If you've been thinking of sending us a letter, about Obey Creek, cell phones or absolutely anything, now's a great time. We have emptied our virtual mailbag for Wednesday's paper. Tell us what's on your mind at editor@nando.com. Thanks.

Here's a look at yesterday's local headlines, still online if you missed 'em:

CROWDED CORNER: I used to work out at Peak/O2 fitness and that I-40/NC 54/Farrington Road intersection is plenty tricky. Jim Wise says two proposed office buildings could complicate things further. (Look for a column by Bob Wilson on this in Wednesday's CHN.)

AUTISTIC BOY BOOTED: I thought we'd get some reaction to this story about a Smith Middle School student who got kicked off the bus, his mother says, because he has Asperger's. Read Katelyn Ferral's story and see if you agree. It made me think.

INSPIRED BIOGRAPHY: If you did read John Sharpe's story about Carla Shuford and the new book about her by friend Rita Berman, you may want to jot down noon to 2 p.m. this Thursday or Saturday, when Carla will hold a book signing at Robinson's Seafood on Robserson Street in Carrboro (near the old farmers market).

Dave Hart previews South African playwright Athol Fugard's visit (and the performances in the ArtsCenter production of his "Blood Knot" were spectacular).  I ask Kevin Foy about the new 15-501 work group (got some comments on Facebook about that last week), and Orange County Voice's Bonnie Hauser has some budget barbs for local government.

It was a big issue with lots of stuff, so I hope you found/find things that surprised or entertained you. Send us some letters (up to about 300 words), and thanks for reading,

Mark 

Carrboro’s first hotel and parking deck will soon be under construction downtown.

The first phase of the 300 East Main development includes a 142-room Hampton Inn & Suites with 18,100 square feet of retail/restaurant space on the ground floor facing East Main Street. A 500-space parking deck will sit behind the hotel and provide free, public parking.

Construction of this phase will take about 14 months, the developers announced today in a news release. The first work, already begun, will demolish existing buildings at 304 and 404 E. Main St. and two empty houses on Padgett Lane and Boyd Street.

Developers will hold a groundbreaking ceremony later this month after demolition is complete, according to the news release.

Here is a look at today's local headlines:

300 EAST MAIN ON THE MOVE: Developers say construction could begin on the Cat's Cradle/ArtsCenter shopping center makeover this summer. First up: a hotel and parking deck. Read Tammy Grubb's story here.

ON THE PORCH: The Bynum General Store celebrates 75 years as the Chatham County community's hub (and most recently, launching pad for Grammy-nominated singer Tift Merritt). Read how residents rallied after the post office closed in Dave Hart's story. 

DID POLICY LEAD TO TROUBLE?: Greenbridge needed to sell a certain number of units to get the bank loan the developers now can't pay back. Partner Tim Toben says the bank counted the units priced to meet the town's affordable housing mandate. So did the town indirectly contribute to the developers' financial collapse? Read Katelyn Ferral's story and tell us what you think at editor@nando.com.  

Sam Taylor says the Heels kept him connected in Basra. Susie Wilde says Chapel Hill writer Luli Gray never liked Aesop's "Ant and Grasshopper" (so she rewrote it). Monks are building a mandala, and former CHHS runner Kent Pecora is tearing up the track in the NCAA.

Lots going on. We still want to hear from you about UNC's proposed arts center at the old museum, OWASA's plans to tap Jordan Lake water in future droughts and whatever else is on your mind. Send us a letter at editor@nando.com.

Thanks for reading,

Mark 

In an announcement released a few minutes ago,  the Board of Directors says it voted recently to eliminate two positions:  executive director and Youth Performing Arts Conservatory director. 

Board Chair Karen Regan said the ArtsCenter faces the same problems many non-profit and for-profit businesses face in the current economy. In the letter to supporters, she said the board will work with the staff, volunteers and others to provide the day-to-day leadership the organization needs.  

Here's a show that got added to the calendar late and it's coming up fast: the incomparable Rickie Lee Jones, Oct. 19 at the Carrboro ArtsCenter. I wouldn't sleep on getting tickets because this should be a pretty quick sellout, and Jones' last performance at the ArtsCenter was great -- see below for the review. This is a rare chance to see someone of her stature in a very intimate space.

Jones casts her spell
By David Menconi, News & Observer
Jan. 31, 2004 

CARRBORO -- It was fitting that Rickie Lee Jones walked onstage at the ArtsCenter on Thursday night as a Bob Dylan song played over the loudspeakers. Where Jones used to draw comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits, at age 49 she seems more like Dylan -- right down to the protest songs on her latest album, and the fact that she declined to play her biggest hit single, 1979's "Chuck E.'s in Love."

