Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, but around here the big night is Friday. Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough all scheduled their community celebrations for Oct. 30, so if you have little ones in costume, it's worth making a plan. Here's what we found for the next two weeks, from trunk-or-treats and a haunted barn to an opera you're encouraged to wear your costume to.

All three are free.

Fri, Oct 30 Haunted Hill Trunk-or-Treat | Chapel Hill Community Center Park, 120 S. Estes Drive | 5:30–7:30 p.m. | No registration needed. Local groups and neighbors decorate their car trunks and hand out wrapped candy, and Manifest Skate Shop and local art teacher Paul Estrada are running a skateboarding session on the basketball courts, with boards and helmets provided. Park at University Place and ride the shuttle. Want to host a trunk? Register by Monday, Oct. 26. | chapelhillnc.gov

Fri, Oct 30 Halloween Carnival | Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St. | 5:30–8 p.m. | No registration needed. Carnival games for all ages and a prize bag for every child who plays. Popcorn, hot chocolate, and apple cider are for sale at the concession booth. | carrboronc.gov

Fri, Oct 30 Halloween in Downtown Hillsborough | Trick-or-treat at downtown shops from 3 to 5 p.m., starting at 101 S. Churton St. The Hillsborough Police Department holds its own trunk-or-treat from 4 to 6 p.m. in the lot behind the department, 127 N. Churton St., and leashed, well-behaved pets are welcome. From 5 to 9 p.m., The Haunted Forest at Hillsborough Wills and Trusts, 128 W. Margaret Lane, has games, costumed characters, and a hunt for three gold coins. Then Last Fridays runs 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Old Orange County Courthouse lawn, 104 E. King St., with free pumpkin painting from the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, a giant community loom, the last Makers Market of the season, and The Shoaldiggers playing from 6 to 8. At 7, join belly dancers Shalimar and Shahzaadee for a Witches Flash Mob broom dance. No experience or witch hat required. | visithillsboroughnc.com | hillsboroughartscouncil.org

Fri, Oct 30 The Haunting Hour | Hillsborough Visitors Center, 150 E. King St., with the show in the historic Hughes Academy | Shows at 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 p.m. | An hour of Hillsborough's ghost stories and legends, performed all around you, from the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough. The 5 and 6 p.m. shows start before sunset and are the gentler choice for kids. Add Tales from the Grave for a moonlit walk through St. Matthew's Episcopal Church graveyard. $20, or $10 for ages 5 to 12, plus tax; Tales from the Grave is a $10 add-on, plus tax. | historichillsborough.org

Saturdays in October Chapel Hill Ghost Walk | Downtown Chapel Hill | Triangle Walking Tours leads a walk through the town's ghost stories and legends, including the unexplained sounds people report in UNC's Memorial Hall. Check the site for times and tickets. | trianglewalkingtours.com

Fri, Oct 30 BLACK LODGE and BARDO | Memorial Hall, UNC | BARDO from 7 p.m. (last entry 8:30), BLACK LODGE at 9 p.m. | Two parts, one ticket. BARDO is a 30-minute walk-through of installations and performers in parts of Memorial Hall the public rarely sees. BLACK LODGE is a seated goth-rock opera by David T. Little, starring Timur and the Dime Museum. Costumes encouraged, but no weapons, real or fake. Mature content, with haze and strobes. Students $11. | carolinaperformingarts.org

Sat, Oct 24 Wild Mind Improv Halloween Spooktacular | The ArtsCenter, 400 Roberson St., Carrboro | A family-friendly Halloween improv show. | artscenterlive.org

Fri, Oct 30 Actors Improv | The ArtsCenter, 400 Roberson St., Carrboro | 7:30 p.m. | The ArtsCenter's annual improvised night of horror, suspense, and the macabre. $25, or $15 for students. | artscenterlive.org

Fri, Oct 23, Fri, Oct 30, and Sat, Oct 31 The Improvised Horror Movie | My Muses, 201-A E. Main St., Carrboro, on the 23rd and 30th; The ArtsCenter on Halloween night | 8:30 p.m. | Black Sheep Comedy makes up a horror movie on the spot from audience suggestions. | blacksheepcomedy.com

