Call Alan Gill and you’ll be treated to John Williams’ booming symphonic score from the original Superman movies. It’s a dramatic, admittedly corny ringback for Gill, who progressed from selling comics from the trunk of his car to operating one of the Triangle’s most reliably excellent comic stores, Durham’s Ultimate Comics, as well as the […]
Billy Ball
Bio: Billy Ball is an INDY Week staff writer.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/billy_k_ball
Posted inHousing
Orange County Commissioners slip bond details past public
When Orange County commissioners approved plans this year for a $125 million school bond vote in 2016, it passed with little public input, scant public outreach and one absent county commissioner. Now some county residents are calling for commissioners to reconsider their priorities, particularly their decision to exclude public-housing funding from the deal. By a […]
Posted inNews
Environmental groups challenge permits for coal ash dumps
Creative Commons License Contending that the N.C. DENR acted “arbitrarily and capriciously,” three environmental nonprofits have taken the first step in challenging recently granted coal ash dumping permits for dual projects in Chatham and Lee counties. The groups—the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump (CCACAD) and EnvironmentaLEE—filed a petition […]
Posted inNews
Carrboro’s PACE Academy to protest state’s decision to revoke charter
Creative Commons License Parents, staff and students at a troubled Carrboro charter school say they plan next week to protest the N.C. State Board of Education’s decision to revoke its charter. In a statement Friday, school leaders at PACE Academy said the state board is “relying on faulty and unreliable reports” from its finance officers […]
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Chapel Hill library to hold public forum on gay children’s book
Photo by Alex BoernerFormer Orange County teacher Omar Currie resigned last month after reading a gay children’s book in class. While Orange County Schools squirmed over third-grade teacher Omar Currie’s reading of the gay children’s book “King & King,” the Chapel Hill Public Library saw a spike in the number of checkouts and holds placed […]
Posted inNews
Durham Chamber of Commerce lauds SCOTUS gay marriage decision
Creative Commons License Back in 2012, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce was the first North Carolina business group to declare its opposition to Amendment One, a short-lived, voter-approved ban on gay marriage. Fittingly in 2015, the group is celebrating the Supreme Court’s epic decision last week to order that gay marriage be permitted across […]
Posted inNews
Chapel Hill, Carrboro municipal races filling up fast
Creative Commons License The good/bad thing about politics: Just when you think you’re done with them, filing season begins anew. Filing begins July 6 for a full slate of local races in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. On Monday, Carrboro Alderman Damon Seils became the latest entry into the race when he announced his intention to […]
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Justice Clarence Thomas invokes slavery in dissent on gay marriage
Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsU.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is notorious for his silence. For almost seven years, the conservative justice—an appointee of President George H.W. Bush—did not utter a word from the bench during oral arguments before the court. Thus, when we are treated to his opinions, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Hillsborough could remove words “Confederate Memorial” from museum
On the front of the Orange County Historical Museum, the words”Confederate Memorial”are out of context, but they could also be out of time. This month, museum leaders caused a minor controversy when they asked to remove the words from the building’s portico, a holdover from its construction in 1934. The former public library on North […]
Posted inNews
Tonight’s review of gay children’s book in Orange County Schools canceled
Tonight’s Orange County Schools review of the gay children’s book “King & King” has been canceled after parents withdrew their district appeals complaining about the book. The parents’ decision comes three days after third-grade teacher Omar Currie, who read the book in his classroom at Efland-Cheeks Elementary in late April, stepped down, along with the […]
