Over the last dozen years, various commercial development proposals have been rejected for the northeast corner of U.S. 15-501 and Mt. Moriah Road in Durham. During the review process for each, local environmentalists voiced concerns about the sensitive nature of the 13-acre parcel, saying its steep slopes and proximity to New Hope Creek required cautious […]
Jennifer Strom
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Posted inNews
Accused Raleigh entrepreneur goes national
In December 2004, things were going south for self-styled Raleigh entrepreneur James Webb. Dozens of investors, clients and subcontractors of his Alpine Properties real estate venture were pestering him for payments and filing suits in six and seven digits from Greensboro to the coast. At the same time, two state agencies were looking into his […]
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Morgan backs planning board members’ loans
When car-wash magnate Bunkey Morgan won a seat on the Chatham County Commissioners in 2002, his campaign was clouded with controversies: legal challenges over whether he lived in his district; complaints that he funded his own run and later recouped costs in post-election donations to hide his special-interest support; and questions about a real estate […]
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Live from New York
It’s funny living in someone else’s life space. Last December, I spent a frustrating 10 minutes combing the kitchen of my New York City sublet seeking a fork. The realization dawned slowly that the Chinese couple we’d rented from were much more adept with chopsticks than I ever expect to be, and had no need […]
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The price of friendship
In a crowded sandwich shop at North Hills, John Kane enthuses easily about the $1 billion redevelopment project that’s been hailed as “Raleigh’s new midtown.” The fledgling mecca of shopping, dining, working and living has just launched its first holiday season. New stores and restaurants are bustling with customers; office buildings, condos and a hotel […]
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No harm, no charges?
What happens when state regulators tell law enforcement authorities that “a substantial embezzlement of client monies” has occurred at a major Triangle commercial real estate firm? Not much, apparently. When the N.C. Real Estate Commission passed to Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby its findings about $1.5 million withdrawn from Raleigh’s Kane Realty Corporation by […]
Posted inGuides
Bernice Wade & Barbara Stiles
For three weeks every April, sisters Bernice Wade and Barbara Stiles throw open their gate and invite the world to share the beauty of a project it takes them the other 49 weeks a year to create. At their house on Gimghoul Road near UNC’s Chapel Hill campus, the 90-year-old twins have created and nurtured […]
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Progressive PAC’s effort felt in Pittsboro
Something happened in Pittsboro politics this fall. On Nov. 8, challenger Randy Voller upset Mayor Nancy May, squeaking by her with a margin of just 17 votes, while political newcomer Pamela Baldwin soundly trounced an incumbent to claim top-vote-getter status and one of the two open seats on the council. Voller and Baldwin both rode […]
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Going south
On Oct. 11, President George W. Bush visited Delisle Elementary School near Pass Christian, Miss. He embraced kindergarteners and spoke in inspirational aphorisms about how hard the federal government has been working to restore order and rebuild the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina roared ashore almost two months ago. Don’t believe everything you hear. Two […]
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We couldn’t have done it alone
When my husband Bill and I decided to undertake an animal rescue mission in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we thought we’d send out an e-mail appeal to a few friends and family members and I’d write a little piece in the Independent. We hoped those two outreach efforts would generate donations of supplies we […]