Thu, Oct 29 Grrrlbands Halloween Showcase | Local 506, 506 W. Franklin St. | Doors 6:30 p.m., show 7 p.m. | All ages | local506.com

Sat, Oct 31 Saxsquatch | Cat's Cradle, 300 E. Main St., Carrboro | Doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m. | The saxophone-playing Sasquatch spends Halloween night in Carrboro, with Dougish and Garbleghoul. | catscradle.com

Sat, Oct 31 Nightmare on Franklin Street II | Local 506 | Doors 6 p.m., show 7 p.m. | Wolf Summons Baby, Brainsludge, Deepest Red, Emperious, and Mary Anna. All ages. | local506.com

Fri, Oct 23 Music & Stories Under the Stars | Weaver Street Market, 101 E. Weaver St., Carrboro | 5–7:30 p.m. | Music starts at 5, costume contest registration runs until 5:50, and the winners are announced before a storyteller takes over. Bring a low chair or a blanket. | weaverstreetmarket.coop

Fri, Oct 23 and Sat, Oct 24 Efland Ruritan Rodeo | 3009 Forrest Ave., Efland | Gates 5 p.m., rodeo 7 p.m. | Bronco riding, bull riding, and barrel racing, rain or shine. $20 adults, $10 ages 5 to 12, sold at the booth each night. Leave the pets, coolers, and folding chairs at home. | eflandruritanclub.com

Sat, Oct 24 Halloween Spooktacular | Field behind the Orange County Central Recreation Center, 302 W. Tryon St., Hillsborough | 1–4 p.m. | Free, no registration. A cakewalk, pumpkin bingo, a pumpkin hunt, carnival games, pumpkin decorating, and a costume contest. | triangleonthecheap.com

Fridays and Saturdays through Oct 31 The Witch's Haunted Barn & Pumpkin Patch | Firefly Farm, 4911 Hunt Road, Hillsborough | Saturdays, Oct. 24 and 31, noon–7 p.m. Fridays, Oct. 23 and 30, noon–5 p.m., are "no actor" days, a gentler walk-through for younger kids. | A whimsical haunted barn with candy for every child at the end, plus the farm's horses, donkeys, goats, and chickens, pond and pasture walks, and a pumpkin patch. $13, free for ages 2 and under. Children must come with an adult. | fireflyfarmnc.com

Fri, Oct 30 and Sat, Oct 31 Scare-olina Skies | Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, 250 E. Franklin St. | Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4:30 p.m. | Morehead's Halloween planetarium show. | moreheadplanetarium.org

Sat, Oct 31 Costumes at the Carrboro Farmers' Market | 301 W. Main St. | 7 a.m.–noon | Vendors, staff, and volunteers all come in costume, and families are invited to dress up too. Buy $1 tickets at the Information Tent to vote for your favorite vendor costume, with every dollar going to the market's Double Bucks program. | carrborofarmersmarket.com

Sun, Oct 25 Chapel Hill Día de Muertos | 140 W. Franklin St. plaza | Noon–4 p.m. | Free. The celebration's third year brings a community ofrenda from the Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh, a vendor market, face painting, a community mural with Serendib Creative, and papel picado and cempasúchil flower crafting with Diamante Arts & Cultural Center. On stage: Danza Guerreros Quetzalcoatl at noon, a cumbia lesson with Cult of Queer Movement at 1, Son de Carolina at 2, and Ballet Folklórico Mexican Tradition of Julio Ruiz from 3 to 4. Church Street is closed from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. | chapelhillarts.org

Festifall Arts Market returns for its 53rd year on Saturday, Nov. 7, noon to 5 p.m., at a new home: the plaza at 100 E. Rosemary St. Expect more than 50 vendors, live music, and free art activities. There's no parking at the plaza itself, so the Rosemary Street deck is your closest bet.

Many parents blamed themselves, or their kids, for the hours lost to the feed. But legal claims allege social media companies built in psychological triggers on purpose: intermittent rewards, endless scrolling, toxic social comparison, and recommendation engines that pull kids into content rabbit holes.

