Tim Grant in front of The Book Cellar at Carr Mill. Photo by Kirk Ross

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Tim Grant hasn’t been behind the counter of The Book Cellar for all of its 22 years of operation, but he knows that as he prepares to close the store, it’s the end of an era in his little corner of Carr Mill.

Grant has managed the shop for three years, taking over from longtime owner Pat Wall, who retired a few years back. The shop opened its doors in 1985, and visitors for the past couple of decades may recall the stacks of romance and mystery novels packed to the rafters.

“For years, it was what it was,” Grant said. And many of the longtime clientele still returned to the shop to stock up on the paperbacks that were its stock and trade for so many years.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Board of County Commissioners said on Tuesday that they need more time before deciding to put a land transfer tax or a sales tax increase on the ballot for this fall’s election.

In this year’s state budget, the Legislature gave counties the option of a 0.4 percent land transfer tax or a quarter-cent sales tax increase to help compensate for money taken away from counties in a deal to turn responsibility for paying for Medicaid over to the state.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

HILLSBOROUGH — Two opposing groups appealed to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday for control of the Hillsborough Farmers’ Market.

Led by co-managers, the farmers, bakers and artisans who sell at the Hillsborough Farmers’ Market jointly manage it.

At Tuesday’s meeting, a group of 13 vendors asked commissioners to recognize them as the official Hillsborough Farmers’ Market Board of Directors. But market co-manager Beverly Blythe, who was not among those 13, said most of the vendors oppose the takeover by the group.

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Cliff Collins lost his first Cackalacky banner to theives. This one flies slightly higher over his Main Street grocery store. Cackalacky is the brand name of a local hot sauce and condiment company as well as slang for the Old North State. Photo by H. Page Skelton, Sr.

The Orange County Office of Human Rights and Relations is looking for ten county residents to engage in a comprehensive civil rights and human relations training program.

Through the Community Civil Rights Educator Program, residents will learn about fair housing, landlord-tenant information, predatory lending, employment discrimination, Title VI, wage and hour information, hate crimes, violence against women and race.

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UNC News Services

Painful, emotional memories that people would most like to forget may be the toughest to leave behind, especially when memories are created through visual cues, according to a new study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“When you’re watching the news on television and see footage of wounded soldiers in Iraq or ongoing coverage of national tragedies, it may stick with you more than a newspaper headline,” said the study’s lead author, Keith Payne, an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

It is adaptive to be able to intentionally forget neutral events such as wrong directions, a friend’s outdated phone number or a switched meeting time.

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Back-to-school donations encouraged
News Talk 1360 WCHL and University Mall will sponsor the Communities in Schools of Orange County School Supply Drive on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the mall’s annual “Back to School Day.”

The drive is collecting book bags, calculators, crayons, folders, glue, markers, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, rulers and scissors. Donations will also be accepted in the form of personal checks.

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Common Tall Goldenrod at Mason Farm Biological Reserve. Photo by Ken Moore

By Ken Moore

Goldenrods – particularly the Pineywoods Goldenrod, Solidago pinetorum, a welcome sign of approaching fall – have begun coloring up the roadsides in spite of the drought. It was one of the first plants carried over to England, where it quickly became a standard flower of the famed perennial border and the English cottage garden. Some fine goldenrod cultivars have been produced by keen English gardeners and I remember walking into the Great Autumn Flower Show of the Royal Horticultural Society at Vincent Square in London in 1981 to see a magnificent tub of the tall, common goldenrod high up on the center display. Some folks may still consider goldenrod to cause hay fever. I may feature ragweed, the true hay fever plant, later on, but for now, trust me, you won’t get hay fever from sniffing goldenrod. You may get a bee or some other flying insect up your nose – for those colorful critters, not the wind, are necessary for transporting all that pollen from plant to plant!

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When chefs shop
The Carrboro Farmers’ Market will hold its sixth annual “Chefs Who Shop the Carrboro Farmers’ Market” event on September 8.

Six chefs who regularly shop at the market will create Southern fare-inspired dishes using ingredients available at the market.

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Carrboro Elementary, PreK-5
Emily Bivins, Principal
400 Shelton Street
Carrboro, NC  27510
(919) 968-3652
www.chccs.k12.nc.us/carrboro
547 students
Teacher of the Year:  Deborah Lederer-Hughes
Visiting International Faculty (VIF) teacher Helen Crompton was named VIF’s Outstanding Cultural Ambassador.  Crompton teaches fifth grade and is originally from England.

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District unveils new web presence
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have unveiled a new web presence for 2007-08.

The web page remains at the same address, www.chcs.k12.nc.us. The revamp follows several months of work on the part of the design committee, the superintendent’s cabinet and the district’s web architect, Scott Latimore.

The project completely reorganizes much of the district’s electronic content and places links to the content in a number of different locations, making information easier to access.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Former WTVD sports anchor Drew Smith has been named as the new development director for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA.

Smith recently returned to Chapel Hill from Sarasota, Fla., where he worked as a news anchor and a reporter for about a year. Before moving to Sarasota, Smith had spent 15 years in Chapel Hill working for WTVD.

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Gallagher honored
James Gallagher, Ph.D., was honored as a leader in gifted education by the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. Gallagher is a former director and current senior scientist emeritus of the FPG Child Development Institute.

He received the 2007 Harry Passow Leadership Award at the Council’s 23rd world conference. The international award recognizes a person whose life and work have significantly influenced policy and practices in gifted education and who has made an outstanding contribution in promoting the cause of gifted education worldwide.

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Farmers’ Markets
Carrboro Farmers’ Market - Sat 7am-12pm through Dec 22; Wed 3:30-6:30pm through Oct 17. Carrboro Town Commons. 932-1641, www.carrborofarmersmarket.com

Southern Village Farmers’ Market - Thu 4-7 pm through Aug 30 at Market Street on the Village Green.

Hillsborough Farmers’ Market - Wed 3-6pm; Sat 7:30am-noon. Apr-Nov. 732-8315.

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Let it rain
Suddenly, on Tuesday, the wind kicked up and in swirls along Main Street, rippling the awnings, signs and potted flora. Dead leaves from parched trees and bushes and all kinds of other debris got kicked up. A crape myrtle in front of the Bank of America building lost a good-sized branch. Then there cut loose a downpour of what old-timers around here used to call “rain.”

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