Roses to the Chapel Hill Museum and the Chapel Hill Fire Department, which recently took their collaborative fire safety program to the state legislature, demonstrating the positive things that can happen when seemingly disparate organizations join forces.

The museum's education committee and members of the fire department have created a musical puppet show that teaches children essential, potentially life-saving information about fire safety.

They've performed the piece for countless school children, and a few weeks ago they took it to the General Assembly, performing for legislators and 40 kids from a Raleigh preschool. Fire department chiefs from several other communities attended as well.

The North Carolina Jaycees Burn Center is the program's lead sponsor.

"A statewide agency supporting a town department working with a local nonprofit is a wonderful example of sustainability at work," Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones told the legislators.

The puppet show will be a part of the Southern Village Children's Safety Fun Day this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Roses to Gayle Wilson, Orange County's solid waste director, for volunteering to meet with citizens opposed to the proposal to build a waste transfer station in rural Orange County.

Preserve Rural Orange, a grassroots organization, opposes the plan, which centers on two sites in southwestern Orange County. A waste transfer station there, opponents say, would put heavy vehicles on rural roads, threaten the watershed and diminish the quality of life.

On Feb. 12, Laura Streitfeld of Preserve Rural Orange accompanied the county commissioners and staff on a visit to a waste transfer station in Greensboro. On the ride back, she mentioned to Wilson that Preserve Rural Orange was preparing to hold a community meeting.

If it'll help, Wilson said, I'll be happy to come answer questions.

He didn't have to offer to do that. Although it's the county commissioners who will make the decision, Wilson is the public face of the plan, and he knew he'd be facing a crowd that was fervently against it.

He offered to go anyway, and, good to his word, he attended the meeting on Sunday. He was frank and open, and he stayed as long as there were questions to answer.

Accessibility, communication and a willingness to engage the community in conversation -- a lot of government officials and staff could learn from Wilson's example.

Roses to UNC, which has already won the NCAA championship.

Not on the court. In the classroom.

Like office pool hopefuls everywhere, Inside Higher Ed (a Web site dedicated to issues of higher education) fills out a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Rather than base its picks on basketball prowess, however, Inside Higher Ed advances teams in the 65-team field based on their supremacy in the classroom. The site uses the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate, which rates schools according to their athletes' academic standing.

Past champs have tended to be far stronger in class than on the court, schools like Bucknell and Holy Cross.

This season, though, the site says, "our winner is actually quite plausible."

Yup. The 2009 champion is North Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional. The Tar Heels top Brigham Young in the championship game.

And in case you're wondering, Duke gets bounced by Villanova in the third round.