the school system sweating? Read our story.

SNIPPING SUCCESS: Fewer animals are coming in to the Orange County Animal Shelter, and so fewer are facing the needle. Find out what Orange County is doing that's getting props from state public health vet Lee Hunter.

CHATHAM WALMART: OrangeChat blog readers read it first. The long-awaited plan for a Chatham County Walmart is in, and this time Orange County leaders are sweating. Find out what the big box could mean for Obey Creek in Dave Hart's story.

Tim Toben talks about what's next for him after the Greenbridge foreclosure. The state approves the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School. And Gene Pease is looking for "two tough sons of bitches."

It's a good time for letters to the editor. We've finally emptied the inbox that has been full ever since the Yates Motor incident. Tell us what's on your mind about these and other issues at editor@newsobserver.com

And thanks for reading,

Mark

Here's a look at today's local headlines:

ANTI-LOITERING CHALLENGE: As blog readers know, we reported this week how a Durham group has challenged Carrboro's limits on how long people may wait for work at the Jones Ferry and Dave roads intersection. I attended the meeting with town leaders, community advocates and several day laborers yesterday at El Centro Hispano. Look for a report on that this week.

NO COUNTY TAX INCREASE: For 20-plus years, in a row, the Orange County Board of Commissioners has passed annual county budgets with tax increases. Today it's a different story as not-so-new Manager Frank Clifton and the board worked out a spending plan that holds the tax rate steady for the third consecutive year.

FOURTH SUSPECT SOUGHT: We really do bring you the news on the blog first. For everyone else, we have more on the Greenbridge case, with the release this week of a surveillance photo of a fourth suspect police are looking for. Still no word from any of the anarchists involved in the protest, despite our best efforts to reach them.

We wrap up all of the week's news, with the big vote on Aydan Court (closer than you'd think), the Northside moratorium, more details of the Edge development proposed for Eurbanks Road, photos of the new American flag being installed at University Mall (nice one, Harry) and more letters than we've had in weeks. If your letter did not get in today, look for it this coming week as we try to get them all in.

Dave Hart shares opinion on the UNC athletics scandal (tell us if you agree or disagree), sports editor Elliott Warnock bring you the week in local sports and recreation, and lots more. Thanks to everyone who wrote in about the elephant off Erwin Road (most of you think it's the handiwork of sculptor Damian Hoffman), and a happy birthday to Preservation Society Ernie Dollar.

Remember you can follow us on twitter @chapelhillnews1 (don't forget the 1) and on our new Facebook page by searching The Chapel Hill News. Or friend me for newsroom news throughout the week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading.         

Police are asking the public to help identify a fourth suspect in the vandalism that took place last Saturday at the Greenbridge condominiums in downtown Chapel Hill.

Police have released a surveillance photo that shows a man in the lobby of the $56 million project where police say protesters caused about $3,400 damage during a protest.

About 20 people holding signs stood outside the building on West Rosemary Street while another 15 to 20, some wearing masks, entered the building, spraying Silly String, damaging the floor, knocking art work off walls and blocking elevators with furniture, according to police.

Three people were arrested and charged with felony rioting and misdemeanor property damage. The others ran out through a side door.       

Police ask anyone with information in the case or who can identify this photo to call Sgt. Rodney Matthews at 919-968-2767 ext. 128, or Crime Stoppers at 942-7515.  Calls to Crime Stoppers are confidential and anonymous, and the caller may be eligible for a cash reward up to $2,000 for information that leads to arrest.

Protesters, some of them local anarchists, say Greenbridge is speeding gentrification in the historically black, working-class  Northside neighborhood. Census data shows the community has been losing black homeowners for decades. The Town Council adopted a development moratorium Tuesday night to try to slow the spread of student rentals there.

Tim Toben is the public face of the Greenbridge condominiums. He has spoken with us when he liked our stories (presumably) and when he did not. He has been accessible during the foreclosure proceedings and frank about the partners losing $8 million and control of the project. (See that story here.) When we first contacted him after Saturday's protest he did not want to comment. We asked again, and on Tuesday sent us this statement. In our previous post, we reprinted a statement released by the protesters. Here is Toben's statement (a portion appears in today's N&O story online):

Greenbridge is a convenient scapegoat for what had already occurred in the west end of Chapel Hill decades earlier.  Mason's Motel and The Starlight Supper Club, which were marvelous contributions to the community, opened in 1960 and had been shuttered for decades before Greenbridge arrived. Beginning in the 1970's Northside homes were purchased as investment properties and rented out to students.  By 2001, the Sykes Street Study from showed that Northside was already 71% "gentrified," primarily with student rentals.  It is unfortunate that the protesters didn't do their homework to find out the facts before attacking this project.
 
