By Ken Moore

We’ve finally had some killing frosts and winter is beginning to settle in. This is the season we are accustomed to being the hosts of garden mums, Chrysanthemum x morifolium, with their neon-like orange, yellow and red colors, as well as the quieter colors of pink and white of Sasanqua Camellia, Camellia Sasanqua, cultivars. Also noticeable, more often smelled than seen, is the very fragrant, very tiny, flowered evergreen Sweet Olive, Osmanthus x Fortunei.

So it is often a surprise and a joyful relief to happen upon something different in flower this late in the season. For years, I have enjoyed the several specimens of Climbing Aster, Aster carolinianus,
(Ampelaster carolinianus) that have remained in full flower after killing frosts through the Thanksgiving holidays. This is one of our native asters; it occurs infrequently in our Southeastern coastal plain and more commonly further south down to Florida. It is somewhat surprising that it is such a hardy and sturdy grower in our Piedmont, a bit beyond its natural occurrence. It does not seem to pose a threat of spreading rampantly in gardens and in the wild because its characteristic late flowering doesn’t find many pollinating insects buzzing around to assist it in setting viable seed.

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Photo by Robert Dickson

Aerial view of the Orange County Landfill and the Rogers-Eubanks Road community. Rogers Road runs diagonally in the foreground. 

Editor’s note: This story is the third in a series that examines issues related to environmental justice and to the fight of the Rogers and Eubanks roads community to be relieved of what they allege to be an undue burden. To read the stories in this series and for other resources, go to www.carrborocitizen.com/main/rogers-road

By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

To a young Neloa Jones, it was simply “the homeplace.” Jones grew up mostly in Maryland, but would come down once or more a year, back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, to visit with family – the Rogers, the Barbees, the Wests and others – families with deep and rich heritages in this community to the north of Chapel Hill. It was from her grandmother, Velcie Rogers Barbee, that Jones first heard the community, once a township, referred to as the homeplace.

Today Jones is a resident of that neighborhood – most commonly referred to as the Rogers Road community – and a spokesperson for the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism, an organization working to keep a solid-waste facility out of the community and to gain enhancements in return for having housed landfill facilities for the past 35 years.

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Photo by Robert Dickson

Executive Director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Stephen Dear (second from left) shows visitors around the nonprofit’s office.

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Community leaders, elected officials and members of the public filled the Douglas Building Tuesday evening for the first joint open house of all five of the building’s nonprofit organizations.

The open house was hosted by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, El Centro Latino, El Futuro, Joint Orange Chatham Community Action-Building Futures Youth Center and People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.

“What’s amazing now is that we’re totally nonprofits in this building,” said Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council. IFC helps meet basic needs for individuals and families by providing shelter, food and other services.

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By Valarie Schwartz

Magic happens regularly at the Emerson Waldorf School, but it’s been a few years since the holiday magic going on this week has stood on its own.

“It was combined with the Fall Faire, but that got to be too big, so we’ve moved it back to the Christmas season,” said teacher and parent, Kathleen Stone Michael.

The Holiday Faire, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, will feature crafts, puppet shows, games, food, music and fun for all ages. Admission is free but activity cards that can be purchased on site will allow for the purchase of food and gifts.

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UNC researcher Darrel Stafford, whose work has led to breakthroughs in the study of coagulation and its regulation, was among nine individuals presented with the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor.

Stafford, who has lived in Carrboro for 20 years, was presented with the Science award in a ceremony in Cary Tuesday night.

He said it was a great honor and enjoyed the ceremony.

“It was a very nice award and very professionally done last night,” he said on Wednesday.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

After a lengthy discussion, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen last week passed an anti-lingering ordinance meant to curtail activity near a day labor pickup site at the corner of Davie Road and Jones Ferry Road.

The board voted four to one to approve the ordinance, which was requested by police as a way to prevent the site from continuing to be used as a hangout. Residents in the area have complained to the town that public urination, drinking and verbal harrasment of female passersby are a common occurence at the location.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

An electrical fire at Berkshire Manor Apartments displaced 12 residents on Sunday night. No injuries were reported.

Carrboro firefighters responded to the fire at the apartments, located on NC 54 Bypass, at 9:15 p.m. and found smoke coming from the roof of building G of the complex and a large fire in apartment G-5.

