Chapelboro.com

In today’s news: residents of two Chapel Hill apartment communities find themselves displaced, and early voting turnout is high in Orange County. Also: the prosecution rests in the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial, and Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee addresses a proposal to merge the Carrboro and Chapel Hill police departments. And in sports: UNC football reclaims the Victory Bell with a win over Duke; and UNC men’s basketball loses – but the women win – in preseason exhibition action.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news in the greater Chapel Hill and Carrboro community. Every weekday afternoon, 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey recaps the day’s news, from local government to business developments to UNC sports, and everything in-between. Hear compelling stories, breaking news, and more. Find all of Andrew’s Evening News Reports by clicking here.

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The post Chapel Hill Residents Displaced, Early Voting Continues, and UNC Football Beats Duke – The Evening News (October 19, 2026) appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

CHCCS Director of Wellness and Preventative Services Ally Scercy, Rashkis Elementary School Social Worker Ashanti Keitt, and Phillips Middle School Social Worker Allison Crosetto speak with 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell on Monday, October 19. As “Attendance Awareness Month” continues for our local public schools, the group details the school district’s approach to both discussing and addressing chronic absenteeism. Scercy shares how CHCCS has rebounded in its attendance levels over the recent academic years, while Keitt and Crosetto share their experiences of working with families and students to ensure absences don’t pile up. The group also shares this year’s theme to Attendance Awareness Month and the underlying motivators for it.

Speaking of Schools is our regular check-in with the public K-12 school districts in our community.  You can find conversations with leaders from Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Orange County Schools, and Chatham County Schools by clicking here.

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The post Discussing Absenteeism During Attendance Awareness Month at CHCCS — Speaking of Schools (October 19, 2026) appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Filling in for Andrew Stuckey, Aaron Keck welcomes 97.9 The Hill sports reporter Michael Koh for a conversation after a busy weekend for UNC athletics. Tar Heel men’s basketball took a preseason loss to Indiana – though it’s a preseason game, so your mileage may vary on how telling you think that is – and Carolina football gutted out a win over Duke to reclaim the Victory Bell despite blowing a 17-point lead. (How many wins could the Heels end up with this season? It’s still a tough schedule, but five of their last six games seem winnable if they can avoid a second-half dropoff – though of course that’s been an issue for UNC in recent years.

On Air Today features interviews and conversations with the latest newsmakers in our community — including local elected leaders, educators, business owners, and anyone else with their finger on the pulse of the greater Chapel Hill community.

The post On Air Today: 97.9 The Hill’s Michael Koh on UNC Football and Men’s Basketball, October 19, 2026 appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

We’re four days into early voting and the turnout has been fantastic for Democrats – so much that Tom thinks the State House could be in reach. It’s all going to come down to a handful of districts where the final vote is likely to be near 50-50 – and the decider will be how well each side is able to turn out their voters. (Including so-called ‘low-propensity’ voters, who have also been turning out more than you might expect in the first week of the early voting period.)

Visit CarolinaForward.org for more early-voting turnout data.

Also, Tom glances at the national picture: Democrats are heading for a “blowout” win in the U.S. House, but the U.S. Senate picture is still up in the air.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

Every other Monday, Aaron is joined at 8:30 a.m. by Tom Jensen, the director of Public Policy Polling, for a longstanding regular segment called “What We’re Thinking,” looking at recent survey numbers and discussing what they tell us about American public opinion – election-related and otherwise.

You can also listen to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” on Spotify. Click here to follow Aaron and listen to all his segments, from local news to fun features to hard-hitting interviews.

The post What We’re Thinking: Early Voting Turnout Great for Dems – Is The General Assembly In Play? appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Aaron forgoes “what’s trending” today to ask Michael Koh a very important question: in the NCAA tournament, which are the “high” seeds, and which are the “low” seeds? Also: Wichita joins Dayton as a site for NCAA play-in games, and Aaron and Michael try to predict UNC’s tournament seed.

Want to know what folks are talking about on social media? Every weekday on 97.9 The Hill’s “This Morning with Aaron Keck,” Victor Lewis scours the Internet for the day’s top trending stories, from weird news to wacky crimes to odd business ventures and everything in between. Click here to listen back to all our past What’s Trending segments – and tune in to “This Morning” on 97.9 The Hill every weekday at 7:45 to hear What’s Trending live on the air.

You can also listen to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” on Spotify. Click here to follow Aaron and listen to all his segments, from local news to fun features to hard-hitting interviews.

What’s Trending is made possible by Dynamic Electric. Listen now:

The post What’s Trending: The Dayton of Non-Daytons appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Alzheimer’s can be one of the most devastating diseases we face, and it’s also one of the hardest to treat – but what if we can detect it and address it earlier? This month, UNC announced the launch of a $25 million federal consortium bringing researchers together from seven universities for a “moonshot effort” to figure out how to stop diseases like Alzheimer’s and pulmonary fibrosis before they begin developing. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, they’re calling it Instruct and Modulate Protein Ensembles for Disease Evasion – or IMPEDE for short.

