Town and university leaders in Chapel Hill on Monday announced the latest step in preserving affordable housing in the town’s historic Northside neighborhood. UNC-Chapel Hill will grant a $3 million, no-interest, 10-year loan to help buy and resell properties in Northside, a historic black community that has become a rental destination for university students over […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
Posted inNews
Governor’s budget funds $24.5 million in mental health improvements in N.C. prisons
In the days to come, expect detractors on both sides when it comes to Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget, which he announced last week. But as far as mental health care in North Carolina prisons, a system McCrory called a “broken culture” last year, the governor appears willing to spend on reforms. Over the next […]
Posted inNews
N.C. schools report “record low” dropout rates
Good news out of North Carolina’s public schools. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction reports “record low” dropout rates in state schools in the 2013-2014 school year. Read about it in detail here and find copies of the reports here. Last school year, 2.28 percent of high school students dropped out of school. That marks […]
Posted inNews
More money for prisons, plus insubordinate magistrates
seven N.C. magistrates who have resigned over same-sex Marriage: Gilbert Breedlove, Swain County Tommy Holland, Graham County John Kallam Jr., Rockingham County Gary Littleton, Pasquotank County Gayle Myrick, Union County Jeff Powell, Jackson County Bill Stevenson, Gaston County One year after a mentally ill inmate in solitary confinement died of dehydration, North Carolina prison officials […]
Posted inGuides
Advocating for society’s neediest
One friend calls her a “force of nature.” Another describes her as an “indomitable spirit.” Nerys Levy, a slight woman with heavy eyelids and round, pink cheeks seems too placid for all of that. “I suppose I’m a bit intrepid, and if I start something I don’t give up. I don’t know if that’s a […]
Posted inNews
After inmate death, N.C. prisons tout reforms
Nearly a year after a mentally ill prison inmate died of dehydration following a month-long stay in solitary confinement, North Carolina officials are touting two dozen corrective actions they say will prevent future incidents. The list, presented as an exclusive to the Indy, includes new prison management teams, new policies, expanded crisis intervention training for […]
Posted inNews, Housing
Orange County seeks input on affordable housing
Affordable housing is on our minds for many reasons, not the least of which being the ongoing planning for Durham and Chapel Hill’s 17-mile light-rail system. The light rail is expected to bring massive hikes in land values along the track, forcing local government leaders to make housing preservation plans now. Next week is your […]
Posted inNews
N.C. Senate passes eventual gas tax hike
N.C. Senate Republicans’ gas tax cut—which is not really a tax cut—is heading to the state House. The chamber gave its approval today of Senate Bill 20, controversial legislation that would offer a short-term decrease in the state’s fuel tax before raising the levy in the coming years. Senate leadership described the bill, sponsored by […]
Posted inNews
Lee County leaders approve resolution opposing fracking
As expected, county commissioners in Lee County—the presumably gas-rich, suburban county south of the Triangle—have taken a public stance opposing natural gas drilling, better known as fracking. Lee County, which includes the county seat of Sanford, is expected to be one of the focal points of natural gas drilling in North Carolina in the coming […]
Posted inNews
Wilson had fiber while the rest of N.C. was waiting for its page to load
Long before Triangle governments began courting Google Fiber’s ultrafast Internet service, Wilson was calling itself “North Carolina’s Gigabit city.” This citypopulation 49,628east of Raleigh outdid every other North Carolina municipality in 2008 by launching its own municipal broadband, a move that sparked panicked lobbying from regional Internet providers and, eventually, legislative action ensuring it might […]
