Web Run

Board of Education to look for ways to cut spending
[Jan. 15, 2005] The Chatham County Board of Education meets twice this month to try to whittle several million dollars off a proposed $101 million school bond. But shaving any more off the bond -- which started out at about $132 million and will cover construction costs of three schools -- could prove difficult, said members of the architecture firm supplying the estimates. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Fascination at Afghanistan in Pittsboro
[Jan. 14, 2005] Luke Powell’s mother describes him as “an artiste.” At 58, the native North Carolinian is an eccentric, but gifted, photographer who travels the world snapping images of foreign landscapes, everyday life and strong faces. The photographs that he develops do more than preserve a moment in time. They paint what are often described as serene views of lands marked by political turmoil and violence. For the rest of January and February, “The Afghan Folio: Documentary Photos of Luke Powell,” will be on display at the Pittsboro Memorial Library. Exhibition of the 32 dye-transfer prints coincides with a community read of Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner.” By WEB RUN - Chapel Hill News
Also: Luke Powell Photographs

Lee County BOE board OKs appointment for assistant principals
[Jan. 12, 2005] The Lee County Board of Education approved the appointment of two assistant principals at its Monday meeting. Ann Stewart, a former assistant principal in the Chatham County School System, begins as assistant principal at J.R. Ingram Elementary on Feb. 1. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Policy against bullying drafted
[Dec. 26, 2004] Following the lead of other area school districts, the Chatham County school board is considering adopting a policy that prohibits bullying. The draft lays out the definition of bullying, along with details on intervention and punishments. School board members also are considering a clause that would prohibit "verbal bullying," such as nasty e-mails or threats sent in Internet chat rooms or instant-messaging programs. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun
Also: Draft comment input

People go nuts for Chatham firm's dessert
[Dec. 22, 2004] Bear Creek -- From mid-September to Christmas, Southern Supreme Gourmet Specialties cooks 150,000 pounds of fruitcake, sold in various sizes at the store and online. An 8-ounce cake costs $6.15, and a hefty 4½-pound cake in a tin costs $38. Orders come from all over the nation. On Monday, the shop shipped out 2,300 boxes of goods, including the ever-popular hot pepper jelly, cider mix and fruitcake. The key to the fruitcake is the nuts, said Berta Scott, the Bear Creek resident behind the business. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Fruitcakes no joke to area firm
[Dec. 21, 2004] Bear Creek -- Berta Scott baked her first fruitcake 20 years ago for one simple reason. "I was going to make fruitcake at Christmas just to make some part-time money," Scott said. "People liked the cakes so much that we started growing." Over time, she cooked that part-time money into a $1 million business. Southern Supreme, which she runs with three generations of her family, now sells 150,000 pounds of fruitcake every year and employs about 100 people at its plant in rural southwestern Chatham County. By WEB RUN - NBC17

Chatham project to make biodiesel
[Dec. 21, 2004] Pittsboro -- Toilet water as fuel for your fuel? That's what Central Carolina Community College, the town of Pittsboro and environmental consulting firm Integrated Water Strategies would like. Pittsboro is asking the state for $3.1 million to partially pay to pipe 65,000 gallons of treated wastewater from the town's treatment plant to the community college campus about two miles away. By WEB RUN - N&O

A nutty business
[Dec. 17, 2004] Bear Creek -- In the weeks leading up to Christmas, employees at the Southern Supreme fruitcake shop are as busy as Santa's helpers. Since 1985, Southern Supreme, located in rural southwest Chatham County close to the Moore County line, has been stirring up batches of Berta Lou Scott's not-so-fruity fruitcake. By WEB RUN - Chapel Hill News

Suit filed against Chatham farm
[Dec. 17, 2004] Bear Creek - Three families filed a lawsuit in Wake County Friday against a Chatham County farm, saying their children got ill with E. coli after visiting the farm's petting zoo at the N.C. State Fair in October. The North Carolina Division of Public Health has linked 33 of a reported 108 E. coli cases to Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo in Bear Creek, an area southwest of Pittsboro. But a lawyer representing Crossroads Farm said the animals were inspected beforehand, and signs warned people at the zoo to wash their hands. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Business is booming for amp maker
[Dec. 17, 2004] ittsboro may be a quiet country town, but it creates a lot of noise. The intensity is enough to power a Bruce Springsteen concert -- at least -- and it springs from a tiny building neighboring the town library. Blame noisemaker Steve Carr. He's the mastermind behind a growing breed of guitar amplifiers sold throughout the country -- and now even parts of the globe -- that's made from scratch in his Pittsboro workshop. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

Cookbook reflects on caring community
[Dec. 16, 2004] Fearrington Village - What makes a neighborhood special? Residents of one Chatham country community don't have to think twice before answering this question. It's a friendly place, where people reach out to one another and support worthwhile endeavors that benefit everyone. It's a community that welcomes newcomers with a greeting and a home-cooked meal, and recipes are traded over the fence. Diverse and vibrant, with a mix of young and old inhabitants, working or retired or in between, it has a cachet all its own. To put it simply, Fearrington villagers will tell you theirs is a community that truly cares, where volunteering is a way of life. By WEB RUN - Sanford Herald

Textile plants to close; 300 will lose jobs
[Dec. 15, 2004] Charles Craft Inc. will close its last two remaining textile plants in the state early next year, laying off more than 300 people in Scotland and Chatham counties. The Laurinburg-based company announced this week that on Feb. 12, it will shut down its Siler City yarn-spinning plant, which employs about 137 people, and its 176-person Laurinburg plant, which focuses on kitchen-craft products. By WEB RUN - N&O

Rezoning OK'd for 1,546-home project
[Dec. 14, 2004] A golf course community that would more than double Pittsboro's population has passed its first test along the road toward approval. Pittsboro Town Board members voted unanimously this week to approve the rezoning of the 773-acre River Oaks site to allow the mixed-use, 1,546-home development. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun

More Chatham housing on track
[Dec. 13, 2004] As the Chapel Ridge subdivision prepares to sell more of its Chatham County lots, two smaller subdivisions are on track to be built on the neighboring land. The county's Board of Commissioners approved sketch designs Monday for Page Subdivision and Womble Subdivision. Page includes 74 lots on about 105 acres, and Womble includes 56 lots on about 202 acres. By WEB RUN - Herald-Sun