After what Omar Currie says was a “hostile” private meeting with Orange County Schools administrators, the embattled third-grade teacher plus a top administrator at Efland-Cheeks Elementary have resigned. Currie and Assistant Principal Meg Goodhand stepped down nearly two months after the teacher read the children’s book King & King in the classroom, sparking an uproar […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
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Chatham County makes deal with Duke Energy on coal ash
Creative Commons LicenseWater contaminated with coal ash. Chatham County leaders have approved a pending deal with Duke Energy that would force the energy company to compensate the county for dumping its toxic coal ash in an abandoned Moncure brick mine. The deal, which was announced Tuesday, requires Duke to pay $18 million to the county, […]
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Teacher, assistant principal at Orange County school step down over gay fairy tale controversy
Photo by Alex BoernerEfland-Cheeks Elementary third-grade teacher Omar Currie has resigned. A teacher and an assistant principal at Orange County’s Efland-Cheeks Elementary have stepped down following the backlash over the teacher’s reading of a gay children’s book in the classroom. Third-grade teacher Omar Currie and Assistant Principal Meg Goodhand confirmed their resignation to the Indy […]
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State orders Duke Energy to halt coal ash contamination near Wilmington plant
Photo courtesy of DENR In yet another blow to Duke Energy, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is ordering the nation’s largest utility to stop the spread of coal ash contamination near its leaky Wilmington plant. The much-maligned state agency said it was issuing a notice of regulatory requirement Tuesday, which gives […]
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The controversial plans for Carrboro’s $15 million arts center have been scrapped
When UNC-Chapel Hill announced plans last month for a $5 million performing arts center in downtown Chapel Hill, it did not go unnoticed in Carrboro. Many in the neighboring Orange County town had balked earlier this year when presented with a similar proposal for a $15 million arts venue at the corner of East Main […]
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Updated: State votes to revoke charter for Raleigh’s Dynamic Community school
Creative Commons License Citing an “erosion of trust” and “numerous concerns,” including concerns for children’s safety, the N.C. State Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to revoke the charter of Dynamic Community Charter, a Wake County school that serves only children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The state board followed the recommendation of a smaller […]
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Durham prisoners in cells 22 hours a day
For more than a month,demonstrators have picketedevery Friday at the DurhamCounty Detention Facility,protesting new jail policiesthat confine inmates to their cellsfor 22 hours every day. But on Monday, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, said the policy will continue, no matter the controversy. “Safety must be the primary driving factor, safety for […]
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Orange County Schools to convene committee on gay fairy tale read in class
Photo by Alex BoernerEfland-Cheeks Elementary third-grade teacher Omar Currie The fight over a teacher’s decision to read a gay-themed children’s book in an Orange County Schools classroom continues. Orange County Schools Interim Superintendent Pam Jones will appoint a system committee to review the book, “King & King.” This is the next step in the process, […]
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UNC will rename Saunders Hall
UNC-Chapel HIll As expected, UNC-Chapel Hill announced Thursday morning that the university would rename controversial Saunders Hall, a 1922 building named after a former KKK leader in North Carolina. Members of the school’s board of trustees voted to change the building’s name to Carolina Hall, the university said, also enacting a 16-year freeze on the […]
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Orange County teacher Omar Currie could resign in protest
Despite it allthe national media headlines, the heated debate and a raucous public meeting in which he and an assistant principal were accused of promoting homosexualityOmar Currie seems relaxed and friendly as he sips a coffee in a downtown Mebane coffee shop. Perhaps it’s because the besieged third-grade teacher at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School in Orange […]
