By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Members of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen offered a courteous but thorough grilling of OWASA officials Tuesday night at Town Hall over the utility’s plan to raise service access fees this year. OWASA is planning a comprehensive rate restructuring including a jump in some accessibility fees by more than 40…
New senior center will expand weekend schedule
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer When it opens in less than three weeks, the new Robert and Pearl Seymour Senior Center will have more than just more space. The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved staff positions for the new Seymour Center for seniors in Chapel Hill, enabling the center to provide expanded evening…
Town faces Lot 5 cleanup
 Source: ECS Carolinas / Citizen Graphic by Michelle Langston By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer The Town of Chapel Hill has released the results of an environmental assessment on downtown Parking Lot 5, along with an initial estimated cost of cleanup for the site of $232,000. A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and Limited Soil…
Chilton asks legislators to oppose de-annexation bill
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton has sent a letter to Reps. Joe Hackney, Verla Insko and Sen. Ellie Kinnaird asking that they oppose a bill introduced by Rep. William Faison to undo an annexation of the Highlands neighborhood. Residents of the neighborhood, annexed along with several other neighborhoods in 2005, had…
Coyote Spotted
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer When Carrboro Animal Control officer Robert Nekoranec responded to a call about a “fox that looked confused” on Friday, he wasn’t expecting to find a coyote. “I got on it right away,” he said. Nekoranec arrived at a home on Woods Walk Court, near the intersection of Hillsborough Road and…
Board looks at possible tweaks for town’s revolving loan program
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer Be prepared. That’s the message James Harris, Carrboro’s economic director, said is the key to not only a successful new business, but a successful application to the town’s revolving loan program. In a report to the Board of Aldermen at their meeting Tuesday night, Harris said the 21-year record of…
News briefs: 4/11/07
CROP walk on Sunday The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service will sponsor the organization’s annual CROP (Community Reaching Out to People) Walk on April 15 to raise money to fight hunger locally and throughout the world. Registration for the four-mile walk begins at 1:30 p.m. and the walk will start at 2:30 p.m. at the…
Carraway to retire
School board to quickly start search for new superintendent By Kirk Ross Staff Writer HILLSBOROUGH–Orange County Schools Superintendent Shirley Carraway announced Monday that she will retire after four years on the job. Carraway, who was hired in 2003 after a lengthy and difficult search by the Orange County Schools Board of Education, made her plans…
School briefs: 4/11
First School proposed An addition to Seawell Elementary School that would house a proposed First School program could become the first of Carolina North. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education will look at plans for the addition during a work session at their Thursday meeting. The addition would provide space for 214 students, including a…
For the Record
Editor’s Note: Following is Senate Joint Resolution 1557—an apology for slavery passed by the North Carolina Senate on April 5, 2007 by a vote of 46-0. SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 1557 Second Edition Engrossed 4/5/07 April 5, 2007 A JOINT RESOLUTION expressing the PROFOUND REGRET of the North Carolina general assembly for the history of wrongs…
Exile on Jones Street
By Kirk Ross Going, going, gone Some years ago, after reading a compendium of the state’s properties and noting various idle buildings, lands and other holdings, I was among those in favor of the idea of a commission of sorts to move some of these goods–burdens, often–in an orderly and mutually beneficial manner to both…
Ode to an Old Friend
 From the 1963 Chapel Hill High School yearbook, the Hillife, Gouger’s sense of humor comes through in labels he applied to this photo of fellow “Banshees Three” singer, Davey McConnell, left, and himself, at right. (Photo by Jock Lauterer, CHHS Ô63). By Jock Lauterer When my childhood chum Johnny Gouger laughed, it was no…
Behind all the Smoke
By Chris Fitzsimon The fierce behind-the-scenes battle continues over legislation to protect people from deadly second-hand smoke at workplaces, restaurants and bars. Despite his best efforts, House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman has been unable to convince a majority of House members to support his comprehensive plan to protect the public health. The opposition has coalesced…
Another regular, irregular Carolina Piedmont spring
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). Photo by Ken Moore By Ken Moore It’s spring again in the Carolina Piedmont. That means another round of predictably unpredictable weather that sets serious and not-so-serious gardeners into an annual frenzy. Over the years I’ve come to anticipate that when the exotic Star magnolias and the Bradford pears come into flower…
Letters to the editor: April 11
Article fell short The Town has annexed the streets in the Highlands per the same procedure that municipalities use all over North Carolina, which is a phased transition from NCDOT to Town maintenance. The Town is also moving ahead full speed with the design of the station and construction will begin as soon as is…