Dan Barkin:Three weeks from this afternoon, around 4 p.m., I will be walking my Hilary down the aisle. That means, of course, that I will be shutting down the blog I have written since October.

CHILDREN'S CHOIR AND ORPHANAGES: The Sifa Africa Children's Choir will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 221 Union St. in Cary.

DURHAM PROGRAM ENLISTS BARBERS AND HAIRSTYLISTS IN FIGHT AGAINST AIDS:

When James Blackwell and his classmates from the Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School toss up their graduation caps today, they'll be celebrating more than receiving high school diplomas. Many of them are also well on the way to earning a degree at N.C. Central University -- for free.

Triangle Politics:The Chapel Hill Town Council got into a tense debate this week over a publicly financed election pilot program it's considering for next year.

Charvus Dublin's death is the first homicide of a toddler or newborn this year in Wake County. But the Triangle has been bedeviled by child slayings in recent years.

Lisa Moran, run over and killed Thursday, had been studying at the UNC School of Law.

With subdivisions popping up on old farm land, and fire trucks needed at every fender-bender or heart attack, firefighters say Wake County's far-flung communities cannot stay safe with weekend volunteers.

Sluggish home sales are part of the problem.

Durham residents turn spotlight on debris.

People older than 60 should be vaccinated against shingles, according to a strong recommendation this week from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thank those sniffles.

Bertha Johnson, who has served the past few months as interim director of the city's Budget and Management Services Department, has assumed the role permanently, the city announced Friday.

Unit's tour is cut by three months.

At 81, N.C. man must face his past.

A North Carolina jury has returned a life prison sentence for a man convicted of killing a New York teenager in Fayetteville in 2005.

There's finally a winner in the Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District seat held by Republican Virginia Foxx.

Going potty without a partner can lead to punishment for students at a Burgaw elementary school, but parents want the policy flushed.

President Bush will visit Fort Bragg on Thursday to make remarks at a division review ceremony before troops there.

N.C. State University has named Jeffery P. Braden interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Southeast Raleigh residents are invited to a meeting Monday night to discuss concerns about loitering and panhandling.

Wake County residents who prefer to pay their county tax bills in person in downtown Raleigh have to go to a new location.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday before considering a proposed change in the county's animal ordinance that would limit the chaining or tying of dogs.

The public can view proposals by the three finalists in the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center Public Art Project.

Do you live, work or own land in Orange County?

Chatham County has two public hearings next week on its proposed 2008-09 budget.