A grueling, four-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Orange County Board of Adjustments Monday night was not enough time for the board to arrive at a conclusion on the matter of Bingham Township’s “party barn.” The standing-room-only crowd in the basement of 131 W. Margaret Street, in Hillsborough, heard from all sides in the dispute, which the […]
David Hudnall
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Duke Energy Operates Several of the Nation’s ‘Super Polluters,’ Report Finds
If you stuck around and slogged through the vice presidential debate Tuesday night, you might have heard Republican candidate Mike Pence talk about Democrats’ “war on coal.” Pence’s running mate has been using this language a lot recently, too. It’s very obviously an attempt to court disenfranchised white voters in places like Appalachia, where coal […]
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The Morning Roundup: A Charlotte Update, Trump Denied in Greensboro, and Radio Drama in Fayetteville
Good morning. Vice-presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence debated last night. It was boring as hell. Here’s some other news. 1. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department releases full video of Keith Lamont Scott shooting. But it’s still unclear whether the Charlotte man, killed by CMPD two weeks ago, was armed. From the Charlotte Observer, where you […]
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Will Orange County’s $120 Million Bond Be Enough for Its School Districts?
The two school districts in Orange County need about $330 million worth of love, district leaders say. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools alone has $212 million in unfunded renovations and expansionsa rather hefty backlog for one of the best-funded school districts in the state. “This community grew like crazy in the 1990s and early 2000s,” says […]
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Cooper Up Six Points on McCrory in New Poll; Trump and Clinton Still Very Tight in N.C.
A Bloomberg poll released today shows Democrat Roy Cooper making big gains on incumbent Governor Pat McCrory. Dissatisfaction over HB 2 appears to be driving at least some of Cooper’s lead, which has stretched to six points, according to Bloomberg. “The strongest sentiment for repealing the bathroom law is among Democrats and those who lean […]
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Party Barn Appeal Will Be Heard in Mid-October
The saga of the “party barn” arrives at another pivotal moment next month. The Orange County Board of Adjustment has set October 10 as the date to hear an appeal from the neighbors of Kara and Chris Brewer. The Brewers, under an LLC known as Southeast Property Group, are in the midst of constructing a […]
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The Morning Roundup: A Federal Indictment, a New HB 2 Travel Ban, and a Mystery Lottery Ticket
Good morning, everyone. Your news: 1. Federal grand jury charges N.C. state senator with money laundering, wire fraud, mail fraud. A total of fourteen counts—five for mail fraud, three for wire fraud, six for money laundering—were handed down against Fletcher Hartsell yesterday. From the News & Observer: The indictment alleges that Hartsell engaged in a […]
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The Durham City Council Gave a Biotech Company $77,000. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea.
In terms of municipal budgets, $77,000 is not a lot of money. That’s why it was an easy decision, last Monday, for the Durham City Council to approve an incentive package for Almac, a UK-based company that serves the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. The company intends to expand its operations in Durham to the tune […]
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Chapel Hill Town Council Member Donna Bell Dinged by State Board of Elections
The Committee to Elect Donna Bell does not appear to be an especially scrupulous operation. The Chapel Hill Town Council member’s reelection campaign has been fined $500—the maximum amount allowable for a municipal race, per state law—by the State Board of Elections for submitting its 2015 year-end campaign finance report six weeks late. Despite the […]
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In Chapel Hill’s Ephesus-Fordham District, No Tools to Fight Bad Developments
Two years ago, the part of Chapel Hill where Eastgate Crossing and Village Plaza and Ram’s Plaza collide (home to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Food Lion, and dozens of restaurants and shops) was cobbled together into a designated zoning district called Ephesus-Fordham and singled out for an experimental—to Chapel Hill—approach to development known as form-based […]
