By Kirk Ross Staff Writer The biggest budget story of next year has already started, and without much surprise. The construction in the Northside neighborhood of Elementary School 11 by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District loomed large over next year’s finances, as county and school officials sat down Tuesday night to look over this…
Category: Top Story
WCOM ponders move
By Beth Mechum Staff Writer From the beginning, volunteer-run WCOM-103.5, located in the heart of Carrboro, put the concept of community first. Its location on the corner of Weaver and North Greensboro streets fit that mantra perfectly. Now WCOM is being forced to move, and the community it’s become, and the one it’s been serving,…
Council to set timeline for Strom replacement
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer When it returns Monday for its first regular meeting since June, the first order of business for the Chapel Hill Town Council will be to nail down a timeline for filling the vacancy left by the mid-term resignation of Bill Strom. The council discussed the matter briefly on Friday at…
Town studies major purchase
Buying most of Dawson Hall would ease space crunch, manager says By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Town Manager Roger Stancil expects to have a plan ready within 30 days on the town’s use of space in an office building off Weaver Dairy Road near Timberlyne. The Chapel Hill Town Council held a hastily scheduled special…
Interim county manager offers candid assessment
The Orange County Board of Commissioners have scheduled a work session for Thursday to review a detailed assessment of county policies, procedures and organization compiled by interim County Manager Frank Clifton. Clifton took over from former manager Laura Blackmon, who stepped down June 30. In his review, Clifton interviewed employees and department heads and toured…
Agreement reached in Town v. Kille
By Beth Mechum Staff Writer After a two-year battle between the Town of Carrboro and horse trainer Marilyn Kille concerning a residential apartment on her property, a resolution has been reached and was reported to the public at Tuesday’s board of aldermen meeting. In June 2007, the town brought a case against Kille, in which…
County sets timetable for transfer site pick
By Kirk Ross and Taylor Sisk Staff Writers The Orange County board of commissioners voted 4-3 Tuesday night to draw its attempt to find a site for a waste transfer station to a close, setting a timetable of 60 to 90 days for reaching a decision. The board approved a plan to continue to investigate…
Aldermen set hearing on Deer St. project
Beth Mechum Staff Writer Overgrown grass and woods filled with cinder blocks, broken bricks, orange tape and stumps at 100 Deer St. could become a 16-dwelling subdivision. At its meeting Tuesday night, the Carrboro Board of Alderman approved the request to hold a public hearing on the subdivision at the Sept. 22 board meeting.
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…
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,…
Biz Beat: Recession hits local economy
By Margot C. Lester Columnist The greater Carrboro metroplex has felt the recession’s pinch less than other areas of the state and nation. But we’re not totally immune. Just swing through Carrboro’s two major shopping centers: Carr Mill Mall and Carrboro Plaza. The empty spaces are evidence of the recession’s reach.
Herrera resigns seat
John Herrera, who already had announced he was not planning to run for re-election, has resigned from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. He has recently remarried and will be moving to Holly Springs. Herrera was first elected in 2001 and won re-election in 2005. He is the second local municipal official recently to resign his…
School board election a crowded field
By Beth Mechum Staff Writer Seven candidates are running for three seats in this year’s Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education election. Issues affecting the board of education this year include a tight budget, overseeing the expansion of the Carrboro High School arts wing, the construction of a new elementary school in the Northside neighborhood and…
Candidates for Chapel Hill mayor prepare for marathon
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Chapel Hill — When Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy opted not to seek another term, he set off a predictable wave of speculation about who would replace him. Since mayors run every two years, there are more opportunities for contested elections, but unlike elections for the eight-member town council, there…
Bill Strom resigns from town council
Town Attorney’s memo on council vacancies. Bill Strom’s Resignation Announcement By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Chapel Hill — Bill Strom, who has served on the Chapel Hill Town Council since 1999, announced Wednesday afternoon that he is resigning “to pursue other personal and professional opportunities outside the community.†In a statement emailed to The Citizen,…
