Maria Rowan

Contrast Halloween on Franklin Street and Halloween in downtown Carrboro. On Franklin Street, cars are cleared from the street to make room for a 20,000-plus bacchanalia of drinking with adults in costumes like Two Men Walking a Breast. In downtown Carrboro, on the Town Commons next to the Town Hall, community volunteers organize a yearly Halloween Carnival of games and activities for children. Families walk from nearby neighborhoods and apartment complexes. A few nights earlier, Weaver Street Market hosts a Halloween Celebration with music, a costume contest, a storyteller and a puppet parade.
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Chris Fitzsimon

A highly anticipated report about the state’s mental health system by a new division of the General Assembly staff released last Wednesday morning paints a disturbing picture of a system plagued for the last two years by lack of oversight, poor planning and disorganized data that makes monitoring difficult.
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ELEMENTARY

Tuesday — Cheese Ravioli w/ Garlic Bread; Chicken Taco w/ Salsa, Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato; Seasoned Pinto beans; Mexicali Corn; Fresh Orange Wedges

Wednesday — Chicken Patty Sandwich; Beef & Macaroni w/ Wheat Roll; Seasoned Green Beans; Steamed Carrots; Chilled Fruit Cocktail

Thursday — Herb baked chicken w/ Wheat Roll; Ham & Cheese Melt on Whole Wheat; Mashed Potatoes; Turnip Greens; Mandarin Oranges

Friday — Cheese Pizza; Pepperoni Pizza; Turkey & Cheese Wrap; Garden Salad w/ Dressing; Traditional Mixed Vegetables; Pineapple Tidbits

MIDDLE & HIGH

Tuesday — Pork Egg Rolls; Mozzarella Cheese Sticks w/ Marinara Dipping Sauce; Brown Rice Pilaf; Asian Mixed Vegetables; Chilled Apricots

Wednesday — Steak & Cheese Hoagie; Chicken Salad w/ Wheat Crackers; Lettuce & Tomato Salad; Carrot & Celery Sticks; Steamed Broccoli; Fresh Banana

Thursday — Ham & Cheese Sub; Turkey. Dressing & Gravey w/ Wheat Roll; Lettuce & Tomato Salad; Sweet Potatoes & Apples; Seasoned Lima Beans; Chilled Pears

Friday — Whole Grain Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce & Garlic Bread; Hot Dog w/ Chili; Coleslaw; California Mixed Vegetables; Banana Pudding

CHS football trunk sale

The Carrboro High School football team will hold a trunk sale and silent auction extravaganza on Sept. 27 from 7 a.m. to noon in the school parking lot to raise money for the team.

Participants can rent a space to sell their stuff for $15 or two spaces for $25. The team will offer free advertising and help in setting up at the event. The team will also accept donations of items to sell and will pick up donated items.

The event will also feature concessions, music, games and a raffle.

For more information or to reserve a space, contact Amy Pinney at pinneytuna@aol.com

The Carrboro Recreation & Parks 2008 Fall Co-Recreational Softball League standings are, as of August 21, as follows.

1. Ghost Riders 8-0
2. Cliff’s Meat Market/ T-Roy’s Towing 7-1
3. Cozart-Seagroves 6-2
4. 300 E. Main St. 5-3
5. Bread & Butter 5-3
6. Pink Floyd 4-4
7. Armadillo Grill 2-6
8. Fearrington 2-6
9. Toof Haus 1-7
10. Sluggers of Catan 0-8

The results of the Aug. 21 games are: Cliff’s Meat Market/T-Roy’s Towing def. Armadillo Grill 16-7; Ghost Riders def. Sluggers of Catan 33-1; Cozart Seagroves def. Toof Haus 16-0; 300 E. Main St. def Bread & Butter 15-8; Pink Floyd def. Fearrington 10-5.

Chapel Hill High School beat Asheville High School Saturday with a 4-3 victory.
The decisive goal was in penalty strokes scored by junior Alexis Hebert of Chapel Hill. Faith Westdorp successfully defended the goal in all but one of Asheville’s attempts. Jessica Barfield also scored in strokes for the Tigers.

The Tigers and Cougars were tied 2-2 and remained scoreless through 2 sudden-death overtime periods. Hebert and Barbara Parks scored goals in regulation play.
Last fall, Chapel Hill High beat Asheville for the state championship title .
For the second year, the Tigers are coached by Diego Caballero.