Jones' impressionistic, nonlinear lyrics are more like evocative tone poems than conventional songs. Figuring out what her songs are supposed to mean can be maddening, but that's beside the point. Few performers push mood buttons as skillfully as Jones, and she makes the most of an unconventional voice that always sounds as if she has a cold.

Thursday night, the cascading jazz chords of "It Takes You There" felt like lying outside on a summer afternoon watching clouds go by. The smooth-gliding "Bitchenostrophy" transported the audience to a cafe in a European city. And as for "Little Yellow Town," a strange and atmospheric song from Jones' 1997 electronic "Ghostyhead" album, even she seemed at a loss as to how to describe it.

"This is about ..." Jones began, then stopped herself, shook her head and just started playing. About six trance-inducing minutes later, the song ended with a drawn breath.

Other interludes were considerably less mysterious, most notably the three overtly political songs that make up the heart of Jones' current album, "The Evening of My Best Day" (V2 Records). "Ugly Man" excoriated President George W. Bush in no uncertain terms ("He'll look at you and tell you lies/He grew up to be like his father"). "Little Mysteries" spun conspiracy theories about the 2000 presidential election. And "Tell Somebody (Repeal the Patriot Act)" was a house-shaking, gospel-style throwdown, on which Jones testified about life in the national security state.

"Where are the voices of dissent?" she asked. "Where are the voices of criticism?"

The sold-out house roared its approval, and a voice in the crowd hollered afterward, "Rickie Lee for president!"

Jones brought along a six-piece band that was sharp, precise and versatile, with a three-piece horn section that repeatedly switched instruments between various keyboards, percussion devices, accordions, horns and guitars. Jones played guitar most of the show except for the first song, which she sang with her hands in her pockets.

She also sat a spell at the keyboard for the beginning of the three-song encore, and flat broke every heart in the room with "Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)." Two songs later, as her band vamped, she smiled at the crowd and left the stage, as inscrutable as ever.

Happiness is a Megafaun show.

Seriously, this trio is a better mood elevator than Wellbutrin. It's not just that they're very, very good (and make no mistake, they are, in a way that has attracted nationwide notice). It's that they convey such a wonderful sense of joy onstage, even when thrashing about with a physical awkwardness that's downright endearing. You just can't help getting caught up in their communal spirit.

Saturday night at a soldout Carrboro ArtsCenter, Megafaun put on one of the best shows I've seen all year. It was a homecoming show from a six-week tour with Bowerbirds, and the intensive roadwork seems to have done both bands a world of good. I've never heard Bowerbirds sound better or more relaxed, and Megafaun's performance was a revelation. Every last note, nuance and flourish was perfectly placed, from the jingle-jangle chime of "The Fade" to the freak-folk dramatics of "Columns" to Brad Cook's flights of sound-effects fancy.

It really was brilliant, with good vibes and mutual love aplenty. I've said it before and I'll say it again: We're really lucky to have so many great bands in our midst. And if you're not out there partaking, you're really missing out.

ADDENDUM (8/25/09): "Brad Cook Is Not Your Man."

SECOND (9/1/09): Spin review.

Toward the end of her interview on WUNC's "The State of Things" last week, Triangle expatriate Alina Simone mentioned that she's writing a book about her "strange adventures in Russian indie-rock." Plenty of raw material there, given that Simone has spent the past few years reclaiming her Russian heritage. Curiously, however, she's devoting a chapter in the book to Britney Spears, an object of fascination for Simone ever since she discovered that Spears' 2003 hit "Toxic" was inescapable even in deepest Siberia.

Simone says she's also going to record an EP of Spears covers, including "Toxic," "...Baby One More Time" -- and, of course, "Oops!...I Did It Again," a jailbait anthem that might be the skeeviest song in Spears' catalog. Saturday night at the Carrboro ArtsCenter, Simone closed her show with a jagged guitar version of "Oops!," to general confusion and amusement. Simone transposed the titillation of Spears' original to something like anguished paranoia, and it took most of the first verse for everyone to recognize the song. There were audible snickers the first time Simone got to the money-shot line: I'm not. That. Innocent.

It was a great shock-value moment, even if Richard Thompson beat her to it by a couple of years. How much you want to bet Thompson covers that one, too, when he plays the ArtsCenter in March?

ADDENDUM (1/26/09): Here's what was happening right next door to the ArtsCenter Saturday night.

SECOND ADDENDUM (7/21/09): More strange Britney covers.

You know, we just haven't had enough capital-G Guitar Gods come through here lately. Fortunately, that will change the month after next. The great Richard Thompson, who is about the godliest guitarist on the planet, just popped up on the schedule for March 8-9 at the Carrboro ArtsCenter. Tickets go on sale Friday, via the Cat's Cradle.