The incident that occurred last Saturday was no "peaceful protest." A group of local anarchists plus a few regional recruits wearing masks came onto the property and overturned furniture, blocked exits, and threatened residents.  Three were arrested and face felony charges.  The mayor called me to express his sympathy and promised a thorough investigation. A group with an identical signature arrived at our contractor's office in Greensboro in 2008 wearing masks, chanting slogans, overturning furniture and intimidating employees.  These white 20-30 year-olds claim to represent the interests of black residents, but the leaders of the black community say they do not represent them.
 
Greenbridge and its residents stand for positive change on a block that the town designated an economic opportunity zone.  The Town Council and planners invited redevelopment of that blighted block.  Because of the water sourced heat pumps, green rooftops, double insulation, and Solarban 80 glass, our residents consume half the energy per square foot of other downtown buildings.  They are serious about reducing their carbon footprint, reducing the need for new coal or nuclear power plants in NC, and contributing to the betterment of the community.  They stand for positive change, while the anarchists apparently seek to maintain the status quo through vandalism and intimidation. I am all for freedom of speech and peaceful protest.  They are rights that I also exercise.  The behavior of the anarchists is unlawful and based on unfounded assumptions.  The mayor and police chief have assured me that there will be no more tolerance for such criminal activity.

A few months ago we profiled the anarchists community in Chapel Hill.  Lynda-Marie Taurasi wrote the story. I took pictures at the anarchists book fair at the Nighlight on Rosemary Street. At least four times people came up to me and told me not to take their pictures or asked me if I had permission to take pictures.

On Monday, the day after anarchists and others protested against the Greenbridge condominiums, we sent reporter Katelyn Ferral to the Orange County courthouse to try to talk with the three people who were arrested. Two declined to be interviewed, and the third left before she could ask.

On Tuesday I went to the Internationalist and asked Mike and Ichabod at the front desk if they could help us contact the arrested protesters. (I had already called the one who gave police a phone number and left a message.) I told them we wanted to be fair as we cover the story and represent all sides. (See today's N&O story here.) They were polite, said the three people were probably reluctant to speak while they face felony charges, and took my cards with my work and cell phone numbers. 

So there you go. No word from those arrested, no way to tell if they're anarchists, except for the one protester, Brian Dingledine, with a Wikipedia link, and no real understanding why they did what they did. Except for their statement released at the protest, posted in its entirety below.

OCCUPY THE OCCUPIERS!

We're here to express our rage about the displacement of renters from Northside. Greenbridge has been instrumental in causing property values in the neighborhood to skyrocket; families and households have been forced out as investors like Engelhardt Ventures buy up all the property. This demonstration is the latest chapter in a narrative that has included public opposition, a boycott campaign, posters, graffiti, and more.

In the midst of a nationwide housing crisis, it is especially ironic that so many tenants have had to leave their homes on account of a development that remains mostly empty. This shows how the system of property rights prioritizes capitalist investment over the human beings it affects.

 Well-behaved citizens will object that we are disturbing the peace. Have they so much as batted an eye as families have been forced out of this community?

Developers will charge that not all of us live in Northside. But they can bring in investors and wealthy homebuyers from the other side of the country to finance the developments that make it impossible for us to live here.

Property owners will object that this is private property. But before this was a high-rise gated community defended by key cards and security guards, it was the church that hosted the charter school, the Ethiopian restaurant. This space used to be a part of our community; now the wealthy have stolen it from us. 

Politicians will insist that we should focus on bureaucratic reforms when the solution is obvious: the displaced should be permitted to move into the empty units in Greenbridge itself.

This isn’t just about Northside. The displacement of renters from Northside is a microcosm of the story of all the service workers and poor people in Chapel Hill. We are constantly being forced to relocate, working in town but commuting from Durham or the country. This makes it impossible for us to maintain ties and stand up for ourselves together; it means that the privilege of being a recognizable community with legitimate interests is reserved for the property-owning middle class. 

This protest is the only meaningful alternative we have to being silenced and written out of history. Against landlords and developers - Occupy the occupiers!

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt says the town needs to fully prosecute the protesters who vandalized the Greebridge project Saturday to send a message their behavior will not be tolerated.