The high school women’s golf Carolina Central Conference results are in. The first match was held at Chapel Ridge Golf Course in Pittsboro on Aug. 26. The tournament was hosted by Carrboro High.

Team Results:
1. CHHS 134
2. S. Lee 136
3. Northwood 139
4. East CH 151
5. Walter Williams 158
6. Carrboro HS 173

Individuals Results:
1. Michelle Ahn CHHS 35
2. Emily Brooks NHS 39
3. Karli Heimbecker SL 39
4. Alex Varner WW 40
5. Mackie Kennihan ECH 40

The next conference match will be at Alamance Country Club on Sept. 9 hosted by Burlington’s Walter Williams High School.

Timothy Billings

The beginning of the 2008-09 Carrboro High School men’s soccer season couldn’t have started off any better for first-year coach James Mundia, as his Jaguars won their home opener over Chatham Central High School by a score of 16-0, then prevailed in their first conference game, a 3-2 victory over Graham High.
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Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools will hold their annual college fair on Sept. 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Dean Smith Center on the UNC campus.

A number of college representatives will be available to answer questions about their schools. The event is targeted toward juniors and seniors, but all are welcome.

Carrboro High School will hold a football tailgate party on Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.

The Carrboro High Parent-Teacher-Student-Association will serve Jim’s Famous Barbecue in the grassy area between the school and the football field for $7 a plate. The football team will be introduced, and the band and cheerleaders will perform.

Participants should bring a chair for the tailgate and the game.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranks fifth among the nation’s best public universities for the eighth consecutive year, according to U.S. News & World Report magazine.
“Carolina is consistently recognized among the five best public universities in America,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp. “We find value in assessing the various measures that determine such rankings. In the case of U.S. News, we are most interested in results from areas including faculty resources and student success. Our focus is on retaining and attracting excellent faculty, who are the key to recruiting the very best students from North Carolina and beyond to Chapel Hill.”

The new rankings appear in the 2009 edition of the magazine’s “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook and were posted at www.usnews.com last Friday. The Sept. 1 edition of the magazine and the guidebook hit newsstands this next week.

public universities, Berkeley was first, followed by Virginia (second) UCLA (third), Michigan (fourth) and UNC (fifth). Overall, Carolina ranked 30th among public and private national universities. In that list, other top publics ranked between 21st (Berkeley) and 26th (Michigan). UNC tied with Tufts University at 28th last year. The same 25 privates and five publics have appeared in the magazine’s top 30 spots for the last five years.

The rankings, which are dominated by private universities, are based on a formula factoring in responses to opinion surveys about academic quality from peer campus presidents, provosts or admissions officials. Objective data covers areas such as student graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

—UNC News Services

This week, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen open a public hearing on 300 East Main Street, a major redevelopment project at the gateway to Carrboro. Follow these links to read more about the project:
• Main St. plan alters cultural landmarks
• East Main project heads for review
• Agenda for the August 26 public hearing

By Ken Moore

The downy rattlesnake plantain, Goodyera pubescens, another little native orchid, is not nearly as hard to spot in the local woods as is the cranefly orchid described last week. Keeping an eye out for the distinctive basal rosette of three or more white-veined, evergreen leaves helps you discover the three-to-six-inch-tall flowering spike of snow-white flowers at the end of mid-summer. You’ll find it in piney woods and hardwoods forest everywhere.
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by Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

CARRBORO — More than a week after Chapel Hill High School senior Atlas Fraley was found dead in his home, questions about the events surrounding the football player’s death remain.

Students, teachers, family members and friends bid a tearful farewell to Fraley on Saturday at a service at the Chapel Hill Bible Church. He was later buried at the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery.

Days after he was laid to rest, Fraley’s family members still need answers. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Orange County and the Fraley family have all launched investigations into his death.
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by Catherine Rierson
Staff Writer

CARRBORO — You’ve probably seen Ellen Perry around downtown Carrboro. She goes almost everywhere in her wheelchair; the flags attached waving just above her head make her easy to spot. She’s also hard to forget.

Perry has done a lot to improve the quality of life of town residents with disabilities. In recognition of that, on Aug. 7 the N.C. Council on Developmental Disabilities awarded Perry the Jack B. Hefner Award.
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