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Alex Webb of Carrboro earned Excellence in Craft awards from Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), with recognition at OWAA's annual conference in Bismarck, N.D, on June 24.
Webb received two awards. He was awarded first and second place in the technical contest, newspaper category, recognizing excellence in communicating definitive technical information about outdoor subjects, especially mechanical or scientific knowledge or skill. His first-place winning submission, "Tackling Technology," was published April 12, 2007, in The News & Observer. His second-place winning submission, "From Birdshot to Buckshot," was published January 4, 2007, in The News & Observer.
Webb is an outdoors correspondent for The News & Observer and has earned 11 Excellence in Craft awards from OWAA since 2004. The 1,300-member Outdoor Writers Association of America is the oldest and largest association of professional outdoor communicators in the United States.

Rob McVicker was named to the dean's list for the fall and spring semesters at Campbell University. He is a 2007 graduate of East Chapel Hill High School and is attending Campbell as a Presidential Scholar.
Drew McVicker was awarded the Walter Hamilton Scholarship from Amity Methodist Church. The scholarship is based on Christian character, community service and academic record. He is a 2008 graduate of East Chapel Hill High School and will be attending Elon University in the fall.

Peter Dean of Chapel Hill received a master's degree in library and information science from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston.

Smith Chipley of Carrboro received the Excellence in Foreign Language Award during her senior year at Hyde School, an independent character-based school in Bath, Maine. She is the daughter of Ronald Parks and Loy Chipley.
Melissa Golding of Chapel Hill was named to the second semester 11th-grade honor roll at Saint Mary's School in Raleigh.
She is the daughter of Toni and Tom Golding.
o be eligible for the honor roll, a student must maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in at least four academic courses while maintaining the status of a student in good standing with the faculty and Judicial Board.

Kimberly Purcell of Chapel Hill was named to the second semester 12th-grade honor roll at Saint Mary's School in Raleigh.
She is the daughter of Mickey and David Purcell of Chapel Hill.
To be eligible for the honor roll, a student must maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in at least four academic courses while maintaining the status of a student in good standing with the faculty and Judicial Board.

Diane Tyndall of Chapel Hill was named to the second semester 12th-grade honor roll at Saint Mary's School in Raleigh.
She is the daughter of Kathy and Don Tyndall of Chapel Hill.
To be eligible for the honor roll, a student must maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in at least four academic courses while maintaining the status of a student in good standing with the faculty and Judicial Board.
Diane Katherine Carr of Chapel Hill has been accepted into the Peace Corps.
She departed for Mali on July 7 to begin pre-service training as a small enterprise development Peace Corps Volunteer. Upon graduation from volunteer training in October, she will be facilitating basic skills training, helping small businesses to expand by adding new products, and working with host country agencies.
Carr joins the 225 North Carolina residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 3,429 North Carolina residents have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.

Molly Metz of Chapel Hill recently completed Meredith College's study abroad program in Ireland.
The participants visited Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and the remote Aran Islands before heading north to Sligo and then on to Derry and Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Gregory Michael Pecora of Chapel Hill received a bachelor's degree in history during spring commencement exercises May 11 at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
A graduate of Chapel Hill Senior High School, Pecora was the recipient of the Dean's Award. He was a member of the varsity men's soccer team and a member of the Delta Chi fraternity.
He is the son of Chip and Elvira Pecora of Chapel Hill.

Katherine Yang, a rising fifth-grader at Seawell Elementary School in Chapel Hill, won first prize in an essay contest sponsored by the International Overseas Chinese Association for students ages 6 to 14. She won a nine-day tour in China to visit Shanghai, Nanjing, and Suzhou.
She was born in Durham, and English is her first language. She wrote the essay "My Most Embarrassing Moment," in Chinese. She studies Chinese at the Chinese School of Chapel Hill and at the afterschool sponsored by the American Institute of Asian Culture.
She is the daughter of Weitao and Helen Yang of Chapel Hill.

Michael Lauire of Chapel Hill was one of a team of six undergraduate aerospace engineering students at Virginia Tech that earned first place in the 2008 NASA Aircraft Design Competition, sponsored by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Fundamental Aeronautics Program.
The contest asked students to create a future subsonic transport aircraft that could carry up to 50,000 pounds, operate on runways between 1,500 and 3,000 feet and cruise at speeds between 595 and 625 mph. The competition also stressed that concept planes should use alternative fuels and be quieter and more environmentally friendly than today's commercial fleet.
The students' entry into the competition was part of a two-semester senior aircraft design course for graduating seniors.
Fourteen teams and two individual students from 14 colleges and universities submitted their designs in the annual contest.
Stephen Rintoul, a 2005 graduate of Chapel Hill High School, has been accepted into the "Washington Semester" in Journalism at American University, Washington, D.C. for the fall semester. He will divide his time between seminars with professional journalists and an internship with a national news organization. He expects to graduate from Rhodes College in Memphis in May 2009 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He is the son of John and Betty Rintoul of Carrboro.

Jim Hefner, former vice president and general manager at CBS affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh, has joined the University of North Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty as a professor of journalism.
Hefner, a native North Carolinian and a 1972 graduate of the school, has nearly 30 years of experience in news direction and general management at television stations in North Carolina and Pittsburgh. Before coming to the school, Hefner was vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and served on the board of directors for Capitol Broadcasting Co. since 2002. Prior to his work with Capitol Broadcasting, Hefner spent more than 15 years as president and general manager at ABC affiliate WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. He also wrote for newspapers in eastern North Carolina and The News & Observer before moving to television news.
In May 2008, Hefner stepped down as president of the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters after leaving WRAL-TV.
Lauren East Dubowski of Carrboro received a bachelor's degree in French during commencement exercises in May at Bryn Mawr College. She is a graduate of Chapel Hill High School.