Employees at The News & Observer started feeling the pain of the financial downturn early on, with layoffs and buyouts that began last spring and have so far amounted to 233 lost jobs. Today, the paper announced more layoffs are coming, though it’s unclear how many. “We had hoped that previous cuts would be sufficient […]
Fiona Morgan
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Building a better broadband map
The e-NC Authority made great strides toward closing the digital divide when it began one of the first efforts to map access to broadband Internet service statewide. Its most recent interactive map uses Geographic Information System (GIS) layers of roads, county lines and other data. But e-NC makes its maps based on the data shared […]
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State lawmakers debate using industry-backed info on broadband access
Compare maps of broadband access produced by Connect Kentucky and e-NC Authority with one produced using independently collected data by the nonprofit WOW e-CDC: See “Building a better broadband map“ The people who live in rural Halifax and Nash counties northeast of Raleigh are among the poorest in the state, with unemployment rates of more […]
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RTI scientist plays a role in keeping BPA on the market
An extraordinary investigative report in the February issue of the magazine Fast Company tells the story of how the plastics industry has managed to prevent federal regulation of the chemical Bisphenol A by backing scientific studies that debunk concerns about cancer, infertility and other health problems. Reporter David Case shows how scientific research firms offer […]
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Money on the table at tax time
We keep wondering where the bailout is for hard-working Americans struggling to keep their heads above water. Well, there is some money available, and it’s not a bailout — it’s money workers have already earned. It’s called the Earned Income Tax Credit, and this year workers in North Carolina are eligible to receive even more […]
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SAS founder to Obama: Use my software
Jim Goodnight tells BusinessWeek that one way to reform the U.S. education system would be to use the SAS Curriculum Pathways software his company created and recently began offering for free to all American schools. “We have the most complete set of curricula available,” he told the magazine, “so let’s not reinvent the wheel.”
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Carrboro Citizen announces expansion
Not all local newspapers are suffering in the down economy. The Carrboro Citizen, launched more than two years ago by former Indy managing editor Kirk Ross, plans to beef up circulation 20 percent by April and expand its coverage of Chapel Hill. Ross made the announcement on the Citizen‘s Facebook group, saying it would appear […]
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Golden Belt ball canceled
Our Snowbama day has been fun, but the bad weather is ruining tonight’s plans. Durham for Obama‘s bash at Golden Belt has been canceled.
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John Locke Foundation’s tech analysis: Epic fail
In a report bashing a city-owned broadband utility, the conservative John Locke Foundation reveals a stunning level of ignorance about technology. “Wilson’s Fiber-Optic Boondoggle,” written by research director Michael Sanera and intern Katie Bethune, criticizes Wilson, N.C.’s $28 million investment in a fiber-optic network that makes high-speed Internet, cable TV and phone service to every […]
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Durham Food Co-op building sold
Inside the door of the Durham Food Co-op, a hand-chiseled wooden sign announced it was not a traditional grocery store: It read “Peoples Intergalactic Food Conspiracy.” As a child, Nick Hawthorne-Johnson looked forward to seeing the sign, the murals on the walls outside and the warm, friendly feeling inside the store. “I remember going shopping […]
