Ridership of Triangle Transit buses and shuttles hit 108,284 in July, the first month the organization has ever cleared 100,000. The new mark represented an increase of 50 percent over ridership in July of 2007.

Obviously, the steep escalation in the price of gasoline has played a major role in getting people onto the buses. But the benefits aren't just economic -- they're environmental, as well. And transit users, by decreasing their fuel use, strike a blow, even if it's mainly a symbolic one, for regular folks who continue to struggle as big oil companies rake in record profits.

July was Triangle Transit's fourth straight month of ridership gains.

Bus service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, Hillsborough, RDU International Airport, Research Triangle Park, Raleigh and Wake Forest.


ROSES to the Foundation for Hospital Art, which recently donated four large, colorful multi-panel paintings to the North Carolina Cancer Hospital at UNC Hospitals.

The foundation organized an event called Operation Lovejoy in Atlanta, a ÒpaintfestÓ in which homeless men in a drug rehab program created works of art.

Sharon Garrett, whose daughter Heather works for the Foundation for Hospital Art, participated in the paintfest in Atlanta and arranged for the four painntings to be donated to the cancer hospital, home to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Relative to the profound effects of cancer and its treatment, a few paintings on the walls might not seem like that big a deal. But it's well established that the arts can lift spirits, improve outlooks and ease pain and stress, and the staff at UNC is grateful for the donations.

"This generous gift fits in so well with our philosophy of patient and family centered care," said John Rockwell, interim director of Oncology Services. "It is a small gesture to help patients and families feel more at home and provide a touch of color and joy in a difficult time."


ROSES to Orange Community Housing and Land Trust, which recently completed and dedicated its first green home.

We're not talking about its paint job. The house on Broad Street, built by Synergy Building Company, features energy-efficient and environmentally progressive materials and features. Pretty cool for a house designed to be, as all of the nonprofit Land Trust's homes are, affordable.

Energy efficiency only adds to the affordability of the home. The cost of owning a home involves a lot more than just the purchase price.


ROSES to Kimberly A. Alvis, an award-winning Chapel Hill artist who recently donated a large original painting to help raise funds for Triangle Day School in Durham.

The painting, 'Horses in a Pasture,' was sold at auction to raise funds for the school, an independent non-sectarian, non-profit school with an enrollment of 200.

Her contribution to the school fundraiser wasnÕt exactly a loaf of banana bread; her work has been exhibited internationally, and she is represented locally by Sommerhill Gallery in Durham and The Little Art Gallery and Craft Collection in Raleigh.