The World Health Organization reports that around three billion people cook and heat their homes with an open fire that burns biomass such as wood and coal. That's HALF of all people in the world! Nearly two million people die prematurely from...

Watching the inner workings of the Chapel Hill Town Government has been an education. I’ve learned how an unwarranted, dangerous SERT unit deployed at the scene of a mere misdemeanor can turn into a two-month long effort by the Mayor, certain...

As a career counselor I work with people in transition all the time. Some enter the change voluntarily by deciding they want to find a job in line with their values or calling and others are thrust into it; the employer lets them go or their marriage...

I thought I had experienced the village in the 70’s as a student at Carolina. Then, the old-timers corrected me, saying, “That wasn’t the village! It was back in the 50’s. Or the 60’s. When we were in school!” and...

Just because your budget has been cut, doesn't mean you can't get what you need to operate your business and maybe even grow revenue so that your budget won't be so tight in the future. That is - IF you know about UNC Surplus. ...

In January there is not much for a gardener to do, but at the very least you can admire one of my favorite plants, the Lenten rose, or Hellebores. Named for the time that it normally blooms, it has begun its show early this year. I am not a...

Can a charter school do a better job of closing the achievement gap than the Chapel Hill0-Carrboro public schools? We're about to find out. A new charter school is coming to Chapel Hill and its raising some hackles. Letters opposing the Howard and...

“I am ashamed that women are so simple to offer war where they should kneel for peace, or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway where they are bound to serve, love, obey.” ~ Katerina, The Taming of the Shrew It’s easy...

When I attended the first community meeting for Chapel Hill’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan I looked at the hundreds of people gathered at East Chapel Hill High and thought something along the lines of “We’re all wasting our time.”...

Come to Top of the Hill’s Great Room this Saturday night to enjoy some great jazz and blues (Equinox), eat some yummy food (hors d’oeuvres), have fun with a terrific MC (Ron Stutts), and support a great cause -- the PTA Thrift Shop’s...

We have been enthusiastic participants in the revision of Chapel Hill’s comprehensive plan since it began in September. Now as the community heads into the second half of the Chapel Hill 2020 process, we ask: Is this where we intended to be four...

Will John Edwards someday be the new Newt Gingrich? Where did this crazy question come from? To get the answer, read on. First, we should wrestle with the questions political experts have been stuttering over since Gingrich’s stunning upset...

A business trip to Dubai this week has disrupted by Chapelboro 2050 series. I anticipated that Dubai would make great fodder for a Common Science blog illustrating the ephemeral nature of our illusion of constant growth and progress which owes its...

So I had my baby! That’s right, about 1 month ago I took a hiatus from most of my writing to engage in the miracles of miracles and give birth. Things went great and we’re all settled in now with a newborn and a 2 ½ year old. And...

This week brings a new section to Chapelboro on Carolina Basketball called Drive To The Championship, which we all hope the Tar Heels will do between now and April 2 in New Orleans (Thursday night’s second half at Virginia Tech sure restored some...