Non-native Paulownia can grow anywhere! Photo by Ken Moore.

I’m always impressed by those large round leafy stems that seem to have grown six to 12 feet overnight along roadside banks and ditches. This fast-growing plant is promoted by the nursery industry as a miracle tree, the fastest growing one in America. For the homeowner, this exotic (non-native) royal paulownia, royal empress or princess tree, Paulownia tomentosa, is an easy sell.

This tree is more noticeable in the urban landscape, where vigorous clumps thrive in sidewalk cracks, edges of building foundations, on rooftops and even on fire escapes. In spite of eradication efforts, several impressive clumps persist behind a popular West Franklin Street watering hole. One of the many survival characteristics of this tree is rapid recovery following drastic pruning.
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This year, the only thing anyone can watch from these bleachers is the grass grow. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Crews at what will be the town’s largest park have finished up or are closing in on completeing picnic areas, a dog park, a connection with the Fan Branch Greenway, play areas, a roller hockey rink, basketball courts, outdoor art, restrooms and parking.

Town officials are hoping some parts of the park can be open by late September but have already started to get the word out that it will be another year before teams can use the park’s playing fields.
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Kelly Batten was named principal of Carrboro High School last week.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education last week appointed Kelly Batten as principal of Carrboro High School.

Batten has served as assistant principal of Leesville Road High School in Wake County for the past six years. Before entering administration, he taught social studies at Sanderson High School, also in Wake County.

Batten holds master’s degrees in secondary education and school administration from UNC and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from UNC. He was also a North Carolina Teacher Fellow and Principal Fellow.

Asked, via email, what motivated him to want to come to Carrboro High, Batten responded:
“It is evident from the available resources I have examined that teachers at Carrboro High School approach instruction with a high degree of professionalism. In this supportive environment, students at Carrboro High have quickly established a foundation for academic success and extracurricular achievements. When these elements are matched with the essential positive intensity provided from parents who care about the education of their children, then who would not want to become part of Carrboro High School?”
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by Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to pursue objections to the expansion of Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant.

The county will seek an extension of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s comment period about the expansion and hold a public hearing, tentatively scheduled for Sept 2., to gather input from citizens about the proposal.
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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen last week voted unanimously to approve an ordinance that limits the fees charged for towing cars from private property.

The move comes amid a towing controversy at Abbey Court Apartments, where in July management began towing vehicles that were parked in the apartment complex’s lot without permits. Many residents, however, were denied parking permits because their cars were dented, needed paint or had a cracked windshield. Residents are also required to present documentation that they are a leaseholder or authorized occupant, as well as vehicle registration information.
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Out with the red and in with the gray. Photo by Valarie Schwartz.

Fifteen years ago, on the date that I write this (Aug. 4), I sat in a restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with my eight-year-old son, looking at a newspaper after having ordered our breakfast. This remains a memory because it was the first time I had to adjust the length of my arm in order to read the newspaper. It was one day before I turned 40.
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The local music scene looks after its own. So for our mutual friend Cy Rawls, recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and lacking insurance, money is being raised by Cat’s Cradle and Local 506 with a series of benefit shows. On Saturday, Aug. 16 at 9 p.m., Local 506 will host the WXY-Cy! Dance Party with current and former WXYC DJs spinning tunes. The show is free, so show up and send some good vibrations or some donated cash, or both! The next night, Sunday, Aug. 17, Cat’s Cradle hosts the “Cy Rawls Has a Posse” benefit show with bands Polvo, Cantwell Gomez & Jordan, Double Negative, Fin Fang Foom and Magic Babies. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15. And on Friday, Aug. 29, Cat’s Cradle hosts “Cy Rawls Has a Posse (Part II)” with Superchunk, The Rosebuds and Birds of Avalon at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. So help out and spread some good vibrations!

