By Margot C. Lester Staff Writer The Aztecs called it xocolatl, which translates roughly to “bitter water.†But they couldn’t have been all that bitter about it because they also associated it with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. Perhaps that’s why we associate chocolate with Valentine’s Day and other opportunities to win one another’s affections….
Guidelines for Valentine’s Day giving
By Margot C. Lester Staff Writer You can recover from giving somebody a less-than-ideal birthday or Christmas present. But when it comes to Valentine’s Day, love’s not only not blind, but it ain’t unconditional either. During my seven years as a love advice columnist for Match.com, I’ve heard horror stories from men and women about…
Mill: Intro
A friend recently updated his Facebook status to note that he has lived here for so long that he was genuinely surprised this year when it got cold in January. That and a few inches of snow — a particularly nice variety that was good for sledding — and we all now are official veterans…
This week’s edition
In this week’s edition of The Carrboro Citizen you’ll find: • Aldermen to reconsider road connectivity policy • Recycling market crash hits county budget • County considers long-term waste alternatives • Council OK’s Innovation Center • Flora: Winter green, but not evergreen In Opinion: • A hospital visit amid troubling news • For real mental…
Winter green, but not evergreen
By Ken Moore Winter in the woods is the best time to appreciate land contours, the striking differences of tree bark, the stature of individual specimens and the leaves of evergreen wildflowers. It’s also the best opportunity to locate two obscure native orchids. Of the two, cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor, is the more common. Most…
For real mental health reform, listen to the consumers
By Vicki Smith One media exposé after another has highlighted the flawed implementation of North Carolina’s much ballyhooed 2001 effort at mental health reform. These exposés have given many state officials heartburn as they picked up their morning papers or watched the evening news. The media’s descriptions of the mental health/developmental disabilities/substance abuse (MH/DD/SA) service…
A hospital visit amid troubling news
By Chris Fitzsimon Gov. Beverly Perdue has generally received good reviews for her first two weeks in office and deserves them, particularly for her executive orders on transportation and transparency, staying on top of the state’s budget woes and making a number of public appearances that reinforce her commitment to be an available, hands-on governor….
Your newspaper
To paraphrase Samuel Clemens, reports of the death of newspapers have been greatly exaggerated. In our opinion, there has been all too much gnashing of teeth and lamenting over the fix that some papers find themselves in. The word “some†in the last sentence being all-important. Most papers are much more like the one you…
Aldermen to reconsider road connectivity policy
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer After hearing from concerned residents about a proposed connector road between a proposed addition to the Claremont development and the Wexford neighborhood, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted on Tuesday to revisit the town’s connector road policy. The board heard from residents in a public hearing regarding Phases IV and…
Council OK’s Innovation Center
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved a special-use permit for the three-story, 80,745-square-foot Innovations Center, the university’s first project at Carolina North. The vote came after several months of negotiations between the town, UNC and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., the university’s partner in the project who will build,…
County considers long-term waste alternatives
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted last week to explore long-term alternatives for solid-waste disposal as a parallel tract to siting a solid-waste transfer station. The board also voted to create a community advisory group composed of residents living in the vicinity of the transfer station that would directly…
Recycling market crash hits county budget
By Rich Fowler Staff Writer Thanks in part to its recycling programs, Orange County residents lead the state in waste reduction. They now throw away half of what they threw away in 1991, and things were going so well until recently that the county was making money by selling the materials it collected. But when…
Fire insurance ratings improve
Both the Town of Carrboro and the South Orange Fire District received new insurance ratings effective Jan. 1. The new ratings – 3 for the Town of Carrboro and 5 for the South Orange Fire District – are an improvement over the previous 4 for the town and 9S for South Orange. The North Carolina…
Ag summit set
The 11th Annual Orange County Agricultural Summit will be held Feb. 9 from 8:30 a.m. until lunchtime at the former Orange Enterprise site on Valley Forge Rd. in Hillsborough. The featured speaker is North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler. Topics of discussion will include youth in agriculture, farm diversification, energy conservation and how to…
Hackney wins new term as speaker
Rep. Joe Hackney, who represents Chatham County and part of southern Orange County, won a second term as speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives Wednesday. Upon his election, Hackney, who has served 28 years in the House, encouraged legislators to rise to the challenge and work to reinvigorate the state’s economy and continue…