Categories
Weather

More big weather

Big storms coming this afternoon and tonight. Nexrad radar from Wunderground.

This special weather statement from the National Weather Service:

AN INTENSE STORM SYSTEM WILL APPROACH NORTH CAROLINA FROM THE WEST TODAY. SOUTHERLY WINDS JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE WILL INCREASE LATER TODAY…REACHING AS HIGH AS 65 MPH BY EARLY THIS EVENING. THIS COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS ALOFT AND A WARM AND MOIST AIR FLOW INTO THE REGION WILL FAVOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS…
STARTING THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING OVERNIGHT.

THE MAIN HAZARDS FROM SEVERE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OVER 70 MPH… AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIST BETWEEN 9 PM THIS EVENING UNTIL AROUND 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING. THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS WILL BE HIGHEST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 64… HOWEVER SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ANYWHERE ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA TONIGHT.

SINCE MANY NORTH CAROLINIANS WILL BE ASLEEP TONIGHT WHEN THE
POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS OR TORNADOES IS HIGHEST… HAVING A NOAA WEATHER RADIO CAN BE CRITICAL… AS IT COULD BE THE ONLY NOTIFICATION YOU RECEIVE ABOUT POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS OVERNIGHT STORMS. PEOPLE WITH NOAA WEATHER RADIOS SHOULD MAKE SURE THEIR RADIOS ARE ON AND READY TO RECEIVE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALERTS FOR ANY WATCHES OR WARNINGS THAT ARE ISSUED. ALL RESIDENTS SHOULD KEEP INFORMED ABOUT THE LATEST CONDITIONS BY MONITORING NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR A LOCAL TV OR RADIO STATION AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TONIGHT.

Categories
Miscellany

First Annual Mac and Cheese celebration

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It was the OCSC’s first annual Mac & Cheese bakeoff/celebration/festival/whatevah–all I know is that it’s one of the best ideas I’ve been a part of in a while. Imagine the top of a pool table covered in various macaroni and cheese dishes. That was the scene earlier this month when a fine set of dishes shook off for a moment the cold grip of winter.
Tricia Mesigian, owner of the Orange County Social Club and I started batting around the idea of a Mac & Cheese festival one afternoon at the club late last fall. (She’s got a killer Armenian Mac & Cheese recipe BTW.) Tricia took the idea and ran with it and came up with the concept of holding it in the dead of winter when comfort food is most necessary. We got Jack Whitebread in on the idea and a few weeks ago concocted a scoring system and a set of rules.

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Jack and Tricia in deep meditation.

Couldn’t have asked for a finer result. There were ten distinct takes on the old classic, some creamy, some more orange than others, some with daring cheeses and some just right down the middle.
It was a tough task and the crowds pressed in to watch our reactions as we rounded the table and checked off our scores. Early after we retired to chambers for deliberations, a clear favorite emerged. Lance Glass’ cheesy twist on his grandmother’s traditional recipe was both traditional and wonderfully rich and complex at the same time. Nice noodles, too.

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Lance Glass with what was left after the crowds got ahold of the dish.

As for next year, there is talk of making the competition more varied, like a casserole bakeoff, or to have themes for each year. Ideas are welcome. Either way, I sincerely hope that being judge of such an event is a lifelong appointment.

Here’s Lance’s email to us with the recipe:

Lance’s Lactic Love–Here is the recipe that won best in show at the OCSC’s first annual casserole cook off:

Ingredients:
7 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups half and half
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp (dashes to taste Texas Pete)
81/2 oz grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 cups)
1lb macaroni
clove of garlic
1/4 lb grated cheddar (tillamook rocks)
1/4 lb grated fontina cheese
1/4 lb grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350

In a sauce pan melt 4 tbsp of butter over low heat. Once melted, add 4 tbsp of flour and stir to combine. Cook over low heat stirring constantly for about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium and whisk in half and half little and little at a time. Cook until thickened, stirring on frequently for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add pepper, salt, hot sauce, and about 4 oz (1/4 cup) of Parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Salt water to taste, and add macaroni (stir for a second to prevent sticking). Allow water to return to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 5-6 minutes (don’t fully cook macaroni-it will cook in the oven).

Drain macaroni, return to pot, add 2 tbsp of butter and crush or microplane a large clove of garlic and stir macaroni to melt/combine ingredients. Add cream/cheese sauce to macaroni and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine cheddar, fontina, Gruyere, and 4 oz. Parmesan cheese. Toss to combine-Parmesan will help the other cheeses form clumping.

Butter a 13×9 baking dish or casserole dish. Put 1/3 of macaroni mixture in the bottom. Top with a third of the grated cheese mixture. Top with another 1/3 of macaroni mixture, then 1/3 grated cheese. Do this one more time–not a science. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs and left over parmesan. Sprinkle mixture onto the top of mac and cheese, then put a few dollops of butter.
Bake in a 350 oven for 40-45 mins. Or until golden brown on top. Enjoy!!!

