Latino Issues

El Centro Hispano to raise funds for Workers’ Center

Liz Tablazon December 1, 2014

The Carrboro location of El Centro Hispano is about to get bigger. Representatives from the nonprofit organization and other partner organizations, such as the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Human Rights Center and Orange County Justice United, held a conference call on Nov. 17 to begin planning a fundraiser for a building expansion. Construction on the current building is scheduled to… Read more →

Student-run health fair targets Latinos

Sarah Woronoff February 24, 2014

Nonprofits and other organizations came together Feb. 8 at the Hargraves Community Center to promote health to the Latino community. The Carolina Latina/o Collaborative hosted the health fair that included services such as free fluoride treatments, blood pressure screenings and glucose screens. Amos Fung, a UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore and an event coordinator, said the purpose of the fair is to… Read more →

Don Jose Tienda Mexicana moves from its 10-year location

Alex Dixon February 24, 2014

At 1:30 p.m. on a Monday, Gloria Gonzalez, 43, stands behind the counter in Don Jose Tienda Mexicana’s new location at 104 S. Merritt Mill Road in Carrboro. The tables reserved for dining patrons are empty, and there are no other customers in the store. She and another employee watch “Shark Tank” on a television behind the counter. Gonzalez, the… Read more →

El Centro Hispano relocates to Weaver Street

Sarah Woronoff February 5, 2014

The Carrboro location of El Centro Hispano has recently moved from Carrboro Plaza to 201 W. Weaver St., which allows for the organization to be closer to downtown. El Centro Hispano, according to the statement on their website, is an organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community in Durham, Carrboro, Chapel Hill and surrounding areas, with branch locations in Durham… Read more →

Los trabajadores se mudan de la Davie con Jones Ferry

Ignacio Iturrarte November 13, 2013

Editor’s note: Carrboro Commons asks Latino daily laborers what their opinion is regarding future workers’ center in El Centro Hispano’s new permanent location in Carrboro. Cualquiera que haya pasado por allí se habrá dado cuenta. En el cruce de Davie Road con Jones FerryRoad, decenas de trabajadores latinos aguardan a que un patroón solicite sus servicios. Esta escena tiene… Read more →

El Centro Hispano busca mejorar las condiciones laborales de los jornaleros

Ignacio Iturrarte October 21, 2013

Editor’s Note: Carrboro’s Hispanic Center wants to create a workers’ center, so that Latino laborers have more dignified work conditions. A diario, especialmente de lunes a viernes, decenas de hombres se agolpan en la esquina de Jones Ferry con Davie en Carrboro, junto a la gasolinera. Esperan. Esperan a que un coche se detenga y a que su conductor les… Read more →

Una radio latina con o sin latinos

Ignacio Iturrarte October 2, 2013

Es viernes y el reloj marca las cinco de la tarde. En Carrboro, en la 103.5 FM, suena “Vivir mi vida” de Marc Anthony. Desde el local de WCOM LP FM, en el 300 de East Main Street, cinco alumnas de The University of North Carolina (UNC) se dirigen a los oyentes de Carrboro a través de las ondas de… Read more →

Radio Latijam continues without Latino teens

Jennifer Jackson October 2, 2013

When Radio Latijam airs on Friday evenings, Carrboro’s WCOM-FM studio is usually frenzied and hectic, the room packed with teenagers and young 20-somethings making spur-of-the-moment decisions before air time. By comparison, the studio is almost empty lately. Radio Latijam is a radio program broadcast completely in Spanish and tailored to local Latino youth, who in previous years have… Read more →

Set, juego y diversión

Ignacio Iturrarte September 18, 2013

“Lo único necesario es que cada uno traiga sus zapatillas de tennis”. Eso es todo lo que se les exigió a los niños y niñas, padres y madres, que participaron en el Hispanic Tennis Carnival del pasado domingo 15 de septiembre en Carrboro, organizado por el Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department en colaboración con la Durham Orange Community Tennis Association… Read more →

