The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Fifteen is now very nearly in the books, after we dispense with the binge eating and football watching and familial squabbling and borderline alcoholism that the holiday season brings with it. And, if we’re being honest, that thought doesn’t make us sad. Much of the news this […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
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Protesters demand an investigation into the Durham County jail
The top bunk is ideal for stretching out your orange, jail-issued jumper to dry in the fleeting sunlight after you wash the garment in the toilet. Given that prisoners at the Durham County Detention Center don’t have washing facilities for the two outfits they’re given when jailed, this humiliating ritual is sometimes the only option. […]
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N.C.’s fracking capitol approves drilling ban
This was expected, but, somehow, it still seems stunning. On Monday night, county commissioners in Lee County— likely North Carolina’s prime hotbed for natural gas drilling, according to geologists—approved a sweeping, two-year moratorium on fracking within the county. The vote, which was backed by five of seven county commissioners, comes just a handful of years […]
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Legal case begins against coal ash dumps in Chatham, Lee counties
Two days after Thanksgiving, with plans for coal-ash dumping underway in abandoned brick mines in rural Chatham and Lee counties, community advocates made their last plea for a little holiday charity from Duke Energy. “The solution to the coal ash problem is not spreading the contamination to other sites,” wrote Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League […]
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Pat McCrory’s Twitter account gets weird
Usually, Pat McCrory’s official Twitter account is reserved for fluff like this: On Saturday, though, it got weird. The governor, embroiled in what’s likely to be a tight race with Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper and dogged by allegations of crony capitalism over state prison contracts, used his Twitter feed to complain. Naturally, the Twittersphere, […]
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Judge rules against 13-year-old climate change activist
The 13-year-old who took North Carolina to court over climate change has lost her case. While Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan has yet to hand down his official ruling in Hallie Turner’s case, Turner’s family tells the Indy that the judge did notify the family that he has ruled in favor of the state. Turner, […]
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State cites Duke Energy for permit violations at Asheville coal ash dump
This didn’t take very long. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said Wednesday that it has cited Duke Energy for a pair of permit violations at its Asheville Regional Airport dumping site. According to the notice of violations, which you can read in its entirety here, Duke inspectors noticed exposed coal combustion products caused […]
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Breaking: UNC-Chapel Hill gives all-clear after morning report of an armed person on campus
Breaking news this morning in Chapel Hill: University officials gave the all-clear before 10 a.m. this morning after temporarily suspending campus activities following a report of an armed individual on campus. UNC sent out an alert around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning citing an unconfirmed report of an armed person near the campus ROTC building and […]
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Do we really need judicial elections?
Anyone who’s ever voted in a judicial election in North Carolina knows the morass of sussing out a candidate’s actual positions. Given that most voters depend on party endorsements and other heuristics to make up their minds, it would seem to make sense for North Carolina to join 19 other states in approving retention referendums […]
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The invisibles: 57,000 minors crossed the Southern border last year. Should we send them back?
Somewhere between the gang-riddled streets of Honduras and the Rio Grande River, Jessica*, a 13-year-old with long, curly hair, a pretty face and dreams of being a model, seemed to fall into a black hole. The men who’d promised to deliver her to the U.S. border had abandoned her in a warehouse populated by drunks, […]