Triangle Blog Blog

15/12/2023

The Mystery of the Hippo in the Mill Race Branch
by Allen Baddour

On the banks of Mill Race Branch, a tributary of Bolin Creek off Hillsborough Road, not too far from the coal ash pit upon which the Chapel Hill Police Department sits, new development was coming. It was the summer of 1995, and as with so many new developments in Chapel Hill, a controversy was brewing.

This controversy involved not the number of houses, affordability, or any of the other issues we so commonly grapple with. Along the banks of Bolin Creek, just off Bolinwood Drive, a large concrete hippopotamus had watched over traffic from the woods edge for years. But around July 4th of 1995, the hippo … disappeared.

I was a law student at the time, and a lifelong resident of Chapel Hill. The hippo had always been there, so far as I was aware. It seemed to emerge each Fall, as the leafy canopy surrounding it receded. Each spring, the leafy branches would again cause most of us to forget about it for a season or two.

A friend lived in the Stratford Hill Apartments, and almost daily trips over that way meant many friendly waves to the hippo. But one day, the hippo was gone. We were not really aware of the new development coming (Mill Race), and my friend and I speculated for a few weeks about how a 1000 pound concrete hippo could … go missing.

I finally decided to do something. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Chapel Hill News. My letter sparked a little curiosity, and local reporter Anne Blythe started digging. The Chapel Hill Planning Department didn’t know what happened to it. Nor did the developer, Rolf Sass. Eunice Brock, a real estate agent, put up a $200 reward.

The hippo was a beloved hidden treasure of Chapel Hill. If you knew, you knew. It was unassuming, half hidden, and if you knew about it, you were instantly… Chapel Hill. Kids played on it, even though it was on private property. It wasn’t officially Chapel Hill, but it was quintessentially Chapel Hill.

Then, mysteriously and simultaneously, ransom photos showed up at the Chapel Hill News and the Chapel Hill Herald. Ah, the days of multiple local print media. In unmarked envelopes, with no accompanying note….

15/12/2023

The Mystery of the Hippo in the Mill Race Branch
by Allen Baddour

On the banks of Mill Race Branch, a tributary of Bolin Creek off Hillsborough Road, not too far from the coal ash pit upon which the Chapel Hill Police Department sits, new development was coming. It was the summer of 1995, and as with so many new developments in Chapel Hill, a controversy was brewing.

This controversy involved not the number of houses, affordability, or any of the other issues we so commonly grapple with. Along the banks of Bolin Creek, just off Bolinwood Drive, a large concrete hippopotamus had watched over traffic from the woods edge for years. But around July 4th of 1995, the hippo … disappeared.

I was a law student at the time, and a lifelong resident of Chapel Hill. The hippo had always been there, so far as I was aware. It seemed to emerge each Fall, as the leafy canopy surrounding it receded. Each spring, the leafy branches would again cause most of us to forget about it for a season or two.

A friend lived in the Stratford Hill Apartments, and almost daily trips over that way meant many friendly waves to the hippo. But one day, the hippo was gone. We were not really aware of the new development coming (Mill Race), and my friend and I speculated for a few weeks about how a 1000 pound concrete hippo could … go missing.

I finally decided to do something. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Chapel Hill News. My letter sparked a little curiosity, and local reporter Anne Blythe started digging. The Chapel Hill Planning Department didn’t know what happened to it. Nor did the developer, Rolf Sass. Eunice Brock, a real estate agent, put up a $200 reward.

The hippo was a beloved hidden treasure of Chapel Hill. If you knew, you knew. It was unassuming, half hidden, and if you knew about it, you were instantly… Chapel Hill. Kids played on it, even though it was on private property. It wasn’t officially Chapel Hill, but it was quintessentially Chapel Hill.

Then, mysteriously and simultaneously, ransom photos showed up at the Chapel Hill News and the Chapel Hill Herald. Ah, the days of multiple local print media. In unmarked envelopes, with no accompanying note….

