Chris Fitzsimon

It is no secret that there are vast disparities between the races on a wide variety of health indicators. The latest Report Card on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities from the Office of Minority Health makes it clear that those disparities aren’t going away any time soon. More »

Anthony Fleg

The Urban Institute estimates that 137,000 Americans died as a result of not having health insurance between 2000 and 2006. Meanwhile, amidst explosions in technology in healthcare, there is an equally deafening silence when it comes to progress in reducing the steep inequities between rich and poor and across ethnic and geographic lines that exist for almost all health conditions. More »

James Carnahan

Thanks for opening up the public discourse about possible changes to zoning in Carrboro’s Northern Study Area (“Calvander at the Crossroads,” Jan 10). I would like to expand a bit with my personal interpretation of the proposals the NSA Plan Update Committee was in strong agreement with. More »

Rebekah Cowell

In our house, when you go to get a cup of coffee at the Open Eye, it is called “clubbing”! The term was coined by my toddler’s father. One day he brought Hannah with him; she was still an infant — alert and happy to look around, she took in the music jamming, the color of the characters milling around the counter in their effervescent uniqueness, and it made her chortle and coo with glee. Her father came home and told me she had loved “clubbing.” After that, the phrase stuck. Now when one of us takes her to get coffee, we ask her if she wants to go clubbing — she smiles, she’s a walking girl now, and she likes to do a few dance moves while we wait for our cup, especially if the rhythms are just right. More »

Thursday Jan 17

• Blue Horn Lounge: Tokyo Rosenthal. 10pm
• The Cave: Early: Chris Freeman. Late: Kings of Prussia w/ The Houstons.
• General Store Café: Tony Galiani Band. 8pm
• Local 506: Yeasayer, MGMT. 9pm. $10 More »

By Gaines Steer 

Hey everybody, if you haven’t ever done so, you had better Google yourself. And yes, I will tell you why…. The ole good news and the bad!

It’s like this. My college roommate, Bill (let’s just say it has been around 40 years), decided to Google yours truly. “With a name like that,” his wife said, “he might just be in there.…”. More »

Carrboro

• Photography by Joanna Welborn & Mark Pettit. are we friends? – Jan 3-30. Center Gallery, The ArtsCenter. 300-G E Main St. 929-2737., www.artscenterlive.org.
• Earth Drawings and Soft Sculpture by Jyoti Duwadi – Jan 3-30. East End Gallery, The ArtsCenter. 300-G E Main St. 929-2737., www.artscenterlive.org. More »

Special Events

• Join members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War and VVAW National Coordinator Barry Romo as he talks about the upcoming historic event — Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan. Fri, Jan 25, 6pm. Carrboro Century Center, 100 N Greensboro St. Free. Visit www.vvaw.org/events for more info. More »

The UNC School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry will host an educational seminar on bipolar disorder on March 8 at the Friday Center for Continuing Education.

For more information, visit
www.med.unc.edu/cme/events/
bipolar-disorders-conference or contact Jennifer Mayfield at 962-7399 or jennifer_mayfield@med.unc.edu.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, a program that offers free tax service for low-to-middle-income clients, will begin taking appointments mid-month for tax services beginning in February.

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.

In December, Orange County purchased 145 acres of land in the northeastern part of the county for a future county park.

The site is located near the rural crossroads community of Schley, five miles northeast of Hillsborough. The land was purchased for $1,455,300 from Hillsborough resident F.M. Kirby as part of the county’s Lands Legacy Program. More »

The OWASA Board of Directors will sponsor a public forum entitled “What is the state of our local water supply?” at the Chapel Hill Town Hall on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. All OWASA customers are invited to attend and participate in the forum, intended to provide information to and receive feedback from customers. More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

In its first meeting of 2008, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education will tonight (Thursday) examine the 2008-13 District Strategic Plan, which will help guide the school district through 2013. More »

Carrboro High School will hold a Mini College Night on January 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Participating colleges include High Point University, Western Carolina University, UNC-Charlotte, East Carolina University, Appalachian State University, North Carolina Central University, Salem College and others.

The event will be held in the Carrboro High Café Commons.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and offices will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. On Tuesday, district offices will reopen and schools will observe a teacher workday.