By Ken Moore

Last summer, I described the elusive cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor (see Flora in the Aug. 2, 2007 issue of The Carrboro Citizen). I’m as excited about its once-a-year flowering recurrence now as last summer. If you didn’t catch them last year, I encourage you to search for them now while they’re in peak bloom. This beautiful little native terrestrial orchid is common in both piney woods and deciduous forests. You’ll need your keen eyes to spot them. The single two-to-four-inch leaf – green above, burgundy below – grows close to the ground from September through March. It captures the winter sunlight. Without that leaf showing, the 12-to-18-inch-tall stem of 20 to 40 tiny greenish-brown orchid flowers are even more difficult to spot. The discovery is definitely worth lying on the ground with a hand lens for a closer look.
More »

OCSC will show the claymation short film Prometheus’ Garden by animator Bruce Bickford and the documentary Luck of a Foghorn, a collection of interviews with Bickford, on Aug. 20 starting at 9:30 p.m.
More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Atlas Fraley, a star football player and a rising senior at Chapel Hill High School, died Tuesday in his home.

According to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials, the cause of death has not yet been determined, but several news reports have said his death was caused by an asthma attack.
More »

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Wednesday morning, while a light drizzle fell outside what’s to become the new leasing office for Main Street Partners, Laura Van Sant spent a few moments inside on her cell phone conducting a key first step for the new enterprise: getting the power turned on.

The office, located at 206 East Main St. in the building recently occupied by Archer Graphics, may be new, but the project now leasing has been rolling along for quite some time.
More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

All of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools met expected or high growth levels, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s ABCs growth results released last week.

ABCs growth measures how much students improve from one year to the next by looking at individual students’ test results.
More »

By Valarie Schwartz

It doesn’t seem possible that I’ve been putting it off this long, but every August since the Paperhand Puppet Intervention (PPI) started bringing weekend shows to the Forest Theater, it has been my intention to attend. Finally, in its ninth year, we made it over Sunday night for I am an Insect: A Fluttering Processionary of Infinitesimal Ideas.

What a delightful scene!

And the show was great too!
More »

Central Carolina Community College can now teach students the basics of solar panels.
After getting approval from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, the college now offers “Introduction to Photovoltaic System Design.”

The class runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays from Aug. 27 to Oct. 29 at the Chatham County Campus in Pittsboro. The class costs about $61 and the program can offer the NABCEP Entry Level Certificate of Knowledge exam. For more information or to register for the class, call 542-6495, ext. 223.

The North Carolina Botanical Garden will host a workshop Aug. 30 to teach children and families about Luna moths and their cousins, which emerge from their cocoons in the late-summer months. The workshop includes a fee of $15 per person or $25 per family with a discount for members. Space is limited.

K. Sridhar
By the tender age of five, K. Sridhar had already begun his training for a life in music – first under the guidance of his mother, a descendent of 14 generations of Carnatic (South Indian) musicians, and then under Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, a master of Dhrupad, the oldest form of Hindustani (North Indian) music. At age 12, Sridhar became the youngest member of Ravi Shankar’s orchestral group, absorbing a wealth of knowledge from the famous musical genius. All of this – along with the intense spiritual training he received from his Sufi master in the Himalayas – gives Sridhar’s music a truly unique flavor: deeply serene and profound.
More »

Apex will host the Jordan Lake Arts & Music Festival on Oct. 4 and 5. The festival includes live music on five stages, local art, fun for kids, food and representatives from environmental organizations interested in protected and restoring Jordan lake.

Headlining bands include the Steep Canyon Rangers, Bambú Station and the Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty band. Attendees are invited to bring their own instruments to jam and to camp out at Jordan Lake campgrounds. Gates open at 9 a.m. and the music starts at 10.
The festival is at 1226 Martha’s Chapel Rd. For more information or to buy tickets, see www.jordanlakeartsandmusic.org.

Thursday Aug 14
Blue Bayou Club: Steve Jack. 8:30pm
Blue Horn Lounge: Tain Collins. 9pm
The Cave: EARLY: Pete Waggoner; LATE: My Teenage Stride.
Local 506: Lucero, The Glossary. 9:30pm, $10
General Store Café: Marie Vanderbeck Trio. 8pm
Reservoir: Bout it Boys, Studio Gangsters
Weaver Street Market: Bearfoot. 6pm
More »

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro will host a workshop on Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. entitled “Organic Certification” to teach farmers how to get a farm certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program.

On Aug. 25, a workshop entitled “Developing Community Based Food Systems” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The workshop will look at the framework of local food systems, including conducting food assessments, developing new markets, policies that affect food systems and more.

For more information or to register, see www.cefs.ncsu.edu/calendar2008.htm.

by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall announced on Monday that the state will seek the death penalty against Demario James Atwater in the slaying of UNC Student Body President Eve Carson.
Atwater, 22, is one of two suspects charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Carson. The state cannot seek the death penalty against suspect Laurence Alvin Lovette because he is 17.

An Orange County jury has not sentenced anyone to death since 1973 and no one has been executed for crimes committed in Orange County since 1948.
More »

Orange County Parks and Recreation will host a free music festival on Sept. 27 in Cedar Grove from noon to 6 p.m. Performers include Diana Jones, Mike Jones & Young at Heart, The Cagle Family, Chuck and the Waggin Ears, the Apple Chill Cloggers and the new River Rock Skippers. The festival will be held at the Northern Human Services Center on 86 North and food will be available. For more information, see www.co.orange.nc.us/RecParks/music_festivals.asp or call 245-2660.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a second public hearing on the Draft Orange County Comprehensive Plan on Aug. 25.

The public is encouraged to attend the public hearing to provide new or additional comments directly to the board of commissioners and the Orange County Planning Board. The agenda for the hearing will be posted online at www.co.orange.nc.us on Aug. 16.
More »