Last year, the Indy reported that North Carolina transportation leaders were moving on a controversial plan to construct high-occupancy toll lanes, better known as HOT lanes, for a congested portion of I-77 north of Charlotte. On Thursday, the N.C. Department of Transportation finalized that deal, signing off on a contract with Spanish-based transit company Cintra. […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
Posted inNews
Middle school kids fight to form gay-straight alliance
It was not as if Luis Martinez hadn’t worn high heels before. But for Luis, 11, there was something special about these black pumps, the pointy pair with the impossibly steep heel. His mother, Maria, recalls how her boyfriend admonished Luis. Pumps are for women, he said. If you want sneakers, we’ll buy you sneakers. […]
Posted inNews
Chapel Hill High graffiti artists troll principal
Graffiti trolling Principal Jackson at Chapel Hill High this month. Behold: Graffiti artists with an apparent, albeit spotty, grasp of ethics. An Indy reader sent us this photo, taken at Chapel Hill High School earlier this month. It appears to be a prank trolling Principal Sulura Jackson, who was accused by teachers last year of […]
Posted inNews
Orange County commissioners to consider tax increase tonight
Guard your pocketbooks. One of the Triangle’s most expensive places to live may soon be a little more expensive. Orange County commissioners are expected to vote tonight on a $200.4 million budget that includes a 2-cent property tax increase. Officials say the cash is needed to pay for the needs of the county’s two school […]
Posted inNews
White House moves on LGBT rights
The White House continues its inexorably lead-footed approach to LGBT rights. One executive order at a time. Long criticized by LGBT advocates for neglecting to take action on workplace discrimination, it appears President Obama will be signing an executive order banning LGBT discrimination among federal contractors, the Associated Press reports. Supporters, like the ACLU, immediately […]
Posted inNews
Chatham park gets go-ahead
The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners made history Monday night. They voted 4-1 to approve Chatham Park, which, at 7,500 acres is thought to be the largest development plan in North Carolina history. Bett Wilson Foley was the lone dissenter. Pittsboro Mayor Bill Terry also opposed it, but he does not have a vote. The project, […]
Posted inNews
Pittsboro makes history
The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners made history Monday night. They voted 4-1 to approve Chatham Park, which, at more than 7,000 acres is believed to be the largest development plan in North Carolina history. Bett Wilson Foley was the lone dissenter. Pittsboro Mayor Bill Terry also opposed it, but he does not have a vote. […]
Posted inNews
Gov. McCrory signs fracking bill
As expected, Gov. Pat McCrory signed off on the Energy Modernization Act this morning, legislation that could open the state to issue fracking permits as soon as spring 2015. “We remain intensely focused on creating good jobs, particularly in our rural areas,” McCrory said in a statement. “We have watched and waited as other states […]
Posted inUncategorized
Teachers give a failing grade to working conditions
The grades are in for Chapel Hill High School. And they’re not good. A recent job satisfaction survey conducted at the schoolpart of a statewide effort to gauge educators’ moraleproduced remarkably low approval numbers for the school’s leadership. According to the biennial survey, which was completed this spring and will be presented this week to […]
Posted inBest of the Triangle
Missed connections
Carrboro. You, with your thigh tattoos, low-slung buildings, black-rimmed glasses, social consciousness, civic engagement, threadbare Keds, fearfully aggressive pedestrians, hula hoops, high-waisted jeans, midtempo rock, humanely processed coffee, goddamned face-painting and disquieting professorial air. Me, CVS pharmacy, with my lusty, fluorescent glow, sliding glass doors, sun-baked pavement, condom racks, gossip mags, $5.99 Aerosmith and Pointer […]
