Three years ago, when construction crews were breaking ground for the Triangle’s newest, hottest monument to consumerism just a short walk from her house, Shirley Marshall wasn’t thinking about shopping. She just wanted somebody to take the toxic bacteria out of her drinking water. Marshall, like many of her neighbors, has struggled with bouts of […]
Jennifer Strom
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Bunkey’s In
Barring a court appeal, Chatham voters will have a chance to elect car wash magnate Bunkey Morgan in the County Commissioners race later this year, since the local elections board dismissed a challenge by Pittsboro resident Nancy Brown, who alleged Morgan doesn’t live in the district he is running to represent. “We’ve heard Mr. Morgan’s […]
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Up Goose Creek
A turtle soaking up afternoon sunshine in the middle of Goose Creek stops Ray Eurquhart in his tracks. He’s been watching for new wildlife here, ever since he and his colleagues pulled the last rusty refrigerator out of this urban creek, whose oil-streaked waters used to stink up Durham’s Longmeadow Park and the backyard of […]
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Front and center
It must have been the brush pile. For the last year, I’ve been looking at the heap of downed branches lying like a bonfire waiting for a flame at the edge of our front yard. A few feet closer to the curb, and a town truck would pick it up. Were a more industrious woman […]
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Is There a Price on Gary Phillips’ Head?
Bunkey Morgan’s gold Cadillac would look out of place parked next to the modest little cottage that overlooks rolling Chatham County pastures and neighboring single-wide trailer homes. But that doesn’t matter, because no one ever sees Morgan’s car–or anyone else’s–at 2134 Silk Hope-Lindley Mill Road. The trim little white house with its rural backdrop of […]
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Feel the love
I have two rabbits; a boy and a girl, Trumpkin and Meg. I know what you’re thinking, and no, they don’t. They are spayed and neutered. They are (mostly) litter box trained, and not that cuddly. They thump their back feet with disdain and remarkable volume when I oversleep their breakfast hour. They eat hay […]
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Paving the Way
For six years, Doug Robins has paved driveways and parking lots with asphalt he buys from other suppliers. About a year ago, the owner of Asphalt Experts decided to open his own plant. But he couldn’t find a place to build it, thanks to a law that puts 1,500 feet between the smoky blue plumes […]
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A Few Asphacts
“Asphalt” is a mixture of crushed rock, sand and gravel held together with cement made from petroleum products. Used in paving roads, roofing, and other applications, asphalt must be at least 300 degrees to be spread, so it is mixed and heated right before being loaded onto trucks for immediate use. In North Carolina, about […]
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Building Blocs
Their motto is “No permanent friends, no permanent enemies–permanent issues.” Their members are whites, blacks and Latinos who count themselves and one another at meetings in celebration of the strength in their numbers. Their agenda tackles broad issues such as housing and education with specific proposals like testing all pre-1978 homes for lead paint and […]
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Moonshine
It’s a pleasure of my profession that my heroes write and sell books, because that process necessitates book tours, wherein the people I admire and learn from have to come out in public and talk about themselves, their writing, and–in Rick Bragg’s case–their mommas. (If you haven’t read Bragg’s 1997 ode to his mother, All […]
