The local school district has been taking it on the chin in recent months for plans to turn Frank Porter Graham Elementary into dual language magnet and for transferring two veteran teachers from Chapel Hill High.

So it had to come as welcome news that Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s 90 percent graduation rate this year was 10 points better than the state as a whole and was up from 88.3 percent last year. Graduation rates were up in almost every demographicgroup.

Roses to the organizers and participants in the 2nd Friday Artwalk, which recently marked its 10th anniversary.

Monthly artwalks like ours have become a regular event in many communities, but that wasn’t so much the case a decade ago, when the late Karen Shelton initiated the 2nd Friday walk in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

On the second Friday of every month, venues ranging from small cafes to the Ackland Art Museum stay open late, offer receptions and refreshments and sometimes feature live music. The 2nd Friday Artwalk, especially when the weather is walk-around nice, offers a fun and relaxing end to the work week, a chance to take a stroll, enjoy some art, and socialize. Shelton would have been gratified to see how expanded and well-established her little idea has become.

Roses, offered by Orange County Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Shamecca Bryant, to Wells Fargo for awarding a $2,500 grant to the Rape Crisis Center.

The funds will support the Center’s Latino/a Services program. This program provides support, education, and advocacy to Spanish-speaking survivors in our community.

In the past year, the Center has provided support to a record number of Spanish-speaking clients. This grant will help fund our bilingual 24-Hour Help Line, our bilingual crisis intervention services, and support groups for Spanish-speaking survivors.

Thanks to Wells Fargo for supporting safe communities in Orange County.

Roses to the Grable Foundation of Pittsurgh, which recently which awarded a $150,000 grant to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro PTA Thrift Shop to support the community building campaign to redevelop its Carrboro store.

The grant by the Grable Foundation, whose mission is to “create the future” through supporting youth-serving organizations that achieve meaningful results, gives a big boost to the Thrift Shop’s campaign. The PTA Thrift Shop has raised nearly $352,000 for its community building campaign.

The grant comes as the Thrift Shop plans to close the Carrboro retail location beginning Sept. 1 in preparation for the groundbreaking of the new store complex, anticipated for October.

The Chapel Hill retail location will have extended hours to make up for the temporary Carrboro store closure, and the Carrboro store will move temporarily into 201 W. Weaver St. during construction.

The Carrboro store redevelopment will increase the Thrift Shop’s already substantial impact on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. In 2011, 17 district schools and Pace Academy received a total of $265,000 for school-based needs and program from the Thrift Shop. The PTA Thrift Shop has given $7 million to the schools since its inception in 1952; $5 million of that total has been distributed in the last 15 years.