El Centro Hispano seeks volunteers

jock February 6, 2013

By Zach Freshwater Carrboro Commons Staff Writer Jose Torres says he needs volunteers. The University of Texas at Austin graduate works for the Carrboro branch of El Centro Hispano, an organization that began serving the Latino populations of Orange and Durham counties in 1992. In Carrboro, El Centro Hispano offers resources ranging from financial planning courses and legal advice… Read more →

A word to capture the Carolinas (12,949)

By Elizabeth Jensen Carrboro Commons Staff Writer Cackalacky is a nickname for North or South Carolina, but where did the name come from? The Harvard University Press published the first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English in 1985. The volume contained entries for the letters A, B and C. But the dictionary didn’t include an entry for Cackalacky,… Read more →

Surplus Sid’s: a one-stop for Halloween costuming needs (3,422)

By Abbie Bennett Carrboro Commons Co-Editor Customers come from all over the United States to shop and take advantage of expert costume consulting at Surplus Sid’s at 309 East Main St. in Carrboro, according to owner Barry “Sid” Keith. “We like to call ourselves world-famous Halloweenists,” Keith said. “We’ve had people from all over the state, even from New York here.”… Read more →

Two Carrboro High athletes carry famous UNC names (3,313)

As the starting center for the Carrboro High School boy’s basketball team, 6-foot-5 Andrew Montross knew other people were going to expect him to be a 7-foot-tall specimen with a myriad of post moves en route to a playing career in the NBA. After all Andrew’s father, Eric Montross, is one of the most recognizable figures around the area due… Read more →

Carrboro, somewhere in time (2,768)

You think you know Carrboro. There is the ArtsCenter, the Farmers’ Market, Cat’s Cradle and Weaver Street Market, in addition to a wide selection of restaurants and bars. Carrboro, however, was not like this decades ago. You would know that if you took the Historic Downtown Carrboro Walking Tour. Victoria Hensley, a senior history major at UNC-Chapel Hill,… Read more →

Restaurant mural to be repainted (2,317)

By Kelly Esposito Carrboro Commons Staff Writer A large blank canvas in downtown Carrboro is about to get a makeover, again. Local artist Emily Weinstein said the outside wall of Jade Palace Chinese & Seafood Restaurant, located at 103 E. Main St., will soon feature a new mural. Local artist Emily Weinstein is designing and coordinating the painting of a… Read more →

Track runs in the family for Morken girls (2,068)

By Sarah Brown Carrboro Commons Co-Editor Grace and Helen Morken are no strangers to state running awards and championships, and they hold seven Carrboro High School track records between them. The petite, blond sisters might only be teenagers, but both are seasoned running competitors. It didn’t take the girls long to be bitten by the running bug. “We started running… Read more →

Peccadillo bar thrives on secrecy (1,882)

If you walk down Brewer Lane looking for Peccadillo, you might not find it. There’s no sign out front; the only indication of the bar’s location is “100A” spray-painted on an old steel door in the same complex as the Carolina Car Wash & Detail. But owner Tim Neill, 41, wants it to be this way. “The building’s façade is… Read more →

New Carrboro PTA Thrift Shop to open by August (1,366)

By Dorothy Irwin Carrboro Commons Staff Writer The PTA Thrift Shop is much more than the average thrift store, and it is currently expanding its Carrboro location. Often a favorite source of secondhand treasures, the PTA Thrift Shop has also been a staple of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community since it opened in 1952. The store uses its resources to provide… Read more →

Honoring ‘the Preacher’s Preacher’ after 65 years (1,348)

By Brian Walker Carrboro Commons Staff Writer Despite the near freezing temperatures and wintery mix falling from the sky, it was warm inside the First Baptist Church of Chapel Hill the morning 88-year-old the Rev. John Ruffin Manley accepted the honor of being named Pastor Emeritus for his years of service to the church and community. “When you can come… Read more →

The Splinter Group hired to brand Carrboro (1,250)

By Brian Walker Carrboro Commons Photo Editor Carrboro may not be the Triangle’s best-kept secret for much longer. After a six-month long selection process, the town has selected Carrboro-based marketing firm The Splinter Group to help with its new branding and marketing campaign. “Carrboro has a pulse, an image, a personality, and the world doesn’t know about it until they… Read more →