The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Foundation for a Sustainable Community, the Institute for Sustainable Development and the Town of Chapel Hill to present the October Seminar, a business workshop on Sustainability. The workshop will take place at the Chapel Hill Public Library on October 4th from 12-4 p.m.

Workshop topics will include Best Business Practices, Water-wise Landscaping, Best Transportation options for cleaner air and a session with 30 Great Ideas in 30 minutes. The cost is $25 and will include Lunch from Whole Foods.

If you would like to register, please contact Meg Branson at 967-7075 ext 21 or mbranson@carolinachamber.org. This event is followed by the National Conversation on Climate Change.

Editor’s Note: Following is the statement read by Neloa Jones at the Sept. 20, 2007 Orange County Assembly Governments Meeting on behalf of the Rogers-Eubanks “Coalition to End Environmental Racism” (CEER).

For nearly one hundred and fifty years, African-American families have lived in what is now known as the Rogers-Eubanks Community.  In the late 1800s, Rogers Road was a wagon-track through black-owned family farmland and sawmills that stretched from Homestead to Eubanks and Millhouse Roads.  There was once a school on Eubanks Road, Morris Grove, founded by a former slave, for black children not allowed to attend school elsewhere.  As decades passed, this land was passed down to children, to grandchildren, to great-grandchildren, and in some cases, to great-great grandchildren. Some land was lost to debt, some simply sold.  However, African Americans continued migrating to this community; they purchased land and established homes.  Today, this community is a predominantly low-income neighborhood, but it remains socially cohesive and culturally rich in spite of the solid waste facilities that have worked to destroy it.

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By Kirk Ross

Exile on ’08
Race: U.S. Senate
Incumbent: Elizabeth Dole (one term)
Possible Challengers: State Rep. Grier Martin (Wake), State Sen. Kay Hagan (Guilford), State Board of Education Chair Howard Lee. At least one other major name is considering the race.
Conventional Wisdom: National handicappers Cook, Rothenberg and Congressional Quarterly all report the seat as either “leans Republican” or “advantage-incumbent.”
Unconventional Wisdom: A diverse group of observers ranging from Dem-cheering blogger SenateGuru2008 to GOP uber-fundraiser Paul M. Weyrich say a strong Dem challenge could unseat her.

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By Mark Chilton 

In 1997, the Landfill Compensation Working Group, a group of elected officials of the Rogers Road residents, proposed 14 compensation items that we believed our local governments owed to the neighbors of the landfill. The Assembly of Governments met on October 30, 1997 to discuss the Working Group’s recommendations. The governments assembled agreed to implement the easier items on the list. Among others, Joal Broun, Jacquie Gist and I worked hard to pass the recommendations, but many elected officials opposed three key compensation items.    More »

Cook for alderman
Please join me on Tuesday, November 6th and vote for Sharon Cook for election to the Carrboro Board of Alderman.   Sharon has been an active member of this community for over a decade.  She’s served as a volunteer in our schools, churches and social service agencies.     More »

Loveless in Seattle
They gave it a shot, but word out of Seattle is that “Lone Star Love” — a wild-west-post-civil-war musical inspired by The Merry Wives of Windsor and featuring The Red Clay Ramblers — is closing its run and won’t be headed to Broadway after all.

According to Playbill, previews scheduled to start in November at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre have been cancelled. Updates to come, but it appears the three-hour run time was a bit too much for the critics.

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Thursday Sep 27

Blue Horn Lounge: The Second Experience. 9pm
Cat’s Cradle: Animal Collective, Tickley Feather. 8:30pm. $15
The Cave: Early: Aaron Berg. Late: The Delta Drift w/ Memphis.
General Store Café: Jazz with The Second Third Thursday. 8pm
Local 506: VHS or Beta, Walter Meego, Ex-Members. 9pm. $10
Nightlight: Alina Simone, Nathan Oliver, Adam & the Weatherfords. 9:30pm. $5

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Carrboro

Paintings & Sculpture by Luna Lee Ray & Joanne Andrews – Through Sept 30. The ArtsCenter, 300-G E Main St, Carrboro. 929-2787, www.artscenterlive.org

Background Music for Birds - Mixed media paintings by Renee Seaman Treml. Through Sept 30. NC Crafts Gallery, 212 W Main St, Carrboro. Mon-Sat 10am-6 pm, Sun 1-4pm. 942-4048, www.nccraftsgallery.com

Turned Wood Bowls - By Steve Noggle. Through Sept 30. NC Crafts Gallery, 212 W Main St, Carrboro. 942-4048, www.nccraftsgallery.com

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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.
• Hillsborough Farmers’ Market - Wed 3-6pm; Sat 7:30am-noon. Apr-Nov. 732-8315.
• Fearrington Village Farmers’ Market - Tue 4pm through Nov 20. 8 miles south of Chapel Hill on US 15-501, Fearrington Village, Chapel Hill. 542-4000, More »

Virginia Fant Hamm, 87, of Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC, passed away Friday, September 21, 2007 at Cambridge Hills Assisted Living Home in Pittsboro.

Mrs. Hamm was a native of Pendleton, South Carolina and was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Charles W. Hamm, Sr. and three brothers Ernest S. Fant, Marshall E. Fant, and Julian E. Fant.  Survivors include a brother, Charles H. Fant of Rock Hill, SC.  Also surviving Mrs. Hamm are her two sons Charles W. Hamm, Jr. and wife Jane H. Hamm and David M. Hamm and wife Ellen M. Hamm.

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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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