15/12/2023

The Mystery of the Hippo in the Mill Race Branch

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

14/12/2023

we interviewed andy jenks about the awesome new afterschool and evening bus transportation provided by - a great way to ensure more kids in our district can participate in afterschool activities.

14/12/2023

Our school district has added afterschool/evening bus transportation. That’s awesome.

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

13/12/2023

A very happy birthday to Braxton Foushee and a very happy day first annual day of service in Carrboro as we celebrate the many ways he’s given back over the decades.

12/12/2023

We are no longer posting on Twitter and plan to make Threads our primary platform. We encourage organizations, elected officials, and non-profits in Chapel Hill and Carrboro to join us.

We created a guide to showcase the various platforms and who is using them. https://triangleblogblog.com/2023/12/12/organizations-and-electeds-of-chapel-hill-and-carrboro-its-time-to-get-off-twitter-heres-how/

12/12/2023

Organizations and electeds of Chapel Hill and Carrboro: It’s time to get off Twitter. Here’s how.

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

11/12/2023

who would you pick to be the person of the year in chapel hill/carrboro? link in our bio

11/12/2023

Excerpt from the munitions plant employee handbook, ca. 1942. Chapel Hill Historical Society.

There were significant health hazards to the work, not entirely unlike those experienced by former mill workers. One local historian writes: “those that had once been covered with lint now went home with yellow dust on their arms and faces.” The yellow dust was tetryl, an explosive powder used in the shells.

Former employees Ernest Hearn and Columbus Oakley talked about the tetryl powder in their oral histories. Hearn recalled the stains it left on his skin: “If you use it, it’s just like picking blackberries . . . Get it on your hands and all you can do is let it wear off.” Oakley was more explicit about the health concerns: “I didn’t like it. There wasn’t much work to it, no labor to it, but it wasn’t very healthy . . . inhaling dust, tetryl dust . . . it affected your lungs. You had a cough . . . And it yellowed you up. Our hair turned red around the edges of our caps.”

The tetryl powder was also highly explosive. Columbus Oakley recalled “several small explosions” in which some of the employees “got burnt.” But there was at least one incident that was far more serious. Early in the morning of September 6, 1942, a large explosion shook Carrboro and Chapel Hill. The blast was big enough that a resident of Oak Street remembered feeling the effects: “every dish and everything in the house rattled.” Several employees were injured and one man was killed. It was the only reported fatality at the plant.

Story in bio!

11/12/2023

The Town of Carrboro, known for its grocery co-op, arts festivals, and farmer’s market, and led by a council that just last year passed a resolution describing the town as a “peace-loving community” opposed to “tyranny, unprovoked aggression, and war,” today feels like an extremely unlikely home for a defense contractor to set up shop. Yet for a few years in the 1940s, Carrboro was a key contributor to the military effort, hosting a munitions plant that would produce over a hundred million anti-aircraft shells used by the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Story in bio.

11/12/2023

The history of Carrboro’s World War II munitions plant

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

10/12/2023

Free Vermicomposting workshop coming on December 16

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

10/12/2023

The Local Reporter substantially reworked a piece without any notice. That’s unethical and violates what you learn in journalism 101. It's not the paper's first ethical lapse. There have been many over the past four years.

Link in bio

10/12/2023

The Local Reporter substantially reworked a piece without any notice. That’s unethical.

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

09/12/2023

a gorgeous day for the holiday parade.

08/12/2023

This is kind of cruel (from ’s website).

You go to the page and it just says roads are open to traffic 😑

08/12/2023

cleaning up the old google drive!

08/12/2023

What you need to know about North Carolina’s Medicaid eligibility expansion

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

07/12/2023

Last night the Carrboro Town Council voted to hold a special election in November 2024 to fill Mayor Foushee’s now-empty council seat

This will mean Carrboro’s special election for a council seat will coincide with the 2024 Presidential election. That’s really cool.

Turnout in odd off-year election cycles is roughly 20-25 percent. Turnout in even years – when we elect the Governor and President – is about 75 percent. That means a lot more people will be engaged in the council race.

