An industrial-power vacuum in the hallway sucks the quiet out of the conference room, but Jhana Parikha jaunty 16-year-old with no apparent need for adolescent awkwardnessshouts over it. Her teammates, equally precocious 15-year-old Hannah Klaus and 17-year-old Dynasty Winters, laugh. They’re seated at a conference table at the team’s nondescript but cluttered Raleigh office on […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
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No Surprises: Sally Greene appointed to Chapel Hill Town Council
You might have seen this one coming. Chapel Hill Town Council members on Wednesday tapped former (well, not anymore) Councilwoman Sally Greene to fill the panel’s vacant seat. The seat has been open since Penny Rich departed to join the Orange County Board of Commissioners last month. Greene seemed the frontrunner coming into Wednesday’s meeting. […]
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In Carrboro, working-class condo owners must pay $5,400 fee—in three weeks
Fear, shock and consternation: This is how some condo owners at Collins Crossing in Carrboro feel after learning each of them must cough up a $5,400 assessment fee by early February. One angry tenant says he can’t talk about it because he is afraid of the property’s powerful new owners. Another tenant is stunned. He […]
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General Assembly faces mental health reform
Because of antipsychotic medications, Alex’s sleepy, drawling voice lingers on consonants. But his mind is lucid when he talks about his struggles with mental illnessbouts of depression and alcohol-fueled mania that derailed his history studies at New York’s prestigious Vassar College more than a decade ago. “I went from being a very successful businessman to […]
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State workers expect lawmakers to reduce wages, benefits
It can’t be more than 50 degrees out here, but there’s sweat on Johnny Askins’ bald head as heliterallymoves rocks. On this Monday morning, the 48-year-old N.C. Department of Transportation worker, clad in the familiar orange vest over dirt-caked civvies, tosses dozens of chicken-sized boulders from a hauling truck to another crew member. The rocks […]
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EPA: Lots left to do on fracking study
If you enjoy reading instruction manuals, chances are Friday’s webinar report on a long-awaited fracking study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was a hoot. EPA scientist Jeanne Briskin, who is helping to lead the study, explained the multi-pronged approach the agency is taking to tackle fracking, which could begin permitting in North Carolina […]
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Get an update on the EPA’s fracking study
Those looking for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final word on fracking impacts will have to wait—at least until 2014. But the EPA is hosting webinars today and tomorrow to provide a progress report on the ongoing study. By this morning, all slots were filled for today’s 2 p.m. webinar, although spots remained for […]
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Feds sue Alamance sheriff for alleged racial profiling of Latinos
The lawsuit Download the civil rights lawsuit filed by the DOJ “Go out there and catch me some Mexicans.” That’s what Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson allegedly told his deputies, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed Dec. 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice. The suit, which was filed in federal court, alleges Johnson’s […]
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Commission to consider disclosure of fracking chemicals
Chemical reaction: At least 60 chemicals can be used in fracking operations, according to FracFocus, which is managed by two multistate government agencies. The chemical disclosure registry (www.fracfocus.org) contains a list, albeit an incomplete one, of chemicals known to be used in hydraulic fracturing. Here are a few examples: Hydrochloric Acid: Helps dissolve minerals and […]
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DOJ sues Alamance County sheriff
A much-anticipated civil rights lawsuit for Alamance County’s embattled sheriff is upon us. In a statement Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said it has officially filed a civil suit against Sheriff Terry Johnson, three months after accusing Johnson’s office of racially profiling Latinos. Following a two-year investigation of Johnson’s office, DOJ officials alleged in […]