In June, Progress Energy released a statement heralding the failure of a local petition to shut down the company’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant due to “claims of inadequate fire protection measures.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that oversees the industry, rejected “all three portions of the petition, noting that the agency has granted […]
Matt Saldaña
Posted inUncategorized
‘Jena Six’ lawyer jump-starts rousing panel on civil rights at NCCU
A lawyer representing one of Louisiana’s Jena Six sparked an impassioned dialogue about civil rights and criminal justice at N.C. Central University last week. State NAACP President the Rev. Dr. William Barber and NCCU law professor Irving Joyner drew parallels from Jena to the cases of two black men from North Carolina who spent years […]
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Raleigh F.I.S.T.
Last July, 12 members of F.I.S.T. (Fight ImperialismStand Together), traveled to Cuba in defiance of U.S. travel restrictions to witness the Western Hemisphere’s only socialist country. Dante Strobino, one of three Raleigh F.I.S.T. members on the trip and a housekeeper union organizer, spoke to the Independent about his experiences in Cuba as Fidel Castro’s power […]
Posted inElections
Cary voters declare a mandate against rampant growth
Showing up to polls in a “steady trickle,” as one campaigner put it, one-fifth of Cary’s registered voters cast a resounding vote against unchecked development, ousting the incumbent mayor and electing slow-growth advocates to all three council seats up for grabs. The mayor and two council races were decided Oct. 9. One week later, the […]
Posted inElections
Cary voters trickle in, then offer a mandate against rampant growth
Wake County election results Showing up to polls in a “steady trickle,” as one campaigner put it (another insisted on “drip”), one-fifth of Cary’s registered voters cast a resounding vote yesterday against unchecked development. In a 58 percent to 42 percent victory, former councilman Harold Weinbrecht, a longtime proponent of smart growth, defeated incumbent Ernie […]
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Trees and power lines conflict along Durham’s Green and Watts streets
In Durham’s Trinity Park, a power line cuts a 2.2-mile-long path on its way to a substation on Duke’s campus, towering over hundreds of old trees that line the leafy residential streets. Under a recent proposal from Duke Energy, Green Street would be a little less green in the name of preserving electric service. On […]