By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

They’re promising an old-fashioned political debate in the spirit of the famed Lincoln-Douglas matches. But for Al McSurley, John Heuer and other members of the local Coalition for the Constitution, which is sponsoring the event scheduled for next Tuesday at the Century Center, the stakes are somewhat higher than who will be the next senator from Illinois.

The title of this one is “On the Question of Impeachment,” and in addition to the all-American bunting Heuer and McSurely plan to hang a banner reminding those gathered that they’re sitting in the cradle of impeachment.
The “convenor” for this debate is County Commissioner Moses Carey and moderating will be professor Hodding Carter III. While an elected dignitary and a professor may seem about right in their roles, the actual debaters might surprise you a bit. Arguing for impeachment is Republican Bruce Fein, a former justice department lawyer who was research director for the congressional inquiry into the Iran-Contra scandal and recently served on the American Bar Association’s task force on presidential signing statements.

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The empty Triem building on South Greensboro Street has seen a growing popularity among graffitti painters. On this week’s Opinion page, one local resident says it’s
time to paint over the marks to discourage the practice.

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How to shape development along the east and west sides of Old N.C. 86 became a subject of debate among a town committee studying plans for the area. Photo by Kirk Ross.

A new school is several frenzied months of construction away from opening day, as are new homes in developments recently approved nearby, but the intersection of Homestead Road and Old N.C. 86 at Calvander is already a busy place.
Steady development has made it much more of a crossroads than ever before and now the Talberts on the west side of the intersection isn’t just hopping at lunchtime.

Last spring, concern about growth in the area led the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to impose a six-month development moratorium and charge a 17-member committee made up of residents, elected officials and town advisory board members with coming up with ideas for how to proceed. The committee’s name was a mouthful: the Northern Study Area Plan Implementation Review Committee.

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By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

This story is the seventh 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

Lest you’d come to doubt, don’t. Democracy does still work in America. It’s alive and well, in fact, and toiling away right here in Orange County. But pack a lunch; a change of socks. Plan to stay late. You’ll then see it well at work.

Of course we all knew this. We were aware that democracy still works when people are willing to work at it. But it’s nice to be reminded – as we have been by our county commissioners, by the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism (CEER), by CEER’s supporters and by the people they’ve come to represent who’ve refused to be quiet when confronted with what they perceive to be unjust treatment – by those who’ve stayed late to see that it works. When people are heard, and done deals are no longer quite so done, thank the folks who stayed late, and consider democracy being done.

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Sycamore bark peels off to change the coarser grey-brown-green bark of the lower trunk to a smooth stark white trunk above. Photo by Peter White.

Botanical Garden director Peter White loves trees. Chatting with him over a coffee at Open Eye, I mentioned featuring the Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) in The Citizen’s “Flora” column. He enthusiastically responded with numerous stories.

Its beauty is somewhat obscured by the foliage during the growing season, but in the winter no tree in the Carolinas is like the sycamore with its distinctive bark and habit. The base is somewhat like a typical tree bark. Now, I’ll leave it to your imagination to visualize a “typical” bark. As your eye travels up the trunk of the tree, you will notice bark peeling off in large irregular scales colored from gray and tan to green. Further upwards, the trunk becomes very smooth and snow white in color, reaching skyward to the very branch tips. During the winter months, even viewed from speeding vehicles, the stark white stems along riverbanks are unmistakable. It occurs throughout our state – one of our most magnificent native trees.

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Valerie Yow holds the biography she wrote about Betty Smith while standing in front of the painting she created depicting A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The child in the painting, Francie, represents Smith in the near-autobiography she wrote while living in Chapel Hill. Photo by Valarie Schwartz.

By Valarie Schwartz

Two women came to Chapel Hill to write books. . . .

Betty Smith, a petite brunette Brooklyn native, arrived in 1936 with two adolescent daughters. She had already risen from the brutal poverty of a childhood that included having to quit school after seventh grade to support her mother, brother and sister following the death of her alcoholic father, to marry a law student with political ambitions. While he studied law, she attended enough college courses to earn a degree — but couldn’t because she had no high school diploma.

Determined since childhood to be a writer, she accepted an invitation to study with a renowned playwright at Yale after winning an award for a play she wrote. It became the tipping point for her fragile marriage.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Carrboro Police say a suspect apprehended early Sunday morning after breaking into the Carrboro Laundromat and the Tienda, Taquería y Carnizería Toledo’s on Jones Ferry Road is connected to a string of holiday break-ins.

The suspect, Fernice Anderson Lowry, 30, whose address is listed as the streets of Carrboro, was apprehended by Carrboro police after the Carrboro Laundromat alarm went off and police discovered Lowry in the ceiling above the laundromat.

