Community members donated a whopping 10,122 new and gently used children's books, which Book Harvest will distribute to children throughout the Triangle

Book Harvest, founded last January by Chapel Hill folk-art collector Ginger Young, collects books and puts them into the hands of kids who need them. Young and her volunteers stock shelves at 20 locations - local health clinics, social service agencies, community centers, Head Start and afterschool programs - and invite under-served children to take them to keep and treasure.

The nonprofit organized a celebration on Jan. 16 in recognition of King's vision of opportunity for all. Community members were invited to bring children's books to Flyleaf Books, where 38 AmeriCorps volunteers collected and sorted them.

Raspberries, at the suggestion of a resident, to the unclear language on Orange County's property tax forms.

There was a long line of people waiting to pay their taxes at Chapel Hill Town Hall on Jan. 6. That was a big day at the cashier's window because that's the day, Jan. 6, that is listed on the county's tax bills as the "Past Due Date."

At least one resident - and, apparently, quite a few others - read that to mean that any taxes not paid by the end of the day on Jan. 6 would be past due.

Unfortunately for all of them, that's not what it means. It means that any taxes not paid by the end of the day on Jan. 5 are past due.

All those folks who thought they were beating the bell on Jan. 6 were in fact a day late, and subject to a 2 percent late fee.

Now, of course, you can point out that listing Jan. 6 as the "Past Due Date" means just that - that's the date by which you're late. But it certainly is open to the sort of misinterpretation that drew all those folks to Town Hall a day late. Why not just say, "Due Jan. 5" and be done with it?

Roses to Chapel Hill's Community Policing Advisory Committee, which has adroitly handled the hot potato it was handed after the police raid on the Yates Motor Co. building in November.

The committee, which has been in existence for less than a year, found itself thrust into the spotlight. The Town Council instructed Town Manager Roger Stancil to prepare a report on the event, and the CPAC, in essence, then reviewed Stancil's review.

The committee found his report wanting. But the CPAC also acknowledged that it has neither the training nor resources to conduct an independent investigation. Instead, it recommended the town hire an independent investigator. "How can we make recommendations as to policies and procedures unless we know what actually happened?" said committee member Jessica Smith.

The committee stumbled a bit in its first post-Yates meeting, reversing course mid-meeting on a matter of procedure. But since then it has performed with assurance.