The attack ads accusing Supreme Court Justice Robin Hudson of siding with child molesters have been widely decried, even by her opponent Eric Levinson. This spring, a post-Citizens United dark money operation called Justice for All NC spent $900,000 on a failed blitz to knock Hudson, a registered Democrat out of the primary. Two days […]
Aaron Lake Smith
Bio: Aaron Smith is the Raleigh Bureau Chief of INDY Week.Email: [email protected]
Posted inUncategorized
McCrory has been quietly skewing the workers’ comp system
Editor’s note: This story contains wording and omissions that affect its fairness and accuracy. The sentence regarding The International Worker’s Compensation Fund being paid $200,000 for a North Carolina conference could be read to imply that the Industrial Commission paid that money. It did not. When Andrew Heath’s former law firm appears before the Industrial […]
Posted inNews
Triangle Latino group targets Hagan’s immigration record in new billboard
Undocumented, unafraid! Undocumented, unafraid! A crowd of thirteen or fourteen young, undocumented Latino activists gathered in the Waffle House parking lot on Hillsborough Road in Durham yesterday, unveiling a large billboard that targets Senator Kay Hagan for her record on immigration issues. The billboard, which is in Spanish, features a picture of Sen. Hagan and […]
Posted inNews
Legislators hold hearing to discuss broken medical examiner’s system
NC lawmakers held a special legislative hearing on Monday promising to address issues within the state’s broken Medical Examiner’s Office. The Office of the Medical Examiner, which recently moved to Raleigh, is run by a competent but overworked and understaffed civil servant, Dr. Deborah Radisch. Local medical examiners are largely full-time doctors, who are paid […]
Posted inUncategorized
Two views of ever-changing Hillsborough Street
Raleigh City Council will hold a public hearing on Phase Two of the Hillsborough Street Revitalization Project in the first week of January or the first week of February. There are two prevailing, yet contradictory views of Hillsborough Street. One relishes the Hillsborough Street that is grimy, independent and outdatedthe Brewery, the now-gone comic book […]
Posted inElections
How judicial elections fell prey to big money
Despite efforts to maintain the illusion of independence, North Carolina’s judiciary is rapidly becoming a highly compromised branch, a proxy in a greater battle between Republicans and Democrats, labor and business interests. Catharine B. Arrowood, president of North Carolina’s Bar Association, rang the alarm in her acceptance speech in June: “Like Bill Murray in Ghostbusters, […]
Posted inNews
Five questions with Senator Kay Hagan
Senator Kay Hagan was the keynote speaker at the North Carolina AFL-CIO’s annual convention last week at the Hilton in North Raleigh. At the event, the union leadership urged the rank-and-file to throw their fundraising weight behind Hagan, who has rebranded herself as “The Most Moderate Senator” in preparation for her race against Thom Tillis. […]
Posted inNews
The Old South (Hills)
Nearly a year since my return to the Triangle, memories of my youth (or are they dream-memories?) continue to filter back at irregular and sometimes inopportune times, like a malfunctioning IV. The spaces of youth offer an indefinable sense of spirit and mystery, like architectural interiors in a Borges story. In one moment, I am […]
Posted inGuides
Seeking understanding on a tour of Oakwood in Raleigh
I never understood historic Oakwood. The hype and investment the nationally designated neighborhood in Raleigh began receiving in the mid-to-late 2000s always seemed incommensurate to the terrestrial reality. After all, the neighborhood seemed to be entirely oriented around a crumbling old graveyarda nice graveyard, but a Bonaventure or Pere Lachaise it is not. Sure, Oakwood […]
Posted inNews
Clay Aiken pledges to stand with workers
This morning, at North Carolina’s annual stateAFL-CIO convention in Raleigh, 2nd district congressional hopeful Clay Aiken said he would stand with workers. “People in Congress do not seem to understand—what’s goodfor workers is good for everybody,” he said at the endof a 15 minute speech which received an enthusiastic responsefrom union delegates from all over […]