So the sales tax passed, but was it really because of higher municipal voter turnout?

Turns out, no.

Voter turnout was actually slightly higher in the rural precincts that did not have a municipal race on the ballot. Turnout in those 10 precincts was 14.7 percent compared with municipal  turnout of 12.8 percent.

Among rural precincts, 65 percent of voters opposed the tax, 35 percent supported it. The numbers were nearly flipped in the Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough precincts, with 66 percent supporting it and 34 percent against it.

So what do you make of this? What does this say about  the ideological and cultural differences between rural Orange County and Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough?

Read more analysis on the referendum in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

Shred-a-thons are being held across the state tomorrow (Oct. 22) to help protect consumers from identity theft, and four events will be held right here in the Triangle:

Playing in its annual Wood Bat Tournament at Orange High School, the OHS baseball team led Smithfield-Selma 1-0 with two out in the bottom of the second inning Friday nigh when play was suspended due to severe rain and lightning in the area.

The Scholastic Summer League baseball game will resume this afternoon, with the winner advancing to play East Chapel Hill in the championship game at 7 p.m.

East Chapel Hill defeated Bunn, 6-4, in Game 1 of the tournament Friday.

Playing in the annual Wood Bat Tournament at Orange High School, Smithfield-Selma trailed 1-0 Friday night in stormy Hillsborough when play was suspended due to severe rain and lightning in the area.

Orange led Smithfield-Selma with two outs in the bottom of the second inning.

The Scholastic Summer League baseball game will resume this afternoon, with the winner advancing to play East Chapel Hill in the championship game at 7 p.m. The loser between OHS and SSS is scheduled to play Bunn at 5 p.m. in the tournament's consolation game.

From correspondent John Sharpe

The proposed Hillsborough town budget for 2011-12 avoids a property tax increase, but raises rates for water and sewer service. It also eliminates six positions.

Operating expenses would total $13.5 million, with $6.6 million for the general fund and $6.8 million for the water and sewer fund. Those represent decreases of 17.5 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, from the 2010-11 budget.

At the current property tax rate of 62 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, the tax rate on a $200,000 home would be $1,240.

A 5.9 percent increase is proposed in water rates, along with an 8.8 percent increase in sewer rates. This translates into an extra 43 cents per 1,000 gallons for water for in-town customers and an extra 84 cents for out-of-town customers; along with another 70 cents per 1,000 gallons for sewer for in-town customers and $1.37 for out-of-town customers.

Elimination of the six positions is expected to save the town $400,000, and would include the assistant town manager/public works director, as well as five vacant positions.

Look for more on the proposed town budget coming Sunday in The Chapel Hill News.

UNC Hospitals is breaking ground today on its new 68-bed hospital in Hillsborough.

The hospital will have 50 acute-care beds, 18 intensive-care beds, six operating rooms, two procedure rooms and an emergency department. The $200 million project will be completed in two phases. The first will include an outpatient clinic with urgent care, imaging and oncology services will be finished in 2013. The second phase will include all in-patient beds would be completed in 2015.

UNC Hospitals main campus in Chapel Hill has been overcrowded for a decade, with room capacity at 80 to 90 percent most days, said spokeswoman Jennifer James. The new hospital is part of a long-term plan to move less-complicated medical cases off of the main campus and streamline services in Chapel Hill for complicated cases.

Read more on today's groundbreaking online and in Thursday's N&O and Sunday's Chapel Hill News.
 

A grand opening ceremony for Orange County's new Fairview Park is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the park, located at 195 Torain St. in Hillsborough.

Activities for the afternoon include a tennis clinic, horseshoes, basketball and volleyball.  Some remarks from county officials will also be made. Refreshments will be served.

Amenities at Fairview include: a lighted baseball/softball field, lighted basketball courts, hiking trails, horseshoe pits, picnic shelter, playground, lighted tennis courts, volleyball court and a lighted, one-quarter mile walking track.  The tennis courts will be the first public courts in northern Orange County outside of a school campus.
 
A master plan map of the park can be viewed on the main Orange County website, www.co.orange.nc.us .  Look under “What’s New” for the Fairview Park Site Plan.
 
Board of Orange County Commissioners’ Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Board Member Barry Jacobs will speak at Saturday's ceremony, as will Fairview Community Watch representative Brian Lowen.

Funding for this park comes from a 2001 Parks and Open Space Bond, a North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant, Town of Hillsborough sidewalk funding and Orange County Payment–in-lieu funding.  St. Matthews Episcopal Church also provided funding assistance.

Looking at the results from the highly-competitive PAC-6 championship meet, nobody would have ever guessed Wednesday night that East Chapel Hill was missing several swimmers due to illness. The Wildcats easily won both the boys' and girls' titles at the competition in Hillsborough's Triangle Sportsplex.
In typical fashion, East Chapel Hill ran away with the competition early on, and with 743 points, the lady Wildcats beat second place Jordan High by 224 points. Riverside High came in third with 388 points, and Northern finished with 306 points.
On the boys’ side, the Wildcats took home a substantial victory, scoring 712 points compared to second-place Jordan’s 559. Riverside and Northern brought up the rear with 354 and 219 points respectively.
See correspondent Kelly Parson's story in Sunday's Chapel Hill News for more.
 

At least one employee who was supposed to be making sure the Hillsborough Police Department met accreditation requirements was instead conducting for-profit business on work time using her town e-mail address.

After a public records request by The News & Observer/Chapel Hill News, the town released more than 80 e-mails dated from February 2007 to March 2009 showing that former accreditation manager Zina Long Barnett was running a tax-preparation business from her office at the Police Department.

The newspaper had asked for any e-mail messages police employees had used for side businesses. Internet abuse was one of the main problems Peterson discovered after a mock assessment last October found the department out of compliance with accreditation standards.

“Significant numbers of e-mails were found indicating some employees were spending a large amount of work time running personal businesses in lieu of tending to assigned responsibilities, thus contributing to neglect of duty and poor performance,” Peterson wrote.

Peterson said two employees were running businesses on town time. The second employee objected to the release of his or her e-mails on the grounds they are protected personnel information. The town has thus far withheld them.

Between October and June, five employees, including Barnett and former Police Chief Clarence Birkhead, left the department.

Efforts to reach Barnett via e-mail, Facebook and telephone were unsuccessful.

Look for more on this story in tomorrow's N&O and Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

The last two Chapel Hill-area golfers playing in the CGA’s N.C. Junior Championships have bowed out of the match-play competition.
Cedar Ridge junior Casey Ward defeated Kayla Sciupider of Etowah, the medalist of stroke play, 2 & 1, in Thursday morning’s Round of 16. But Ward then fell to Madison Kennedy of Salisbury, by the same 2 & 1 score, in the afternoon's quarterfinals.
Kennedy reached the quarterfinals by defeating Northwood junior Emily Brooks, 3 & 2, in the Round of 16.