He was 21 years and 39 days old when Chapel Hill elected him to the Town Council. Six weeks past the minimum age the North Carolina Constitution allows.

That was 1991. Last Friday, August 14, Mark Chilton cleaned out his office as Orange County Register of Deeds and stepped down from elected office — 28 years across four of them, ending a few months earlier than the calendar required. He says he is leaving office "probably for good."

In between, he was mayor of Carrboro from 2005 to 2013. He got himself arrested at a Moral Monday protest at the General Assembly in 2013, while sitting mayor. And in 2014 he ran for Register of Deeds on a promise that got national pickup: he would defy state law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He beat the incumbent. Months later, a federal court ruling struck down North Carolina's same-sex-marriage ban, making the whole question moot anyway.

The eleven years since have been quieter work — modernizing an office most people only think about twice in their lives, expanding Spanish-language services, and digging up long-buried county records that tell a more complete story about who lived here and under what terms.

Assistant Register of Deeds Amy McLamb won the Democratic primary in March, ran unopposed for November, and takes office in December. Chilton's early exit leaves a three-month gap: state law gives the Orange County Democratic Party's executive committee 30 days to recommend someone, and county commissioners appoint from there. If the party misses the deadline, commissioners choose on their own.

In his statement, Chilton said serving as Register of Deeds was the greatest honor of his life, said he had nothing left to teach McLamb, and signed off with two words that are somehow very on brand for a man who first won office as a college student:

Onward to graduate school.

Orange High School opens another year with a principal who holds the nation's top honor in the job. Jason Johnson was named the 2026 National High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals back in April, and he heads into this school year with that behind him. It's not a state award with a national-sounding name — it's the national one, and it landed on a school in Hillsborough. Worth remembering the next time somebody tells you nothing good happens in public education around here.

7 Brew Coffee plans to open at 103 E. Franklin Street, in the space Starbucks left when it moved down the block to 100 E. Franklin in 2024. Here's the part worth knowing: although the chain is famous for its drive-through stands, this one won't have a drive-through. It's a walk-in storefront. 7 Brew started in Arkansas in 2017 and has since grown to more than 700 locations across 38 states; Chapel Hill would be its 21st in North Carolina. The company says the project is still in its early stages and hasn't firmly pinned down an opening date, though hiring has already started.

The town is moving ahead on a new Fire Station 4 at Weaver Dairy Road Extension and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The current station opened in 1982 and the town now calls it beyond repair. The sequence matters: the new station goes up first, next door on the site of a fire training facility slated for demolition later this year, and the old station stays in service the entire time. Once the new station opens, the old station's site is planned for 65 to 105 affordable homes. Town Council still has a rezoning to consider this fall.

A construction zone has gone up around Jackson Hall as UNC prepares to demolish it, with closures around Cobb Drive, Paul Green Theatre Drive, and the walkways nearby. If you have a student on campus — or you're just used to walking that stretch — follow the posted detours. Two new residence halls totaling 734 rooms are part of the same project.

A water main break left customers in Hillsborough's central zone under a boil water advisory late last week. The town lifted it Monday. If you were affected and have been running bottled water since, you can stop.

UNC Health has rebranded its venture capital arm — formerly Rex Health Ventures, now UNC Health Ventures — with $125 million in investment capacity for emerging health-care companies. The health system says the investments have to advance care for North Carolinians, though the platform itself isn't limited to companies based here. Worth watching in a region that keeps trying to be a health-tech hub.

A man who has held office here since before most UNC freshmen were born just transitioned from a lifetime of public service. A building that has stood for decades is coming down. On Monday, a few thousand kids will walk into classrooms that will not be the same rooms they left in June. The community is always doing this. We just usually miss it.

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