No group has claimed responsibility for the protest or damage to the Greenbridge lobby. Infoshop news and other anarchist websites described some of the protesters as anarchists, a political group that opposes government as oppressive. A photo on several wesbites shows Saturday's protesters holding a red banner saying 'Total War on Gentrification" with the letter A inside a circle, an anarchist symbol.

Kleinschmidt says anarchists come with the territory in a college town, where people tend to tolerate a wide range of political beliefs.

But, “I think there’s an appropriate limit to that tolerance,” he said in an interview. “We need to prosecute this kind of behavior to send a message this is intolerable.”

Police arrested three people at the protest but say most of a group of about 20 people inside the downtown condominium project ran out a side door before they could stop them. Two of the three approached at a court hearing Monday declined to speak with a reporter.

Kleinschmidt said he thinks the protesters, some of whom wore masks, crossed a line when they entered the building, breaking furniture, spraying foam and blocking elevators.

“At the end of the day, they invaded people’s homes,” the mayor said. ‘I would imagine in a reasonable person this would invoke a large amount of fear.”
 

Police charged three people with felony rioting and damage to real property after a group of protesters vandalized the Greenbridge condominium project in downtown Chapel Hill over the weekend.

A group of about 15 to 20 people entered the 10-story building Saturday afternoon, while another group stood outside on the sidewalk with signs asking drivers to honk if their opposed the project, says Lt. Kevin Gunter. The project sits on edge of the historically black, working-class Northside neighborhood.

An officer initially thought the protest was confined to the sidewalk. He then learned more protesters were inside. The vandals had sprayed foam inside the lobby, broken furniture and moved couches and end tables to block the elevators.

The group ran out a side door when they saw the officer, Gunter says. Police stopped and charged  three protesters with one count each of felony rioting and two counts each of damage to real property.

- Brian Paul Dingledine, 37 of Chapel Hill

- Karoline Patrice Knable, 26, of Durham    
   
- Kyle Daniel Whisenant, 27, of Greensboro

There have been several incidents of vandalism and bomb threats against the project, which critics say will hasten gentrification in the surrounding neighborhood. Census data, however, shows the neighborhood has been undergoing change -- losing black residents and seeing more student rentals -- since long before the project opened last summer.   

Greenbridge, the 10-story, ecocentric condo project in downtown Chapel Hill that is facing foreclosure, has been given more time to bring in other investors.

Tim Toben, one of the five developers of Greenbridge, said in an email this morning that Bank of America has agreed to indefinitely postpone the foreclosure sale to allow the partners to find an investor to buy the outstanding debt on the property.

A foreclosure auction had been set for June 27.   

"There's still a long way to go to complete a transaction, but we are grateful to B of A for chosing to allow the necessary time to complete a sale that will be a win for the community, for Greenbridge, and for the bank," Toben said.

Toben said three groups submitted formal offers to buy the debt from Bank of America.

The developers owe $29 million to the bank.

They have been unable to sell units since liens were put on the property last fall.

Greenbridge includes 97 units, 37 of which have been sold.

"Since the bank filed its intent to foreclose, the response from the public and the business community has been overwhelming and supportive," Toben said. 

"We have received calls from all over the country from investors who want to see this model green project saved from the foreclosure heap."

Here is a look at today's local headlines:

300 EAST MAIN ON THE MOVE: Developers say construction could begin on the Cat's Cradle/ArtsCenter shopping center makeover this summer. First up: a hotel and parking deck. Read Tammy Grubb's story here.

ON THE PORCH: The Bynum General Store celebrates 75 years as the Chatham County community's hub (and most recently, launching pad for Grammy-nominated singer Tift Merritt). Read how residents rallied after the post office closed in Dave Hart's story. 

DID POLICY LEAD TO TROUBLE?: Greenbridge needed to sell a certain number of units to get the bank loan the developers now can't pay back. Partner Tim Toben says the bank counted the units priced to meet the town's affordable housing mandate. So did the town indirectly contribute to the developers' financial collapse? Read Katelyn Ferral's story and tell us what you think at editor@nando.com.  

Sam Taylor says the Heels kept him connected in Basra. Susie Wilde says Chapel Hill writer Luli Gray never liked Aesop's "Ant and Grasshopper" (so she rewrote it). Monks are building a mandala, and former CHHS runner Kent Pecora is tearing up the track in the NCAA.

Lots going on. We still want to hear from you about UNC's proposed arts center at the old museum, OWASA's plans to tap Jordan Lake water in future droughts and whatever else is on your mind. Send us a letter at editor@nando.com.

Thanks for reading,

Mark