Ryan Thomson is a graduate student in sociology at N.C. State University. Clad in a green Mountain Justice T-shirt, he’s an ardent environmentalist who was horrified the first time he saw a coal company engaged in mountaintop removal in West Virginia. In that moment, he became an activist. “It’s a war zone up there,” Thomson […]
Bob Geary
Posted inNews
Who built it? Workers built it. A Labor Day message from Charlotte.
The Democratic National Convention doesn’t kick off officially until tomorrow. But the all-but-official start day is today, Labor Day, as thousands of delegates, media types, activists and interested citizens pour into Charlotte. I was here yesterday for the March on Wall Street South, a demonstration and march by about 1,000 of our progressive friends from […]
Posted inElections
Pat McCrory, man of mystery
What did McCrory do as mayor? Pat McCrory served as mayor of Charlotte for seven terms, from 1995–2009. However, that position isn’t as powerful as it seems. In Charlotte, as in Raleigh, Durham and most other North Carolina cities, the chief executive officer in local government is the city manager, not the mayor. Nonetheless, if […]
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Meeting tonight: The new Raleigh zoning code and the problem of accessory dwelling units
Accessory dwelling units. They sound so benign, and in many cases they are — you put up a little cottage out back for grandma, or a college student, or as a place for your guests to stay if they’re staying and, uh, staying. But now picture this. Your neighbor builds an ADU, a honkin’ two-story […]
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Indy sold!! But wait, what about me?
It’s a rule of old-school journalism that you are never the story. I’m going to violate it today to say that when the Indy is sold, my role will be changing. I’ll be writing a column for the paper rather than, as now, doing the job of staff writer. What’s the difference? I don’t have […]
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State must provide pre-K schooling for all at-risk 4-year olds: N.C. Court of Appeals upholds Judge Manning’s order
The three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Superior Court Judge Howard Manning’s ruling. You can read the decision here. Manning found, as part of his years-long (“Leandro”) analysis of what the state constitution requires in the way of elementary and secondary education, that pre-K preparation is critical if at-risk kids, i.e., […]
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Saturday: Packapalooza is NCSU’s 125th birthday extravaganza on Hillsborough Street
Hey, the kids are back in town, and it’s N.C. State’s 125th birthday, so there’s going to a blow-out on Hillsborough Street tomorrow. Number 1 fact: Hillsborough Street will closed to traffic from early morning to after midnight between the Pullen Road roundabout and Brooks Avenue. Number 2 fact: Free parking on campus. What does […]
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Police Chief Harry Dolan says bye, bye to Raleigh
city of RaleighPolice Chief Harry Dolan Harry Dolan’s been in the news lately, at odds with a lot of his troops. is there a connection between that and his announcement today that he’s out of here as police chief in a few weeks? City Manager Russell Allen heaps praise on Dolan, so much so that […]
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All-in? Money is speech, the Supreme Court says, and politics is a no-limit game. So, place your bets.
The town hall meeting in Raleigh Monday evening was informative and polite. All of the more than 100 people who packed into Quail Ridge Books & Music were able to express themselves on a topic of high public significance. Now imagine that each of us at the meeting, while retaining our power to vote at […]
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4-year terms for Raleigh City Council? Mayor McFarlane and Councilor Baldwin go another round.
One follow-up to the Raleigh City Council retreat story from earlier in the week: In addition to their wanting some staff help and to push a bolder agenda of economic development tied to strategic transit and other infrastructure investments (click on the story if you missed all that), Council members were considering a change from […]
