by Alexandra Mansbach

Carrboro Commons Writer

Josie Steele carefully glued cotton balls onto her cut-out sheet of paper, smiling proudly as she finished creating her own Russell from the children’s book “Russell the Sheep.”

Patti (left) and Josie Steele pose with Josie’s artwork after Story Time at the Carrboro Branch Library. They often attend Story Time on Saturday mornings at the library located at McDougle Middle School.
Photo by Alexandra Mansbach

Steele is one of the many children who enjoy making crafts after Story Time on Saturday mornings at the Carrboro Branch Library.

Story Time is just one of the programs the library offers to the town and surrounding area — programs, some say, that could reach more people if Carrboro had its own freestanding library.

“We could do so much more with different age groups and seniors,” said Nerys Levy, Chairperson of the Carrboro Library Art Committee and member of Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library, a group that has spent 19 years pushing for a freestanding library in Carrboro.

“We have constantly been asking for a library,” Levy said. “And it’s constantly being eluded.”

In 1995, the Carrboro Branch Library opened at McDougle Middle School. The library is shared with both the elementary school and middle school on the property. This means that patron hours do not begin until 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday.

In addition, the library is closed Friday, open Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and open Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“The hours are basically confusing,” Levy said, adding that many people do not come to the library because of its irregular schedule. “This huge investment is locked up a lot of the time.”

Read more

by Shera Everette
Carrboro Commons Writer

The increasing prices at the pump are hitting poorer local residents harder in their pockets. According to Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, the financial burden is making organizations like his program more crucial, especially in the winter.

Benjamin Lawson of Carrboro fuels his car at Exxon on Main Street in Carrboro. Lawson said the increasing gas prices may affect his family’s abilities to pay the monthly bills.
Shera Everette photo

“Fuel increases have caused other basic essentials to go up in price, such as food, transportation, and so on,” said Chris Moran,. “What’s evident is our basic costs have gone up recently, but our wages have not. There’s been an increase in expenses, but not in paychecks.”

The struggling economy has increased the public’s call for services from the Inter-Faith Council, located at 110 W. Main St. The Inter-Faith Council’s food pantry also provides bags of groceries and monetary assistance to the people in the program. Moran said the food pantry currently serves 1,068 households, which is up from previous months. In the past few months, Moran said the pantry has seen a 40 percent increase in food distribution, a 21 percent increase in the requests for monetary assistance and a 56 percent increase in interviews – people who desire to become part of the program because they need financial assistance.

According to its Web site, the faith-based organization gives assistance to families in the form of shelter for men at the Community House in Chapel Hill, shelter for homeless women and children at HomeStart in Chapel Hill, and food at the Community Kitchen.

“I think it’s a serious challenge,” Moran said. “I wonder how many people really care about those who are poor. We don’t want those people to become homeless. There needs to be more outpouring [of] assistance to help people get over the hump.”

Kevin, a Carrboro resident who did not want to give his last name because of embarrassment about his financial hardships, said he could not get into the Community House because he has a family, but his family eats at the Community Kitchen nearly every day.

Read more

En Español

by Allison McNeill
Carrboro Commons Writer

A local organization led by UNC-CH students hopes to assist Carrboro and Chapel Hill Spanish-speaking men but has faced obstacles while trying to achieve its mission.

UNC-CH student J.D. Brannock, center, who has been tutoring with BOLD for a year, tutors Enrique Cadena, left, and Jose Aryza, right, at a BOLD class last week at Carrboro Elementary School.
Eve Greene photo

Co-President Derek Paylor has hope for BOLD, Building Opportunities through Language Development, and if others believe in his “when you find a good thing, you don’t want to keep it to yourself” outlook, BOLD will have no problem reaching its goals.

BOLD began in 2005. It followed in the footsteps of MANO, Mujeres Avanzando hacia Nuevas Oportunidades (Women Working Towards New Opportunities), which is a female-only Spanish-speaking tutoring program.

BOLD holds classes Monday and Wednesday nights from 7 to 8:30 at Carrboro Elementary School. “Because MANO is already established at the school, it made it easier for BOLD to hold its classes there, too,” said Paylor.

The school’s location also makes it more convenient for students. The elementary school is easily accessible by bus. Because both of the organizations’ classes are held at the same place and time, it makes it possible for couples and families to attend classes.

Read more

by Eve Greene
Carrboro Commons Photo Editor

Georg Gordon’s personal goal is to photograph every home basketball game this season at Carrboro High School. This may not seem like a remarkably ambitious goal — except that Gordon is legally blind.

