Community

A sanitizing wipe snuggled under his hand, Chapel Hill resident Philip Stephens savored the feeling of a Sunday morning bus ride.

The towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough are partnering with Orange County to begin planning for a post-COVID -19 recovery. 

Despite a rising price tag but with little apparent choice, the Town of Chapel Hill is going ahead with plans to extend Elliott Road.

In early August, after nearly five months in lockdown, Chapel Hill woke up to visitors. Students and their families drove into town — remember traffic jams? — and unloaded a semester’s worth of belongings into dorm rooms and off-campus bedrooms.

There will be a new way to pick up your books and other media at the Chapel Hill Public Library. Beginning Monday, users of the new “Park & Pick Up” service will call ahead, park in the library’s parking lot and pick up their items outside the main entrance. 

Chapel Hill’s Parks and Recreation Department sent word that it was hosting a gathering for people to pay their respects to a nearly 100-year-old willow oak on Franklin Street before it was removed. As this was the closest thing to a party I’d been invited to in months, I put it in my calendar.

George Barrett will be the new executive director of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. Barrett, who has been associate director of the Rosemary Street non-profit for the last four years, will be the Jackson’s Center’s first full-time on-site executive director.

Taking the lead from institutions around the country, the Chapel Hill Public Library kicked off July by moving to a completely fine-free model. The library will no longer assess late fees or fines for overdue books or other materials.

Orange County leaders and citizens gathered virtually Saturday to talk about what they have done lately to improve local police departments and what else should be done.