Weekly update, June 12

Coming to you earlier than usual this week--

Wow, it's hot! Near record high temperatures visit us this weekend. In other news...

Announcements

From Town: Resurfacing Greensboro Street from Braxton Foushee Street to Oak Avenue from Sunday, June 14 until Thursday, June 18, with lane closures and operations occurring nightly from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. The project includes milling and paving work, and a new pavement marking plan to reduce "the width of vehicle travel lanes and add a new buffer for bicycle lanes." --Carrboro This Week

Construction at Westwood Cemetery: installing new walking path, reconfiguring the access road, and constructing a rain garden and drainage swale. The Cemetery remains open.

Online this week

Le Tour de Carrboro returns for its 22nd year with Four on the Fourth. Tomorrow (Friday, June 12) is the 2nd Friday art walk and we previewed those shows with more images than we can put in the print edition. There's also an expanded story about a favorite local DJ on WCOM, Rocco Nittoli.

On The Carrborean Radio Hour

Michelle Blume, Recreation Supervisor for Carrboro, and Xavi Vallejo, Special Events Coordinator for Chapel Hill, joined us to talk about plans for the joint Carrboro - Chapel Hill Juneteenth Celebration on June 19. You can find the recording here.

Next week: Flame Tree Story returns. Dr. Whitney Fry will be in conversation about storytelling through poetry with Dr. Amanda Bennett, Carrboro's Poet Laureate. Listen live Monday 4-5pm on WCOM-FM 103.5 or stream at wcomfm.org. You'll find the recording here later in the week. There will not be a pop-up newsroom after the show next week.

And our friends from Out on the Edge (airing Monday, 3-4pm) will be discussing Carrboro's Pride Celebration with Catherine Lazorko, Communication and Engagement Director for Carrboro and staff from El Centro Hispano de Carrboro.

News from OWASA, Schools, Town, and County

Reminder from OWASA: The public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and 4% rate increase will be (tonight!) June 11, 2026 at OWASA, 400 Jones Ferry Road.

There were no other local government meetings scheduled this week. Carrboro Town Council will meet again June 16 at 6pm at Town Hall. You can attend in person, view the livestream, or find our highlights later next week here. The meeting agenda will be posted in advance. The Orange County Board of County Commissioners will meet June 16 at the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill at 7pm, and will vote on the county budget. Previous meeting summaries are posted here.

Other interesting things

Are we still afraid of our neighbors? There was a concerted effort in the 1980s to protect children by making everyone afraid of each other. This has shown up, over time, in increasingly anti-social behavior online and off. Jamil Zaki, of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, says, "People underestimate how warm, open-minded, friendly and trustworthy others are."

Thinking about the historial arc of community socializing (including the intended and unintended exclusion of certain groups and restrictions during the pandemic) underscores the importance of the multi-generational and inclusive community building efforts around us. Among many in Carrboro, check out Freight Train Blues concerts, programs on WCOM 103.5, game nights at Lanza's, The Carrborean newspaper, and Orange County Public Library events in the Drakeford Building. You can find more in The Events Calendar.

Final Notes

The Community Bulletin Board has announcements and opportunities for giving and civic engagement and is updated weekly.

There's so much going on in Carrboro! Check out The Events Calendar to see what's happening and help us keep it up to date.

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Poetry Moment