GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT By Adam Powell Correspondent CHAPEL HILL — In recent years, the town of Chapel Hill has made affordable housing a priority by dedicating available land and adopting…
Read More
With the regular season winding down in local prep wrestling circles, various schools in the area are competing against conference rivals in dual-team matches while also competing in assorted individual tournaments throughout the region. Take a closer look at the latest wrestling action around Chapel Hill and Carrboro over the first two weeks of January in the newest edition of TLR’s Wrestling Notebook.
The race for available seats on the Orange County Schools Board of Education in 2026 is heating up, as six candidates – three newcomers and three incumbents – will be battling it out in the coming weeks for four open spots.
On the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 7, local rivals Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill made their way to the Orange County Sportsplex for a Tobacco Road Conference swim meet that also included league foes Riverside, Hillside, Northern Durham, and Southern Durham.
As 2025 moved into 2026, local high school men’s basketball teams from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro have been quite busy. All three programs played in holiday tournaments between Christmas and New Year’s Day, while re-igniting their respective conference schedules the first full week of January.
Chapel Hill’s women’s basketball team challenged itself against some of the best competition in the state of North Carolina over the holiday break, which should help the 9-4 Tigers as they get into Tobacco Road Conference play. The Tigers subsequently blew out local rival East Chapel Hill on the evening of January 6 to open league play.
With the Holiday season approaching, local basketball teams from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro played a series of non-conference games leading up to the break. Get all the latest on how the Tigers, Wildcats, and Jaguars did in this week’s High School Basketball Notebook.
Take a look back at some of the top headlines in and around the Chapel Hill area in 2025. The Local Reporter correspondent Adam Powell has been closely following numerous local beats, including the Chapel Hill Town Council, area residential development, and local sports.
In the days leading up to the holiday break, Carrboro High School’s men’s and women’s swim teams competed in both conference and nonconference meets.
With the Holiday season approaching, local basketball teams from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro played a series of non-conference games leading up to the break. Get all the latest on how the Tigers, Wildcats, and Jaguars did in this week’s High School Basketball Notebook.
Local men’s and women’s track teams from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro High Schools have been quite busy in recent days. All three schools have been preparing for upcoming indoor Regional and State Championships track meets, as well as the spring outdoor track season, with a series of December Polar Bears leading up to the winter holiday.
CHAPEL HILL – CARRBORO –East Chapel Hill and Carrboro swimmers delivered standout performances in mid-December meets, earning multiple Regional-qualifying times as both programs prepare for this winter’s championship season.
The first week of December around the local high school sports scene in Chapel Hill and Carrboro was punctuated by some rivalry matchups on the basketball court, along with some impressive individual performances on the wrestling mat.
East Chapel Hill hosted a “Polar Bear” track meet on Saturday, Dec. 6, featuring the Wildcats, local rivals Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and several other regional schools.
CHAPEL HILL / CARRBORO — The swim teams from Chapel Hill and Carrboro high schools recently competed against a variety of local rivals in two meets on Dec. 4 — one in Chapel Hill and another in Hillsborough. The Tigers and Jaguars feature several talented swimmers who will contend for conference, regional and possibly state titles this winter. Here are the highlights from last week’s meets.
CARRBORO/CHAPEL HILL —Carrboro and Chapel Hill held special meetings during the first week of December to recognize outgoing Town Council members and swear in those elected during November’s municipal elections.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday break, area men’s and women’s basketball teams from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro High Schools returned to the court this week. In addition, area wrestling programs returned to the mat with a series of dual team matches and individual tournaments.
ORANGE COUNTY — Candidate filing for the spring 2026 primary season began on Monday, Dec. 1, and will run through Friday, Dec. 19. Numerous candidates have announced plans to run for a variety of local, statewide and national seats.
CHAPEL HILL — Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill and Carrboro met Nov. 20 at the Homestead Aquatic Center for their annual “Paws in the Pool” tri-meet, a feline-themed rivalry event featuring the Tigers, Wildcats and Jaguars. The early-season competition brought strong performances across the board.
CHAPEL HILL –As Chapel Hill High School’s men’s and women’s track teams look ahead to the upcoming winter indoor track season and the spring outdoor track season, the Tigers participated in a couple of high-profile events during November, prior to the Thanksgiving break.
On November 12, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved a special use permit for a new 195-foot tall, non-concealed monopole telecommunications tower that will be utilized by Verizon Wireless and constructed at 1721 E. Franklin Street. The tower will improve connectivity and internet speeds throughout Chapel Hill in the years to come.
While Chapel Hill’s men’s soccer team came up just short in its quest to bring a NCHSAA 7A state championship home, men’s and women’s basketball kicked off for local programs. Each of the local high schools played their respective season openers in the days leading up the Thanksgiving holiday break.
On the evening of Wednesday, November 19, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously approved a modified conditional zoning for the Hillmont project along Stancell Drive, near Barbee Chapel Hill Road and N.C. Highway 54. The developer, Northwood Ravin, agreed to give the Town of Chapel Hill $1.15 million for its affordable housing fund in order to reduce the number of affordable units in Hillmont from the previously-approved 43 to a minimum of 20 (image courtesy Northwood Ravin)
While fall sports seasons are winding down for local schools, the winter sports season are at hand, and The Local Reporter has the latest sports news for Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Carrboro High Schools. The Tigers, Wildcats, and Jaguars have all opened their respective varsity wrestling seasons, while Chapel Hill High recently opened its men’s and women’s swimming season.
CHAPEL HILL/CARRBORO – This weekend, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) will host its men’s soccer state championship matches across eight different classifications.
Although Karen Stegman may no longer be a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, she’s still interested in the fate of her hometown and surrounding communities.
CHAPEL HILL — As the University of North Carolina’s fall semester moves closer to Thanksgiving break, several noteworthy developments emerged this week. The university has hired a new permanent executive vice chancellor and provost, who will begin in spring 2026. Meanwhile, the UNC Board of Trustees has approved a tuition increase for in-state students attending UNC-Chapel Hill.
November means the postseason for fall sports, as the state playoffs for football and men’s soccer have swung into high gear in recent days. While local programs are no longer in the mix in the NCHSAA football state playoffs, each of the area’s local high schools remained in the mix in the NCHSAA men’s soccer state playoffs heading into this week.
The fall women’s tennis season recently concluded for prep programs across the state of North Carolina, and two programs from the local area – Carrboro and East Chapel Hill – proved to be among the state’s elite.
On the morning of Thursday, October 30, a collection of students, teachers, administrators, and local officials made their way to the site of the new Carolina Achieve Charter School at 6920 West Ten Road in Mebane for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event was organized by the Hillsborough-Orange County Chamber of Commerce.
Turnout was low in the 2025 municipal elections in Orange County, with only 15.16% of eligible voters—just 11,685 out of 77,070 registered voters—casting ballots.
Fall sports are beginning to wind down across the state of North Carolina, but the remaining action is only getting more interesting, with state playoff games on the horizon in football and men’s soccer. In multiple other sports, such as women’s golf, state championship tournaments have recently been held.