Triangle residents may not realize that fracking areas run through Wake, Durham, Chatham, Orange, and Lee counties, affecting the water supply of 2.4 million people.  This map shows watersheds and fracking areas (slide 2 at this link). North Carolina has the least separation between water and natural gas layers of rock, where fracking fluids could […]

Click here for the first half of Richard Taylor’s in-depth tribute to Doc Watson. Speakers told how Doc saw with his ears. Doc’s long time bass player and driver T. Michael Coleman emotionally remembered how Doc would practice his stage stories over and over as they drove to far away concerts. Coleman lovingly told the […]

Where are all the jobs? That’s a question everyone is asking these days, especially if you’re one of the jobless here in Orange County. Don’t give up hope! There may be light at the end of the tunnel.  The town of Chapel Hill has announced it is forming a partnership with UNC, Orange County and […]

For the last four years, the Town of Chapel Hill has had a unique agreement with Duke Energy that they not spray herbicides under most of our power lines within town limits, due to our concerns that such herbicides are toxic generally, that they seep into our groundwater, and because very tall pine trees that […]

When I learned of Doc Watson’s death May 29, I was saddened, but not surprised. News bulletins had earlier reported that Doc, 89, fell at his Deep Gap home a week earlier and was rushed to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where doctors also found an abdominal blockage. I’ve had the privilege of […]

For most dedicated Tar Heel fans, thoughts of the 1957 season are never very far from our minds. Easy to recall this week with the passing of handsome Pete Brennan, the small forward on the team and one of the “Four Catholics” recruited by Frank McGuire to join Lennie Rosenbluth and give UNC a truly […]

Will the third time be the charm? Can the Carrboro Board of Adjustment complete a twice-continued public hearing and make a decision Wednesday night on developer Will Stronach’s application to build a Family Dollar discount store on Alabama Avenue? This highly controversial proposal has enraged residents of this small, closely knit, predominately African American neighborhood […]

There has been a lot of talk in the days that have followed Chahnaz Kebaeir’s killing –some have said, “we can’t believe this happened here,” and some have said, “this can happen anywhere.” For me, though, both of those statements are inadequate.  Neither speak directly to the women in our neighborhoods for whom domestic violence […]

This past weekend, a long-serving and hugely popular co-worker at Weaver Street Market Co-operative died suddenly. This on a weekend we had already set aside to honor those in our armed forces who gave their lives to protect us. It got me thinking about the way I truly appreciate life. So. This morning, I consciously […]

Today I speak with you as an extremely disheartened FPG parent, but also as a concerned citizen. So much is in the news about budget cuts, teacher layoffs and barebones classrooms for our schools. Yet our experience to keep FPG a neighborhood school has been very different. As thoughtful board members Kelley, Streater and McElvenny […]