Thanks, Lance.

Categories
Miscellany

Democracy North Carolina on the Jim Black case

Tomorrow is Black Thursday—when former House Speaker Jim Black is expected to plead guilty to public corruption. Carrboro-based Democracy NC was instrumental in exposing the roots of the case. Here’s a statement released by Democracy NC this morning:

Statement from Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina

The image of “strings attached” runs through the sad and not-yet-finished story of House Speaker Jim Black’s fall from power. Investigators at the State Board of Elections began pulling on a string connected to one group of Black’s political donors soon after Democracy North Carolina filed a complaint in June 2004 about the illegal donations to his campaign from
video-poker operators. That string led investigators to a host of other problems. Meanwhile, another ball of string connected to gambling, namely the proposed state lottery, began unraveling and revealing attachments between Speaker Black and other problem areas, including what eventually emerged as illegal lobbying and fraud.

Federal and state investigators following the strings kept finding new tangles and entanglements. It was only a matter of time before a clearly illegal quid-pro-quo attachment sealed the fate of House Speaker Jim Black.
This story is not over, however. We would hope that Black assists investigators in punishing the money suppliers involved in illegal activities. Corruption cuts at the heart of our fundamental system of self-government, which relies on open debate and honest representation of the people for the public good. Corruption is a crime against the people, against democracy itself. It should be rooted out and defeated.

Unfortunately, the danger today is more than one person committing a crime. Jim Black illustrates that even well intentioned, conscientious public servants can get caught up in a system that leads people to make bad choices. In search of money to stay in power, they follow the wrong strings and become entangled in attachments that eventually smother them. As the state has become more competitive and campaign costs have risen, the demand for political donations has soared.

More than four times as much money moved through the 2006 state legislative campaigns as did just a dozen years ago. And too much of that money comes with strings attached. The money chase in North Carolina today clearly threatens the integrity of fair elections, free from corrupting influences.
That’s why Democracy North Carolina and a host of others recommend providing candidates with a new supply of clean money, attached only to the voters’interests and conditioned on the candidates satisfying certain public-trust condition. There is no complete solution, but without tackling the root cause of corruption, we can expect to see another politician endure the same fate as Jim Black – and Meg Scott Phipps – in the not too distant future.
And we the people suffer the consequences.

Categories
Miscellany

History project

The latest issue of the Carrboro Commons includes this look at a history project to document and produce a play about the Pine Knolls and Northside neighborhoods in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Also history related is this story on Fitch Lumber. A few Fitch facts:

Fitch Lumber was started in 1898 when A.B. Fitch, Mac’s grandfather, moved to Mebane and worked for a lumber company there. He bought the company in 1907, and the company operated as Fitch-Riggs Lumber until 1923 when he bought Riggs’ share of the company.

Categories
Miscellany

Vashti Bunyan at the ArtsCenter

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An amazing story of a flame that went away but never went out.

Visit her site and scroll through the years.

I do not have a copy of the original album, I gave them all away years ago, and I only had very faded and incomplete tapes. Raymond Greenoaken – who edits the String Band’s magazine ‘Be Glad’ – very kindly sent me a tape of the JADD he has. I sent a copy of this to Paul not thinking anything much would come of it, but he called me straightaway to say he liked it.

This was hard for me to believe. Nobody seemed to give it a second thought when it was released in 1970. In fact it was not really released, it just edged its way out, blushed and shuffled off into oblivion. I abandoned it, and music, forever as I went on to travel more with horses and wagons, with children and more dogs and chickens, eventually finding a place to make a more permanent home.

Cool story from The Guardian.

From the ArtsCenter site:

Monday, February 5
8:15 p.m.

Folkie Vashti Bunyan has influenced a new generation of artists such as Devendra Banhart. Vetiver’s vocals/guitar/cello/violin sound straddles the folk and rock world. Part of The ArtsCenter’s 4th annual American Roots Series.

Price: $15
Friend Price: $13

Categories
Arts & Music

dBs tonight

Just a reminder that tonight is dBs night in Carrboro. Here they are live at The Pier in 1981.

Chris Parker in the Indy:

These are legacy lessons that are especially salient now. Even if the dB’s return is brief, it’s, at best, a signal of things to come. At worst, it’s a r.e.m.inder that hooks, quirk and self-deprecation—swimming up amid a scene cluttered with eight-piece chamber combos and singer/songwriters revisiting ’70s lite rock—can pull their own weight, thank you very much. Nothing is wrong with that, either.