Legally blind photographer Georg Gordon stands ready with his camera during a triple-header on Jan. 25 at Carrboro High School. Walking the baseline, the experienced photographer is keeping his goal of shooting every home basketball game for the Jaguars. You can see his work weekly in the Carrboro Citizen.
Photo by Eve Greene

After multiple surgeries to correct developing macular holes, cataracts and the loss of pigment in his retinas, Gordon’s impairment forced him to retire from his career as writer, photographer and editor. Fortunately for the town of Carrboro, even the loss of his sight couldn’t stop him from doing what he loves.

“Digital [photography] has saved my life,” said Gordon. He knows the range of his camera and with help from the bold lines running the length of the court, he knows where to expect action.

Kirk Ross, editor of the Carrboro Citizen, where Gordon works, said “the joy of auto-focus” has kept Gordon in the field. “He really gets some great shots,” said Ross.

In August of last year, Gordon moved to Carrboro, just down the street from Carrboro High School. Needing something to fill his free time, he began to attend the home basketball games and take pictures. That’s when the Carrboro Citizen entered the picture.

Ross said Gordon just wanted to help, and offered his services to the Carrboro Citizen for free. When Gordon sent him some pictures in an e-mail, Ross wrote, “I was really happy to see someone interested in regularly documenting the teams’ first seasons.”

Journalism isn’t about the money, Gordon explained. “When I have a kid come up to me, just totally overjoyed that his picture is in the paper, I mean that just warms my heart.”

Gordon has had to adapt as his eyesight continues to slip away. Using a magnifying glass, he can still edit pictures from his computer. Although he can take simple notes of jersey numbers, he often uses a tape recorder to keep more detailed records. Gordon is able to walk to and from the school for games but parents and even Ross often willingly offer rides when they see him along the road.

Read more

By Morgan Siem
Carrboro Commons Writer

Student government members of Chapel Hill High and Carrboro High experienced firsthand Jan. 17 how a real government body works. But they were not enthused. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board voted unanimously to remove participation in student government from the list of credit courses.

Members of Carrboro High’s student government fought freezing rain to meet at school early in the morning on their day off. They came to discuss the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board’s decision on Jan. 17 to remove student government from the list of credit courses. From left to right: MacKenzie Price, vice president, 17; Daniel Matchar, co-president, 16; Kristina Witcher, treasurer,16; Molly Superfine, co-president, 16; and Molly Acuff, secretary, 17.
Photo by Morgan Siem

“Student government is going to die,” Molly Acuff, 17-year-old secretary of Carrboro High’s student government, muttered under her breath in a later discussion about the outcome of the board meeting.

BJ Berent, student government advisor for Carrboro High, explained that student government “has always been a course for elective credit.” Before transferring to Carrboro, Berent spent three years as student government advisor at Chapel Hill High, where student government was treated as a course.

Jeff Thomas, principal of Carrboro High, said the issue went before the board because, “Any course for which a student receives course credit must be an approved course; and it was not.”

Board member Mike Kelley said he based his decision on the fact that “the board had never approved it in the first place.” Therefore, he said, it was “not something that was a change, but a first decision.”

“Student government is important to the school culture, and I think they should have time to do it,” Kelley said. “But I don’t think that because they need time, they should have course credit.”

The allocation of resources seemed to concern board members most. During their Jan. 17 meeting, they discussed the 4-1 ratio of students to advisor and advisors’ stipends. In a subsequent interview, Kelley pointed out that the type of student who joins student government is a “self-starter,” not in need of much supervision.

Thomas said in an e-mail to the faculty after the board’s Jan. 17 decision that since the activity was treated as one of the five courses a teacher in the district is required to teach, the advisors were being paid a stipend as well as one-fifth of a teacher’s salary to supervise student government.

Read more

By Colin Campbell
Carrboro Commons Co-Editor

New Carrboro Board of Aldermen member Lydia Lavelle is spending her first two months in office learning more about the intricacies of town government.

Lavelle was sworn in Dec. 4 to fill the seat left by departing board member Alex Zaffron. She went to Wilmington last week to attend a conference for newly elected officials sponsored by UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government and the N.C. League of Municipalities. She also has met with the directors of each of the town’s departments.

Since her election to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in November, Lydia Lavelle has been spending time in town hall, meeting with the heads of town departments and learning more about how Carrboro’s government works.
Photo by Colin Campbell

“She’s in a learning mode,” said board member Jacquie Gist. “I really like her approach to this. She’s taking her time, she’s listening and she’s establishing relationships.”

Lavelle attended a conference for newly elected officials from Jan. 23-25 in Wilmington titled “The Essentials of Municipal Government.” Taught by UNC-CH faculty members and government officials from around the state, it served as an introduction to the challenges that municipal government officials face.

“It’s basically a three-day primer for newly elected officials,” Lavelle said. “I found it very informative and eye-opening.”
Mayor Pro Tem John Herrera said he recommends the conference to all new board members.

“They teach the cutting edge of governance issues,” Herrera said. “It hooks you up to a network of contacts.”