Aaron welcomes UNC’s Ronit Freeman, the lead scientist on the project.

Visit Freeman-Lab.com for more on Dr. Freeman’s work.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

You can also listen to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” on Spotify. Click here to follow Aaron and listen to all his segments, from local news to fun features to hard-hitting interviews.

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The post On Air Today: At UNC, A $25 Million ‘Moonshot’ to IMPEDE Alzheimer’s appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

In today’s news: local residents are displaced from two apartment complexes, and early voting turnout is extremely high in Orange County. Also: the Orange County school board gets new data from the start of the school year, and Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee comments on a proposal to merge the Carrboro and Chapel Hill police departments. And in sports: UNC football reclaims the Victory Bell with a dramatic win over Duke; UNC women’s basketball gets a win but the men take a loss in preseason action; and UNC soccer and volleyball have mixed weekends but Carolina field hockey get back-to-back wins.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck recaps the day’s news, from local government to business developments to UNC sports. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s daily news reports, which you can hear live during “This Morning with Aaron Keck” every weekday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.

You can also listen to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” on Spotify. Click here to follow Aaron and listen to all his segments, from local news to fun features to hard-hitting interviews.

Listen:

The post The Morning News: Elliott Woods, Early Voting, Carrboro Police, and the Victory Bell appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

Bryan Kennedy

This Week:

Bryan Kennedy is the four-term mayor of Glendale, Wisconsin, a former university professor and labor leader, and an advocate for strengthening democracy through local organizing. He is the author of It’s All Local: Saving Democracy From the Ground Up, which explores how communities can rebuild trust, bridge political divides, and renew civic engagement through personal connections and local organizing. Kennedy serves on the Democratic National Committee and is President of Democratic Municipal Officials, a national DNC affiliate organization working to elect and support Democratic local elected leaders. He founded the It’s All Local Foundation to help communities foster meaningful conversations, strengthen relationships, and rebuild democracy from the ground up.

Randy Voller

Come on up to the porch to have a chat with Randy Voller — former mayor, real estate developer, musician, man-about-town and more — in a recurring conversation and slice-of-life program presented by VRC Limited. If you love great conversations and amazing anecdotes, then co

The post On the Porch: Bryan Kennedy: Saving Democracy From the Ground Up appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

The Carolina Football Hour on Franklin UNC Football Pre-Game Show is presented by Chapel Hill Tire, Now open Saturdays at their Crabtree and University Place Locations.

Coming off UNC football’s road win over Pitt last weekend, 97.9 The Hill’s Michael Koh and Brighton McConnell preview the Tar Heels’ matchup with the Duke Blue Devils. Earning the first ranked win over an opponent — and a key conference victory on the road — reflects the team’s improvement and Inside Carolina’s Spencer Haskill joins to share his in-person observations of how UNC is finding its identity. Koh details how it’s not just on the field where Carolina seems to be better, especially compared to Bill Belichick’s debut season. The show also dives into what Duke brings into today’s matchup: a superstar running back, a stout defense, and confidence from a good start to the season.

The Carolina Football Hour is your home for football insights from the staff of the flagship station for Tar Heel Sports! Now part of the pregame coverage, hosts Brighton McConnell and Michael Koh prepare UNC fans for the upcoming game by sharing the latest reporting, insight, and analysis on the team — as well as hear from guests covering the program. Tune in Saturdays three hours before kick-off on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and listen on-demand afterward on your favorite audio apps, like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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The post UNC Carries Momentum Into Battle of Victory Bell vs. Duke — The Carolina Football Hour (Oct. 17, 2026) appeared first on Chapelboro.com.

97.9 The Hill’s Deborah Stroman and Brighton McConnell chat on Friday, October 16, ahead of the WNBA Finals tipping off. The Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries make an unexpected pairing for the final series, but Stroman shares what’s impressed her the most about both teams during their postseason runs — and what each need to do if they want to lift the trophy. The pair also discuss venue scheduling conflicts, complaints about Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever not providing a ratings boost, and the specter of who will be the league’s next commissioner hanging over the Finals.

Dr. Deborah Stroman — who is a consulting professor for UNC and Virginia, sports businesswoman, former basketball player, and columnist — chats with 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell each week about headlines from the world of sports. Covering both local and national stories, Stroman specializes in connecting the on-field product to the impact of sports on business, culture and society. Listen to their past conversations on Chapelboro, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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The post Previewing the On-Court and Off-Court Stories of the WNBA Finals – Stroman On Sports (October 16, 2026) appeared first on Chapelboro.com.