Max Paul, 87, died on June 13 at the Chapel Hill Rehabilitation Center.

He was born January 10, 1920, on the Lower East Side of New York City to immigrant parents. After graduating from high school, Max worked odd jobs during the Depression until enlisting in the U. S. Merchant Marine, serving in the Mediterranean during World War II.

Active in socialist-Zionist youth movements, he spent several years on Kibbutz Hazor in Palestine in the late 1940s and marched in Israel’s Independence Day parade. Returning to America, he enrolled at the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina where he was active in theater, labor, and social-justice movements. After a career in sales, he retired to Chapel Hill and resided at the Covenant House, Carrboro. Max found a second home at Weaver Street Market where his outgoing, engaging personality earned him a wide circle of friends. Among the many friends who will miss Max are George and Rosemary Hoag, who took responsibility for him in his later years.

Funeral arrangements were made by Howerton-Bryan. Graveside services were led by Rabbi Morton Green at the Chapel Hill Kehillah Cemetery at Markham Memorial Gardens on June 14. Max’s friends are planning a commemoration of his life to be held at a date to be announced.

Powerful testimony today from AHEC doctors and pilots about concerns over the move to RDU.

Dr. Bill Henry, chair of UNC’s pediatric cardiology division, set out the case against the move calling the university’s stance that it’s either Horace Williams or RDU “a false choice.”

Henry, noting that appearing at the legislature in opposition of the move to RDU was not a “career enhancing” move, said that while the university says it has thoroughly looked at the issue, there are many who disagree with the conclusion that RDU is the right place for Medical Air. He encouraged legislators to ask the hard questions.

“Ask the people participating (in AHEC) and you’ll get a very different view,” he said.

University officials, led by Carolina North Executive Director Jack Evans and chief lobbyist Kevin Fitzgerald, reiterated the school’s position on the move and its support of AHEC. Pressed by Rep. Rick Glazier of Fayetteville, Evans seemed to leave the door open to opening the search for an another alternative.

……developing

Editor’s note: This story will be updated around 1 p.m. today with remarks from today’s hearing.

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

University administrators, Area Health Education Centers officials and a host of physicians from UNC Hospitals will appear before a joint House and Senate committee today (Thursday) to review plans to close Horace Williams Airport and its impact on the university’s Medical Air program.

The North Carolina House and Senate appropriations subcommittees on Education and Health and Human Services called the hearing at the behest of House Speaker Joe Hackney, after some doctors recently reiterated their objection to plans to move flight operations for AHEC to Raleigh Durham International Airport, according to AHEC director Dr. Thomas Bacon.

Bacon said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that Hackney asked Orange County Rep. Verla Insko to convene the meeting after receiving objections from Dr. Bill Henry, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

Bacon said Henry has been critical of the move.
“They’re the biggest users of the planes,” Bacon said. “The main concerns are over travel time and time taking off and landing.”

Bacon said that Henry and other doctors estimate the RDU base of operations could add one hour a day to their travel time to and from the airport, more than the time originally estimated by a consultant AHEC worked with to find the best spot for the move.

Bacon said AHEC and the university remain committed to the move though, and have been working on plans for a new facility at RDU.

“We have no plans to go elsewhere,” Bacon said. “We’re totally focused on RDU.”

The hearings were part of a deal struck last session after some legislators resisted the closing of the airport, mostly out of concern about how the move to RDU would affect AHEC. A vigorous lobbying effort by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which advocates on behalf of private pilots, also caught the ear of legislators.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees passed a resolution in May of 2005 saying they would not close the airport and move AHEC’s Medical Air operations until they were ready to start the Carolina North project.
An analysis using Federal Aviation Authority standards done in the early stages of the planning for Carolina North said that the airport would conflict with the design and use for the buildings envisioned. Since then, university officials have indicated that the flat, already-paved airport grounds would be a prime spot for the early stages of Carolina North.

In March, the Board of Trustees approved a plan for construction of a new hangar and office space for Medical Air at RDU near an existing Department of Transportation facility. The project is expected to cost roughly $3.5 million.

