Training for the big one: Chapel Hill Transit driver Mike Schuster takes a training ride on the system’s new articulated buses. The new buses are 20 feet longer than the system’s regular rides and bend around curves. Photo by Isaac Sandlin

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

There are a lot of things that mark the end of summer — Labor Day, putting away your white bucks, cheaper hotel rooms at the beach.

But around here, the end of summer, or at least the vacation part of it, is punctuated by an exponential increase in the drone of bus engines as they haul students and employees by the thousands to the heart of campus.

The university kicks back into gear next week with classes starting on Wednesday, and the bus system changes from a light summer schedule to the academic year’s full-throttle mission on the Monday prior.

More »

Cooperation between local governments could mean initiatives from a bus to Pittsboro to an OWASA ‘straw’ in Jordan Lake

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Intergovernmental cooperation — along with baked chicken and a garden salad — was on the table Tuesday evening as representatives of Pittsboro and Chatham County joined counterparts from Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Orange County, UNC and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority for a quick dinner and a long discussion about regional planning.

Items on the agenda included a look at a possible regional water effort, shared use of parks and expanding public transit in the fast-growing region along the U.S. 15-501 corridor from Pittsboro to Chapel Hill.

More »

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Chapel Hill-Carrboro school officials are waiting through one more weekend with fingers crossed that come Monday they’ll get their final certificate of occupancy for Carrboro High School.

Although a new stoplight is in place on the corner of Rock Haven and Smith Level roads, it was not operating as of Wednesday afternoon. A fresh slab of asphalt on new turn lanes at the intersection had yet to be striped as well.

More »

By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

When the state of Florida executed Angel Diaz on December 13, 2006, it took somewhat longer than anticipated. According to witnesses, 26 minutes into the lethal injection procedure, Diaz’s body jolted. He winced, then shuddered. It was another eight minutes before he died.

Horrific, yes, and, says Mark Kleinschmidt, the tragic outcome of bad public policy – an outcome he fears could be repeated in North Carolina. Kleinschmidt, a Chapel Hill town council member, is the executive director of the Durham-based Fair Trial Initiative and is representing Jerry Conner, one of seven death-row inmates who petitioned a state administrative law judge to examine the process by which the North Carolina Council of State recently approved changes to the state’s execution protocol.

More »

Common Milkweed standing tall in Arcadia Community. Photo by Ken Moore

By Ken Moore

An early-morning walk through the Chapel Hill Merritt Pasture near the James Taylor Bridge is a real pleasure. The wild part is gaining access to the rolling pasture site. You are well advised to plan your visit during the Sunday morning hours. There is a little parking available along the bikeway at the intersection of Culbreth Road and Highway 15-501. It’s a challenging intersection to negotiate on foot, even with the traffic light, and though Sunday morning is light, please remain constantly alert to the speeding vehicles until you have safely made it to the pasture. Eventually the town will have the planned parking and pedestrian safety measures in place so that access to Merritt Pasture will not be such a wild experience.
More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Last Thursday, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education considered a possible expansion of the district’s Spanish/English dual-language program. Because it was a work-session item, the board made no decision regarding the expansion, but dual-language program staff will return to the board with more information for consideration at a later date.

Board members expressed mixed opinions about the possible expansion.

Board member Mike Kelley said he was pleased that school officials were considering expansion of the program. ”I’m very glad to see this proposal come forward,” he said. “I have been concerned about it only being available to some students.”

More »

Carrboro transportation planners are studying traffic on Oak Avenue after the town’s Transportation Advisory Board approved a plan to put a speed table on the well-traveled street.

Adena Messigner of the town’s planning staff said the advisory board heard from petitioners in the Oak Avenue area who asked for some relief from a growing number of cars using the road and driving too fast.

More »

By Jack Carley
Staff Writer

Piedmont Biofuels will pay the town of Pittsboro an estimated $10,000 after a spill of about 150 gallons of glycerine into water discharged by the plant damaged treatment facilities and incurred state penalties.

Leif Forer, chief engineer at Piedmont Biofuels, said the company was working with the town to fix problems caused by the spill and to pay fines levied against the town.

“If we caused a problem,” Forer said, “we’ll make good for it, and we’ll figure out how to make it never happen again.”

More »

The Orange County Department of Social Services is updating its Disaster Special Needs Registry in time for hurricane season.

The confidential registry is used to contact individuals with special needs who, in the event of a disaster, may require assistance beyond what is provided in a standard Red Cross shelter.

Individuals will only be included with their permission.

For more information, contact  Orange County Department of Social Services at 245-2884.

Back to school day
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools PTA Council will sponsor its annual “Back to School Day” on Saturday, August 25 at University Mall.

Students and parents are invited to the gathering, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the mall on Estes Drive. Representatives from each of the district’s schools will be available to provide information about starting back to school, organizing supply lists, PTA memberships, bus schedules and more. In addition, most schools will have spirit wear available for sale.

The event is sponsored by the PTA Council and University Mall.

More »

At right: Cindy and John Soehner and a waving Tulia of Eco Farm.

Panzanella will host a local farm dinner on Tuesday, August 21, featuring dishes created with ingredients grown at Eco Farm in Chapel Hill.
The event is from 5:30-9 p.m.

The restaurant will provide a special menu using ingredients grown by Cindy and John Soehner of Eco Farm, which produces more than 70 types of organic vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.

Panzanella is located in the Carr Mill Mall on Weaver Street. Reservations are accepted for parties of six or more and patio dining is available.

Tree pruning workshop
The International Society of Arboriculture Southern Chapter, in partnership with Elon University Botanical Garden, Duke Energy, Alamance County Cooperative Extension and the Bartlett Tree Expert Company is presenting a basic tree climbing and pruning workshop. A registration fee of $35 per person includes lunch.

The workshop will be held at Yeager Hall at Elon University. Contact Dwayne Carter at (888) 339-8733.
More »

Paging David Price

One of the outcomes of the recent changeover in control of the House of Representatives is that Fourth District U.S. Congressman David Price (D-Chapel Hill) now holds the purse strings for the Department of Homeland Security. Well, sort of.

Price is the chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the DHS budget. DHS is a behemoth of a federal agency and includes a diverse group of agencies and missions — everything from immigration enforcement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The department’s main role is to keep us safer.

More »

By Chris Fitzsimon

The stage is being set behind the scenes for a special legislative session on transportation. Gov. Mike Easley and legislative leaders have been meeting to figure out how to build a consensus on how to raise new revenue for road improvements.

And unless something changes dramatically in the near future, roads are all that will be considered. There has been little talk of any other transportation solutions, like mass transit or addressing the sprawling development in urban areas that increases the demand for highways and other services.

More »

Is it that time already?
I hope you’re ready, because the Southern primary season is right around the corner thanks to the South Carolina GOP’s recent bid to maintain its first-in-South status.
Responding to Florida’s decision to change its primary date, Palmetto State Republicans moved their primary up to January 19. (That’s less than 160 days away, depending on when you read this.)

That backs up the train, since Iowa insists on first place, New Hampshire follows closely and so on. As a result, the 2008 primary season is edging dangerously close to 2007.

More »