Volleyball update; Fairview Park groundbreaking

From various sources:

• Orange's volleyball playoff run ended last night in a 3-0 loss at Cardinal Gibbons.

Cedar Ridge defeated Bunn 3-1 and will host another playoff game on Saturday, this time Sectionals. If they win, they will move on to Regionals next week and would be a step away from the state finals. We'll update as we know more.

• Also, if you're looking for something to do tonight or tomorrow, here's our compilation of Halloween-themed events around the area. There will be plenty of family-friendly events over the next few days, and supposedly it will dry up by this evening.

• One final note, also added to the Web site: A groundbreaking date has been set for Fairview Park's phase I expansion - 4:30 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 4. It's obviously a momentous day for the northern Hillsborough communities and for residents throughout the area to see this closer to a reality, and when built, the town's accessible greenspace count will have gone from small pocket parks to two major attractions in about two years.

Things are being built at a rapid pace around town. Look for more information in the next week or so about what has moved where.

next week

As Josh mentioned, I voted yesterday at the Board of Elections. Being the 65th person to drop in a ballot was a little bit sad. I know Hillsborough's race may not necessarily be as exciting as a presidential election, but it's still important. Alright, I'll come down off my soapbox, but I do hope everyone goes out and votes.

It was nice having part of the Education Page be in colour this week; I don't think it's happened before in the year I've been here, so it was great to be able to show off some of the colourful photos I took and received. Big thanks to the Central PTSA for providing me with some really lovely photos of the fire safety presentation by Billy Nicholson, too. If you've got photos you'd like to see in the paper, by all means, e-mail them to me or drop them off at our office on King Street.

Anyway, this upcoming week is a bit up in the air for what I'll have, but here's what I'm working on:

• Halloween event photos from Friday;

• Maybe an Educator of the Week, if I can get a good enough backlog going. (On that note, if you know someone who's doing a great job in area schools, let me know!)

• A social-ish piece on a local water walking class;

• I'm going to next week's Board of Education meeting;

• And a few other things, like FEMMES, awards and a local company whose toy invention is taking off.

If you've got anything else, drop me a line at v(dot)shortley(at)newsoforange(dot)com or give me a shout at 732-2171.

Volleyball teams playing tonight

Orange and Cedar Ridge's volleyball teams will play in the third round of the state playoffs tonight, with each team on the road.

Orange faces familiar foe Cardinal Gibbons at 6 p.m. The admission cost is $5.

Cedar Ridge plays at Bunn at 7 p.m. The admission cost is $6.

A trickle ...

Vanessa told me she was the 65th voter at the Board of Elections office when she voted today. Not to confuse you — she wasn't the 65th person utilizing early or one-stop voting services at the Hillsborough location. She was 65th in the 13 days that location has been open.

Maybe folks are being traditional and holding back until election day (currently projected as temperatures of 62/42 and sunny). Maybe this is the post-Big Election Year malaise. In 2005, the last local election after a U.S. presidential race, 1,925 votes were cast (total, with each voter having the option of checking two names). In 2001, the number was 8,336, though it was a more contested race (more candidates) than in recent elections.

These are based off of a quick look at day-after numbers from our pages. Check your local Board of Elections for official numbers.

The big figure to watch, though, is that of 2007, the last town board race. That year, 1,482 votes were made, with voters choosing any three of four candidates. We can't assume everybody voted for three people here, but that's less than 500 voters from more than 4,000 registered. Does this year's election come close?

Three candidates are seeking two seats. Two are multiple-term incumbents and a third is a familiar face on local advisory boards and in local elections. The mayor is running unopposed. There are no local referendums. How do these factors contribute to the final turnout, and how does the turnout affect the result?

Needless to say, we'll have election coverage next week, some business news and some pictures from everybody's favorite holiday for crazy visuals.

Lastly, to prosthelytize from the Church of Civic Involvement: Early voting can be done through Saturday down on King Street at the Board of Elections. Polls open again Tuesday for Election Day. Look for results next week.

Check out Handmade Parade photos

All I could think about when I saw this was how curious I am to see the film adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are."

This is pre-Handmade Parade on Saturday, Oct. 17. We have 200+ pictures, which are being uploaded to our MyNewsPhotos site in the next hour. Just go to www.newsoforange.com and click on the large button asking you to see or buy photos or follow this link.

We were only able to place a few photos in the print edition, but the parade appeared to be a huge hit with participants and folks watching from the street. It culminated with a large gathering on the Burwell School lawn, something resembling, I imagine, a New Orleans-style parade Tinka Jordy and Mark Donley said they tried to recreate with Handmade.

