By Jeffrey Starkweather Monday morning, my wife, a UNC employee, skipped her usual indoor bicycling exercise. Instead, she walked 23 minutes to the Chatham County Courthouse in downtown Pittsboro to catch a free bus ride to work. Rather than driving her car as usual along U.S. 15-501, she got on a 7:08 a.m. Chapel Hill…
Budget cuts disproportionately affect Bingham residents access to services
By Kathleen and Carl Hoffmann In order to address budget cuts and shrink costs, the Orange County Board of Commissioners and staff plan to reduce services at solid waste convenience centers. At four of the five convenience centers, they will cut hours and operations from six days to four days a week. Unfortunately, the fifth…
Busy with life
By Valarie Schwartz Columnist Survival sometimes makes death look easy. Catherine DeVine, the Carrboro writer, organizer and frequent WCHL commentator, didn’t say as much, but after learning what she has survived since cancer rocked her world in 2007, the thought arises. She and her husband, Berkeley Grimball, owner of Grimball Jewelers in Chapel Hill, moved…
UNC study: Rogers Road wells tainted
By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer Just weeks after being told their neighborhood wouldn’t qualify for a federal improvement grant, the Rogers-Eubanks community has learned from a new UNC study the extent of its well and septic tank failures. The study indicates that almost half of homes surveyed that have wells had levels of fecal bacteria…
Hillsborough challenge: Managing more rapid growth
By Rich Fowler Staff Writer Hillsborough’s town elections may not have the twists and turns found in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, but the issues the town is facing are no less serious. Growth, and all of the problems it can bring, is the major issue facing Hillsborough. With a new hospital coming in a few…
DWI checkpoint on campus
The UNC Department of Public Safety will conduct a driving-while-impaired checkpoint on campus Aug. 27 starting at 10 p.m. and ending at 4 a.m. A checkpoint route on Country Club Road will be clearly marked and posted on the night of the initiative, conducted in partnership with the N.C. Governor’s High Safety Research Center.
Mural to be restored
Chapel Hill artist Michael Brown is currently restoring a third mural as part of the Painted Walls Project in downtown Chapel Hill. The Blue Mural (also known as The Starry Night Mural) is located on East Rosemary Street and was the first mural Brown painted downtown, in 1989. Brown will spend nearly two weeks restoring…
Peace rally
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and the Town of Chapel Hill will sponsor two upcoming “Celebrate Our Peace and Justice Legacy†events, both in front of the post office at 179 E. Franklin St. This Friday at 5 p.m., a rally will be held to observe the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Then on…
David Price to discuss health care
United Church of Chapel Hill will host a conversation with representative David Price on Aug. 30 at 10 a.m.to discuss the nation’s healthcare options at 1321 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. For more info, 942-3540 unitedchurch.org
Speedway Celebration in Hillsborough
Hillsborough’s Historic Speedway Group will present their annual fund raiser: Celebration of the Automobile and Racer’s Reunion this weekend starting with the Friday night cruise with a sock hop and music by Phil-N-the-Blanks. Saturday is the Celebration of the Automobile and Racer’s Reunion. Vintage cars that raced at the Historic Occoneechee track will be on…
Castillo sentenced to life
After deliberating for seven hours on Friday, an Orange County jury found Alvaro Castillo guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life without parole. Castillo, who had a history of mental illness and was obsessed with the Columbine school shootings, shot and killed his father on Aug. 30, 2006. He then drove to Orange High…
UNC student shot by police
Courtland Smith, a UNC student and president of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, was shot to death by police early Sunday morning after a traffic stop on I-85 near Greensboro. Smith, 21, from Houston, Texas, had called 911 saying he needed help because he was suicidal. When police stopped his car, there was a confrontation and…
Campus remembers fallen soldier
By Beth Mechum Staff Writer Members of the UNC community are still reeling from the death of Army Pfc. Morris Walker, a 2008 graduate who died Aug. 18 in Afghanistan. Walker — “Mo†to all who knew and loved him — died of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Walker,…
Letter: Project asked to add commercial space
Thank you for your article on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen’s granting a one-year extension on several development permits. As your article points out, these extensions are essential to give these projects time to get going in a challenging economy. One point omitted is that we only granted the Ballentine AIS a six-month extension, half…
Letter: Real health care reform needed
As I read of the efforts of the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry and other for-profit organizations spending millions of dollars to prevent health care reform, I am saddened and angered at the destruction of our democracy. I read that $1.4 million is being spent every day to prevent real reform. Lobbyists representing corporate America,…