Chapel Hill’s Town Council joined UNC students Monday in support of early voting and student voting rights.

An N.C. House bill would shorten early voting periods, end same-day voter registration and require students to vote in their home county or by absentee ballot. A second, Senate bill would keep parents from claiming students as dependents on their taxes if they register to vote in another county or register their vehicles at a different address.

Shelby Hudspeth, director of state and external affairs for UNC’s Student Body, said the proposed legislation would negatively affect student voting rights and create a tax burden on parents. Similar resolutions have been sent to more than a hundred House and Senate members, news outlets and others, she said.

“UNC students consider the town of Chapel Hill their home. Many of us are active in the community, whether it’s through volunteering, having a job on Franklin Street or spending time on Franklin Street, so we feel that we should be able to participate actively through voting in elections here,” she said.

Before the council voted, Council member Matt Czajkowski pointed out that the town's support probably wouldn’t carry any authority with the state.

“Do you think that the town of Chapel Hill endorsing this will strengthen or weaken your position with (House) Speaker (Thom) Tillis and (Senate) President (Pro Tem Phil) Berger? If it were up to me, for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t start here,” he said.

Wake County Board of Commissioners Chairman Joe Bryan and county manager David Cooke met with the editorial board and some newsroom folks today to chat about things. Perhaps it’s not surprising that the county’s relationship with the school board was the subject that took up most of our time.

Here are my notes of the meeting. They are NOT verbatim.

President Barack Obama invited a broad spectrum of established and budding scientists to the White House for a science fair, including some people with North Carolina ties.

When one of the student presenters -- an eighth-grader from Arizona named Joey -- displayed his air cannon, the president couldn't resist learning more.

And when the president learned the air cannon could fire marshmallows up to 176 feet, he talks Joey into firing the cannon. Indoors. In the White House.

The rest, as they say, is presidential history -- and a potential Secret Service headache.

Boys and girls in Durham are learning a new sport - rugby - from Duke University students and volunteers.
 
About 30 youths, most ages 9 and 10, have been learning the game since August in an in-house fall league at the John Avery Boys and Girls Club at 808 E. Pettigrew St.

"It has been a pretty good response for such a new program," said James Gillenwater, a second-year law student who formed the league as his N.C. Albert Schweitzer Fellowship health-based project, which is to promote youth fitness through sports.  

Marian Anders tells the truth when she writes, "Unless you want to be an English teacher, you only need to know the grammar necessary to write correctly -- for school, work and you personal life." That is the guiding principle of Anders' book, "My Dog Bites the English Teacher: Practical Grammar Made Quick and Easy"

Some schools show Obama; others want parental consent

Teachers, students and parents prepare for upcoming classes.

See photos from a surprise gift of new musical instruments for young musicians. Photos by staff photojournalist Chris Seward.

Some students at the Raleigh high school offer their thoughts on the Wake County school board's vote Wednesday to remove the school's International Baccalaureate magnet program.

BEIJING — High jumper Jesse Williams and USA basketball player Carlos Boozer aren't the only people with local ties experiencing the Olympics in Beijing.

UNC senior Rachel Pointer, seen here interviewing Candace Parker after after the USA women beat Mali on Wednesday, is one of 30 UNC students working as volunteers at Olympic venues, shagging quotes for the Olympic quote sheets.

Pointer said she has been working the basketball events at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium with seven other UNC students since the games began on Aug. 8.