(And for those of us who hope Carrboro and Chapel Hill switch to even-year municipal elections, a test to see what happens.)

As voting guru and former Chapel Hill Town Council member Gerry Cohen has pointed out, a number of municipalities in NC have switched to even-year elections in the past decade: Winston-Salem, Asheville, Raleigh, Lincolnton, and all of the towns in Stanly and Surry Counties.

We'll have an interview with about even-year municipal elections up soon. (We're working on it!)

07/12/2023

A historic day and a November 2024 special election for Carrboro

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

06/12/2023

lolololosob

06/12/2023

uh oh spaghetti o

06/12/2023

Ride Bikes with us in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro parade parade!

Coming this Saturday, December 9 is the Chapel Hil - Carrboro Holiday Parade . This year, we are riding for the IFC! When we ride by, we will be collecting donations on our cargo bikes!

Items most needed are corn, canned fruit, cereal and snacks (crackers, granola bars, etc.). Of course, all items are welcome. The main thi8ng we ask is for no glass jars or containers.

We are also inviting you to join us!! This year, we are calling on all owners of cargo bikes and bikes that have extra carrying capacity.

Ride in the parade with us. It is a kid friendly event. The parade is only 1.3 miles long and we are rolling along at walking pace. Decorate your bike and have fun in the parade.

06/12/2023

Ride Bikes with us in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro parade parade!

Coming this Saturday, December 9 is the Chapel Hil - Carrboro Holiday Parade . This year, we are riding for the IFC! When we ride by, we will be collecting donations on our cargo bikes!

Items most needed are corn, canned fruit, cereal and snacks (crackers, granola bars, etc.). Of course, all items are welcome. The main thi8ng we ask is for no glass jars or containers.

We are also inviting you to join us!! This year, we are calling on all owners of cargo bikes and bikes that have extra carrying capacity.

Ride in the parade with us. It is a kid friendly event. The parade is only 1.3 miles long and we are rolling along at walking pace. Decorate your bike and have fun in the parade.

06/12/2023

so great to see Barbara Foushee, , .merrill.llc and get sworn as mayor and council members.

06/12/2023

so great to see Barbara Foushee, , .merrill.llc and get sworn as mayor and council members.

05/12/2023

This Saturday, December 9 is the Chapel Hill – Carrboro holiday parade! What is notable this year is there will not be any vehicles.

We (the cycling community) are also inviting you to join us!!

This year, we are calling on all owners of cargo bikes and bikes that have extra carrying capacity. Or any bike. All bikes are welcome!

Ride in the parade with us. It is a kid friendly event. The parade is only 1.3 miles long and we are rolling along at walking pace. Decorate your bike and have fun in the parade.

How to join us:
Get your bikes to the parade start by 9:30AM.
We will be at the intersection of Church and Franklin (across from Target)
We will be hard to miss. Look for a bunch of bikes decorated for the holidays!
We are in Zone A. (directions, parking details)

05/12/2023

The Town of Chapel Hill is planning the next steps of the eastern extension of the Morgan Creek Greenway. The current greenway stops at the east end at Merritt’s Pasture.

This project will offer extraordinary connectivity to residents of the Morgan Creek area into Merritt’s.

It will allow people in this neighborhood to bike all the way into Southern Village Market St, and as far south into Dogwood Acres. For more ambitious bike riders, it also offers easy reach into the Glenwood Shopping center area.

There are three alignments. We discuss each in the blog post. There are also public information meetings. (If you're planning to attend one, wait to fill out the survey so you can get all of your questions answered.)

Link in bio

05/12/2023

Just noticed this photo of the 2015 Philosopher's Way Trail Run is of an owl with a pair of running shoes. Object-stealing owls have been a thing for as long as there have been owls, we guess. 🦉

05/12/2023

Take the Morgan Creek Greenway East Survey!

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

05/12/2023

Ride with us in the Cycling Community in the Holiday Parade!

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.