CHAPEL HILL – Your local airport isn’t closing, at least not yet.

Horace Williams Airport is not going to close, in spite of the media attention that was given to an item that was inserted as a rider in the budget bill that called for it to close on August 1.

The consensus in the legislature is that the item was placed in the house budget bill as a bargaining chip with Senate Rule Chairman Tom Apodaca, who has a reputation as a strong defender of the UNC airport.

There is currently no scheduled date for the closure of the airport.  UNC plans to close it to make room for Carolina North, which has seen a delayed start because of lack of funding.