Beekeepers to the rescue — Scotty McLean and Kirk Right of McLean Builders load up a bee box full of honeybees from the Century Center. Photo by Kirk Ross.

Pardon the pun, but it didn’t take too long last Tuesday for the buzz downtown to get around.

Late Tuesday morning, calls and emails poured into The Citizen offices about a large number of bees swarming next to the Century Center, specifically in the Foster Holly (Ilex x attenuata) on the northeast corner of Main and Greensboro streets.

As thousands of honeybees swirled in and out of the bushes, onlookers did a bit of swarming as well.

“It was a pretty amazing sight,” said Brendan Moore, facilities administrator for the Century Center. He took in the spectacle and the rapid response of the local beekeeping community, but, he said, “I did it from afar.” More »

A quick report: Superchunk is on now (3 p.m.). Arcade Fire up next. The town didn’t shut down and you can actually get in and out of the Town Commons. Voting goes on. I suspect there may be a run on ice cream downtown after this thing lets out. Gonna be a long weekend.

Healthy Carolinians of Orange County and the Orange County Health Department have been awarded a $30,000 grant by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust of Winston-Salem.
According to Healthy Carolinians of Orange County coordinator Bobbie Jo Munson, the funds will be used to enhance the organization’s partnership and to carry out activities to address the leading health concerns in the county.
Healthy Carolinians of Orange County was founded in 1966 to serve all county residents by partnering with agencies and citizens throughout the county to advocate, guide and assist in developing strategies to promote healthy lifestyles.

Carrboro is one of seven North Carolina communities honored today in Raleigh as a “Fit Community” by the Fit Together initiative.
Fit Together is an obesity and excessive-weight prevention initiative of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The Fit Community program rewards communities that improve health for their residents by actively promoting physical activity, healthy eating and youth tobacco-use prevention.
Other winning towns are Cary, Edenton, Salisbury and Shelby and Mecklenburg and Pitt counties.
The Fit Together initiative cited Carrboro for its “compact development and a highly connected sidewalk and bicycle network, helping to put daily physical activity within reach of many local residents,” as well as for its Farmers’ Market and other health-minded local food establishments.