Weekly update, June 19
Juneteenth celebration | Pollinator week | OC budget approved| Listen to shows about poetry and the dismantling of biomedical research
Happy Juneteenth! Congratulations to graduates! Happy Fathers' Day! And best wishes for the longest day of the year.
Town and County government offices are closed Friday.
June 22 - 28 is Pollinator Week in Carrboro. "Pollinators—including bees, butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects—are essential to our local biodiversity, agricultural productivity, and the natural beauty that defines our community's character. Since becoming the nation’s third official Bee City USA affiliate in 2014, Carrboro has proudly prioritized healthy, sustainable habitats." Find more information from Town here.
Jeanette O'Connor, Executive Director of Lands and Waters South, wrote about the importance of planting natives to support pollinators and how to do it.
In other news, the sign for Surplus Sids was returned.
Online this week
We posted two items about Juneteenth--Patrice Toney's beautiful essay about Carrboro's Black history, "rooted in resilience, brilliance, creativity, survival, and community," and all the deets about the Carrboro - Chapel Hill Juneteenth celebration (Friday, 4-8pm at Hargraves). We also brought you a story by Nikki Belch about the dismantling of biomedical research in the U.S., which will be discussed on WCOM-LP 103.5 (Tuesday, from 1 - 2pm; streaming on wcomfm.org) and Q&A about the housing market from Steven Lambeth.
On The Carrborean Radio Hour
Flame Tree Story returned this week. Dr. Whitney Fry and Dr. Amanda Bennett, Carrboro's Poet Laureate, discussed storytelling through poetry. You can listen to the recording here.
One of the many things from this conversation that resonated deeply with us at The Carrborean: “If you create a container with intention and love, you can trust that people will fill it with what they have, and you’ll end up having more than enough.” -Dr. Amanda Bennett
Next week: ctrl+alt+art returns with Niya Lovelace. 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.
News from OWASA, Schools, Town, and County
From OWASA: Held public hearings on the draft Fiscal Year 2027 budget which includes an increase in monthly water and wastewater rates of 4%. One public comment was received from a Chapel Hill resident in regard to the rate increase. The Board is scheduled to adopt the final budget and rate adjustments on June 25, 2026.
The Board received a presentation from staff on draft PFAS Guiding Principles and discussed a proposed process for finalizing these, including community engagement.
From CHCCS: Graduation! 📹 Video recordings: All CHCCS high school graduation ceremonies were livestreamed and posted to the CHCCS YouTube channel. 📸 Photo albums: Visit our graduation webpage for hundreds of downloadable candid photographs taken during and after the ceremonies. 🤳 Social media: Check out our verified Instagram @chapelhillcarrboroschools for graduation day pictures and video clips.
Carrboro's Town Council met Tuesday, June 16. Council members endorsed an Orange County crisis diversion facility, reviewed updated emergency operations and storm preparedness, and wrestled with a long‑range zoning rewrite under new state constraints. Council members pressed for more flexible neighborhood businesses and a leaner Unified Development Ordinance while tracking proposed 90‑day “shot clock” rules for development approvals. Find highlights here.
Orange County's Board of County Commissioners met Tuesday, June 16 and adopted the 2026 budget, set new county tax bills, outlined school funding per student, and approved plans for opioid settlement spending and future use of occupancy tax revenue after a failed attempt to scale back the tax increase. The Board also signed off on a 10-year, $863 million capital plan and unanimously locked in the final design, price, and additional funding for the new crisis diversion facility. Find highlights here.
Final Notes
The Community Bulletin Board has announcements and opportunities for giving and civic engagement and is updated weekly.
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Poetry Moment
Excerpts from “My Father” by Eduardo Moga
My father underlined and annotated books in biro. I often tasked him with this barbarous practice. To this day I still discover his scribbled traces in books I would never have suspected him of reading. I like finding them.
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My father went and stood by the wall and yelled, like an Argentinean commentator, ‘goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, gooooooooooal!’ each of the five times Barҫa scored against Madrid at the Bernabéu. The neighbours were from Soria and Madrid fans and he didn’t want to waste such a rare opportunity to torment them.
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My father never had a car. He said a car cost more than a foolish son. But he loved it when I drove him places.
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My father and I used to read poems aloud from The Thousand Best Poems in Spanish, in an edition which had lost its cover and my father had wrapped in oil-stained newsprint. We laughed till we cried at “The Banquet” by Baltasar de Alcázar and “How Times Change” by Vital Aza. We also liked “Despair” attributed to Espronceda.
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My father told me ‘You have to be the best, always the best’ and ‘If you fall down, pick yourself up; if you fall down again, pick yourself up again’. Then he rearranged his underpants and went back to his game of patience.
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My father carried me to A&E in his arms when I split my lip on the handlebars of my scooter. I bled and bled; he ran and ran.
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My father’s name was Abel.
Translated by Terence Dooley