By Ken Moore They began flowering weeks ago and they are still making a show along roadsides and wherever folks allow them on their lawns and in their gardens. I give native daisy fleabane, Erigeron annuus, freedom to grow wherever it suits itself in my wild landscape. Masses of tiny white daisy flowers on multi-branching…
Month: June 2008
Recently: No beef with this beef
By Valarie Schwartz Even with 90 pages left to read, this column acknowledges the affect of Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma on yet another previously unconscious grocery shopper. That I started shopping in health food stores in the early 1980s and have supported farmers’ markets in money and words and have been a longtime Weaver…
Pedersen says surveys, complaints led to decision to replace Carrboro principal
by Susan Dickson Staff Writer Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen said on Wednesday his recent decision to replace Jeff Thomas as principal of Carrboro High School was based on unsolicited feedback from staff and parents, as well as the results of surveys that indicated both students and teachers were unhappy with their experiences…
County passes budget
by Susan Dickson Staff Writer The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a $183 million budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year, including a 4.8-cent property tax rate increase. The increase sets this year’s tax rate at 99.8 cents per $100 of property valuation, representing a 5 percent hike over the…
Butler hearing continued
by Kirk Ross Staff Writer At a public hearing Tuesday night at Town Hall, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen delved into the details of a proposed five-story condominium and commercial complex on Brewer Lane adjacent to the Libba Cotton Bike Path. “The Butler,†which is planned for the site now occupied by Butler’s Garage at…
Suspicious package investigated
The Durham County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad destroyed a suspicious package left in the middle of East Rosemary Street near Henderson Street Tuesday evening. According to the Chapel Hill Police Department, a witness saw a white male between the ages of 20 and 25 place a small package in the middle of the street and…
Rustic or regular?
Stop by the new Weaver Street Market on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and you could be witness to the first known store opening to include a baguette cutting in the history of Hillsborough. In celebration of the opening of the new market — the cooperative’s third — dignitaries, including Mayor Tom Stevens, will gather around…
Music Calendar: 06/26/08
Thursday, June 26 Cat’s Cradle: mewithoutYou, Maps & Atlases, Telescreen. 8pm Blue Horn Lounge: Blue Diablo’s Pete Waggonner. 9pm Local 506: Russian Circles, Daughters. 9:30pm The Cave: EARLY: Lauderdale. LATE: Brett Harris w/ Joanna Lynne. General Store Café: Bo Lankenau & Friends. 8:30pm Weaver Street Market: The Tim Smith Band. 6pm Blue Bayou Club: Lisa…
OWASA committee recommends reduced rate increase
The OWASA board’s Budget and Financial Planning Committee last week agreed to recommend a combined water and sewer rate increase of 17 percent, instead of the previously proposed 24 percent increase. In addition, the committee recommended that OWASA carefully monitor water and sewer revenues and defer some budgeted expenses until it is clear that demand…
Commissioners to hold sales tax hearing
by Susan Dickson Staff Writer The Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday set a public hearing regarding a possible referendum for a quarter-cent sales tax increase for Aug. 19. Voters defeated a 0.4 percent land transfer tax referendum by about 2 to 1 in May. In last year’s state budget, the Legislature gave counties…
Airport authority bill advances
by Kirk Ross Staff Writer The House Finance Committee is scheduled to take up legislation today (Thursday) that would allow the University of North Carolina and UNC Health Care to create an airport authority. Rules for the authority and its structure are contained within the university system’s capital projects bill, which passed the state Senate…
Yuhasz, Donnan win runoffs
Hillsborough lawyer and land surveyer Steve Yuhasz won a runoff for the Democratic primary for the new District 2 seat on the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Yuhasz beat Leo Allison, gathering 1,486 votes, or 55.7 percent, of the total to Allison’s 1,183 votes, or 44.3 percent. Yuhasz had also won the previous round in…
News Brief: Carrboro police seek suspect
The Carrboro Police Department seeks assistance in locating the wanted suspect Aaron Michael Fricke. He is a white male born June 2, 1987 and wanted for several counts of felonious breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering and possession of stolen property. He is 6’3†tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds. Call the Carrboro…
News Brief: Pet fee increase
Licensing fees for unsterilized dogs and cats will increase by $20 for residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, effective July 1. Fees will increase to $50 for Carrboro residents and to $35 for Chapel Hill residents. The increase is part of the Orange County Animal Services Department’s efforts to alleviate pet overpopulation in the county…
News Brief: New elementary site chosen
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education last week voted to build the district’s 11th elementary school in the Northside neighborhood in downtown Chapel Hill. The elementary school is scheduled to open at the site between Caldwell and McMasters streets in the fall of 2011.