Safety improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists at the intersection of Fordham Boulevard and Manning Drive and at the intersection of Old Mason Farm Road and Fordham Boulevard should be finished by August. Kumar Neppalli, engineering services manager for the Town of Chapel Hill, reported on the progress of the project to the Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday night. Crosswalks at both intersections will be equipped with pushbuttons, audible beepers, bicycle activated signal loops and a timer.

At the Manning Drive and Fordham Boulevard intersection, pedestrians will be able to cross Fordham Boulevard on the south side of the intersection and a crosswalk will be installed across Manning Drive on the residential side. A small 30-to-40-foot section of concrete sidewalk will be built at the corner to protect people waiting to cross Fordham Boulevard.

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Wei-Lee Kuo, 46, of Chapel Hill died Saturday, March 15, 2008 peacefully after a battle with ovarian cancer.

The former Taiwan native was a dedicated wife, mother, and friend to many. As a talented artist and an interior designer specializing in office space design, she worked for Alfred Williams & Company and Closet by Design. She loved to communicate with others.  She was the organizer of a Chapel Hill Lady’s club.

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Mr. Charlie A. Carden, Sr., 97, of Greentree Drive in Hillsborough, died Saturday, March 15, 2008 at Greensboro Commons in Greensboro after a brief illness.

Mr. Carden was born February 17, 1911, to the late George and Gertrude Carden.  He was a lifelong resident of Hillsborough and a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, where he received the Purple Heart.  More »

The Orange-Hillsborough Relay For Life is holding its Annual Multi-Group Flea Market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 5th at the Hillsborough Suntrust Bank at 260 South Churton Street in Hillsborough. Treasures are waiting to be discovered. Concessions and baked goods will also be available. For more information, contact Dawn Berry at dberry18@nc.rr.com or 730-6361.

The Carrboro Century Center will host the Sixth Annual Carrboro CD and Record Show on Sunday, April 6 from noon until 6 p.m. About 40 tables of new and used CDs, vinyl records and music memorabilia will be on display for sale and swap. Admission is free.

The Friends of the Library will hold a book sale from Thursday, March 27 to Saturday, March 29. Thousands of books in all categories will be available, but particularly in art, history, biography and fiction, along with classical music CDs. Pre-K through 12th-grade teachers with identification are entitled to a 50 percent discount. Proceeds will benefit the University Library Endowment. On Thursday only members of the Friends of the Library may buy. Friday is open to all, and Saturday is a Bag Day Sale, in which all books are $3 for a bag. More information at http://www.lib.unc.edu/spotlight/2008/BookSale.html.

The premiere screening of the documentary Change Comes Knocking: The Story of the N.C. Fund will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25 at Union Auditorium on the UNC campus. The showing will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers and professors. The documentary tells the story of the anti-poverty North Carolina Fund established in 1963 by Gov. Terry Sanford. Fund employees worked to empower poor NC blacks and whites against a background of national racial unrest. The film was made by Durham’s Video Dialog Inc. and sponsored by the Southern Documentary Fund.

Carrboro

El Sur Comes South — Pedro Lash with Los Artistas & local sonideros; Center Gallery. Kardelen (Snow Drop) — Works by Pelin Yazar Canez, Orhan Alpaslan, Asuman Dogan, Atanur Dogan and Nihal Kececi to celebrate International Women’s Month. The ArtsCenter. 300-G E Main St. 929-2787, artscenterlive.org

Kardelen: Turkish-American Artists Celebrate International Women’s Month — Paintings by Pelin Yazar Canez and Orhan Alpaslan. Showing through Mar 30. East End Gallery, The ArtsCenter.

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Special Events

UNC Friends of the Library Book Sale — Thousands of books of all genres are available. Thu, Mar 27, 5-8pm: preview sale for Friends of the Library Members; Fri, Mar 28, 9am to 8pm: Public sale; Sat, Mar 29, 9am to noon: $3 per bag of books. American Legion Building, 1714 Legion Rd, Chapel Hill. Proceeds benefit the University Library Endowment. Call 962-4207 or visit www.lib.unc.edu/spotlight/2008/BookSale.html for more info.

