Thursday August 23

• Blue Horn Lounge: Mark Wells & Jil Christensen. 9pm
• Cat’s Cradle: The Wailers, The Movement. 8:30pm. $26
• The Cave: Early: Schnitzel. Late: $5. Mad Tea Party.
• Local 506: Amy Cook, Mary Johnson. 9pm. $5
• Reservoir: Colossus, Worn In Red, Constrictor. 10pm
• Weaver Street Market: Dom Casual. 6pm

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Carrboro
Artist’s Reception - The Mirror of the Noonday Sun. Come celebrate this new collection of paintings by Eduardo Lapetina. Mon, Aug 27, 5:30-7:30pm. Works on display through Oct 1. Panzanella, 200 N Greensboro St, Carr Mill Mall, Carrboro. 929-6626, panzanella.com

Ceramics by John Svara – Local potter’s works on display through Aug 31. NC Crafts Gallery, 212 W Main St, Carrboro. Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1-4pm. 942-4048, nccraftsgallery.com

Paintings by Debbie Harris – Whimsical works incorporating the artist’s love for jazz & animals. Through Aug 31. Open Eye Café, 101 S Greensboro St, Carrboro. Mon-Sat 7am-11pm (Fri & Sat til midnight), Sun 8am-11pm. 968-9410, openeyecafe.com

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Editor’s note: Following is the official summary of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority’s year-round water conservation rules. An in-depth look at the rules and the reason for them are available on the OWASA website at owasa.org/pages/yearroundconserv03.asp

• Conventional spray irrigation is limited to three days per week between 8:00 pm and 9:00 am and to one inch of watering per week. Spray irrigation is permitted at odd-numbered addresses on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; and at even-numbered addresses on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.  More »

By Ken Moore

Observations made from around town and the region during this summer-long drought have made me believe that our society is really insane.

Last week, while helping hand-water a native plant garden in Raleigh, making certain all the water went into the ground and not off onto the pavement, an awful noise from the Legislative grounds across the street made me turn to observe grounds staff mowing turf that was so short that it was difficult to distinguish between mown and un-mown areas. Accompanying the mowers were other grounds staff with leaf blowers, methodically walking along the curb blowing dust back and forth. This activity is a weekly routine.

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By Damon Circosta

Most North Carolina schoolchildren are heading back to the classroom as their summer break comes to an end. Seeing all of those overstuffed backpacks and yellow school buses reminds me of the fear and uncertainty that comes with starting something new.

I had many of the same feelings earlier this year when the legislative session opened. As a first-time lobbyist and newcomer to the capital, I felt like a freshman in high school.

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By Kirk Ross 

There’s nothing quite like cracking a freshly printed budget. Just look at all those finely crafted numbers and . . . ahh, smell those special provisions.

This is the time of year when it becomes clearer what kind of last-minute “language” found its way into the budget and various other bills passed in the last few days of the session.

Among the Easter Eggs this year was a lil’ bit of legislation that sorta, kinda takes authority over part of Raleigh from Raleigh and puts it back in the hands of the legislature. Specifically, Senate Bill 1313 — sponsored by Wake’s own Sen. Janet Cowell — prevents the City of Oaks from imposing its building and zoning regulations over much of the state capital area.

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By John Quinterno

Manufacturing and agricultural firms in North Carolina pay lower tax rates than other businesses on energy purchased for use in production. Nevertheless, several recent legislative proposals have called for eliminating the energy taxes paid by manufacturing and agricultural enterprises. While an economic argument can be made for repealing those taxes, doing so would reduce state revenues, raise questions of tax fairness and discourage energy conservation.

North Carolina currently levies a tax of three percent on sales of electricity.

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By Chris Fitzsimon

As many as nine million children in the United States may not be covered by a health insurance plan and more than 250,000 of them live in North Carolina.

Many of the children are eligible for state and federal programs like Medicaid and Health Choice, North Carolina’s program to insure kids in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, just over $41,000 for a family of four.

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Dr. Joseph Philibert Lorio died Thursday afternoon, August 16th, 2007, at Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk VA, at the age of 65. Dr Lorio was a resident of Carrboro, NC since his retirement in 2001. Previously he had been a resident of Fairfax, VA and a practicing psychiatrist in Falls Church. He was on the faculty of the Georgetown Family Center, in Washington D.C. for many years.

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Robert Finley Gaines, 79, of Chapel Hill, died Friday, August 10, 2007, after a long illness.    Mr. Gaines, a long-time resident of Chapel Hill, is survived by his wife of 55 years, Nancy Cheek Gaines, and by two daughters, Marcia (Gordon) Mercer of Franklin, NC, and Mary Anna (Richard) Lindholm of Charlotte, MI..

Also surviving are a brother, Mark (Carole) Gaines, of Stone Mountain, GA., a sister, Betty (Oscar) Wooten, of Franklin, NC, a granddaughter, Katie (Mickey) Duvall of Franklin, NC, and two great-grandchildren, Mikey and Wyatt Duvall, of Franklin, NC.

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Vennie Neal Best, 94, of Carrboro, passed away Wednesday, August 8, 2007.
She was the daughter of the late John Yancey Neal and the late Alice Burke Neal.

She was also preceded in death by her husband, Thurman E. Best, and her son, Danny M. Best, Sr.

Mrs. Best retired from UNC Hospital and was a member of the former Carrboro Baptist Church.

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The State Division of Forest Resources has issued a ban on open burning for all 100 counties of North Carolina.

All previously issued burning permits are immediately canceled, and the ban will continue until further notice.

The Orange County Fire Marshal will work closely with the Orange County Office of the North Carolina Forest Service to enforce the ban.

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.

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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.

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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.

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