By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors are scheduled to hold a special meeting today (Thursday) to consider tighter water restrictions.

On the heels of a call from Governor Mike Easley for North Carolinians to step up their conservation efforts, OWASA officials are requesting that the board approve stage two restrictions, which will further tighten outdoor watering rules and reduce the amount of daily water use allowed by each household.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the OWASA boardroom on Jones Ferry Road. (See list of stage two restrictions on Page 12)

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Minority student achievement and budget issues were recurring topics of discussion among Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education candidates at a forum Tuesday night. The forum was co-sponsored by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro PTA Council and the League of Women Voters.

Incumbents Jamezetta Bedford, Mike Kelley and Annetta Streater are running for re-election, challenged by newcomers Mia Burroughs and Gary Wallach. Four seats on the board are available.

Candidates were asked about the budget process, gifted education, school safety, the minority achievement gap and more. They agreed on several issues — all five were opposed to a merger with the Orange County Schools district, for example.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Move over Emeril and Rachael Ray, the Carrboro Civic Club is the new inspiration for local chefs, courtesy of its newly released cookbook.

The book is available from any Civic Club member or at Tyler’s Taproom, the OCSC and Curves at Carrboro Plaza. It features hundreds of recipes road tested in Carrboro kitchens and ready for fall cooking season.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

After a campaign by residents of Oak Avenue to try to get a handle on out-of-control traffic and speeding on this quiet, narrow mill village street, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen agreed unanimously to build a speed table and step up traffic enforcement.

Residents of Oak Avenue gathered at Town Hall Tuesday night where the board considered a staff proposal that did not include the speed table, but relied on heavier enforcement, possibly narrowing the intersection at North Greensboro and a neighborhood education program about the traffic problems.
A traffic analysis done by the town put it on the cusp for traffic-calming measures such as a speed table.
But resident Chris Frank told the board the town’s analysis was flawed because it considered Oak Avenue a collector street, even though is far narrower than the town’s official description of a collector. Frank said he also doubted that the town would park a police cruiser on the street on a regular basis and that it’s those using the street as a cut-through who need to be educated. He and his neighbors, he said, already are well aware of the problem.

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By Ken Moore

Referring to my annual enthusiastic descriptions of most common flowering weeds, gardening friend Sally recently stated that she was waiting for Ken Moore’s “love letter” to the Frost Aster. Aptly named, Frost Aster, Aster pilosus (Symphyotrichum pilosum), does flower during the frosty days of mid-October.

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By Valarie Schwartz

Sometimes life requires us to move.

After almost three decades, Family Preschool has learned that after this school year it will have to move from the sweet haven it has enjoyed at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. The 40 families of the non-sectarian, parent-run cooperative were told this spring that the church will be renovating the space they occupy on weekday mornings, changing it into a fellowship hall.

The little girl in the fairy costume and pink shoes, the boy in the Cornell T-shirt or the one in flashy-light shoes, like the little girl in a purple velvet dress, come dressed, like their peers, as they please, for three hours of socialization, playing and learning about wonders of life. Parents are always around, visiting or helping.

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Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St., Carrboro
Oct. 18 - Oct. 19, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 - Oct. 26, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 3, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Alderman Alex Zaffron and Mayor Mark Chilton will take a look at the town’s affordable housing strategy with the hopes of finding some solutions to an ongoing conundrum about how to deal with a slew of downtown condominium projects.

As part of a preliminary review of affordable housing plans for the Robertson Square development, the board, at its meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, was faced with another developer asking to provide payments in lieu rather than provide the three units to meet a 15 percent affordable housing requirement.

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First-degree rape charges against five Orange County teens were dismissed on Monday.

Charges were filed in May against Colton Sanders, Sean Crawford-Brown, Mark Holland, Mario Neville and Brian Minton. The charges were related to incident that allegedly occurred in September 2006 in the Southern Village area.

According to the county district attorney’s office, investigators found insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.

Six Orange County Democratic Party precincts will host a forum for Chapel Hill Town Council and mayoral candidates on October 27 at 3 p.m.

Four seats on the Chapel Hill Town Council are available. Incumbents Sally Greene, Cam Hill, Bill Strom and Jim Ward seek re-election. Matt Czajkowski, Will Raymond and Penny Rich are running as well.
Mayor Kevin Foy is challenged by newcomer Kevin Wolff.

The forum is hosted by Coker Hills, Estes Hills, Booker Creek, Eastside, Weaver Dairy and Ridgewood Democratic precincts, and will be held in the meeting room of the Chapel Hill Public Library.

The Orange County Office of Human Rights and Relations recently selected 11 individuals to serve as Community Civil Rights Educators. They are: Antonia Barbosa, Zina Barnett, John Chapman, Rashida Fearrington, Jesse Gibson, Ashley Harrington, Linda Hill, Berneta Lee, Timothy Miles, Carolina Pence and Alejandra Rivera.

The educators will undergo civil rights and human relations training over the course of three Saturdays. Upon completing the training, the educators will conduct civil rights community outreach for one year.
For more information regarding the Community Civil Rights Educator Program, contact the Office of Human Rights and Relations at 960-3875.

The Board of County Commissioners is seeking volunteers to serve on the Orange County Local Revenue Options Education Advisory Committee in preparation for the May 2008 tax referendum.

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.

The advisory committee will provide the public with information regarding the tax options by developing educational materials and planning informational meetings.

Interested Orange County residents can apply online at www.co.orange.nc.us or request an application by calling 245-2125. Applications are due October 24 and the board will appoint committee members at their November 5 meeting.

By Elyse Archer
Carrboro Commons Writer

Does spending $5 a week on gas sound like pure fantasy? For Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents, it’s now a reality, thanks to Carrboro’s new Scooters Inc.

The scooter store opened at 211 E. Main St. on Aug. 10. Dave Jansen, the store’s owner, is also the owner of Combustion Cycles, a motorcycle store in Durham.

Passersby might miss the small store if not for the vibrantly colored display of scooters outside. Once inside, a visitor will be greeted with a mini-showroom featuring several top-of-the-line scooters, as well as helmets and apparel designed specifically for scooter drivers. Its urban-chic feel is accentuated by several paintings by local artist Nathaniel Quinn for sale on the walls.

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The North Carolina Real Estate Commission voted last week to convene a task force to determine whether homebuyers in North Carolina are being made sufficiently aware when the real estate agent showing them a home is being offered a bonus by the seller. As the regulations now stand, agents must tell buyers of such financial incentives but are not required to notify them in writing. Many sellers, particularly homebuilders, pay a bonus to agents in addition to the sales commission.

“We want every one of our citizens to be fully aware of all the information they need,” The Charlotte Observer quoted NC Real Estate Commission chair Skip Alston as saying. “This is the largest investment they’re making in their lifetime. You can’t go too far as far as trying to have things be as transparent as possible.”

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The next seminar in the Chamber of Commerce’s Seminar Series presented by Progress Energy will be held at 3:30pm on Thursday, October 25 in the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors Conference Room at the Chamber. Ben Quinn of ActionCOACH business coaching will present tangible strategies that will teach how to maximize the return on your invested time by increasing your productivity and freeing yourself from mundane tasks. $25 for members; $35 for non-members. Visit www.carolinachamber.org/seminars to register.