In addition to Drs. Henry and Bacon, also scheduled to testify at the hearing are Kevin Fitzgerald, executive associate dean for finance and administration, UNC-School of Medicine; Carolina North executive director Jack Evans, pediatrics professor Dr. James Loehr, Dr. Marianne Muhlebach, Dr. Ali Calikoglu, Duke oncologist Dr. Linda Sutton, Medical Air Operations director Jim Hotelling, Medical Air chief pilot Alan Fearing and WCHL owner Jim Heavner, a pilot and plane owner who has been critical of the university’s move to close the airport.

By Ken Moore
Columnist

“The other day I saw an ad in the local paper - ‘Catalpa worms for sale, twenty-five cents a dozen.’”
No, that’s not from last week’s Citizen. It’s from Paul Green’s Plant Book. I’m wondering if he was referring to a long-ago issue of the paper from our neighboring town. The reference to Catalpa worms (the larva of the Catalpa Sphinx Moth) makes me remember my childhood summers spent on my aunt’s small tobacco farm just south of Macon, NC. I was fascinated how her front-yard Catalpa tree leafed out again after total defoliation by Catalpa worms. Some of the local men frequently gathered cans of those worms for fish bait. I remember also how “grossed-out” I was whenever I stepped on one with my bare foot and green ooze covered one or more toes. Apparently that green ooze is considered mighty tasty to catfish. Experienced fishermen can make that worm really tasty by turning it inside out before threading it on the hook. And to have a year-round supply, there’s a description on the Big Fish website (www.bigfishtackle.com) that says Catalpa worms can be packed in a glass jar of cornmeal or sawdust, frozen and later thawed to their original wiggling vigor. Now there’s a little summertime experiment for the curious among you.
Since the early 1700s, we have been cultivating both the Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) and Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), which are very similar in appearance. An impressive, widely spreading specimen is showing off right now in the front yard of an old home on Martin Luther King Boulevard, near Timberlyne. A few weeks earlier, you may have noticed the tall slender specimens in full flower in the Coker Arboretum and at the base of the Kenan Chemistry tower on South Road. That stately Catalpa, reaching almost to the top of the chemistry tower, is well worth a visit. We are indebted to local poet and botany librarian Jeffrey Beam and university forester Tom Bythell for looking out for that tree during the recent years of construction.
For the beautiful flowering Catalpa, with it’s curious long, thin bean-pod-like fruits, we have a rich assortment of common names: Fish Bait Tree, Cigar Tree, Indian Cigar, Indian Bean Tree, and I used to call my aunt’s tree a Monkey Cigar Tree, a name I can’t find referenced anywhere. There are accounts that native Americans did smoke those bean pods. Paul Green recorded, from his chats with old timers of the Cape Fear River valley, that, “Smoke inhaled from the parched and powdered Catalpa leaves, like Jimson leaves, was a good asthma treatment.” Please note: Don’t try these remedies without direct supervision of your physician! But do plant a Catalpa tree of your own, for fishing, for shade and for the beauty of it!

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Early this week, just off the gravel road that leads from what one might call downtown Haywood, Jim Massey was chatting with Miz Thang, an artist from Hawkinsville, Georgia who’s been touring the countryside “drivin’ and lookin’.”

Naturally, a stop at Massey’s Holly Hill Daylily and Crinum Farm was on the list. Massey, a retired botany professor and the longtime director of the University of North Carolina Herbarium, has built an impressive array of daylilies over the years and, in the three or so cultivated acres that they dominate, has more than 1,700 varieties — each marked and cataloged and, usually, with a story attached. He also keeps watch over more than three dozen varieties of crinums and an assortment of Verbenas, Red Hot Pokers and other perennials.

The farm also is home to a splendid collection of rare and unusual poultry — Domaniques, Ameraucana, Silver Seabright and others — either free-ranging or scratching about in their pens.
But for Miz Thang and hundreds of other folk and outsider artists, the exuberant botanist from Texas is known more for his passion for their works and, more recently, as curator of the Historic Haywood Folk Art Museum, which opened for the first time last year for the early-June to late-July daylily season and is now open to visitors to the farm each weekend through July 22.

This weekend, the farm will host a Potluck in the Pasture fundraiser for ChathamArts. More »

After 32 years on the Carrboro beat, Officer Bob hits the road

By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

While Officer Bob Murdaugh says he’s the only person of his acquaintance who’s ever been bounced from the Boot Hill Saloon during Daytona Beach’s annual Bike Week, certainly it must have happened to many hundreds of other individuals. Regardless, the image of Officer Bob being bounced, in Daytona Beach or otherwise, is entirely discordant with the image of Officer Bob that’s been forged in the minds of so manyCarrboro residents in the course of his some 32 years of service, and is no way to begin to tell his story.

