It has not been an easy summer on the Florida coast, and I could hear resignation and weariness in my sister’s voice as she watched the rain and wind of Hurricane Frances slowly roll into Sarasota. We talk a lot more, it seems, during hurricane season–wishing each other well as cyclones near the west coast […]
Kirk Ross
Bio: Kirk Ross is a freelance columnist for INDY Week and founded the online news and feature publication The Carolina Mercury. He lives in Chapel Hill.Link: http://www.exileonjonesstreet.comEmail: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/ExJS
Posted inMusic
Sounds fun
In the coming weeks we’ll be posting the ballot and voting information for our first annual Indy Music Awards. The main purpose of the awards will be to give props to the musicians, songwriters and producers of the best sounds to come out of the Triangle in the past year. Paper ballots will be available […]
Posted inGuides
Chapel Hill-Carrboro: Free buses and cheap lunches
Sure, you can have a swell time on the town and manage a lot of meals in the western Triangle for $100 a week. But you might want to hone your cooking skills and keep your eye out for those inexpensive shows ’cause rents continue to skyrocket and you may need some of that to […]
Posted inMusic
African beats
Because it’s a place that gets very little media coverage, most of what we hear about Africa is not good–Darfur, Burundi, DR Congo, Samuel Taylor and so on. We’re fortunate here to have an increasing number of opportunities to experience an altogether different and more positive side of African life. The Triangle–in particular Durham–continues to […]
Posted inNews
Dismal turnout
It’s pretty easy to guess what the big story is coming out of Tuesday’s elections and primaries. Turnout was dismal. Only about 10 to 15 percent of registered voters showed up, depending on where you live. Many folks say they simply didn’t know there was an election–as if all those signs spontaneously sprouted. The analysts […]
Posted inMusic
Go! Studios to close
After seven years as a practice space and concert venue, Go! Studios in Carrboro will close shop August 15, according to the club’s management. Owner Derek Powers says a number of factors led to the decision to close the club, which is located on Brewer Lane near the Chapel Hill/Carrboro line. “It’s been a struggle […]
Posted inNews
A state in play
News flash: Your vote counts. John Kerry got himself a smart lawyer Tuesday. And John Edwards will likely continue his pursuit from the primary season of a class action lawsuit against Bush & Co. for corporate malfeasance and cooking the books. His courtroom will be the union halls of the Midwest and the retirement centers […]
Posted inMusic
Gettin’ religion
It’s been 25 years since the group of environmental activists that formed the Eno River Association enlisted bands and volunteers to put on the first Eno River Festival. For that group of pioneers and a host of those to follow, saving the river was more religion than activism. So it’s appropriate that headlining Saturday’s opening […]
Posted inNews
Why the delay over MLK?
Now taking bets on how long it will be before the controversy in Chapel Hill over renaming Airport Road to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard fades into oblivion. Years? Months? Weeks? That’s debatable, perhaps, but what’s not debatable is that further indecision will only serve to keep the flames of outrage that the Town Council […]
Posted inNews
Local 506 changes hands
Former WXYC music director Glenn Boothe, who returned to Chapel Hill after more than a decade working for Caroline, Sony, Island and Epic, signed the papers this week to buy Local 506. Boothe, who got into the candy distribution business upon his return to the state in 2001, says he doesn’t expect to make a […]