Plans to add North Carolina’s capital city to the national day of protest of California’s Proposition 8 are still underway. Organizer Will Elliott said he’s trying to find a downtown location and secure the proper permits. One thing we know so far: The state capitol is out because construction begins there this weekend. Meanwhile, confirmed […]
Fiona Morgan
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Orla Swift leaving The N&O
The longtime arts reporter and critic of theater and dance plans to leave the paper after eight years, effective sometime next month. Swift said she plans to continue to freelance for the paper as time and space permits. Update/correction: Swift said she’s been assured by editors that “there’ll be ample space for theater coverage to […]
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Young voters turned N.C. blue
Like people all across the country, students at St. Augustine’s, a small, traditionally black, liberal arts college in Raleigh, sat transfixed as the results came in on Election Night. About 150 students in Seby Jones Auditorium watched CNN projected on the big screen. Like many of the students at St. Aug’s, Jackie Dearring, an 18-year-old […]
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Southern Villagers protest high-rise hotel
For Immediate Release Press Contact: Elliot Baron (919) 357-7804 November 10, 2008 email: [email protected] Southern Village Developer Wants to Rezone Open Space Neighbors resist D.R. Bryan and John Fugo plan for commercial hotel in parking lot Chapel Hill, N.C. – In Southern Village, a number of neighbors are organizing against a scheme to rezone open […]
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Prop 8 protest in Raleigh planned for this Saturday
Update (11/11 10:20 a.m.): Capitol permits could not be secured, organizer Will Elliott said Tuesday morning. He’s working on finding an alternate downtown Raleigh location. For questions, or to help, email NCAgainstH8 [at] gmail [dot] com. Across the country, simultaneous protests are being planned against California’s Proposition 8, which amends the state’s constitution to deny […]
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Full circle, from Wilmington to Washington
For yet another reminder of the historic impact of this year’s election, consider this: The only coup d’etat in the nation’s history occurred 110 years ago today in Wilmington, when a violent mob of white supremacists angry over election results killed 22 African Americans, forced the mayor and city government to resign, and burned down […]
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Johnston Sheriff Bizzell not so repentant after all
After making a pro-forma written apology to (legal) Latino immigrants following his overtly racist comments to The News & Observer in September, Steve Bizzell decided to break two months of silence in a radio interview last week with that other paragon of cultural sensitivity, Bob Dumas of G-105. ABC11 has the audio. The two commiserated […]
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Looking to Senate 2010
Kay Hagan’s victory — and North Carolina’s new hue — has Dems sizing up the U.S. Senate seat of Richard Burr. Burr had a 27 percent approval rating as of July — ouch! So who will take him on? BlueNC says it’ll be Roy Cooper.
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Palin makes it hard to rejoice over women in politics
North Carolina elected its first woman governor, and women will soon hold six out of 10 state executive positions. But while even Fox News anchors take a moment to celebrate the milestone Barack Obama has achieved as the first African American president, you won’t find as much joyful acknowledgment from the women sweeping our state […]
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A new America, a new Wake County
Two men in black trench coats stood side by side to greet voters in front of Oak Grove Elementary School in Cary on Election Day. Most people shuffled past, trying to avoid the drizzle, but for Republican state Rep. Nelson Dollar and his Democratic challenger, Al Swanstrom, every vote at this conservative precinct mattered enough […]