This week

So, last night I walked across the street to the Hillsborough town board candidate forum, put together by the Orange-Chatham Group of the Sierra Club, only to find 20 people huddled in front of the Old Courthouse as a light rain fell.

Apparently, the courthouse was booked for the night, but nobody in attendance — town or county officials included — had a key. They discussed new locations, including our office, but as anyone who has been here can tell you, we can't fit 20 people comfortably in our conference area. Eventually we all moved to the Town Barn, but it was an odd scene to begin a candidate forum.

The three candidates — Frances Dancy, Michael Gering and Bryant Warren, running for two seats — answered a variety of questions on sustainable development, walkability and the rural buffer, among others. It appeared they were well-prepared for the questions, and their answers indicated they pretty much agreed with one another on most major points. I'll have something small recapping it next week. I've saved my questions for one-on-one interviews in the coming weeks. Your questions are welcome as well. Comment on the blog or send me an e-mail at josh(dot)kastrinsky(at)newsoforange(dot)com.

Also coming from me this week:

• An 11th-hour vote will keep the Bradshaw Quarry Solid Waste Convenience Center open through at least December. It will cost the county $5,000 per month in non-budgeted expenses. Read more about what it means next week.

• From last week's loaded town board agenda (the density of which, in paper form, is somewhere between sheet rock and a concrete block) are several items — town employee awards, the annual citizen survey and a discussion of the town's event policy (which has been discussed before).

• I'll have something about the downtown parking study, an art program feeding supplies to the schools and county buildings on the block.

• We'll have sports coverage, most prominently of the Orange/Cedar Ridge football game (we can no longer use some variation of "Schock-er" in the headline).

• Also, find out what's in store for the final Last Fridays of the season. Hopefully, it stops raining by then.

As always, contact me at the above-listed e-mail with what's going on in the county.