Photo By Maciek Krzysztoforski

UNC students Stephene Gagnon and her friend Kate Connor lost their apartment and most of their belongings Sunday night.By Valarie Schwartz

By Valarie Schwartz

One of the great fears of life erupted into reality for residents of the G building of Colonial Village at Highland Hills apartments early Sunday morning as a deadly fire spread through their building.

It had to be terrifying to awaken to the sounds of chaos and rooms filled with smoke, grabbing consciousness along with reachable personal effects while dashing madly to safety, or, as in the case of the two young women whose door was engulfed in flames, with the only choice for life being escape from their second-story balcony; their landings not gently received.

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One woman dies, many lose everything in fast-burning blaze at Highland Hills

Photo By Maciek Krzysztoforski

Carrboro fireman Daneil Speight, part of the crew of firefighters sifting through the remains of Highland Hills Building G, hands Stephene Gagnon what’s left of one of her books.

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Authorities have still not identified the victim in last weekend’s fire at the Highland Hills apartment complex, a blaze that took the life of one woman, injured two others and left more than 20 people homeless.

Carrboro firefighters were on the scene again Wednesday picking their way through debris in search of photo albums and other belongings that might be salvageable.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

With the election about a month away, candidates for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education are stepping up their campaigns.

Incumbents Jamezetta Bedford, Mike Kelley and Annetta Streater are seeking re-election, while newcomers Mia Burroughs and Gary Wallach also have joined the race. Former candidate Mehar Safvi has withdrawn.

Four seats on the board are available. Longtime board member Liz Carter is not running for reelection.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Jim Neal, a key Democratic Party fundraiser, is on the verge of announcing a run for U.S. Senate, sources close to Neal say.

Neal, a native of Greensboro who now lives in Chapel Hill, will head to Asheville this weekend for the Vance-Aycock Dinner, a traditional gathering of Democratic Party movers and shakers and a place where potential candidates often test the waters. He is expected to file official paperwork as early as this week.

Neal was a top fundraiser for the John Kerry and John Edwards ticket in 2004 and a major supporter of Gen. Wesley Clark’s bid for the Democratic nomination that year.

He is a former investment banker and is currently a financial advisor.

Dole, a one-term incumbent who has already announced for re-election, has been raising money in preparation for the race. A recent Elon Poll found that 53 percent of respondents indicated they are satisfied or very satisfied with the senator’s representation of North Carolina and 24 percent disapproved or strongly disapproved.

But both Democratic and Republican election handicappers say Dole is vulnerable because of her support of President Bush’s Iraq policies. The same poll shows that only 32 percent of North Carolinians polled approved of her job performance on Iraq and 78 percent — the highest percentage — said the war will influence their vote in 2008.

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

The Board of Aldermen might have approved, but apparently Harris Teeter did not.
Less than 48 hours after the board approved the Shoppes at Jones Ferry, a proposed 7.7-acre development with rows of stores and a 52,000-square-foot Harris Teeter as the anchor tenant, NorthWest Property Group of Skyland, N.C., who was to develop the project, notified the town that the project would not move forward. At present, the site, located across from the OWASA water treatment plant, serves as a construction yard for builder Calvin Mellott, who retains ownership of the land after NorthWest opted not to close on the property.

At issue was an entrance on Barnes Street that had become a focal point for residents of the adjacent Lincoln Park neighborhood. Neighbors said Barnes Street already has too much traffic on it and adding a grocery would exacerbate an already bad situation.

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Impressive Red Maple, labeled, along trail in the Adam’s Tract.

By Ken Moore

Many locals already enjoy it, and I have a sense they would like to keep it a secret. The 27-acre Adam’s Tract, which runs along Bolin Creek, is an in-town preserve of big trees, some which take two or more people to hug.

The main entrance is at the lower end of Wilson Park on Williams Street.

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The Orange County Democratic Party is sponsoring a forum for Carrboro candidates on Thursday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Hogan Farms Clubhouse in Chapel Hill. The forum is available to all candidates. Kirk Ross,  editor of the Carrboro Citizen will moderate. Jack Sanders, chair of the OCDP, will serve as master of ceremonies.

Candidates will have four minutes apiece for introductory statements and will be asked to answer up to five questions. The questions are selected beforehand by a committee of Carrboro Democratic Party precinct officers who have solicited suggestions from the Carrboro constituency.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and light refreshments will be served. The Lake Hogan Farms Clubhouse in at 101 Commons Way; from Homestead Rd., turn north onto Lake Hogan Farms Rd. and take the second right. Contact Susan Romaine, romaines@nc.rr.com,  968-9570.

The League of Women Voters of Orange-Durham-Chatham presents A Forum on Immigration: The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population in North Carolina. The event is Wednesday, October 10 from 10 to 11 a.m. and free and open to the public.

It will be held at the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise in the Kenan Center (Room 406) at UNC.

