Speakers urge town to nix Millhouse plan

More than a dozen people lined up to speak Monday against locating a trash transfer station on Millhouse Road, but Mayor Kevin Foy allowed only three of them to speak because the issue was not on the agenda.

"This is not a public hearing," he said. "You can petiton the council if you would like. This is petition time."

So that's exactly what the trio did, each imploring the town not to allow Orange County to use town-owned land north of the Town Operations Center.

"We urge the town to stop things now," said Charles Viles, vice president of the board of directors at Emerson Waldorf School, whose playing field and organic garden abut the potential transfer-station site.

The Town Council declined to take a vote on the matter. It has been scheduled for Sept. 14, after the council's summer recess.

Probe finds no fault in student's death

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools found no evidence of carelessness or foul play following the death of a Chapel Hill High School football player in August, according to a report made public Tuesday.

The report sheds little light on the cause of Atlas Fraley's death but does provide details about the football-related events that preceded it. The school board released the findings after an investigation by the school district's attorneys.

An autopsy report for Fraley released in March was inconclusive; it suggested that dehydration and cramping may have led to a fatal heart attack.

According to the school district's report, Fraley spent the morning of his death, Aug. 12, at Middle Creek High School in Apex participating in two one-hour scrimmages against other area football teams.

Near the end of the second scrimmage, Fraley reported having a headache. The team's trainer examined him and concluded that he did not display signs of a concussion.

The scrimmage included several water breaks, according to the report. Weather conditions were mild, with temperatures reaching the mid-80s.

The football coach cancelled a third scrimmage after noticing that his athletes appeared tired after the second one. Fraley asked head football coach Issac Marsh for money to buy a Gatorade, which the coach provided.

During the bus ride back to Chapel Hill High, Fraley mentioned having a cramp. But he was said to be in good spirits and joked with players in the locker room after the team's return.

Before heading home, Fraley mentioned possible cramping and was advised to drink fluids and stretch. He went home in a car accompanied by a teammate.

At 1:45 p.m. Fraley called 911 complaining of dehydration. He spent 22 minutes with paramedic James Griffin, who left him with water and Gatorade. Fraley died within hours. Griffin resigned 15 days later after state EMS officials found that he violated Orange County protocols.

Chapel Hill icon to close its doors

The Varsity Theater, a mainstay of downtown that has lured generations of college students and townies across its sticky floors for mainstream movies and obscure art-house flicks, is going dark.

Bruce Stone, owner of the theater, elaborated on his decision in a two-page announcement faxed to local news organizations Thursday.

Efforts to reach Stone were unsuccessful. In his statement, he said he must decline further comment.

The announcement comes as little surprise. In May, Stone acknowledged that he was shopping for a buyer for the business he has run for the past decade. The theater has been open under different owners and different names for 80 years.

Stone, who also owns the Chelsea art-house theater in northern Chapel Hill, said downtown, where businesses tend to cater to UNC students, no longer seems to draw the older crowd that flocks to independent flicks.

Kevin Foy, mayor of Chapel Hill and an advocate for throwing more tax dollars to the upkeep and marketing of downtown, was saddened by the news.

"The Varsity is one of the iconic establishments downtown," Foy said. "When people think of Franklin Street, they think of the marquee."

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