An ant exploring a female holly flower. Note the immature berry at the flower center. Photo by Ken Moore.

Holly flowers are really neat. Though not big and showy like dogwoods and magnolias, once you have looked closely at a cluster of holly flowers you may get hooked on looking forward to them each spring. And you’ll feel really special when you can determine for your neighbors and friends whether or not a particular holly will have berries in the fall.

Knowing that holly trees are either male or female, you can describe that a winter berry display on a female tree depends upon the presence of a male holly within flying distance for insects to carry pollen from the male to the female tree.
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Lorie Clark was an enthusiastic supporter of Moses Carey who lost to Ellie Kinnaird in the state Senate race. She and Obama poll worker Julia Tarr camped out all day Tuesday at the OWASA precinct. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Going into Tuesday, higher registration numbers were already indicating a heavy turnout for Election Day, when Orange County voters would cast their ballots for everything from a tax referendum to the next president. The early vote total swelled as well, nearly reaching 18,000 votes by the close of business on Saturday, meaning that 18 percent of those registered voted prior to Election Day, a total close to the average total turnout in a typical primary year. By the time Tuesday’s votes were added in, more than 46,190 had voted in the county, putting turnout at an estimated 48 percent.
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OWASA precinct chair Susan Siegel said many in the precinct took advantage of the early voting opportunities, keeping lines flowing on Election Day. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Like elsewhere in the state, voters in Orange County overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 0.4 percent land transfer tax.

The ballot referendum was defeated by a margin of 28,053 to 14,288, or 66 percent to 34 percent.

Real estate and homebuilder groups spent more than $205,000 through the end of April toward defeating the measure. A pro-transfer tax group spent only about $2,000 in advocating for the effort. And though the county allocated $100,000 for an education campaign, many observers expect the actual money spent to be lower than that, given the short amount of time between the decision to add the tax to the ballot and the election.
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Maria Hitt, right, a Stream Watch volunteer from Chapel Hill, educates Pittsboro Elementary School fourth graders Jessica Delgado and Samaria Chance at last year’s Haw River festival in Bynum. Photo by Isaac Sandlin.

Now that spring is finally in full bloom, it’s time to head on down to the banks of the Haw River in Bynum, where this Saturday, the Haw River Assembly will host the 19th annual Haw River Festival.

Cynthia Crossen, the Haw River Assembly’s River Watch coordinator, said she hopes the festival, a fundraiser for the Haw River Assembly, will bring folks from all over the watershed area.
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It’s budget time for local governments and indications are that no matter where you live in Orange County, your tax bill is likely to rise.

Carrboro Town Manager Steve Stewart presents his annual budget on Tuesday. Though it is uncertain how much of an increase he’s built in, the town is faced with the same challenges as many others, including rising health care increases and the cost of staffing new facilities.
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There have been recent reports of Carrboro pedestrians walking around in the vicinity of South Greensboro and Main streets covetously carrying brown paper bags. There have been no reports of people drinking from the bags, but some may have been “huffing” from them.

Further investigation revealed more of the same.
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Carrboro police apprehended four suspects shortly after Chapel Hill police responded to a report of an armed robbery. The victims reported that they returned home to discover three intruders, and two of the victims struggled with the suspects. During the struggle, a suspect’s handgun fired, shooting one of the suspects in the leg, and the suspects fled the scene.
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Mr. Maynor is survived by his wife of 45 years, Patricia “Pat” Maynor; daughter Vicki Maynor Isley; son-in-law Duncan Isley; grandson, Angus Isley of Durham; sister Clydia “Holly” Holland; and two brothers, Ross Maynor of Lynchburg, Va. And Harold Maynor of Todd, NC.
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The Eno Economic Development District is in the general area of Highway 70 and I-85 near the Durham County line. The session will be held as an open house and those interested can drop by anytime between 4 and 7 p.m.
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