A second video of the incident yesterday showing the events leading up to a Rolesville police officer bodyslamming a student to the ground has emerged, and the state Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. A video posted by the News & Observer shows what happened before the officer, Ruben De Los Santos, picked up […]
Paul Blest
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On His Way Out, Pat McCrory Places Close Advisers on Key State Boards
Pat McCrory is gone, but less than forty-eight hours before leaving office, the outgoing governor placed some of his closest advisersand some donorson key state boards and commissions. McCrory made thirteen appointments on Friday. Chief of staff Thomas Stith and former budget director Lee Roberts were appointed to the board of the Golden LEAF Foundation, […]
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Five Things We Want to See from New Governor Roy Cooper
Early Sunday morning, while most of us were still toasting the New Year, Roy Cooper swore an oath to become the seventy-fifth governor of the state of North Carolina. It’s been an eventful month for Cooper since he officially became governor-elect on December 5, the day Governor McCrory finally conceded. In that time, there have […]
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In October, Raleigh Created a Task Force to Look at Airbnb Rules. Why Hasn’t It Met?
In January 2015, the city of Raleigh threatened to fine Five Points homeowner Gregg Stebben for renting out his guest quarters on Airbnb, jump-starting a slow-burning debate over if and how the city should regulate “short-term rentals.” In October, after about two dozen proponents of the sharing economy pushed back against proposed regulations, the city […]
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Raleigh Police, Firefighters Renew Calls For Raises
At the city’s pre-budget public hearing on Tuesday night, police officers and firefighters renewed their calls for higher pay for first responders, telling city council that officers are leaving Raleigh for greener pastures in the county and elsewhere. Raleigh Police Protective Association president Matt Cooper told the council that eighty-six people had “left RPD,” with […]
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Video Shows Officer Slamming Rolesville High School Student To the Ground
A video posted on Twitter this morning shows Rolesville police officer Ruben De Los Santos physically picking up a high school girl at Rolesville High School and slamming her to the ground. All Rolesville police officers began wearing body cameras back in September. Mayor Frank Eagles told the News and Observer that he plans to […]
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Report: Durham, Raleigh Among ‘“Most Caring Cities in America.” Winston-Salem, Not So Much.
The website WalletHub recently released a study of the “Most Caring Cities in America,” based on how these cities care for the community, the vulnerable, and the workforce. According to the list, four North Carolina cities, including Durham and Raleigh, ranked in the top thirty of the country’s hundred most-populated metropolises. But it turns out […]
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The Morning Roundup: New Governor Edition
Good morning, happy New Year. Not much has changed; we’re still in a global death spiral marked by the failures of late capitalism, the current world order, and public trust of institutions such as the government and the media, which has manifested itself in the form of a Donald Trump presidency and outright rejection of […]
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Resolutions for Living in Trump’s America in 2017
Restore My Faith in Humanity Permit me a moment of unflattering honesty: I took this election personally, more than I should have. It shook me to my core. It eroded my faith in this country. It soured me on the goodness of its people. Think about it: we elected a racist, misogynist braggart, an avaricious […]
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The Year in Review: A Timeline of 2016
Jan. 1: Wake County officials list transportation and affordable housing as their top issues for 2016. Jan. 4: The search firm hired to replace Durham police chief Jose Lopez releases a job description asking for a “transformative and visionary leader.” Jan. 5: Liz Masnik, owner of the beloved Raleigh restaurant The Borough, announces that it […]