Stanley Hughes, of Hurdle Mills, still farms the land his grandfather bought in 1912. His Pine Knot Farm, near the Orange and Person county line, is one of 30 operations on this year’s Piedmont Farm Tour. Photo by Kirk Ross. Spring annual marks Earth Day celebration By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Stanley Hughes isn’t the…
Author: Staff
Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch
Paw-paw blossoms have had a rough time this year. Photo by Ken Moore. By Ken Moore Wow, we now know that because of that recent record-breaking late cold snap, peaches, strawberries and blueberries are going to be really pricey this harvest season. Wait till you see the prices on pawpaws! Well, you probably won’t see…
Wind wallops area
The corner of Poplar Avenue and Elm Street in Carrboro saw some of the worst of Monday’s wind storm. Photo by Kirk Ross Power outages, traffic jams and plenty of debris as gusts topped 50 m.p.h. By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Monday was clear, but anything but calm as gusts of more than 50 miles…
County to seek smaller increase
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer As the county gears up for budget season, officials say they hope to limit the tax-rate increase this year. State law requires the county manager to submit a budget to the Board of County Commissioners by May 15 and the board to approve a budget by June 30. The board…
Carrboro resident’s case to be heard
Sima Fallahi and her daughter Leila at home in Carrboro. Photo by Jackie Helvey Courtesy of Carrboro.com By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer Carrboro resident Sima Fallahi and her daughter, Leila, were due good news. They got some this past Monday when Fallahi was informed by her attorneys that an immigration judge had granted a motion…
Price says showdown looming over war funding
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Fourth District U.S. Rep. David Price said he thinks the country is headed for a constitutional crisis as Congress and President Bush square off over funding for the Iraq war. Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, said he expects the president to veto a narrowly passed emergency-funding bill that includes a…
UNC Folklore, ArtsCenter in tune for show
UNC News Services Bluegrass, black gospel, country and a steel guitar sound rooted in the black church will come together in a celebration of North Carolina’s grassroots music on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro. The “Carolina Breakdown†concert will feature the innovative bluegrass of the Tony Williamson Band of Siler City,…
Local transfer tax would be good for the county
By Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross In the mid-1980s, Dare County’s leaders saw a housing boom coming and didn’t know how to pay for it. Higher property taxes were a touchy issue in the coastal county. The rich didn’t want them and the poor couldn’t afford them. Taxes on hotel rooms and other purchases wouldn’t…
Symbolic sprinkling
Photo by Kirk Ross It wasn’t a groundbreaking, but a symbolic sprinkling of rainwater on native plants that marked the official event celebrating the pending construction of the new North Carolina Botanical Garden’s Visitor Education Center Saturday on Laurel Hill Road. The center is the first building at a major U.S. campus to be designed…
News briefs: 4/19/07
Pig out on the green The Chapel Hill Police Department will host the annual “Pig Out on the Green†barbecue fundraiser on Sunday to benefit Special Olympics of North Carolina. The fundraiser, which will take place on the green at Southern Village, will run from 2-6 p.m. Tickets to the benefit are $10 and include…
For the record
Echoes from Blacksburg Grief is immediate and lasting at the same time. In Blacksburg, a community much like our own, it has settled in while the town and the world stands in shock. The echoes sounding on a survivor’s cell phone had barely faded when the conversation veered from anguish to politics and what to…
Open the Ethics Proceedings
By Louisa Warren North Carolina lawmakers deserve great praise for passing a substantial lobbying and ethics reform package last year that will truly help change the pay-to-play culture that ruled in the General Assembly. But unfortunately there’s a fundamental flaw to the legislation that threatens to stain their good work and further erode public confidence….
Exile on Jones Street
Help Wanted With the race for the Democratic nomination for governor tightening, it’s looking less and less like either Richard Moore or Beverly Perdue are going to blink and veer onto the federal side of the ballot to take on Sen. Elizabeth Dole. With the two most well-funded and visible Dems not inclined to take…
Small wonders and moments long remembered
By Frank Heath You wake up on a beautiful Tuesday morning, but the power remains out in half of Chapel Hill, and 33 people are still dead on the campus of Virginia Tech. Sometimes we make sports out to be as important as the things that go on in real life; but they’re not. Sports…
NRC needs to act on Harris fire safety issues
By Jim Warren Power company influence – including suppression of criticism and public relations smokescreens – continues to damage our democratic process and threaten regional safety. Last fall, NC WARN, the Union of Concerned Scientists and others began legal action to compel the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enforce its rules after allowing Shearon Harris…