Editor’s Note: This is the first of two question-and-answer features with Durham mayoral candidates. Next week, the Indy will feature incumbent Bill Bell. It’s clear to anyone who walks through downtown Durham’s clouds of dust and construction clamor that developers and city crews are in the process of recreating the city center. Downtown will soon […]
Mosi Secret
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Student Action with Farmworkers advocates for N.C.’s migrants
Willibardo and his family crossed America’s southern border about 10 years ago. They moved around from place to place, following the crops as they ripened, until they settled in Greene County, N.C., in 2001. Now they live between fields of corn and yellowing tobacco in a wood-frame housea shack, reallywith the peeling white paint that […]
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The past is catching up with real estate broker Ralph Edward McLaurin Jr.
No matter what trouble Ralph Edward McLaurin Jr. was in, he always seemed to get by. State regulatory agencies gave the Chatham County real estate lawyer and broker the benefit of the doubt when it became clear that his personal financial problems affected his business. After McLaurin skipped out on paying his federal taxes for […]
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HK on J falls short
With crossover day gone and the legislature entering final budget negotiations, the window of opportunity to consider bills that grew from the state NAACP chapter’s HK on J movement has all but passed. (See “HK on J ‘teach-in’ draws 2,000 to Raleigh,” Feb. 14.) Earlier this year, the NAACP joined forces with other progressive groups […]
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Fired Chapel Hill garbage collector cries foul
For the last 18 years, Thomas Stroud collected trash for the Town of Chapel Hill, much like his uncle and his cousin, who earned a living working for the town’s public works department. “My whole family has worked there,” Stroud says. But Stroud’s tenure ended abruptly early one spring morning. On Thursday, May 3, Chapel […]
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The gastro-ethnic highlights of Chapel Hill and Carrboro
I owe Graig Meyer, a self-described connoisseur of Mexican food, for introducing me to my latest cravinggorditas de pollo. In 1998, Meyer moved to Carrboro with his wife, Jen, and newly adopted daughter, Ashley, to enjoy the warm weather, cultural activities and friendly, welcoming community. With a social awareness that grows from his appetite, his […]
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Stolen youth
Fifteen-year-old Erick Daniels, an undersized Durham delinquent accused of robbing a Durham Police Department employee, sat quietly at the defendant’s table, his body abuzz with nervous energy. Dressed in a plaid shirt, slacks and new Timberland boots, he wanted more than anything to walk out of the courtroom a free man, but somehow he knew […]
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McKissick wins, women lose
After four rounds of voting Monday night, Durham County Democratic Party Chairman Floyd McKissick Jr. won the election for the state senate seat that opened up when Jeanne Lucas died last month. With 44 votes, McKissick bested former Durham County Commissioner MaryAnn Black, who finished with 38 votes. Brenda Hill Pollard, first vice chair of […]
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Reracism
I tend to give white people the benefit of the doubt. They often do little things that betray a tacit compliance with our great American culture of white supremacy, but to confront each and every slip of the tongue, sideways glance or snub is to risk my sanity, not to mention my unsullied reputation as […]
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Changes urged in legal system to protect poor defendants
The state agency responsible for providing legal counsel to poor defendants across North Carolina would do a better job of serving its clientele if it depended less on judges’ influence and set up systems to evaluate attorneys’ performances and address complaints, a recent review by the state auditor’s office found. “Our findings show North Carolina […]