Bingo Night — Hosted by Team Eurosport, a relay for life team. April 11th at the Big Barn Convention Center at 377 JA Max Dr in Hillsborough. Doors will open at 6:00 pm; Games start at 6:30. 20 games and the cost for all games is $20. Food and drink available. All proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Please contact 640-6123 or 640-6220 for details.

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Mariah Norris, a junior at Carrboro High School, reads in her Carrboro home. Norris writes for the CHS student newspaper, The JagWire, and plans to enter the Youth Poetry Contest. Photo by Stephanie Kane.

In an initiative to promote art among youth, the Town of Carrboro is conducting its first Carrboro Youth Poetry Contest.

Three winners from the elementary, middle and high school levels will be announced on May 4 in conjunction with festivities for the 13th annual Carrboro Day. The awards ceremony will include public readings of the winning poems and the distribution of various other prizes.

Kim Andrews, a recreation supervisor with the Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department, is currently receiving the poem submissions.

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The Chatham County Affordable Housing Task Force will host a summit on Affordable Housing at the Western Chatham Senior Center in Pittsboro on April 11. The gathering starts at 9 a.m. and lasts until 4 p.m. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. The event is free and includes lunch.
The summit features speakers, a panel discussion with many area officials and a video screening. The event is meant to inspire, towards the goal of creating and maintaining affordable housing in Chatham County. The event is made possible by funding from Neighborworks America and an anonymouse donor. To register, visit http://www.chathamnc.org/housingsummit or call 542-0794 ext. 212.

Emerson Waldorf School will host a lecture and participatory workshop in Compassionate Communication (or Non-Violent Communication) on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29. The facilitator is John Cunningham, certified trainer and Waldorf teacher. Cunningham will give a lecture on Friday, March 28 from 7 to 9 pm, donations accepted. The lecture is required for those who wish to attend the participatory workshop that follows on Saturday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., where attendees will learn how to put the lecture ideas into practice. The workshop fee is a self-determined sliding scale from $40-$60. As the workshop is limited to 50 participants, people are urged to register early. Lunch is available Saturday onsite for a modest fee or participants may bring their own. All events will take place at Emerson Waldorf School, 6211 New Jericho Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516. To register, call Rachel Larsen at 539-7168 or email rachelblarsen@yahoo.com.

Bottle caps for peace made by the Chapel Hill High Peace Club.

As our community feels the painful consequences of violence, with an unidentified 16 year old and UNC senior Eve Carson both being shot within walking distance from UNC’s tree-lined, picturesque campus, it puts an added perspective on the five-year anniversary of the violence of the Iraq war. As much as we are hurting, this day reminds us of violent deaths numbering more than 100,000, each of which leaves a family, a community suffering and grieving.

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By Robert Dickson  

When Mary Beth, Kirk and I walked into last year’s Community Dinner, I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights. There were so many people I wanted to meet and talk with but in that big crowd I really didn’t know where to start.

Somewhat audaciously, I had added the line “The Carrboro Citizen” to my nametag. We were a couple of weeks away from getting the first issue on the street, so in addition to a few curious looks one lady even made the comment that I wasn’t the only one. No kidding.

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Welcome to Volume II

You hold in your hands issue number I of Volume II of The Carrboro Citizen. Whether it is the first time you’ve picked up a copy of the paper or this is the 53rd time you’ve delved into one long enough to reach the Opinion page, please know that we could not have made it a year without you, our readers.

It has been an arduous year in many ways — doing a lot of things for the first time is exhilarating but not all that efficient. And throughout our first four seasons, all of us involved have been buoyed by the encouragement and, in some case, the outright affection displayed toward our little newspaper.

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