LAURA OLENIACZ

News

TAR HEELS DEPART

By LAURA OLENIACZ | May 17

Monica Holley had reason to be proud on Mother's Day. Along with family and friends, she'd watched her third son graduate from college. "I'm proud of all three of my sons," she said. "They came a long way." Her third, Jesse Holley, is the former North Carolina wide receiver who recently put his Carolina days behind him and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was surrounded by godparents, brothers, coaches, uncles and aunts who traveled from Roselle, N.J. to pick him out of the crowd in Kenan Stadium.

News

All Hallow's Month

By LAURA OLENIACZ | October 26

Halloween starts Oct. 1 for senior Matthew Scott Montgomery. And by "start," he means he's finished all his holiday preparations and he's ready to start celebrating. "I take Halloween very seriously," he said. "I come from a family where holidays are a big deal." Oct. 31 is a big deal for national and local businesses, too: It's the second-biggest decorating holiday after Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation.

News

'Big Fish' author pens guide

By LAURA OLENIACZ | September 26

UNC professor Daniel Wallace spends most of his time making stuff up - writing fiction, that is. His first published piece came out in "Cellar Door." In 1998 he wrote "Big Fish," a story about a young boy and his imaginative father, which was adapted to film in 2003. But now he's getting back to his roots with "Getting to Know Carrboro - a Step-by-Step Guide," a piece he wrote in July about the ins and outs of the town.

News

Puppets towering over stage

By LAURA OLENIACZ | August 28

Claire-Elisabeth Hartman, is 5 feet 2 inches tall in everyday life. But as one of the messenger crows in "As the Crow Flies" - Paperhand Puppet Intervention's seventh annual outdoor performance - she's a black-feathered, 8-foot harbinger of death and rebirth, comparable in size to the old trees behind the Forest Theatre where the play is performed. And she made her stilts herself. The performance, tied together by themes of compassion and sacrifice, is a collection of four stories from Iraqi, Asian, English and American folklore.

News

Latino services organization sharpens focus

By LAURA OLENIACZ | April 27

One local nonprofit is fanning out across the community to hear the voices of the Latino population, looking to expand and contract its services to meet the needs of the changing demographic. The Carrboro-based nonprofit El Centro Latino is conducting a survey of the Latino community to discern which programs are being used, what needs to be cut and what needs to be implemented. The survey is being conducted in conjunction with UNC professor Mai Nguyen, a professor of city and regional planning at the University.

News

Sechrest to leave school board

By LAURA OLENIACZ | April 25

Ed Sechrest, a four-year city schools board member, has announced his resignation and is planning to leave when the board finishes the budget in late summer. "I don't think the board will be affected by my departure," Sechrest said, noting his confidence in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen's leadership. "Everybody's got the kids' best interests at heart," he added. He said his departure is set for Aug. 1. "I have enjoyed very much working with Ed . he's been very supportive," said Lisa Stuckey, chairwoman of the board.

News

Women honored for courage

By LAURA OLENIACZ | April 17

It was divine inspiration that carried Durham resident Patricia Branch through a seven-year divorce trial with dignity. At the end of the divorce and facing debt mounting to almost $160,000, Branch said she continues to call grace into her life, making her case the call-to-arms against injustice for women and families in civil courts.

News

Town recognizes Civil War history

By LAURA OLENIACZ | April 10

When pillaging Civil War soldiers broke into Hillsborough's Colonial Inn, widow Sarah Stroud threw her children into the attic, pulled off her Freemasons apron and flew it as a flag on the hotel's white-gabled front. The army honored her allegiance to the secret society and put the stolen items back, weaving Stroud's story into town Civil War homefront lore. The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough presented Stroud's and other Civil War stories Saturday in the six-hour history extravaganza "Life on the Southern Homefront."

News

Latino nonprofit takes to airwaves with UNC's help

By LAURA OLENIACZ | March 28

A local Latino teen group is feeling the calm after the storm, receiving a boost from the University to help rebuild its program. Pa'lante, a group that offers social and resource opportunities for Latino teens, is now focusing on the production of a radio show. The nonprofit, which has struggled to find a permanent location and has completely revamped its program, received a grant of $6,300 from University officials, covering almost half of its $13,000 budget. UNC faculty members Carol Ford and Lucila Vargas singled out Pa'lante for funding help.

News

Enthusiasts go and fly some kites at park

By LAURA OLENIACZ | March 27

A tall man runs across a field followed closely by a grimacing orange, green and yellow dragon. A large dragonfly swoops close to the ground, and a platypus plays piano in the wind with his feet. Is it an air circus? A bird? A plane? No, it's dozens of kites spiraling, ducking and spinning at Carrboro's annual Kite Fly, held at the Hank Anderson III Community Park on Saturday afternoon. Hordes of kites flew against the backdrop of dark grey clouds, heavy with coming rains and building winds.