The League of Women Voters has been studying the subject of immigration in order to adopt a position. To help educate its membership and the public, they will present Dr. James H. Johnson, Director of Urban Investment Strategies Center for the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. He will speak on his research regarding Hispanic demographic and economic impacts on North Carolina. Information on the topic can be found at www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/ki/reports/2006_HispanicStudy/
More information is available at www.lwvodc.org.

Special Events

• Annual Fish Fry Event – St. Paul A.M.E. Church will hold its annual Fish Fry on Oct 6, 11am-4pm, at 101 N Merritt Mill Rd, Chapel Hill. Tickets are $8 and may be purchased by calling 967-3961.
• Octoberfest – Health booths, carnival games, music and more. Sat, Oct 6, 11am-4pm. Join United Voices of Efland Cheeks for a day of food, family fun and fellowship. Efland Cheeks Community School Park, just off Hwy 70 in Efland. For more info, call 245-2409.
• Benefit for Safe Passage with Saludos Compay - Sat, Oct 6 at 8pm. $20. The ArtsCenter, 300-G E Main St, Carrboro. 929-2787, www.artscenterlive.org.
• 35th Annual Festifall – Chapel Hill’s annual arts & crafts street fair returns to West Franklin St, Sunday, Oct 7, 1-6pm. Pottery, jewelry, live music, food vendors, kids’ activities and more. For more info, call the Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation Dept at 968-2784.
• Oliver Rajamani Ensemble – Legendary Austin, TX act performs at the Bynum General Store, 950 Bynum Rd, Pittsboro. Fri, Oct 12, 7-9pm. Tickets $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Enjoy crepes, coffee tasting, culture and history. All ages welcome! For more info, call 542-0394 or email molly.matlock@chathamarts.org.
• CHICLE Cultural Program – A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America. Moving story of Siler City high school soccer team presented by Paul Cuadros. Free. Sunday, Oct 14 at 5pm. Chicle, 101 E Weaver St, 3rd floor, Carrboro. 933-0398, www.chi-cle.com.

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UPDATE: The owners of Visions Night Club on Thursday closed the club permanently.

Six people were treated for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds after a shooting at Visions Night Club at 136 E. Rosemary St. in Chapel Hill around 1 a.m. Monday.

According to the Chapel Hill Police Department, the suspect is an unidentified black male who remains at large. He reportedly fired multiple shots from a handgun and was able to exit the club with the rest of the crowd.

Those wounded in the shooting include: Rowland Garret, 21, of Durham; Maurio Mitchell, 25, of Durham; Roy Parker, 21, of Raleigh; Marcus Dorty, 27, of Durham; Kenneth Lunsford, 20, of Durham; and a 16-year-old whose name was not released.

The club will be closed this weekend but will reopen for business next week, according to Kevin Gunter, public information officer with the Chapel Hill Police.

According to police, some of those wounded have known gang affiliations. Two of the wounded were Visions security employees.

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The Orange County Board of Elections will demonstrate the testing of voting machines on October 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The board tests voting machines to ensure that the machines are accurately tabulating the voter’s choices. The demonstration is open to the public and will be held at the Board of Elections office at 110 E. King St. in Hillsborough.

For more information, contact the elections office at 245-2350.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously this week to restrict 85 percent of revenues from a proposed land transfer tax for schools. The restriction is effective until at least the end of 2010, when a majority of the board will be up for reelection.  Voters will consider approval of the local-option transfer tax in the November election.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen applauded the move to tighten water restriction, but said the recently announced stage one water restrictions don’t go far enough.
Under the restrictions, residents are still allowed to use up to 1,000 gallons a day.
At their meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, several board members said that doesn’t go far enough and supported a resolution to reduce the amount to 500 gallon.

Alderman Jacquie Gist said 1,000 gallons a day means that some households could use 31,000 gallons a month — more than five times the monthly average for OWASA customers.

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 By Chris Fitzsimon

The North Carolina Association of Educators made its endorsement of Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue for governor official this weekend, just before Perdue’s Monday official campaign kickoff in New Bern.

That prompted a swift reaction from Jay Reiff, the campaign manager for State Treasurer Richard Moore, Perdue’s opponent in the Democrat primary. Reiff told the Winston-Salem Journal that not only was the endorsement process rigged by Raleigh insiders, it didn’t make sense because Perdue didn’t deliver on her promise to raise teacher salaries to the national average.

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Thanks to Red Cross
On Friday evening, the Red Cross had a booth at Last Friday in Hillsborough. They smiled and offered disaster readiness information as they chatted with folks enjoying the cool fall weather and free entertainment. About 30 hours later, I watched as some of the same faces were assisting victims of the Highland Hills Apartment fire in Carrboro. In the destruction, individuals considered themselves lucky to have escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Pray that you never need the Red Cross and thank those who volunteer when you do.

David Hunt
New Hope firefighter
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