Thursday Aug 7
Blue Bayou Club: 8 Eyes. 8:30pm
The Cave: EARLY: Brandon Hernon & John Pardue; LATE Juanita & The Rabbit w/ Virgo 9. $5
General Store Café: Bernie Petteway Trio. 8pm
Local 506: Bowerbirds, Festival, Sharon Van Etten. 9pm, $8
Nightlight: Br’er, The Groves, Hermit Thrushes. 9:30pm
Weaver Street Market: Milagro Saints. 6pm

Friday Aug 8
Blue Bayou Club: Tinsley Ellis.
Blue Horn Lounge: Jule Brown Band. 10pm
Cat’s Cradle: Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Jeff Crawford.
The Cave: EARLY: Muddy Honcho; LATE: Bo-Stevens, Southpaw.
General Store Café: Crooked Smile. 8:30pm
Local 506: Lemming Malloy, The Travesties, Weatherkings. 10pm
Open Eye Café: Dollface. 8pm
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Changes in store for South Elliott Road.

Changes are coming to the South Elliott Road area in Chapel Hill, as new stores move to the area, others expand and plans are in the works to add over 58,000 square feet of office and retail space to the area.

Phydeaux will open in its new space in the Galleria on Friday. The locally owned pet supply store has been on Weaver Street in downtown Carrboro since 2002. It will move into the space that the Chapel Hill Senior Center used to occupy in the Galleria.
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Carl Frederick Curtis died Sunday, Aug. 3 in hospice care in Lillington, NC. He is survived by his girlfriend, Susan Russell of Bynum; his parents, Thomas and Mimi Curtis of Chapel Hill; his sisters, Liz Holm and Theresa Curtis of Chapel Hill and Susan Jane Curtis of Raleigh; his nephews and nieces, Brown Biggers of Greensboro and Carmen Biggers of Chapel Hill, J.T. and Jamey Sauls of Raleigh and Jennifer Curtis of Boston; his aunt and uncle, Geronimo and Cathryn Davis of Denver; his cousins, Mary Jane Davis of Sedona, Arizona and Daniel Davis of Denver; and many friends who will dearly miss him.
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Lee “Leebo” Meyer Jr., owner of Meyer Painting and Contracting, Inc. of Chapel Hill, died on July 31. He is survived by wife Terry, children Cassie, Carver and Christoper, parents Lee and Carol and siblings Tom, Steve, Julie Taylor, Joe, Carrie Little and Amy Lewis. Lee was an avid hunter and golfer who loved country music and never met a stranger. A funeral mass was held Tuesday at St. Thomas More Church.

Ruffin Mendenhall Hobbs, 56, well known metal sculpture artist, died unexpectedly at his McBane Mill home in Graham, NC on July 28, 2008.

Ruffin was born February 15, 1952 in Wayne County, Indiana, the son of Grimsley T. Hobbs and Lois Ann Hunkele Hobbs. He was a 1975 graduate of Guilford College. His works span the country; some of his most prominent works are the Princeton Tigers, 3500 pound stainless steel tiger sculptures that stand outside the entrance to Princeton University’s football stadium. For a more detailed bio of Ruffin, including a portfolio of his work, go to www.ruffinhobbs.com.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; mother, Lois Hobbs; brothers, Grimsley T. Hobbs, Jr., Jace Hobbs, and Richard Junius Mendehnall Hobbs; and sisters, Louise Hobbs and Elise Hobbs.
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The North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN) filed a legal challenge against plans by Progress Energy to construct two new nuclear reactors in Wake County Monday. According to an NC WARN press release, the challenge cites design and safety problems, says cost estimates are inaccurate and could lead to higher energy prices and that new reactors would release too much greenhouse gas.
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New shops and restaurants will be opening over the next few months at Eastgate Shopping Center in Chapel Hill. Massage Envy will offer professional massage therapy to its members and is scheduled to open in August, and Carmine’s, a new locally owned Italian restaurant, will open in September. Performance Bicycle and Starbucks plan to open their new stores in the 155,000-square-foot shopping center in late 2008.

University Career Services at UNC is hosting a Part-time Job Fair on campus the second day of classes, Aug. 20, and needs employers looking for one or more student positions.

The event will run from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Great Hall. A fee of $25 includes lunch for two, table space and parking. To participate, please contact Emily Strader, coordinator for Part-time Student Employment, at estrader@email.unc.edu or 843-0844.