“It didn’t have a terribly good head start on us,” said Trey Mayo, Deputy Chief for the Carrboro Fire Department.

Seventeen firefighters from Carrboro, Chapel Hill and North Chatham fire departments brought the fire under control in less than 10 minutes. Firefighters determined that an electrical short in the kitchen of apartment G-5 started the fire.

According to Mayo, most of the damage was due to smoke and water and was contained to the apartment in which the fire started and the apartment below it.

Residents of two adjacent apartments also were displaced for the night because firefighters shut off the power on that end of the building. After power is turned off, residents can’t turn it back on until the fire has been investigated.

The Orange County Animal Shelter will host a “Pictures with Santa” event on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be held at PetSmart on Witherspoon Boulevard in Durham.

Pictures of pets with Santa are $9.95, or $8.95 with a PetsPerk PetSmart card. Proceeds will benefit the Orange County Animal Shelter.

Over the past few months, the Chapel Hill Police Department has received several complaints of misleading fundraising being conducted in the name of local law enforcement. If you are considering making a charitable donation please consider the following tips:

• Don’t give to charities you’ve never heard of without first checking with the Better Business Bureau to make sure they’re legitimate.

• Avoid making donations if you receive unsolicited phone calls or emails, even if they claim to represent a well-known charity. Instead, contact a legitimate charity directly by phone or through their website.

• If you are suspicious of a charity, request information about the organization be sent through the mail before you contribute.

If you have any questions about fundraising frauds or scams, call the Chapel Hill Police Department Community Services Unit at 932-2929.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved changes to the town land use planning rules to allow for greater flexibility in sight distance requirements. The change was approved unanimously by the board at its meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall.

Ernest Dodson, an engineer for Phil Post Associates, explained to the board that the town’s rules are more rigid than other municipalities and are difficult to satisfy in areas with greater topographic variation.

“You don’t want to be cutting out hills and filling in bottoms just to meet the ordinance,” he said.
Alderman Alex Zaffron agreed, saying the change would “allow the infrastructure to run with the land.”

The Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library will hold a book sale on Dec. 1 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Dec. 2 from 1 to 4 p.m. Hardbacks cost $1.50, paperbacks $1 and pocket paperbacks 75 cents. The sale will be at Carrboro Branch Library in McDougle School, 900 Old Fayetteville Road. For more information call 969-3006.

The Carrboro Transportation Advisory Board and the Chapel Hill Transportation Board will host the 2007 Transit Forum today (Thursday).

Participants will be able to ask questions about the transit system or make suggestions about services and amenities.

A question and answer session will be held from 5-6 p.m., followed by a formal presentation and question and answer session from 7-8:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held at the Chapel Hill Town Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Coleman

Elizabeth Coleman’s fourth-grade class at Estes Hills Elementary School was visited last week by their pen pal, Sgt. Justin Young, who returned from Iraq in October. Students wrote Young and other soldiers letters as part of their language arts curriculum and learned about Iraq during social studies. In addition, they put together a care package for Young, which they sent to him while he was overseas. Students also talked about Iraq and discussed their perceptions of the war. When Young visited, they were able to ask him questions about the Army and the war in Iraq. Young also brought students Ranger and U.S. flag patches and explained the patches and stars on his uniform. Young, who has been in the Army since 2003, returned from Iraq in October, having completed a 15-month tour as part of the 82nd Airborne’s 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment.

GreenPros will offer a Green Building Construction Strategies Course over two sessions on December 4 and 6 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. To register, call 542-6495 ext. 223. Cost is $70 and includes both sessions.

Attendees can learn such techniques as advanced framing, moisture management and decorative concrete floor work.

This series is sponsored by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, Parksite Plunkett-Webster Inc., Stock Building Supply and Healthy Homes Insulation. For more information, visit www.greenprostraining.com

Orange County is holding a second informational workshop entitled “Dealing with the Drought” about ways to cope with the drought for well water users in rural areas.

This workshop will be held November 29 at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of New Sharon United Methodist Church, 1601 New Sharon Church Road, in northeastern Orange County. Speakers will present a current update and forecast on the drought situation, information about wells and water production in Piedmont North Carolina geology, how to use sustainable landscaping practices and other basic tips and ideas on conserving ground water.
For more information, contact David Stancil, Environment and Resource Conservation Director, at 245-2590 or dstancil@co.orange.nc.us.