Tuesday’s primary results decided which two Republican candidates will face two Democratic incumbent commissioners in the fall election.

For the District 3 seat, GOP candidate Brian Bock defeated Cadle Cooper and will appear on the November ballot against incumbent commissioner George Lucier.

Bock, a six-year resident of Chatham County who works as a portfolio manager, defeated Cooper, a Chatham County native and former long-time member of the county School Board.

Unofficial election results Tuesday night showed Bock won the primary with 55.45 percent of the vote, finishing the day with 1,678 votes to Cooper’s 1,348 (or 44.55 percent).

For the District 5 county commissioners seat, Republican Walter Petty, a businessman who has lived most of his 52 years in Chatham County, easily defeated his GOP opponent  Kim Beal, a lifelong county resident who works in the poultry industry.

Petty, who will face incumbent county commissioner Carl Thompson in the fall, won the primary with 1,938 votes (66.85 percent) to Beal’s 961 (33,15 percent), according to unofficial results.

The Democratic ballot in Tuesday’s primary featured no local races.

A total of 7,057 voters out of 41,832 registered voters in Chatham County (16.87 percent) cast ballots Tuesday and through One Stop early voting in advance of the primary election day.

The One Stop early voting period, which ended Saturday, saw light turnout.

By the end of the early voting period, 1,900 voters had cast ballots, or 4.5 percent of registered voters, said Chatham County Board of Elections supervisor Dawn Stumpf.

Voting picked up on Tuesday.

“It’s been kid of slow but steady,” Stumpf said Tuesday afternoon of the Election Day turnout.

In other races Tuesday, Chatham County voters favored Democrat Elaine Marshall (1,567 votes) in her US Senate bid in a close race with challenger Cal Cunningham (1,525 votes). Others on the Democratic ballot in this race garnered few votes.

On the Republican ballot for US Senate, Chatham voters overwhelmingly favored  incumbent Richard Burr (2,516, or 84.01 percent) over Larry Linney (73 votes), Brad Jones (199), and Eddie Burks (207).

On the GOP ballot for the District 2 House of Representatives seat, county voters cast 597 votes for Renee Ellmers, 350 for Frank Deatrich and 266 for Todd Gailas.

 For the US House of Representatives District 4 seat on the Republican ballot, local voters favored Frank Roche  (51 votes) over William Lawson (444), George Hutchins (52) and David Burnett (102).

All results are unofficial.

Chatham County Schools Superintendent Robert Logan is encouraging educators to ask state legislators not to approve the Governor’s proposed budget.

If Purdue’s budget is approved, Chatham County Schools would be forced to cut an additional $713,118 from its 2010-2011 budget.

According to Logan, the money would have to be taken from the personnel funds. An additional 13 certified positions or 26 classified positions would have to be cut.

"In the past we have been able to cut positions without laying anyone off. Still, we are 28 positions fewer. If this passes, we would probably have to get into the active workforce," Logan said.

In 2009-2010, Chatham County Schools were forced to reduce $2.4 million from their budget. For the upcoming 2010-2011, $1.5 million in cuts have already been made, resulting in 15 positions being cut last year and an additional

Chatham County officials plan to convert the Pittsboro Memorial Library building at 152 West Street into a temporary courtroom.

For the next six months, Superior Court will be conducted in the auditorium of the county Agriculture Building in Pittsboro.

more- See Thursday, May 6, 2010 edition

Principals from Siler City Elementary and Chatham Middle School met with the Board of Education on Monday to discuss the next steps to making the possibility of uniform dress a reality.

The idea for uniform dress, or "academic attire", initially began at Siler City Elementary after a Parent Advisory Council at the school brought up the possibility of matching school outfits.

The group decided to move forward with the idea and surveyed families of students last spring. 74 percent of parents were in favor of the idea of school uniforms.

Following the survey, a fashion show of a proposed school uniform was held at a PTA meeting.

Principal Angie Brady Andrews surveyed the staff of the school as well. 82 percent were in favor of the dress code policy.

"For parents, it was about unity. It was about putting children on a common playing field," Andrews said.

"This will help keep focus on what we’re doing as opposed to trying to impress someone," Andrews said.

The idea for a student-wide academic attire began with the teachers at Chatham Middle School, said Principal Tracy Fowler.

"There is a lot of peer pressure to wear name brands in middle school. We feel like this would help," Fowler said.

Fowler also said that the uniforms could help with some disciplinary issues.

"In middle school kids start getting into things that aren’t appropriate to wear," Fowler said.

A survey was given to parents at Chatham Middle School. 67 percent were in favor of the uniform dress.