Public transit, future development and the county landfill will be key topics for the Chapel Hill Town Council in late 2012, but it faces another pressing decision: Who should replace Councilwoman Penny Rich? Rich is expected to step down in late November or early December to join the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Town Council, […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
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What rhymes with frack? Jim Womack
The North Carolina panel charged with preparing natural gas drilling regulations is already facing controversy. Last week, members of the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission tapped Jim Womack, a Lee County commissioner and outspoken advocate of hydraulic fracturing, as chairman of the new board. Womack has supported fracking in the Lee County city of Sanford, […]
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Huh-za! The great pizza adventure begins…
It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. It took two weeks, but Billy Ball, David Ross, Grayson Currin, Lisa Sorg and Vernal Coleman ate their weight in pizza. We’re now on a juice fast. Here are our experiences with some of the good, mediocre and dreadful pies in the Triangle. CARY Bella […]
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ICE cools it in Alamance
Federal officials are dropping deportation cases in Alamance County after a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation alleged that Sheriff Terry Johnson and his office racially profile Latinos. Durham attorney Marty Rosenbluth, who specializes in defending Latino immigrants, tells the Indy that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyers voluntarily closed six of his pending deportation […]
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Alamance protestors slam Sheriff Terry Johnson
In an emotional press conference this morning, Alamance County protestors rolled out a lineup of area Latinos they say were racially profiled by controversial Sheriff Terry Johnson’s office in recent years. The conference, put on by a group called Fairness Alamance, comes one week after a U.S. Department of Justice report concluded Johnson and his […]
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UNC advisory board eyes university curriculum
A plus-sized UNC advisory board—beset with controversy before the first gavel—convened for the first time Wednesday, mulling over the state universities’ curriculum and changing demographics. The UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions, which includes 31 leaders in education, business and politics, is expected to consider the future of the state’s 17 public universities, but its […]
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DOJ ends federal immigration program in Alamance County
Blasted by federal investigators last week for racially profiling Latino drivers, the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office has been tossed from the controversial 287(g) deportation program. Hours after a U.S. Department of Justice report accused Alamance deputies and Sheriff Terry Johnson of biased policing, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said they would immediately […]
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UNC expansion worries neighbors
Rural Orange County residents are troubled by news that UNC-Chapel Hill administrators are acquiring additional property around a controversial animal-holding facility west of Chapel Hill. UNC Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Bob Lowman wrote in a Sept. 6 message to Bingham neighbors that the university has purchased one property adjacent to the animal facility and […]
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UNC-CH employees call on chancellor to stay
Chancellor Holden Thorp—beset by academic and athletic scandal in his short tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill—seems to at least have a chunk of the university’s employees in his corner. The school’s Employee Forum, a group representing university staff, is holding a “peaceful” rally supporting the troubled chancellor this morning in front of South Building, the school’s […]
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First Lady comes to Durham
Change doesn’t happen overnight. That was the message from First Lady Michelle Obama, who brought the enthusiasm—and a good chunk of her passionate Democratic National Convention speech—to the campus of Durham’s N.C. Central University Wednesday afternoon. “It is going to take a lot longer than four years to rebuild the economy,” she said. Wednesday’s stump […]