Many Chapel Hill evenings spent on Franklin Street include the sounds of local musician "Trumpet Monk," who had a career as a successful guitarist before returning to the area. One of his main motivations is community outreach through music, of a kind that isn't limited to those who can afford live performances.
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Two local affordable housing nonprofits, EMPOWERment, Inc. and CASA, are embarking on their first solarization projects with the help of SolarEquity, a nonprofit organization and club at UNC that works to install solar panels on affordable housing developments.
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On Monday during its meeting, the Orange County Schools Board of Education approved a contract with Engaging Schools, authorized a consulting contract for the district’s after-school program and heard updates from about the $40 million Capital and Construction projects that OCS is undertaking. The board also unanimously voted to approve adding A.P. African American Studies to OCS schools' curriculum.
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The 2022-2023 school year at UNC was filled with news regarding leadership, students and faculty. From Supreme Court hearings of oral arguments to students getting kicked out of the Bell Tower, here's what happened this year.
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To celebrate Women’s History Month, Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture selected Janvika Shah to create a piece of art for a bus shelter on South Road on UNC’s campus. With her illustration, which depicts a variety of women, Shah hoped to uplift marginalized identities.
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Local record stores celebrated Record Store Day on Saturday with exclusive new vinyl releases and musical performances. Record Store Day is an annual event that honors the people who make up record stores' unique culture, including staff, consumers and artists.
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N.C. House Bill 715, or The Higher Ed. Modernization & Affordability Act, aims to end faculty tenure at all UNC System universities and community colleges. Many UNC professors have expressed alarm at the legislation. A letter with over 670 signatures said the faculty are concerned by the “interference and overreach” of the N.C. legislature, UNC Board of Governors and UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees into academic freedom and shared governance at the University. “(The state legislature) challenged the core operations of the University — teaching, research, hiring, tenure — everything that we take seriously, everything that's vital to the institution, is being challenged in a new way here,” history professor Jay Smith said. “And, we just wanted to raise our voices in protest.”
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The undergraduate college experience is often thought of as a transitional time into adulthood, but the undergraduate experience is not limited to those 18 to 22 years old. Adriana Cook, a senior at UNC, enrolled when she was 59 years old. Last September, she celebrated 14 years of sobriety and overcoming addiction — a feat that started her on the path to higher education. “I couldn’t see that what I was doing was ruining my life at that time,” she said. “I think it’s important for younger students to maybe think about postponing college for a little bit — a year or two — to get some life experience and gain a better appreciation of school when they come back."
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Every April, "National Donate Life" Month encourages people to sign up to become organ donors through activities and events that foster community engagement and education. However, some believe a history of medical discrimination and inequity in the health care system has targeted underrepresented groups and continues to affect the donation process for both organ donors and recipients.
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If passed, House Bill 596, otherwise known as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would increase punishments for those who commit hate crimes, require additional training for law enforcement and prosecutors and mandate the establishment of a hate crimes statistics database.
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Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina House filed House Bill 673 on April 18, which would criminalize drag shows in the presence of minors statewide. The proposed bill makes a first offense a Class A1 misdemeanor and subsequent offenses Class I felonies, punishable by 3 to 12 months imprisonment.
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The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program will not be available for the 2023-2024 school year. The program has provided meals for over 1.6 million children since the start of the pandemic.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina filed a lawsuit challenging multiple provisions of House Bill 40, which would impose stricter penalties for rioting, on April 11. In its complaint, the ACLU named two members who would be affected by the bill due to their continued involvement in Black Lives Matter protests, including Jaelyn Miller, a community lawyering fellow at Emancipate NC.
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On Monday, the General Assembly passed the first reading of a bill that may permanently put a right-to-work law into the North Carolina Constitution. A right-to-work law makes it illegal for employers to require workers to join or maintain membership in a union when they are hired. It guarantees a person’s right to work, even if the individual doesn't want to join a union and pay dues.
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On the cloudy Saturday morning of April 22, thousands of people participated in the 16th annual Tar Heel 10 Miler. Spirits were high among the runners, spectators, volunteers and emergency personnel despite the looming storm.
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Cases of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection caused by bacteria, are rising in North Carolina. The state saw an overall 23 percent increase in cases from 2021 to 2022, with cases in women rising 133 percent from 2019 to 2022.
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Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announced today at Ace Speedway in Alamance County that he is running for North Carolina governor. Robinson has been hinting at a run for months and is widely viewed as the favorite to win the Republican nomination — setting up a potential showdown with Democratic frontrunner Attorney General Josh Stein.
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Earth Day is annually a big day of celebration in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area. This year is no different. All around Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Saturday and Sunday, organizations hosted and are hosting events that combine outdoor learning with fun.
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Savannah Patterson, a biology teacher and a UNC alumna, was named the teacher of the year at Cedar Ridge High School. Patterson represents CRHS as a contender for Orange County Schools Teacher of the Year, among 12 other candidates.
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The UNC Muslim Students Association provides a space for students to pray, socialize and learn more about the culture. But attaining that space — both physically and figuratively — is something that students continually strive for. During Ramadan, a holy month marked by spiritual reflection and community, MSA has been able to reserve rooms in the Student Union for prayer — specifically for Taraweeh, a prayer that takes place every night of Ramadan. “On any Christian major holiday like Christmas, Easter, there's no exams, there's no assignments due that day,” Sidra Qayyum, the most recent president of MSA said. “It's just a little frustrating when there's other religion’s holidays that aren't taken into account as well.”
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