Following is the final story in our Breakdown series on mental health care in North Carolina.

by Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

Buried in the deluge of news about our state’s collapsing mental health care system are reports of at least two encouraging developments in Orange County, each the sort of community-based response that local advocates say is the only way out of the crisis.

The first is at Carrboro’s Carr Mill Mall, where the UNC Department of Psychiatry has opened a community mental health clinic to house its Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP) Clinic and the clinic’s Outreach and Support Intervention Services (OASIS) program. OASIS provides help to adolescents and young adults who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, early psychosis.

The second comes from the Town of Chapel Hill, where Mayor Kevin Foy has convened a Mental Health Task Force, comprised of advocates from the community, local government and UNC. More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

It has certainly been a year of transition in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, with the opening of new schools and facilities and the appointment of new administrators. But while many would like to look back on 2008 and remember the new successes of the sports teams and the first Carrboro High School prom, at the forefront of the memories of many members of the school community are the untimely deaths of three Chapel Hill High School students. More »

The Orange County American Red Cross will hold a number of blood drives over the next weeks.
Locations include: Berry’s Grove Baptist Church, 9828 Berry Road, Timberlake, Jan. 4 from 1 to 5 p.m.; Piedmont Electric, 2500 N.C. 86, Hillsborough, Jan. 8 from noon to 5 p.m.; University Mall, 201 S. Estes Drive, Chapel Hill, Jan. 9 from 2:30 to 7 p.m.; UNC Hospitals, Manning Drive behind the hospital, Jan. 14 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; and New Sharon United Methodist Church, 1601 New Sharon Church Road, Hillsborough, Jan. 18 from noon to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, call 942-4862.

The Homestead Aquatic Center will open on Saturday. Area swimmers are invited to enjoy the new facility, run by the Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department.
The center is located in the northwest corner of the 40-acre Homestead Park at 300 Northern Park Drive off Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. The center has two pools, locker rooms, bleachers, a reception area, offices and public art.
For more information on swimming schedules, classes and admission fees at the Homestead Aquatic Center, call 968-2784, or check online at www.chapelhillparks.org

Special Events

Phil Blank Exhibit — Dec. 12-Jan. 6, 7pm. Wootini.

Pittsboro First Sundays — 12-4pm. Food, arts and crafts and music on Hillsboro St. 260-9725, pittsboroshops.com

CCCC Registration — Jan. 6, 9am-7pm. Central Carolina Community College will hold open registration for spring semester classes at its campuses in Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties. cccc.edu
More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

While the holiday season is, for many, a time to come together with friends and family to celebrate, it also brings an increased risk of home break-ins and residential fires.

Both the Carrboro Fire-Rescue and Police departments have reported a fairly quiet season thus far; and to keep it that way, officials recommend that residents take a number of precautions.

As the weather gets colder, Carrboro Fire-Rescue Chief Travis Crabtree urges those using electric or kerosene heaters to be especially careful.

“All electric heaters out there … require a three-foot clearance all the way around them. That’s very difficult to get in most homes,” he said. “Make sure that you keep that distance at all times. If not, you shouldn’t use it.”

Kerosene heaters also carry a high risk, Crabtree said, because they create a carbon monoxide build-up. To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, open a window near the heater about one or two inches.
“I’d rather be cold than have the alternative,” he said.

Holiday lights can also be dangerous when used improperly, Crabtree said. In order to prevent overloading the wiring or the circuit, no more than three sets of lights should be plugged into one another.

In addition, the fire department expects a number of kitchen-related calls over the next several days, as residents begin cooking large holiday meals and cooks use unfamiliar kitchens and stoves.
“Make sure to stay in the kitchen and keep the food attended at all times,” Crabtree said.

To protect homes from break-ins over the holidays, Paul Atherton, community-services officer with the Carrboro Police, recommends residents take a number of precautions, especially if they are traveling.
Residents who are leaving their homes over the holidays should ask a trusted neighbor to look in on their houses for them and bring in any packages or mail. In addition, residents should put their lights on a timer, so it looks like people are home.

“You don’t want to give the impression that it’s an empty house,” Atherton said.

Atherton also stressed that it’s not a good idea to have a big pile of presents visible through windows.
“It’s an advertisement to those who may be there for less than honest reasons,” he said.

For more holiday fire-safety tips, visit the Carrboro Fire-Rescue Department website, www.carrborofire.org

Photo by Kirk Ross. Paul Klever, of Charles House, and Dr. Donna Prather look on as Ann Prather cuts the cake at her 100th birday party.

Ann Prather spent last Thursday, Dec. 18, much in the way she’s spent most of her days since moving here several years ago.

She spent part of her morning taking a walk and visiting with her neighbors at Carolina House. She stayed inside.

“The wind was blowing and I didn’t feel like going out,” she said. She likes to visit with her fellow residents, she said. “It’s something I do a lot. I like to see how they’re doing.”
More »

Claire Butcher died on December 10, 2008, at North Carolina Memorial Hospital.

She was born on November 7, 1930, to Paul and Estella Tenney. On August 26, 1950, she married James H. Butcher. They had two children – J. Jeffrey Butcher and Elaine Butcher Moorefield. She is survived by her husband, Jim, by her son Jeff and his wife Jan of Stephens City, VA, and her daughter Elaine and her husband Allen of Auburn, IN. She is also survived by 5 grandchildren – Aaron Moorefield of Maplewood, NJ, Rebekah Moorefield of Fort Wayne, IN, Ben Butcher of Reston, VA, Seth Moorefield of Auburn, IN and Laura Butcher of Stephens City, VA.
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Mary Alice Renfro Beall, age 62, of Chapel Hill, NC, died on Friday, December 12, 2008, following a brave battle with leukemia.
More »

Mrs. Ruth Hodges Sluder, formerly of Chapel Hill, died Monday, December 15, at Guardian Care of Elizabeth City, after a period of declining health.
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Thomas Calvin McBroom, 85, 1221 Schley Rd., Hurdle Mills, died peacefully in his some surrounded by his loving family Friday, December 19, 2008. He was born in Orange County and attended Hillsboro schools.
More »

Joan Patricia Phillips-Trimmer died suddenly Dec. 7, 2008 at her residence in Chapel Hill.

Joan graduated from Wallace O’Neal High School of Pinehurst. She attended Dickinson College two years and graduated from William and Mary College. She received a Masters Degree in Health Education from the Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served as Health Educator at West Point Academy and subsequently with the US Coast Guard in New York City and Cape May, NJ. She subsequently returned to Chapel Hill, NC and worked in the Health Department of Chatham County. She was working on an advanced degree in Social Work when she died.
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Chapel Hill Police apprehended Carlton Anthony Halliday over the weekend after he was positively identified as the suspect in an armed robbery at Colonial Village at Highland Hills Apartments.
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Chapel Hill Police have charged three suspects in connection with an armed robbery in the 300 block of West Rosemary Street on Dec. 18.
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The Chapel Hill Police Narcotics Unit, with the assistance of the department’s Special Emergency Response Team, seized 11.5 pounds of marijuana and 10.5 ounces of hashish from the residence of Ivan Flemming Moore on Friday.
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