For those of you who frequent downtown Durham, the green wall is an unfortunate punchline, a reminder of failed developments during the Great Recession. The building has no roof (but there is a piano inside), and at one time it was feared the green wall was so unstable it could fall. But the green wall […]
Lisa Sorg
Bio: Lisa Sorg is the editor of INDY Week.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/lisasorg
Posted inSoapboxer
Small moments at St. Stephen’s AME in Liberty, N.C.
St. Stephen’s AME Church in Liberty, N.C., sits adjacent to the former Randolph High School, an African-American public school the powers that be closed in 1965. Even though Randolph High was new—less than 20 years old—and accredited with advanced science and math programs, the school board determined it should close and the black kids should […]
Posted inSoapboxer
This Durham corner is sick: McPherson Hospital as it becomes a Residence Inn
When I arrived in Durham nearly eight years ago, one of my first views was the old McPherson Hospital. It was in ruin then, and in ruin it has remained. It always depressed me to see one of Durham’s architectural and historic legacy sites in that state of entropy. Part of the 1926 building has […]
Posted inNews
Wait for the white man
Security guards were hanging out at the corner of Blackwell and Pettigrew streets in Durham last week, palm-sized steno pads in hand, their pages crammed with hash marks in black ink. I overheard one of them discussing the problem of jaywalking with a couple of passersby. “Can you get in trouble for jaywalking?” one pedestrian […]
Posted inNews
The boulevard of broken toys
The child’s chair had been leaning off the curb at Duke Street and Morehead Avenue for two weeks before it finally spoke to me. It had a cracked webbed back and a seat encrusted with dirt that eclipsed creepy decals of circus animals and clowns. I wavered between ignoring it and toting it to work, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The joys of Scotch, a one-act play
Dalwhinnie is how he wooed me. At a cozy pub called the Irish Lion, I sat in a dark, wooden booth facing a bearded man with black, curly hair, a flight of amber Scotches on the table between us. One of the them, Dalwhinnie, was infused with a hint of heather; others had an undertow […]
Posted inNews
Stephen Kraus of GlaxoSmithKline appointed to Durham Civilian Police Review Board
Stephen Kraus, an IT manager at GlaxoSmithKline, has been appointed to the Civilian Police Review Board by Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield. Kraus is filling a vacancy; his term expires in 2015. Nineteen people, a record number, applied to serve on the board. You can read Kraus’ application here. [pdf-1] The board has come under […]
Posted inSoapboxer
Wait for the white man: Counting the jaywalkers in Durham
Security guards have been hanging out at the corner of Blackwell and Pettigrew streets in Durham all week, tiny steno pads in hand, their pages crammed with hash marks. Yesterday I overheard one of them discussing the problem of jaywalking with some passersby. “Can you get in trouble for jaywalking?” one pedestrian asked. “Sure you […]
Posted inFood & Drink
World Beer Festival, [ONE], Boxcarr Farms
Being science geeks and beer lovers, we’re excited about a presentation that fuses the two at this weekend’s World Beer Festival. Wild yeast found in a species of wasps is used to brew a beer developed by the N.C. State University Food Science program. (These students get around, also presenting at the Science of Eats […]
Posted inGuides
Full Frame 2014: Two Full Frame films offer contrasting takes on the intersection of power and food
One of my most indelible memories of working at McDonald’s in the mid-’80s is of a meeting with my manager, Steve. I remember Steve’s name because he seemed less uptight than some of the other managers who had graduated from Hamburger Universityyes, that really exists. He would look the other way if you stood around […]