Enjoy.

h1n1 vaccine update

From the Orange County Health Department:

The Orange County Health Department will hold 2 H1N1 vaccination clinics on Friday, October 23, 2009. The walk-in clinics will begin at 1:30 pm, last until the vaccine supplies are exhausted and will be held at both health department locations:
• 300 West Tryon Street , Hillsborough
• 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill
Injectable vaccine will be available and will be free. (Injectable vaccine is made with inactivated or 'killed' virus and is injected into the muscle, like the seasonal flu shot.)

These clinics are for persons identified as members of priority groups for vaccination due to being at increased risk for complications from flu. These groups are:
• Pregnant women
• Persons 6 months - 24 years of age
• Close contacts to and caregivers of children <6 months of age
• Persons 25-64 years of age with conditions placing them at increased risk for complications from flu
• Healthcare workers

Monitor H1N1 vaccine availability by calling the health department's Flu Line at 245-2479 or visiting the department's website at www.co.orange.nc.us/health

OC SEPTA

I saw this release this morning and thought it might interest some of you:

You are invited to attend the first chartered meeting of the
Orange County Special Education Parent Teacher Association

Date: Thursday, October 22
Time: 6:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Location: AL Stanback Middle School Media Center
3700 NC 86 South, Hillsborough

We’ll introduce our organization and discuss membership. If you cannot attend the meeting and wish to become a member, please contact one of the individuals listed on the bottom of this message. This meeting will be immediately followed by a Parent Information Session:

6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Public Health Funding Programs: Accessing Federal, State & Local Funding for Special Needs Children
Teach parents of severe and persistent special needs children how to access funding from public resources.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact:

Pam Scism, SEPTA President pamscism@aol.com
Susan Wingate, SEPTA Vice President swingate2007@gmail.com
Barbara Moto, SEPTA Treasurer bmarotto@hotmail.com
Ingrid Branigan, SEPTA Secretary msingrid@nc.rr.com

Here's an article I wrote about the group back at the end of March.

This week

You can read the basics of downtown parking caused by the Handmade Parade changes here. The town released official details today:

"Traffic will be rerouted around downtown Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, to allow for the Hillsborough Handmade Parade.
At 1 p.m., the Hillsborough Police Department will close South Cameron Street between East King Street and Burnside Drive as well as East Margaret Lane between South Cameron Street and the Orange County Courthouse. This will allow parade participants to line up.
Beginning at 2:20 p.m. until about 3:45 p.m., Churton Street from Margaret Lane to Union Street will be closed for the parade, which starts at 2:30 p.m.
The parade will head west on East Margaret Lane to Churton Street. It then will continue north on Churton Street to Union Street, where a grand finale will take place on the lawn of Burwell School Historic Site.
During the parade, southbound traffic on Churton Street should use U.S. 70 or Corbin Street as detours around the downtown. Northbound traffic should use U.S. 70-A or Eno Mountain Road as detours.
No on-street parking will be allowed along South or North Churton Street from noon until the parade is completed. Anyone wishing to park downtown should use the free parking that is available on King Street or in various lots, including two off King Street. Parking also is available in the Eno River Parking Deck, which charges a fee. The parking deck is located in the Gateway Center campus off Churton Street.
A map of public parking options in downtown Hillsborough is available on
the town’s Web site at www.ci.hillsborough.nc.us under the “About Hillsborough” section.
Vehicles parked along shoulders of road or in places that are not properly marked and designated for parking may be ticketed.
For more information on the parade or to participate, contact the Arts Council at 643-2500 or visit its Web site at www.hillsboroughartscouncil.org."

You can expect to see pictures from the event in next week's edition. You can also expect

• Candidate interview responses — I sat down with Frances Dancy, Michael Gering and Bryant Warren this month to ask general questions on five subjects of debate in town. We'll print their answers in next week's issue and put more from the interviews online.

• Two of the three candidates attended a Northern Orange Black Voters Alliance forum this week, and I'll have a report from there as well.

• I'll have a recap of this week's town board discussions on access to Gold Park and potential sidewalks along Margaret Lane.

• The Myers House story will run. Seriously this time.

Provided we have good weather, there will be pictures from football, volleyball and tennis games.

There are some other stories I am working on, but time will tell how much typing I have in me this week.

UPDATE: I received word from members of Orange County Voice, who said they were removed from county property last weekend while distributing a survey, that the county now has a legal waiver they will provide to anybody distributing materials at solid waste convenience centers to ensure their safety. I also received a copy of said waiver, if anyone wants me to post it.
OCV folks tell me they are getting hundreds of responses to their survey. We'll let you know the results once the survey is complete.

FYI: OHS Fields of Faith postponed

I just got off the phone with Coach Bobby Shriner from Orange High who said the Fellowship of Christian Athlete's Fields of Faith, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tonight, will be postponed to a date to be announced because of the inclement weather.

"I just don't want the kids to get rained on," he said.

I'll post it when it's rescheduled.