The 10th Annual Orange County Agricultural Summit will be held Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Orange Enterprises Building on Valley Forge Road in Hillsborough.

The summit will provide agricultural producers in Orange County and surrounding counties with strategies for preserving their farms during a time of agricultural transition. More »

Schools take a stand
In a year where election posturing is fueling an already overheated debate over immigration policy, most officials not in the running are inclined to fly low.

So credit the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education for having the guts to step into the debate over whether undocumented individuals are eligible to receive a community college education in the state of North Carolina.  More »

Chris Fitzsimon

The post-mortems on the Edwards campaign continue, with most political analysts attributing the failure of his candidacy to his embrace of what the pundits insist is class warfare, the focus on the country’s staggering and growing economic inequality.

A secondary analysis focuses on Edwards’ ambition. A prominent North Carolina columnist wishes Edwards had stayed in the Senate instead of beginning his first run for the presidency during his first term. More »

With apologies to Mr. Wolfe
Now that he’s not working the campaign trail, John Edwards and family are a lot more visible around town. He was close to courtside in the comfy seats at the Smith Center during last week’s Boston College game and he’s been making the rounds lately to thank the staff and hometown volunteers and supporters. More »

Martha Kathryn Smith, 90 died on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at UNC Hospital, Chapel Hill.  Mrs. Smith was a longtime resident of Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill, NC.

Kay was born March 24, 1917 in Hamilton, Ohio to Ida James and James Millspaugh.  She was the loving and caring wife of Edwin James Smith, who preceded her in death, December, 2005. More »

Tracy Teague Hackney, 71, of Carrboro died Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at his home.

Surviving are his wife Alice Lockamy Hackney, three children — Jessica Hackney Williams and husband Ricky, Camilla Hackney, Tracy T. Hackney, Jr. and wife Julie, grandchildren Bailey Hackney and Jacob Williams, and a sister Trillis Hackney Sparrow and husband Lindy. More »

Stephen Dear & Diann Rust-Tierney

Recently, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, crime victims’ advocates and both Republican and Democratic state legislators in New Jersey worked together to pass legislation to repeal that state’s death penalty. Gov. Jon Corzine signed the bill into law last month, making New Jersey the first state to legislatively repeal the death penalty since Iowa and West Virginia did so back in 1965. More »

Rebekah L. Cowell

I was thrilled to read Weaver Street took a stance against high-fructose corn syrup!
This January — new year, new resolutions, yadda, yadda — Weaver Street issued a newsletter stating that they would no longer carry any products that had HFCS in them — hip-hip-hooray for Weaver Street, right? More »

I’m a little surprised by the dust-up that has occurred because of Carrboro’s taco wagons.

They haven’t come from out of nowhere. These sorts of food stands have been around forever. I don’t know the specifics of Carrboro’s licensing laws, but I feel certain that these people are paying payroll and sales taxes and that they have had to buy some sorts of business permits. As a chef in Orange County (I’m just across your eastern border), I have every confidence that our health department is as strict on them as they are on everyone else. True, they don’t have hood fans and bathrooms, but they don’t need them. More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Schools across the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district are recognizing Black History Month with read-ins, discussions and more.

At all district schools, black community leaders, students, teachers and others read to classes as part of a nationwide read-in on Monday. More »

The UNC Department of physics and astronomy will hold the 8th Annual Physics Demo Show, Energy All Around Us! On March 1 at 2 p.m.

The show will address questions such as: Why do we need energy? Where can we find energy? How can we conserve energy? Physics professors and graduate students will perform fun physics demonstrations. More »

The Triangle United Way organized volunteers to redo flowerbeds at Seawell Elementary School and observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Volunteers included:

• Seawell Elementary representatives Jill, Colin, Graham, Benjamin and Truman Austin; David Wilson; Kathy and Elise Matera; Julie, Gabi and Mikayla Brenman; Deborah, Adina and Avital Hirsch; James, Haley and Emily Easthom; Shilpa and Vatsal Pearkh; Celeste Mayer; and Anita Hawks; More »

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation recently awarded grants to 12 local teachers for the renewal of their national certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

The teachers received substantive grants toward the $1,150 renewal fee. More than 200 teachers in the district have obtained the national certification. More »

Carrboro Elementary School will host an open house tonight (Thursday) for families of students who were redistricted to the school for next year. More »

The Drug and Alcohol Awareness Team and the Chapel Hill Police Department will sponsor a series of workshops on parent education awareness of teen alcohol and drug issues. More »