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There’s still time for winter botany
I tagged along with a friend last weekend in his search to rediscover a favorite very early spring wildflower. Along the way, he came to an abrupt halt, admiring a single long, smooth bud, appearing like a spear tip. He immediately recognized it as the deciduous umbrella magnolia, Magnolia tripetela. You may spot it down…
Viva Los Heels! The Merch’s new line of wrestling masks is ready for tourney season
By Kirk Ross If you’ve wandered down Lloyd Street and done a little window-shopping of late, you may have done a double take when passing The Merch. Lined up along the window in the printing and gear shop’s new retail sales room are several mannequin heads bedecked with Mexican wrestling masks. Look a little closer…
The Science of positive thinking
By Vicky Dickson Like any newly published author, Barbara Fredrickson has done a lot of book signing lately. One instance in particular stands out for her: the elderly man at the Regulator Bookshop who said he’d been reading her book for six days when his family members remarked on the positive changes they’d noticed. “You’re…
Fascinating Rhythms
By Alvis Dunn â€I do believe in biorhythms. I think some days you’re in a little bit of a funk.†With those words back in 2000, Tar Heel coach Matt Doherty set my mind to celestial wandering and my most lasting Carolina basketball superstition was born. Birthdays in hand, I began to “run the rhythms. 
When you say “Carolina…â€
By Frank Heath I have an admission to make, a confession even. On the night of January 4, 1971, I did not go directly to sleep when my mom turned off the lights, at my bedtime, 8:30 – nor did I even try. And really, what self-respecting 8-year-old could have slept, given the fact that…
An outsider moves in
Originally published February 26, 2008 By Steve Peha I grew up in Seattle following the Washington Huskies during the John Wooden years. I saw UCLA play once: Bill Walton scored 24 points in the first half and drank Gatorade from the bench for the entirety of the second. (Man, the way he could lift that…
MILL: Intro
Originally published February 26, 2009. Jiminy Christmas Good golly, it must be nigh on March. You can tell because it is darn near impossible for some people to discuss the game of basketball without slipping in a flippin’ curse word. I mean, jeez, the season is heating up. Even our very own Coach Williams had…
Letter from the editor: The future of journalism
At a little over 600 square feet in three rooms, the office isn’t much to look at, but it’s home. The publisher’s “suite†occupies one of the southern corners of the big room. His youngest daughter — our town reporter — and a desk for interns occupy the other southern corner. The north side of…
Letter: Show some courage
Thanks to Senator Kinnaird for her column of March 12th concerning the treatment of Hispanic people lately in North Carolina. The issue is complicated but the bottom line is that bad things are beginning to happen to good people. Of late, this is where I get up on my soap box. I always point out…
Letter: HFM thanks SunTrust
The Leadership Team of the Hillsborough Farmers Market wants to thank SunTrust Bank, formerly CCB Bank, for allowing the Hillsborough Farmers Market to use their downtown parking lot for the past 12 years. It is unfortunate that SunTrust Bank would not let the Hillsborough Farmers Market use their parking lot after December 31, 2008 for…
Groundwater contamination found on north side of Eubanks landfill
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Orange County Solid Waste Management director Gayle Wilson said the county plans to quickly and aggressively deal with a plume of contaminants found in groundwater in the closed section of the Eubanks Road landfill. Wilson said the county is waiting to hear back from state environmental officials on a plan…
County solid waste plans moving forward
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Although the fervor of opposition to a solid-waste transfer station proposed for southwestern Orange County has not waned, the tone at a recent meeting on the matter was low key as residents peppered the county’s top solid-waste management official with questions on the plans. Gayle Wilson, Orange County Solid Waste…
Board OKs Claremont
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer With Joal Hall Broun the lone dissenter, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved the proposed Claremont Phase IV and V development on Homestead Road. At their meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, board members wrangled over what to do about a road connection that had become a focal point for…
Mental health advocates say consumer voices go unheard
This story is a follow-up to a series about mental health care in North Carolina. To read the previous stories in this series, go to carrborocitizen.com/main/breakdown/ By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer As mental health care advocates call on state leaders to listen to consumers of mental health services, a national organization says that the state…