Pittsboro Journal

Start a conversation about fixing hydraulic hose blowouts, replacing O-rings and welding broken rock-crusher teeth and you’ve got Jeronimo Prieto Medina’s attention. That’s the kind of hands-on work he loves. For 11 years, he used his skills to maintain and repair heavy equipment as an employee for several companies. In 2009, he started his own company, JP Mechanic and Welding, working out of his Siler City home.

JournoList was a private Google Groups forum for discussing politics and the news media with 400 journalists, academics and others, most with left of center political views. A Free Republic poster compiled this list of known members of the Journolist. The following 64 names are confirmed members of the now-defunct JournoList listserv.

The 2010 ACC Football Kickoff is set for Sunday and Monday, July 25 & 26 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. ACC fans can experience the ACC Football Kickoff in a variety of ways. Coverage of the 2010 event will include video on theACC.com, Tweeter coverage with the #ACCfbk hashtag and fan questions for interview sessions. Below is a complete list of ways to experience the 2010 event.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday the names of the 24 football student-athletes who have been chosen by its 12 league schools to attend the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff, July 25-26 at the Grandover Resort located in Greensboro.

At its meeting on July 19, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted to reinstate the Public Library’s bookmobile service, effective July 21, while the service is studied further. Elaine Haidt had emailed Chatham County commissioner Sally Kost, describing the negative consequences of the Board of Commissioners' decision to kill the bookmobile, and questioned why there was so little public information and discussion before the axe fell.

Wow. That is surprising and very disappointing news concerning the placement of spring break right before AP exams. Almost as surprising as the scheduling Northwood did which puts all but one of the AP exams in the spring. I understand the thought behind this, to teach the course closer to the testing time but it overloads students who are taking more than two AP classes (my daughter will now have to drop AP Stat). Also the class time in the spring is shortened because of the test schedule.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners will meet on Monday, July 19, 2010 at the District Courtroom in Pittsboro, NC at 6 p.m.

Related:
Official Chatham County, NC

Chatham Transit Network (CTN) invites the public to speak out on local transportation needs through a survey that will help shape its five-year plan. The survey will be available through Friday, August 13.

Hidden treasure in Chatham County? Join us for a free introduction to geocaching using GPS units to find hidden caches. Geocaching is a fun way for young and old to combine enjoying the outdoors, using modern technology, and promoting good stewardship of the environment. Our trip will be held at the Jordan Lake Educational State Forest at 2832 Big Woods Road.

Chatham County water customers can pay their water bills at any Walmart location for a small service fee, according to Michelle Ballard, customer service manager for Chatham County Utilities.

It’s hard to believe that community leaders elected and appointed to promote educational excellence would sabotage the students they’re supposed to serve, but that’s precisely what Chatham County school officials and the Board of Education have done.

My experiences with multiple providers has always lead me back to Verizon. They may lack the EyePhones, but they make up for it in coverage. I'm currently on a Blackberry Curve i picked up at our local Radio Shack. It's not a good idea. Not trying to bash the local Radio Shack but Sprint, the service they sell, is horrible in even downtown Pittsboro.

The family of former University of North Carolina head men's basketball coach Dean Smith issued a statement on Saturday, detailing their father's mental and physical condition.

The 2010 Meet The Pack Day has been set for Saturday, August 14 at Carter-Finley Stadium from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. This is a great opportunity for Wolfpack fans to meet and receive autographs of their favorite NC State football players and coaches.

The summer is a very important time for college football teams as student-athletes spend the offseason running, lifting weights and training for the upcoming season while also balancing classes, jobs and internships. For the second straight day, members of the Blue Devil gridiron squad came together for another community service event, this time staying on their own campus. The entire Duke football team spent Monday morning cleaning up the grounds of Duke University and their home venue, Wallace Wade Stadium.

More than 100 members of the Duke football program spent over two hours visiting the children and families at the Durham Rescue Mission on Sunday afternoon. Head coach David Cutcliffe was joined by the Blue Devil players to enjoy a warm day with the families at the Good Samaritan Inn on East Knox Street.

Consumer Reports provides a list of useful smart-phone apps for drivers, tested for the major smart-phone platforms, in the August issue of the magazine. Some of the apps are free. The full list is available in the August issue of Consumer Reports. The reports are also available to subscribers of www.ConsumerReports.org.

Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe announced on July 2 that former Blue Devil wide receiver and team captain Jomar Wright has returned to his alma mater to serve as a graduate assistant coach. Wright will work with Duke’s defensive unit.

Here is a followup to the school board meeting held on June 21.

I was not able to stay for the whole commissioner's meeting on June 21. Based on the discussion, and the very good questions asked by the commissioners, they were in favor of refreshing the high school laptops, but not, at this time, in favor of the iPads at the middle school. The proposal on the agenda, iPads for all 6-8 teachers and grade 8 students, was different than the oral presentation by Dr. McCoy, which was 660 iPads that might be given to 8th graders, or maybe 6th graders, or maybe kept as class sets on carts - we're not really sure how we're going to use them but we want flexibility.