At the end of the first day of election filing in Orange, a single name is down to run for one of three open Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board seats - and it belongs to a newcomer.
Parent Michelle "Shell" Brownstein tossed her name in the hat today. She didn't return our calls to chat this afternoon, but a slightly dated website says that Brownstein's a former UNC-trained surgeon with four kids. She served on the parent advocacy committee at Mary Scroggs Elementary and also the NC PTA. She's given several talks in the last year to raise awareness on the appropriate support for kids who are both gifted and disabled.
There are three seats open on the school board as chairwoman Lisa Stuckey and board members Jean Hamilton and Greg McElveen end their four-year terms this year. McElveen told us last week that he planned to run for re-election. Stuckey and Hamilton have both said they do not plan to run.
Election filing continues until July 17 at noon. In other races today:
CHAPEL HILL: Augustus Cho filed to run for mayor. Penny Rich filed for one of four council seats.
CARRBORO: Incumbents Jacquie Gist and Randee Haven-ODonnell and challenger Sammy Slade filed for three aldermen seats.
HILLSBOROUGH: Incumbents Tom Stevens filed for mayor and Mike Gering filed for Town Board.
Sadia Latifi has been a reporter for The News & Observer since June 2009. She currently covers the town of Cary.