Lowry allegedly broke into several businesses at the Willow Creek Shopping Center on Jones Ferry Road on at least two different occasions over the holidays by tearing through the businesses’ walls. Police already had a warrant for Lowry’s arrest when he was apprehended early Sunday because of the prior break-ins.

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UNC News Services 

The PlayMakers Repertory Company will bring audiences the excitement of the rotating repertory experience from Jan. 26 through March 2, with two mainstage productions running on an alternating schedule.

Both plays – Doubt, A Parable and Topdog/Underdog – are recent Broadway hits that won Pulitzer Prizes.
All performances by PlayMakers, the professional theatre in residence at UNC, are in the Paul Green Theatre, inside the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. For a complete schedule of performances, visit http://www.playmakersrep.org.

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Retired Chapel Hill Police Detective J.D. Parks on Tuesday was inducted into the N.C. Law Enforcement Torch Run Hall of Fame.

Parks was honored for his 14-year involvement with the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run, for which he sold t-shirts and hats, organized raffles and hosted other events. In addition, Parks was instrumental in organizing a golf tournament, which is now the largest Torch Run tournament in the state, raising more than $60,000 annually. During Parks’s 14 years, the Chapel Hill Police Department raised more than $825,000 for the athletes of the Special Olympics.
Parks now works for the UNC Department of Public Safety, where he holds the rank of Investigative Captain.

The ArtsCenter will host an interactive open house for the African-American community on Sunday, Jan. 13 from 2:00 to 5 p.m. The open house will feature a community-led roundtable, refreshments, local entertainment and tours of the facility.

Organizers say the event is part of the center’s ongoing effort to make sure programming better reflects the community.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. with entertainment by Turbo in the Earl and Rhoda Wynn Theater, Teli and Mabiniti on Kora and Balla in the gallery, and T.J. demonstrating Capoeira in the dance studio. Whole Foods will be providing refreshments, and tours of The ArtsCenter will also be offered. ArtSchool teachers will be on-hand to provide mini classes and demonstrations and staff members will be available to answer questions and hear feedback. At 4 p.m., participants will gather in the West End Theater to provide feedback and suggestions in a community-led roundtable. The event is free and open to all.

The American Red Cross will be holding several Blood Drives in the month of January at the following locations and times:

Wednesday, January 16 at UNC Hospitals from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call 966-8468.

Saturday, January 19 at Ebeneezer Baptist Church from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Call 990-8489

Sunday, January 20 at New Sharon United Methodist Church in Hillsborough from noon to  4:30 p.m. Call 732-5144

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Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, offers free tax service for low-to-middle-income clients without complex returns. Trained volunteers can provide free electronic filing regardless of age or county of residence. Appointments will be taken starting mid-January 2008 for service beginning in February. Hospital and home visits can be arranged for the homebound or disabled. For appointments or information, call 968-2070 in Carrboro, 245-2015 in Hillsborough or 542-4512 in Chatham County. Spanish-speaking clients may call 245-2010 in Orange County or 742-1448 in Chatham County.

Orange County will hold a public information meeting on January 28 to gather input regarding the county’s Comprehensive Plan Update before the first draft is compiled and presented to county advisory boards for review and comment.

The updated comprehensive plan will be an official public document that includes analysis of existing and predicted conditions and will serve to guide growth and development within the unincorporated areas of the county through the year 2030. The plan also will serve as the statutory basis for many of the county’s land-use regulations and for the application of zoning districts.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road. Additional public meetings will be held on a draft plan in March.

Craig Peter Yarnell, 49, passed away suddenly Sunday, January 6 at UNC Hospitals as a result of complications from the flu.

Craig is survived by his wife, Julie; a daughter, Caroline; three sons, Michael, Matthew, and Jonathan; his father, E. Peter Yarnell; and four brothers, Kenny, David, Danny, and Frank.  He is predeceased by his mother Lily Yarnell.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, January 12, at 4:00pm at the Chapel Hill Bible Church.

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William Geoffrey “Bud” Wysor, Jr., 81, died Thursday, January 3, after a long struggle with prostate and bone cancer, at his home in Chapel Hill.

He was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Ruth Puckett and W.G. Wysor, founder of Southern States Farm Supply Company.

He received his B.A. and M.D. from the University of Virginia, with post-graduate training at Yale University and the Medical College of Virginia. He married Ida Lee Lauck of Lexington, Virginia in 1953 and soon after entered private practice in South Boston, Virginia. They moved to Chapel Hill in 1957, where he served as Associate Professor of Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine until 1969. He then returned to private practice with Durham Internal Medicine Associates, retiring in 1990.

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