By Margot C. Lester Staff Writer Outlasting the traditional shotgun blasts that rang out the old year here in the South was the din of business owners and managers wondering out loud about the fate of their enterprises and employees. Though layoff statistics for 2008 won’t be available till later this month, thousands of employers…
An eco-friendly effort to plant seeds of sustainability at Chapel Hill High School
By Jasmina Nogo Staff Writer On the cold morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a group of roughly 10 students showed up at Chapel Hill High School for a Fight the Weeds workday to help clean up the school’s greenhouse. The effort is part of the Chapel Hill High School Green Tiger campaign, a…
Obama sworn in as community, world bear witness
By Kirk Ross, Susan Dickson, Taylor Sisk, Margot Lester and Jasmina Nogo Staff Writers Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday before a crowd on the National Mall estimated at more than two million and with many thousands here in the community watching on TVs and computers. At noon, Obama, who won more than…
Big snow shuts down services, schools
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer As two inches of snow blanketed Carrboro and Chapel Hill on Tuesday, schools, offices and businesses closed and local officials urged residents to stay off the roads. The snow started late Monday night and continued until around lunchtime Tuesday, creating a playground for those with sleds but treacherous conditions for…
Community brief: Writers for Readers slated
The Orange County Literacy Council annual benefit luncheon, “Writers for Readers,†will be held Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Carolina Inn. The luncheon will feature five speakers, including authors John Grisham, Lisa Alther, Dan Ariely, Robert Olen Butler and Jonathan Miles. Tickets are $50 and proceeds benefit the Orange County…
Community brief: Music show, workshop planned
The Orange Charter School will receive an Arts in Education Grant from the Orange County Arts Commission to celebrate Black History Month and support the living legacy of African-American musicians from the old-time string band and blues traditions in Orange County. The two-part program, called “Roots & Strings,†will feature the Piedmont Blues on Feb.6,…
County to institute Secure Communities program
By Margot Lester Staff Writer Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass announced this week his decision to participate in the Secure Communities program, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement program. The ICE program has come under fire for using local police and sheriff’s departments to enforce federal immigration law and…
Orange County BOCC agenda
The Orange County Board of Commissioners meets tonight (Thursday) at 7:30 at the Orange Central Senior Center adjoining the Triangle Sportsplex on Meadowlands Drive in Hillsborough. The board will consider a proposal for the creation of a Hwy. 54 Transfer Station Community Advisory Group to provide an update regarding progress on evaluation of the two…
Obituary: Jeanne Peck
Jeanne Peck, founding chair of the Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure, died peacefully at home of lymphoma on January 18. She was 52. In 1997, Jeanne’s determination and leadership brought to the Triangle its first Komen Race for the Cure. A breast cancer survivor, she passionately wanted to help others touched by this…
Obituary: Nancy Bates Boone
Nancy Bates Boone, 79, of Chapel Hill, died Monday, January 12 at UNC Memorial Hospital. She was a native of Buncombe County, daughter of the late General Jasper and Lou Eva Pritchette Bates and wife of 52 years to the late Samuel Moyle Boone. She was retired from UNC-Chapel Hill Academic Affairs Library as a…
Carrboro Citizen announces expansion
The Carrboro Citizen plans to increase its circulation by 20 percent by the end of the first quarter of 2009 and will expand editorial coverage in Chapel Hill, the company announced Thursday. Publisher Robert Dickson said adding rack and news-box locations in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Pittsboro already has accommodated a 10 percent increase in…
Weather update from Town of Chapel Hill
This from Chapel Hill officials on road conditions: Update – Inclement Winter Weather Conditions Due to the inclement weather conditions, scheduled residential garbage service for today has been cancelled. Monday’s route will be collected on Thursday and Tuesday’s route will be collected on Friday. As a result, there will be no yard waste collection service…
Closings and weather report
Plenty of canceled events and delayed opening due to the Inauguration Day snowstorm. Following are some helpful links: • Due to road conditions, Triangle Transit will NOT operate night service (routes 470, 570, & 670) on Tuesday, January 20th. The last departures from the Regional Transit Center (RTC) will leave at 6:20pm. If you have…
MLK march videos
A ground level view of this year’s well-attended march on Franklin Street from the post office to First Baptist Church.
Four Easy-to Spot Evergreen Wildflowers
By Ken Moore I was not alone on the Adams Tract trails this past Saturday; numerous other folks, including moms and dads shepherding their lucky youngsters. I was out trying to photo-capture four common evergreen wildflowers, specifically: liverwort, Anenome americana (formerly Hepatica americana); wild gingers, Hexastylis arifolia, or H. virginica or H. minor; spotted wintergreen,…