By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

With Election Day just seven weeks away, the Carrboro municipal races shifted into high gear with the first in a series of election forums and a candidate for Carrboro mayor calling for Alderman Dan Coleman to step down.

The first forum of the season was held at Carrboro Town Hall Monday night and included candidates for alderman and mayor. The forum, sponsored by the Sierra Club, featured some fireworks early on with mayoral candidate Brian Voyce’s opening statement.
Voyce said he would not seek the group’s endorsement, then went on to admonish the organization for its record of backing candidates who he said had not been responsive to the concerns of the Rogers Road neighborhood about environmental justice.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Plans for a Harris Teeter and commercial center at the corner of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street took a tentative step forward Tuesday night, but not before several neighbors complained that the store would add traffic to an already dangerous intersection.

At its meeting at Town Hall, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen decided to continue a public hearing until next week on plans for a 7.71-acre parcel, which now serves as the construction yard for contractor Calvin Mellot. The site is near Wilkinson plumbing supply and is across the street from the OWASA water treatment plant.

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In a shooting star-like pose, the golden ray flowers point down from the greenish central cone of the green coneflower.

By Ken Moore

I had something totally different planned for this week until I visited the opening of the Botanical Garden’s 20th Anniversary “Sculpture in the Garden” show. If you have never visited this annual show, be certain to treat yourself to at least one visit there between now and mid-November!

Down in the area in front of the Paul Green Cabin, I was totally blown away by the psychedelic exuberance of masses of green coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata. I’ve always enjoyed seeing a clump or two here and there, but to see so many in full flower … well, it was like I had died and gone to heaven!

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Photo by Jock Lauterer

Carrboro High School band director Frank Jones, left, serves as a music holder for members of the Jaguar band during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner at Monday night’s football game with Cedar Ridge.

By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

The newly formed Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism will hope to get the attention of the Assembly of Governments at the assembly’s meeting tonight (Thursday) at 7:30 at the Southern Human Services Center (2501 Homestead Road). The coalition was formed to attempt to reverse the decision of the Orange County Commissioners to place a waste transfer station in the Rogers-Eubanks community and to help make heard concerns for the health and safety of residents in these neighborhoods, which abut the Orange County Landfill.

“We had asked [the Assembly of Governments] prior to making out their agenda to give us five minutes at the beginning of their meeting to voice our concerns,” said coalition member Rev. Robert Campbell.

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By Cody Braun
Courtesy of the Carrboro Commons

The night before the Carrboro Music Festival ten years ago, Gerry Williams was scared.
“Lots of professionals said we couldn’t do it,” the music festival’s creator and organizer says. Despite this advice, Williams went forward with the project, which he says has been a great success.

“The next day, I was so happy,” he says. “I was taking down banners, and people were driving by and honking, saying ‘I had a great time yesterday.’”

The festival, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary September 30, has changed significantly since that first year.

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By Valarie Schwartz

Robin Vail and I both did our parts for me to attend a Footnotes Tap Ensemble rehearsal before its upcoming show Saturday, but we could not know that someone would lock me out of the dance studio. With sore knuckles (from much fruitless banging on the door), I write this with assistance from memory of my first introduction to the group’s energetic performances several years ago.

These dancers know how to tap their way inside a person’s soul; maybe because their passion for dance runs so deep. Footnotes Tap Ensemble, formed in 2002, is the only professional nonprofit dance troupe in the Triangle. The 12-members include a medical doctor, bio-researcher, graphic artist, kindergarten teacher and others from all walks of life.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The school budget process could run a little more smoothly next year under changes proposed by school officials.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education will consider changes to the annual budget process tonight (Thursday). The school board will present anticipated budget drivers and the budget process timeline to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.

“We’re trying to get better information to the county commissioners before they hold their winter retreat and make any preliminary decisions about the direction that the budget will take next year,” Superintendent Neil Pedersen said.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Loitering, drinking, public unrination and crude and offensive comments to female passers-by have sparked a crackdown at a site on the corner of Jones Ferry Road and Davie Road routinely used by day laborers.

Neighbors have long complained that the corner across Davie Road from the Kangaroo Express convenience store has become the scene of day and night congregation and that the actions of those there have gotten out of hand.

Town officials met with 30 residents of the area in late July.
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The Chatham County Utilities Department has announced “danger level” water restrictions will take effect in northeastern Chatham County on Monday.

Under the mandatory restrictions, nearly all uses of county water for lawns, grasses, groundcovers, landscaping, pools and car washes are banned until further notice.
Water customers violating restrictions will not receive a warning before penalties are issued, and first-time offenders will be fined $250. The second offense carries a fine of $500. The utility department will shut off water service for a third violation.

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Century Hall will host an event for Hispanic Heritage Month on Thursday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. Excerpts from David Riker’s film La Ciudad will be shown, followed by a bilingual discussion facilitated by advocates Estefania San Juan (El Pueblo) and Dr. Luke Smith (El Futuro). This event is co-sponsored by Carrboro Cybrary, Carrboro Recreation & Parks Department, CHICLE, El Pueblo and Open Eye Café. For more information, call the Cybrary at 918-7387 or email cybrary@co.orange.nc.us.

The Women’s Center will hold its first-ever book sale on Saturday, September 22. The sale will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. indoors at the Women’s Center, 210 Henderson Street, Chapel Hill.

The sale was organized after the center received an anonymous donation of several hundred books. The sale includes rare and popular books in good condition, including first editions.
All proceeds from the sale will support the Women’s Center’s programs. The center’s mission is to “promote the individual and collective empowerment of the diverse community of women and girls in the Triangle.” The center provides financial, legal, career, adolescent and education support and referral services.

Police are calling for information about a shooting that occurred nearly a year ago. Around 1:40 a.m. the morning of November 1, 2006, the victims were walking on Merritt Mill Road when they were approached by two black men and a black woman. One of the individuals had a handgun. They hit the victims, searched them, stole a cell phone and walked off. It appeared that the suspects got into a gold or tan four-door car. There may have been another person waiting in the vehicle. As they drove past the victims, a passenger fired a weapon. One man was shot in the chest/shoulder area. As this case approaches its anniversary, police are once again seeking information from the public.

Work on water lines for the Southern Community Park will close at least one lane of Dogwood Acres Drive next week and limit sidewalk access along U.S. 15-501, Chapel Hill parks officials announced.

The waterline installation, which will also require one southbound lane of the highway to close for part of the day when the piping is delivered, will progress along Dogwood Acres Drive at the park and then along the sidewalk between the park and Southern Village.

The Sierra Club will sponsor a public forum for Chapel Hill Town Council and mayor candidates on Tuesday. The forum will focus on environmental issues and will be held at the Chapel Hill Town Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 7 p.m.

The League of Women Voters will sponsor an election forum Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at Carrboro Town Hall for candidates for Carrboro mayor and alderman.

The league will host a forum for Chapel Hill mayor and town council candidates Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at Chapel Hill Town Hall.