The one-year anniversary of national shutdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic passed earlier this month. There were dire predictions about the survival of restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues when the shutdowns began and the case counts and fatalities grew. Many of those fears were realized. A lot of businesses couldn’t make takeout or delivery … Continue reading Count murals among new things to see in downtown Burlington this spring
Community
Looking for a comfort zone in 2021
I wore a lot of hats in 2020. This is neither euphemism nor metaphor. It’s a fact. I also sported a large variety of shorts, T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants – lots and lots of sweatpants. Coats and ties became a thing of the past. Button-down shirts, optional. Sneakers, flip-flops and slippers replaced work shoes. Yes, … Continue reading Looking for a comfort zone in 2021
For sale: Smitty’s a cool business opportunity for the right owner
Smitty's Homemade location on Front Street before the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Smitty's. Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream, a signature and beloved Alamance County business with stores in three downtown areas, is for sale. Alamance County Superior Court Judge Tom Lambeth and Amy Nakhle, co-founders of the business in 2002, made the tough decision to … Continue reading For sale: Smitty’s a cool business opportunity for the right owner
A crazy week in Alamance County
The past 10-plus days in Alamance County have produced the greatest amount of sadness, frustration, agitation, outright anger, half-truths, gaffes, misstatements, fabrications, miscalculations, social action, political action, protests, vigils, walks, marches, racism and antiracism that I can remember over such a short period of time in this community --- a place I've lived for 21 … Continue reading A crazy week in Alamance County
Updated: Now is not the time to cut funding for an election
Update on June 16. Monday night, June 15, my friend, Times-News reporter and former newspaper colleague Isaac Groves posted this on Twitter from the budget hearing of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. I'm glad to see the commissioners make a move to help make the November elections process smoother. Thanks. It was something that … Continue reading Updated: Now is not the time to cut funding for an election
Understanding bias, privilege and what really matters
When nationally syndicated newspaper columnist Leonard Pitts spoke at Elon in September of 2015 as part of a lecture series featuring Pulitzer Prize winners, it was only a few months after the massacre of nine African-Americans by a white supremacist during Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. It touched … Continue reading Understanding bias, privilege and what really matters
Out of STEAM in downtown Burlington
When I saw the note via Facebook on June 1 I was not surprised. Deeply saddened, but not surprised. To our members, supporters, friends, family, and the community here in Alamance County: It is with a sad heart that I must report to you that as of 5pm Sunday May 31st we have ceased our … Continue reading Out of STEAM in downtown Burlington
Carrying a life and death message forward from now on
As a newspaper reporter, editor and now community blogger, I have written about the evils of racism for almost 40 years. I have pointed out biases, called out politicians, noted historical incidents like lynchings, attempted to define the idea of privilege, saluted black and white leaders who mattered, taken part in Rev. Dr. Martin Luther … Continue reading Carrying a life and death message forward from now on
Just a phase: What’s reopening and how in downtown Burlington
A few hours after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unfurled the new and slightly confusing "Safer at Home" phase two plan for reopening the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and other impacted businesses in Alamance County began their own rollouts for how to serve customers safely in the weeks and months ahead. And it's … Continue reading Just a phase: What’s reopening and how in downtown Burlington
An Easter tradition still endures despite . . .
Three years ago I wrote about the only long-standing Easter tradition in my immediate family -- placing flowers at the Danbury Town Cemetery on graves in the area marked of for the Taylors. The headline back in March of 2018, "An Enduring Easter Tradition." Today I am happy to report that it still endures, even … Continue reading An Easter tradition still endures despite . . .
Madison's Avenue 