In addition to the conference, Lavelle said her meetings with department heads helped her expand upon the knowledge she already had from working for the city of Durham.

“It was an opportunity to spend some in-depth time with each of them,” Lavelle said. “Our work force is the backbone. It’s so important for us to understand what their jobs are.”

Gist said that while most new board members attend the conference and familiarize themselves with the workings of the town, Lavelle has been particularly committed to the process.

Read more

By Tracey Theret
Carrboro Commons Co-Editor

Almost two months after a fire destroyed her Ashbrook Apartment Homes unit, former Carrboro resident Joey Watkins is living life as normally as possible.

“There’s not a lot you can do but recover from it,” Watkins said, who lives in Chapel Hill’s Shadowood Apartments. “There’s not a lot you can do except pick up and go on.”

About two months after a fire that ripped through the Ashbrook Apartments’s J unit, the area is fenced off with “No Trespassing” signs. The fire displaced more than 20 residents, including 24-year-old Joey Watkins.
Photo by Tracey Theret

Carrboro was reminded of the importance of fire safety and sprinkler systems after two major apartment fires displaced dozens of its residents during the last half of 2007.

Watkins unit was one of 14 burnt units in Ashbrook’s J building on Jones Ferry Road. The Nov. 28 fire displaced more than 20 residents, though none were injured.

Carrboro Fire-Rescue Chief Travis Crabtree said the department now knows the fire began on a balcony of the building and how it started, but does not have proof from a witness.

Watkins was in her apartment cooking when the fire started.

“The fire alarm went off and, because I was having problems previously with my smoke detectors going off with no reason, I thought it might have been the pizza I was cooking,” she said.

Watkins opened the sliding glass door of her apartment and was engulfed in a plume of smoke. Though someone rescued the cat she had to leave behind, Watkins had to put it down from smoke inhalation days later.

On Sept. 30, a fire damaged the majority of the 14-unit G building of the Colonial Village at Highland Hills on B.P.W. Club Road, displacing about 20 residents and killing 55-year-old resident Gloria Ines Suarez.

Read more

by Leah Szarek
Carrboro Commons Latino Beat Editor

As the exceptional drought continues to parch much of North Carolina, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority has ramped up its efforts to educate Carrboro and Chapel Hill residents about conservation through public forums, informational mailings and online resources. That means reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community as well.

Carrboro Laundromat proprietor Sport Campbell keeps a watchful eye on her customers. Rising water bills and competition from other local businesses have her “just trying to make it.”
Photo by Leah Szarek

Greg Feller, OWASA’s public affairs administrator, said the utility has taken steps to increase accessibility to Spanish-language resources.

“We have been working with a native Spanish-speaking translator,” he said. But he added, “We certainly can do better.”
The OWASA Web site offers links to some information and forms in Spanish, but until recently the Spanish-language page contained information on Level One water use restrictions. The OWASA service area, which includes Carrboro and Chapel Hill, has been under Level Two restrictions since November 2007.

“Certainly we should be updating the Spanish information whenever we change the parallel English information,” Feller said. He had the Web site updated as soon as the Carrboro Commons brought the lapse to his attention.

OWASA initiated a partnership with El Centro Latino to better serve the Latino community of Carrboro, Feller said. He sends all OWASA news releases to the community center’s executive director, Ben Balderas, who can then address any questions from Spanish-speaking residents.

Balderas said the partnership started about a year ago.

“Greg approached us because they were experiencing an increased Hispanic clientele, and at that time they didn’t have the appropriate staff to handle it,” Balderas said.

Read more

By Katie Spencer
Carrboro Commons Writer

Freelance web designer Brian Russell’s vision to create a shared workplace for freelancers and other creative types is moving toward a concrete Carrboro reality.

Brian Russell is keeping the potential location of Carrboro Creative Coworking a secret, but says that it’s in the “heart of Carrboro’ and that it has good parking.
Photo by Katie Spencer

The idea to open what he called a shared office space with a coffee shop atmosphere was first mentioned publicly nearly a year ago. Russell said James Harris, director of economic and community development in Carrboro, encouraged him to make it happen.

The concept lies somewhere between a wireless-equipped coffee shop and the generic, cubicle-clad office. Russell said the need for this type of space is generated by people who have been driven away from the typical office environment but who are unhappy working alone at home.

“There is a productivity and creativity boost that comes from going to a different place,” he said.

The place will be called Carrboro Creative Coworking and will consist of workstations, conference rooms and, of course, a coffee bar. Russell said he is close to nailing down a location but wouldn’t say where.

“I can tell you it’s in the heart of downtown Carrboro and it has a good parking situation,” he said.

Russell said the large number of freelancers in the area and the walkable environment made Carrboro a good area for the venture.

Read more