by Jordan Timpy
Staff Writer

The Dean Dome was rocking Saturday – for Tigers and Wildcats rather than Tar Heels – as Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high held graduation ceremonies.

Nearly 400 anxious-looking CHHS students dressed in caps and gowns lined the corridors of the Smith Center before their afternoon ceremony began. Sporadic applause and shouting from the seating area was audible even before any of the students entered, as the faces and names of graduates were displayed on the big screens around the court.
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Enjoy a close up look at the flowers of water shield and don’t forget to feel the underside of one of those elliptical leaves. Photo by Ken Moore.

Last week, I rushed to the Botanical Garden for a quick photograph of those Carolina Blue spiderworts. Walking quickly out, I made the mistake of glancing over the surface of those water lily tanks behind the Totten Center. The other aquatic plants usually go unnoticed, but this time my eye was captured by a very small, ruby-red flower reaching an inch or two above the surface. What a beautiful little flower!
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Ulugbek Kasimov at his Carrboro-based Chapel Hill Taxi. Photo by Jordan Timpy.

The Chapel Hill Taxi cabs parked neatly in rows in the parking lot on Lloyd Street in Carrboro began running a little over four months ago. But the phrase Ulugbek Kasimov, or Bek, has decided to print on them, “A Ride With Us Brings The Future To Others,” reflects an idea that has been brewing for much longer than that.

“There are a lot of taxi cabs out there, but we wanted to be just a little bit different,” Kasimov said. “In a good way,” he added quickly with a smile.
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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has announced that Carrboro High School Principal Jeff Thomas has been reassigned to the district’s central office and that Rodney Trice, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, will serve as interim principal.

District officials wrote in an email to The Citizen that Thomas had one year remaining on his contract and that he “is not filling a specific position and his responsibilities are yet to be determined.”
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by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

After a review of progress in long-range planning for northern Carrboro, the town Board of Aldermen placed a strong emphasis on seeing commercial development in the region.

During a discussion at Town Hall Tuesday night of five sites identified as having commercial potential, Alderman Joal Hall Broun said she was disinclined to vote for any more residential development — except affordable housing — until the town’s ratio of commercial to residential development improves.
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Dam near full — Summer fishing season is in full swing at University Lake. Cane Creek, still down a bit, is open again as well, but only on Saturdays. Photo by Valarie Schwartz.

University Lake is nearly full and though Cane Creek Reservoir is refilling, it is still not as full as it was at this time last year (on June 17, 2007 it was 92.7 percent full compared to 79.8 percent full Tuesday morning).

We don’t know yet if the drought is really over, but we’ve experienced an interruption and can breathe easier about our water supply.
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Thursday June 19

Blue Bayou Club: Andy Coats. 9pm
The Cave: EARLY: Brandon & Rob. LATE: Who Are We featuring M.P.
General Store Café: Tony Galiani Band. 8:30pm
Local 506: Centro-matic, The M’s. 9:30pm
Reservoir: Worn in Red, Hazerai, Dr. Powerful. 10pm
Weaver Street Market: After Hours. 6pm
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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Orange County Board of Commissioners made a preliminary decision on Tuesday to reduce the proposed ad valorem tax rate increase by 4 cents, to 99.8 cents per $100 of property valuation.

County Manager Laura Blackmon had initially recommended an 8.8-cent increase on the tax rate. The increase would have raised the ad valorem tax rate to $1.038 per $100 of property valuation, representing a 9- percent increase over the current 95-cent rate. The new proposal would increase the tax rate about 5 percent, with just over $5 million in cuts from the $188.3 million initially proposed budget.
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by Catherine Rierson
Staff Writer

After a week of getting heat from an overwhelming number of disgruntled citizens, the Chapel Hill Town Council rescinded the controversial vote that would have allowed ex-council members to receive health care with taxpayers’ dollars.

Mayor Kevin Foy opened last night’s council meeting by stating that the council would review the 8-1 vote cast last week.
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A Democratic primary run-off election will be held on Tuesday, June 24 for Commissioner of Labor and District 2 County Commissioner.

Mary Fant Donnan and John C. Brooks will vie for Commissioner of Labor and Steve Yuhasz and Leo L. Allision will face each other for county commissioner. Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters who did not vote Republican in the May primary may vote.
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University and town officials announced a deal Friday by the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation to purchase Granville Towers and University Square in a deal valued at $45.75 million.

At an announcement at Chapel Hill Town Hall, UNC Board of Trustees Chairman Roger Perry said the university has no immediate plans to alter the site, but that a future development would respect the commercial frontage on Franklin Street. Perry said the property would remain on the tax rolls under the deal with the foundation.
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At its last meeting, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners adopted a new budget that reduces the tax increase by 35 percent, with the approved tax rate for 2008-2009 being 65.3 cents per $100 of property appraisal.

Most actions taken by the commissioners were to reduce the budget, like the decreased funding for a new Community Development Department by $186,207. The new department would coordinate planning, central permitting (including building inspections and fire marshal), sedimentation and erosion control and environmental resources; it would also manage new tasks related to transportation, affordable housing and green building initiatives.
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We have a few simple and relatively inexpensive items to add to this year’s public works budget: Large signs downtown encouraging those piloting automobiles not to talk on the phone while driving.

Perhaps it is because so many Citizen staffers get around on foot or by bike that we’ve heard a number of first-hand reports of motorists whooshing by crosswalks or sweeping around corners with one hand on the wheel, the other cradling a phone and their minds about as far from what they’re doing as the cell towers south of town. In one such incident, a young, talkative person in a large utility vehicle narrowly missed one of our staffers and the Carrboro chief of police (in full uniform) in the middle of the crosswalk at the Century Center.
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The Chapel Hill Town Council made a wise choice on Monday by rescinding its vote the previous week to make themselves and other council members eligible for lifetime insurance benefits after serving eight years. Though council work is indeed demanding, town employees have to report for duty full time for 20 years to get the same benefit. Given this year’s budget and the acknowledgement that health care costs for the town are on the rise (again), the council’s move last week looked pretty tone deaf.
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You may have noticed that warmer weather has settled in. We have scientific proof of that thanks to a friend of ours — a local deli owner — who with the aid of a highly accurate, instant-read thermometer recorded temperatures on downtown sidewalks last week of well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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