Categories
Miscellany

Sima Fallahi to be released, friends say

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Sima Fallahi and her daughter Leila
(photo courtesy of Carrboro.com)

Word from friends of Sima Fallahi, the Iranian woman who was arrested on immigration charges after living in the U.S. for two decades, that she’ll be released. Could be any day now according to an e-mail sent to friends and the media this morning. She’ll have to agree to appear in court in Atlanta, but her case is moving along. Previously at The Mill.

Carrboro.com’s Sima page has the background and how people can help.

From Kathleen Barton this morning:

The lawyers are very optimistic that Sima’s case will be reopened and that she will be granted political asylum, and eventually a green card.
Sima also has a court date in Atlanta on Feb 28. We will accompany her there.

Story from the Indy.

Categories
Weather

Snow to start

Schools are closed and the snow is already falling here at 8:01 a.m.

And, even though the trucks were out spraying the roads last night, it’s going to be a slick morning, followed by a slicker afternoon.

Here’s the official forecast page from the NWS. And the Special Weather Statement:

LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL AND ACCUMULATE THROUGH 930 AM THIS MORNING…PRIMARILY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 1…OR ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM WADESBORO…TO SANFORD…TO RALEIGH AND HENDERSON. AN INCH OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS WHERE SNOW HAS ALREADY BEEN FALLING FOR OVER AN HOUR AND CONTINUES TO ACCUMULATE. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN TO TRANSITION TO SLEET AND EVENTUALLY FREEZING RAIN LATER THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

Here’s the graphical forecast map page.

WRAL closings page and weather page.

Categories
Weather

Classic winter weather

We’ll be straddling the line between rain and ice again, so it’s hard to say how rotten it’ll get, but either way the forecast cuts get ready for cold, snow and ice on Thursday.

From the NWS:

Thursday: A chance of snow and sleet before 10am, then periods of freezing rain and sleet between 10am and 1pm, then periods of snow and sleet between 1pm and 4pm, then periods of freezing rain after 4pm. High near 34. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Thursday Night: Periods of freezing rain before 9pm, then periods of rain. Low around 33. North wind between 6 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Here’s the weather geek description:

THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT…
CLASSIC IN SITU COLD AIR DAMMING EVENT WILL UNFOLD DURING THIS TIME… WHERE DIABATIC COOLING VIA EVAPORATION WILL BE THE IMPETUS
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DAMMING WEDGE. TYPICALLY IN SITU DAMMING CASES CANNOT SUSTAIN THEMSELVES FOR LONG DURATIONS… SINCE THEY
LACK A CONTINUAL SUPPLY OF COLD DRY AIR ADVECTION IN THE LOW LEVELS… COURTESY OF A PARENT SURFACE HIGH TO OUR NORTH. THE LATENT HEAT OF FUSION AND RESULTING WARMING DURING FREEZING RAIN ULTIMATELY MAKES IT SELF LIMITING. AS HAS BEEN ADVERTISED BY PREVIOUS SHIFTS…
THE SURFACE HIGH WILL BE WEAK… TRANSIENT… AND LOCATED TOO FAR SOUTH TO SUPPORT A *CLASSIC* WINTER WEATHER EVENT ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. HOWEVER… VERY COLD… DRY AIR WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION FROM THE ARCTIC AIRMASS CURRENTLY SETTLING OVERHEAD. THIS AIRMASS… AT 06Z 31 JANUARY… WAS CHARACTERIZED BY SURFACE DEWPOINTS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS UPSTREAM OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND BELOW ZERO WESTWARD INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. THIS EVENT MAY BE ONE OF THOSE RARE CASES THAT BECAUSE THE AIR IS SO COLD AND DRY TO START THE EVENT… POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT ICING COULD RESULT BEFORE A GRADUAL WARMING AND CHANGEOVER TO LIQUID.

Categories
Miscellany

Items of interest

Alderman Dan Coleman has opened up a discussion on economic development in Carrboro over at Orange Politics.

The Board of Aldermen retreat in the papers:
• H-S: Carrboro wants to keep its money local
• CHN: Town loan fund needs borrowers

Also, the DTH says the Orange County Board of Commissioners are being cautioned on lottery money.

Categories
Miscellany

Moser ain’t whistling past nothing

In The Nation, former Indy editor Bob Moser gets his licks in on the trendy idea of Dems running against the South:

As a species of Democratic defeatism, this approach can hardly be topped. And for all the charts and graphs that accompany such strategic chess games, calls for a non-Southern strategy are rooted in cultural stereotypes.

He quotes Southern Studies Chris Kromm:

It ain’t wise, and it ain’t right. I can’t say it better than Chris Kromm, director of the liberal Institute for Southern Studies in Durham, North Carolina. “For Democrats to turn their back on a region that half of all African-Americans and a growing number of Latinos call home, a place devastated by Hurricane Katrina, plant closings, poverty and other indignities–in short, for progressives to give up on the very place where they could argue they are needed most–would rightfully be viewed as a historic retreat from the party’s commitment to justice for all.”