Now families are filing legal claims against platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

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At Carrboro's request, Chapel Hill is studying whether its police department could serve Carrboro residents too. As the Town of Chapel Hill describes it, Carrboro's police staff would be phased into the Chapel Hill Police Department, which would then handle patrol, investigations, and crisis response in Carrboro, with Carrboro paying for the service.

A fact sheet from Carrboro Town Manager Patrice Toney, reported by The News & Observer, lists the reasons: saving money while protecting services, police vehicles lost in Tropical Storm Chantal, rising costs, and a police headquarters in the Century Center that needs major work. Chief Chris Atack retired this fall, and Capt. Ryan Daniels became interim chief Oct. 1.

Chapel Hill Police Chief Celisa Lehew said "nothing about the community-based policing we provide to the town would change." Nothing is final until both town councils vote, and Carrboro council member Danny Nowell says Carrboro will hold a public hearing Nov. 10.

This morning at 10, Orange County breaks ground on the Jamezetta Bedford Crisis Care Center on Waterstone Drive in Hillsborough, next to the UNC Hospitals Hillsborough campus. It's named for the late commissioner, who died in June. As an original member of the committee that planned it, she pushed for a place people in a behavioral health crisis could go instead of an emergency room or jail.

The 21,146-square-foot center will have a 24/7 walk-in behavioral health urgent care for ages 4 and up and a 16-bed crisis unit for adults who need longer stabilization. The total budget is about $29.4 million, and the county expects to open it in spring 2028.

Heading to the ceremony? Parking on site is limited, so park at Durham Tech's Orange County Campus, 525 College Park Road, where a shuttle starts running at 9 a.m.

If you appealed your 2025 property value, or thought about it, this one's for you. Orange County hired New York-based GAR Associates to review its 2025 revaluation, and the firm's 125-page report found the county met minimum industry standards but fell short of best practices.

Among the findings: statistical signs that some older homes were overvalued, and evidence of "selective reappraisal," meaning homes that had recently sold were valued more accurately than homes that hadn't. The report makes 30 recommendations, from clearer documentation to more open communication with residents.

Board of Commissioners Chair Jean Hamilton says she wants all of them in place before the next revaluation in 2029.

Orange County's one-year pause on large data centers, adopted in April, ends next spring, and planners are drafting what comes after it. The early plan would allow small data centers and keep large ones prohibited. Small ones would have to connect to public water and sewer and complete a sound study before getting a permit.

The open question is where "small" ends. "We haven't settled on a square footage amount yet," Perdita Holtz, a deputy director in the county's planning department, told The Daily Tar Heel. A public draft is expected in November, then goes through county review before reaching the commissioners.

The rules would apply only in unincorporated Orange County, not in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, or Mebane. The General Assembly, back in session Oct. 26, could also take up two state proposals, including a two-year statewide moratorium.

If your family spends time in the children's section of the Chapel Hill Public Library, you've seen her work. Karin Michel, the library's Youth & Family Services Manager, has won the 2026 Cal Horton Service Award, the Town of Chapel Hill's highest employee honor.

Michel started in 1998 as a summer library assistant and has held her current role since 2000. She helped carry the library through two renovations and kept service going through the pandemic, and she has served on the national committees that choose the Geisel and Carnegie awards. Library Director Atlas Logan nominated her, and a committee of past winners picked her from 16 nominees in 11 departments.

Next time you're in the children's section, tell her congratulations.

Mr. Dumpling celebrated its grand opening Oct. 8 at 239 S. Elliott Road, with handmade dumplings and Sichuan dishes. It also has a location in Apex.

Pocha, a Korean pub and barbecue spot, was set to open Saturday, Oct. 17, at 116 Old Durham Road, behind Wegmans.

Cat's Cradle's new second venue, at 107 Brewer Lane about a quarter-mile from the original club, holds up to 1,100 people. Its first ticketed concert is Built to Spill with Quasi on Tuesday, Nov. 3. An official opening date hasn't been announced.

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