Very recently retired from the Carrboro Police Department (May 31 was his official final sign-off), Murdaugh is looking tanned and rested as he enjoys a late-morning breakfast on the patio at Breadmen’s. He’s been spending a lot of time aboard his trusty BMW, and, already well out of regs, is eight days into a burgeoning white beard.

He’s here to talk, in his words, “facts, fables and philosophy,” and in the course of an extended conversation, each is well represented.

Back to the bouncing later.

The making of an officer
“Somehow,” Bob Murdaugh recollects, “I was made a member of the safety patrol at Hope Valley Elementary School. So I was in uniform and in law enforcement early on.

“But I never really aspired to be a police officer. It just sort of worked out that way.”
Murdaugh graduated from Durham’s Jordan High School in 1970 and headed off to become a “two-time Duke University freshman.”

“There was a period of time when I was between semesters at Duke University, and I was in dire need of a job. A friend from high school asked me if I wanted his stepfather to find me a job. He was in the administration at Duke University. And I said, `Sure; I’ll take anything.’ More »

ies on Monday.
The dog had been submitted to the State Laboratory of Public Health for testing after it was shot and killed last Thursday after biting or scratching a person and fighting with another dog.
The dog, which was in the area of Highway 49 and Wade Loop Road north of Cedar Grove, had contact with the owner’s eight other dogs as well as three other dogs in the area. None of the owner’s dogs had been vaccinated for rabies. More »

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education last week appointed two new principals and one new assistant principal.

The board hired Philip Holmes as principal of Ephesus Elementary School. Holmes replaces Susan Wells, who was recently named principal of Culbreth Middle School. Holmes served as principal of Burton Geo-World Magnet School in the Durham Public Schools for the past year and as assistant principal of Ephesus from 2004-06. He has a bachelor’s degree in history education from Hobart College and a master’s degree in school administration from UNC.

Estes Hills Elementary School assistant principal Cheryl Carnahan was hired as the principal of Estes Hills Elementary. She replaces Dale Mingle, who will serve as principal of Pittsboro Elementary School in the Chatham County Schools. Carnahan has also worked in professional development and as a resource teacher and speech-language pathologist in the Howard County Public Schools in Maryland. She has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from Towson University.

The board also hired Beverly Knupp Rudolph as assistant principal of East Chapel Hill High School. Rudolph served as an administrative intern at East Chapel Hill High during the past year. In addition, she has worked as a language-arts teacher in schools across the state. Rudolph has a bachelor’s degree in English from UNC-Asheville and a master’s degree in school administration from UNC.

The Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday voted not to increase taxes for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The municipal property tax rate will remain at 52.2 cents per $100 property valuation. This is the third year in a row that Chapel Hill has not increased the tax rate.

Orange County has proposed a tax rate of 94 cents, an increase of 3.7 cents. For a $200,000 home, the owner would pay about $2,920 in municipal and county taxes combined.

Town Manager Roger Stancil had recommended a tax increase of 1.9 cents, but the council requested budget changes to maintain the tax rate.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district is reviewing the use of herbicides on playgrounds and athletic fields after potentially harmful chemicals were spread on competition fields at Smith Middle School in May.

Steve Scroggs, assistant superintendent for support services, sent an email to parents of Smith Middle students over the weekend notifying them of the herbicides and fertilizers that were sprayed on the fields.

A lawn-care company employed by the district sprayed the fields with the herbicide Trimec, which the Environmental Protection Agency defines as “slightly toxic.” According to Scroggs, parents were not notified of the use of the chemical 72 hours in advance, which is one of the EPA’s guidelines for the use of Trimec.

The company also spread fertilizer containing a pre-emergent coating on fields at Smith Middle in mid-May.

The fertilizer is listed by the EPA as “practically nontoxic.” The National Fire Protection Association lists the fertilizer as a material “which on intense or continued exposure could cause temporary incapacitation.”

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district has halted the use of herbicides and fertilizers until a review of the district’s use of herbicides is complete.

About 100 people gathered on Friday to debate proposed plans to relocate the men’s homeless shelter to the county’s Southern Human Services campus on Homestead Road.

Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, said the proposed plans are “at a standstill,” pending negotiations between the town of Chapel Hill and Orange County.

The Orange County Advisory Board on Aging has issued a statement opposing the plan because the new Robert and Pearl Seymour Center for seniors is located at the Homestead Road campus.

A number of seniors spoke against the plan, while others said they supported the proposal. Mayor Kevin Foy said he supported the proposed plans and encouraged community members to confront the issue of homelessness as a community issue.

Moran said the proposed site at the Homestead Road campus is the best option available for the men’s homeless shelter. The shelter is now located on the corner of Rosemary and North Columbia streets in downtown Chapel Hill.

Project HomeStart, the women and children’s shelter, is already located at the Southern Human Services campus. Locating the men’s shelter on the same property would enable the IFC to staff both shelters more efficiently.

In addition, shelter residents would have access to other county services, including the Health Department and the Department of Social Services.
— Staff Reports

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education last week voted unanimously to drop plans for a pre-kindergarten through third-grade facility at Seawell Elementary School.
S

chool board members said plans for the project were dropped because estimated costs – about $28 million – were too high considering the number of students the project would serve. Moreover, they said, it was unlikely the board would be able to secure the necessary funding from the county.

The facilities would have housed about 214 students, including 100 pre-kindergarten students. The projected costs are about the same as those needed to build a full elementary school for 585 students.

The project was planned as a collaboration with UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Childhood Development Institute to develop facilities using the institute’s First School model to educate 3-to 8-year-old students. More »

Linda Norwood Kitchens passed peacefully at her home in Hillsborough on Saturday, June 9, 2007.

Linda was a native of Chapel Hill but moved to Hillsborough in 2005 to her home she affectionately referred to as her “earthly promised land.” Linda enjoyed many beautiful days bird watching from her sunroom and telling stories of her grandchildren to whomever would listen. She celebrated her 68th birthday in April surrounded by her family.

She was a member of Orange United Methodist Church where she served the Lord in many ways over the years. Her faith was an inspiration to all who knew her and she was known as a strong prayer warrior and intercessor.

Linda leaves behind her husband of 41 years, Buddy Kitchens; a son, Martin Kitchens; a daughter, Angie K. Mauer; a son-in-law, Bobby Mauer; and two grandsons, Jay and Josh Mauer. She is also survived by a sister, Joan (Jo) Sylvester of Chapel Hill, and three brothers, Chuck Norwood of Raleigh, Graham Burch of Charlotte and David Burch of Greensboro. Linda was predeceased by her father, Larry Hall Norwood, her mother, Hilda Mills Burch, and her stepfather, Vernon Burch.

A celebration of Linda’s life was conducted Tuesday, June 12th at 11:00 in Orange United Methodist Church. The church is located at 1220 Martin Luther King Blvd., Chapel Hill. The family received friends at the church on Monday from 7-9pm.

Donations may be made in her memory to Orange UMC Building Fund or UNC Hospice.

Richard Whitehead Sparrow of Chapel Hill died Wednesday, June 6, 2007. A graduate of Chapel Hill High School, Mr. Sparrow attended the University of North Carolina and was a World War II veteran having served in the Pacific theater. He was retired from the US Postal Service.

A memorial was held at 2:00 pm Saturday, June 9, 2007 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 632 Laurel Hill Road, Chapel Hill. The Reverend Donnie L. Evans-Jones, assisted by Reverend Mary Peacock officiated.

Mr. Sparrow is survived by his wife, Frances Weston Sparrow; two daughters, Peggy Sparrow Lomax of Richmond, VA and Jean Sparrow Reed of Paducah, KY; three grandchildren, Keenan Lomax Smigelski of Richmond, VA, Kristen Reed Gallimore of Nashville, TN and Samuel Weston Reed of Los Angeles, CA; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel Jackson Sparrow and Lessie Canada Sparrow, and one sister, Louise Sparrow Oakley.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in his name may be sent to Aldersgate United Methodist Church or to the Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill, NC.

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Amid a sea of parents, friends, teachers and mentors, more than 750 graduates from Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools made their way across a stage and out into the world on Saturday.

“We made it, baby,” East Chapel Hill High graduate Antonio Sales told members of his graduating class. “We’re here.” More »