Young wild cherry leaves have subtle beauty. Photo by Ken Moore.

By Ken Moore

Last Saturday, I saw a roadside spectacle as beautiful as any deliberately designed garden landscape. Nature’s inter-planting of yellow sassafras and pink redbud resulted in what may be best described as “roadside impressionism.” Fortunately, the recent cold spells have extended the flowering of these early bloomers.

Now, amidst all this beauty, I noticed another of nature’s seasonal designs. Less welcome to most folks are the webbed nests of tent caterpillars that appear in wild cherries, Prunus serotina, and cultivated apples, cherries and plums. Some homeowners cause tree injury in the practice of burning the nests. If there is an urge to battle this particular cycle of nature, a twist with a cloth-tipped stick will harmlessly extract the nests.

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New homes, apartments may be required to have sprinklers, fire alarms

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Town building rules would have to be changed if Carrboro, the most densely packed municipality in North Carolina, wants to reduce the threat of property loss and injuries from fire.

That’s the conclusion in a report to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen delivered Tuesday night. In a meeting at Town Hall, Fire Chief Travis Crabtree outlined a number of ways the town can improve fire safety including new home and apartment construction requirements.

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Basketball fever is running high and fans are showing their pride.

Angelo Marrone shows his colors while taking pre-game pizza orders last Saturday at Italian Pizzaria Number 3 on West Franklin Street.

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Jeff Prather at the pond in his backyard of mostly native plants. Contributed photo.

By Valarie Schwartz

The rain Tuesday morning didn’t deter Jeff and Cheryl Prather. It had kept them inside on Monday, but they had a freshly painted bench to park and no doubt a list of other things to accomplish in their native woodland garden that will be one of 10 gardens featured on the Chapel Hill Spring Garden Tour 2008 being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 12, and noon to 4 p.m., April 13, in the communities of Meadowmont and The Oaks.

Both natives of North Carolina themselves, the Prathers settled in Chapel Hill in 1990 after 21 years of travel with Jeff’s career in the U.S. Air Force.

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By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday asked the Orange County Planning Board to return to them a recommendation regarding the proposed Buckhorn Village development no later than June 3.

The commissioners and planning board members heard public comment and fired questions at the developers about the proposed plan at a public hearing continued from Feb. 25.

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The Advocates for Children Committee of Healthy Carolinians of Orange County and the Hillsborough Exchange Club will hold a special event on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to raise awareness about shaken baby syndrome in recognition of child abuse prevention month.

In order to combat the problem, the Advocates for Children Committee of Healthy Carolinians of Orange County are waging a campaign called Real Men Rock. The goal of the campaign is to encourage fathers to be gentle with their babies.

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Special Events

Really Really Free Market — Sat, April 5th, 2:30-5:00pm, Carrboro Town Commons. First Saturday of every month. Contact vdaro@email.unc.edu or 428-1611.

First Sunday — Apr 6th, 12-4pm. A monthly celebration on historic Hillsboro Street in downtown Pittsboro. The Haw River String Band performs 1-3 pm. Vendors, local galleries and shops are open. Food and wine tasting, local plants and produce. Call 919-260-9725 or go to pittsboroshops.com. Outside events subject to weather.

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By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

With reservoirs still filling from recent rains and a more favorable forecast from climatologists in hand, Orange Water and Sewer Authority officials are cautiously reviewing the need for continued Stage Three water restrictions.

The restrictions, which went into effect this month, could be dialed back to Stage Two soon should OWASA planners and directors decide they’re comfortable enough with the current state of the reservoirs.

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The Chapel Hill Police Department have released information regarding this weekend’s basketball games and the celebrations following UNC victories:

Streets will close if UNC wins, with specific closures being based on the crowd size.

•Parking meters on the 100 block of East Franklin Street, all of Henderson Street and North Columbia Street will be bagged for “No Parking” at 3:30 p.m.

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Olver Inc., on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners, will hold two transfer station siting public-information sessions over the next two weeks.

Olver is the consulting firm hired by the county to establish criteria, conduct the search and advise the commissioners on the selection of a site.

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Orange County will hold several events next week in recognition of County Government Week.

On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation will unveil the Scots-Welsh Heritage Scenic Byway sign on South Cameron Street. The sign dedication will be held at 11:30 a.m.

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The Aveda Institute Chapel Hill will hold events this month to raise money to help protect the drinking water of six local counties.

The Aveda Institute hopes to raise $35,000 for its Earth Month Campaign partner, Triangle Land Conservancy. TLC and its Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative are working to identify and protect land critical to the long-term quality of drinking water supplies for more than 500,000 Triangle residents. In addition, Aveda will donate 20 percent of all service proceeds generated Tuesdays and Wednesday during the month of April to TLC.

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The two men accused of killing UNC Student Body President Eve Carson were indicted by an Orange County grand jury on Monday on charges of first-degree murder.

Demario James Atwater, 21, and Laurence Alvin Lovette, 17, are charged with killing 22-year-old Carson on May 5. Her body was found near the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and Hillcrest Circle in Chapel Hill.

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A fox found in Hillsborough tested positive for rabies last week at the State Laboratory of Public Health.

The fox was submitted because it bit a resident in the vicinity of Schley Road and Highway 57. Another resident was eventually able to get the fox to release its hold, but the fox then chased both residents to their vehicle, where they called Animal Control. An Animal Control officer then removed the fox.

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Sadie Frank’s bilingual radio show, “Sadie’s Samosas,” airs on WCOM Fridays from 4-5 p.m. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Carrboro Elementary School fifth-grader Sadie Frank doesn’t just have her own radio show — she hosts a radio show in both English and Spanish.

Sadie hosts a weekly radio show on WCOM 103.5 FM and translates everything in English to Spanish in order to get through to a wider audience.

The show, called “Sadie’s Samosas,” airs Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m.

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