In what’s become something of a regular exercise, Gov. Pat McCrory abused his power last week when his henchmen directed PNC Arena henchmen to toss Lindsay Wagner, a reporter for the nonprofit N.C. Policy Watch, from the N.C. Business Committee for Education annual shindig. How did Wagner even know there was a meeting? Well, she […]
Lisa Sorg
Bio: Lisa Sorg is the editor of INDY Week.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/lisasorg
Posted inNews
Downtown Durham’s (not-so-secret) free parking spaces
You can see it from at least a block away, the dreaded iridescent orange envelope slipped under your car’s windshield wiper. You’ve been ticketed. Ten clams, OK, you might reason. That’s only 2 more than if you had parked all day in one of Durham’s city garages rather than a two-hour space. Well that orange […]
Posted inCulture
From the archives: For the Fourth of July, Carolina Mudcats baseball and the National Anthem tryouts
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on March, 25, 2009, the day of the National Anthem tryouts at Five County Stadium. Spring was just a day old, and perfect for hitting. A brisk northerly breeze charged toward right field, and if you were a batter at home plate and a hanging curve ball happened to […]
Posted inSoapboxer
At Durham Farmers Market, a beautiful tone
The crowds at the Durham Farmers Market can be overwhelming if I’m not in the right head space. But today I was, and I’m fortunate that I went, because I stumbled upon John Rutledge, a Durham accordionist. His instrument is a Beltuna, which in Italian means “beautiful tone.” Rutledge also performs at the Hillsborough Farmers […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Justice Scalia’s recipe for pure applesauce
Although the North Carolina apple harvest doesn’t officially begin until late August, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s comment about the health care law yesterday got us thinking. In his dissent, he called the majority’s reasoning, which let the Affordable Care Act stand, “pure applesauce,” We asked the Supreme Court Clerk if Scalia, who apparently knows […]
Posted inNews
From death science to life science: The Chesterfield Building in Durham
“Now … Scientific Evidence on the Effects of Smoking!” a 1953 Chesterfield cigarette ad proclaimed, “no adverse on the nose, throat and sinuses” of Chesterfield smokers. Hey, the company, which made the coffin nails in a factory at Main and Duke streets in Durham, said nothing about their lungs. Now … the former Chesterfield factory, […]
Posted inHousing, Soapboxer
39 parking spaces = 31 affordable homes
Now we know that less than acre of land near Ninth Street is going for a cool million dollars. And we know that if Blacknall Presbyterian actually develops 39 parking spots on that Iredell Street property—currently home to two historic mill houses—the total cost comes to $41,000 a parking space. So in the affordable housing […]
Posted inUncategorized
Near Ninth Street, even Jesus needs to park
The fast-growing congregation of Blacknall Memorial Presbyterian Church has always trusted God to provide for its parking needs. And God has apparently answered its prayers, albeit not cheaply. The historic church in Durham’s crowded Ninth Street neighborhood plans to spend more than $1.6 million to buy and develop two-thirds of an acre on Iredell Street. […]
Posted inNews
Durham data geeks just peed their pants
Other than a fine bottle of Scotch, little else makes journalists salivate more than a database of all public school expenditures, crime reports and campaign finance documents. This is why journalists have no friends except other journalists. But we won’t need friends ever again now that Open Durham, a data portal, launched today. The website […]
Posted inSoapboxer
Orange Street in Durham: A zone of fun and purloined plants
Oh, Durham, how I love thee. You’re so funny, so weird. I often stroll down Orange Street, a downtown walkway, for a breakfast of avocado toast at Scratch, or a detour down Alley 26 to observe the construction. Last month, I noticed someone—a buttface, indeed—had stolen some plants from outside the Fun Zone. Aaron Averill, […]