Three months after Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez took office and ardently defended a city council resolution blocking police officers from profiling illegal immigrants, he and City Manager Patrick Baker signed an agreement in January allowing the Durham police to enforce federal immigration laws. The city’s Latino community is voicing concern over the move, which […]
Mosi Secret
Posted inElections
Obama courts Tar Heel support
Barack Obama’s North Carolina momentum is mounting, with endorsements from 29 members of the General Assembly on April 22 and a standing-room-only appearance at the state fairgrounds last week. “The fact that we’re seeing people involved in the political process that have never been involved beforethat sort of thing can be transformative,” N.C. Senate Majority […]
Posted inUncategorized
Protester’s case raises questions
An Orange County judge postponed the trial of a UNC student activist Monday, while prosecutors weighed whether to pursue the case, and a memo from the Chapel Hill police chief questioned the necessity of the arrest. On Nov. 30, police arrested graduate student Tamara Tal at a protest outside the Burger King on Elliot Road, […]
Posted inNews
Durham District Attorney David Saacks
The fallout from the Duke Lacrosse case hangs over this spring’s Democratic primary for Durham district attorney, with each of the candidates–Freda Black, Tracey Cline, Mitch Garrell and Keith Bishop–ducking for cover. But Durham’s next prosecutor will have to manage an office that handles about 70 non-headline-grabbing felony trials a year. Current District Attorney David […]
Posted inNews
Uncle Sam wants YOU for the U.S. Army (really, really badly)
As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year, the U.S. Army has steadily lowered its recruiting standards to fill its ranks, according to data from the Department of Defense and the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit research organization. But the Army’s top training commander, Gen. William S. Wallace, says concerns about declining quality of […]
Posted inNews
Tony Asion
Earlier this month, Tony Asion took the reins of El Pueblo, North Carolina’s largest Latino advocacy organization. Founded in 1995, El Pueblo has pushed for controversial reform to benefit the state’s ever-increasing Hispanic community, most recently in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants and federal immigration legislation. Asion, who retired from the Delaware State Police, worked with […]
Posted inGuides
Stung by a middleman
A 100-year-old two-bedroom cottage, worn but not beyond repair, with wind chimes hanging on the front porch and dogs barking out back, and a paneled living room adorned with trophies and dozens of family photos, was nearly lost to foreclosuretwice. Wilma and Terry Vaughn bought their home in 1985 with a $12,000 loan from an […]
Posted inNews
Victor Colon
Late last month, amid a heated presidential contest and mounting calls to protect the country’s southern border, the Bush administration unveiled plans to crack down on the estimated 550,000 people who illegally enter the country from Mexico each year. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced they would create […]
Posted inUncategorized
Durham police employee downloads child porn, leaves job, faces no charges
As the Durham coordinator of a federal anti-gun violence program, Robert Faggart canvassed neighborhoods after shootings, reaching out to clergy and other citizens to help solve crimes. But when he was off the clock, Faggart admitted to interviewers during the process of applying to be a police officer, he downloaded child pornography, according to a […]
Posted inMusic
Schoolkids in Chapel Hill to close; Redeye Distribution passes on offer to purchase
The Chapel Hill location of Schoolkids Records on East Franklin Street is closing its doors for good at the end of March. After more than 30 years of business in the town, owner Mike Phillips says foot traffic virtually died at the store in the last 16 months. “As much as I would like to […]