As part of a $429 million budget proposal, Durham’s city manager is recommending a 1.79-cent property tax increase for the 2017–18 fiscal year to help address affordable housing needs in the city. The city’s current tax rate is 56.07 cents per $100 of assessed property value, including one cent dedicated to affordable housing. A budget […]
Sarah Willets
Posted inNews, Housing
Durham Budget Proposal Would Raise Property Taxes to Address Affordable Housing, Public Safety
As part of a $429 million budget proposal, Durham’s city manager is recommending a 1.79-cent property tax increase for the 2017–18 fiscal year to help address affordable housing needs in the city. The city’s current tax rate is 56.07 cents per $100 of property, including one cent dedicated to affordable housing. A budget proposal presented […]
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Strength in Numbers: Durham for All Launches 10K Strong Campaign
Durham For All on Saturday launched a campaign to unite ten thousand Durham residents in a “cross-class, multiracial movement” to put government back in the hands of the people. Ten thousand is how many people the group says it takes to elect (or defeat) someone to municipal government in Durham. By this year’s city council […]
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After Community Outcry, Wendy Miranda-Fernandez’s Deportation Appears Stalled—For Now
Wendy Miranda-Fernandez, a twenty-three-year-old Durham resident taken into custody in March by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was still detained in a Louisiana facility as of Tuesday morning, according to an ICE detainee locator. She had been scheduled to be deported Friday, but after a community outcry, her deportation seems to have been delayed. Miranda-Fernandez, who […]
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As the Durham County Jail Plans to Roll Out Video Visitation, Activists Don’t Trust the Sheriff’s Intentions
On Friday evening, Hydeah Williams stood outside the Durham County Detention Facility, trying to make out the face of her brother, Tyrik, behind the barred windows high above. Around her, a small group of activists with the Inside-Outside Alliance protested the implementation of video visitation at the jail. Williams and her friends didn’t come here […]
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Durham Commissioners Adopt Remote Participation Rule
Durham County commissioners on Monday set a policy for participating in meetings remotely. Previously, board members had occasionally joined meetings by phone but did not have a policy guiding the practice, said county attorney Lowell Siler. State laws don’t specifically authorize or prohibit remote participation, and rules requiring a quorum (or majority of the board) […]
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ICE Says Wendy Miranda-Fernandez Is Still in the U.S.
Wendy Miranda-Fernandez, a twenty-three-year-old Durham resident taken into custody last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was still detained as of Friday evening. She had been scheduled to be deported from the country today. Miranda-Fernandez, who attended Riverside High School, had been planning to marry her fiancé of more than one year when she was […]
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Instead of Getting Married, Wendy Miranda-Fernandez Could Be Deported
Since getting engaged a year ago, Wendy Miranda-Fernandez, twenty-three, had been planning a wedding with her boyfriend of more than four years. But instead of getting married, she is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could be deported tomorrow. Miranda-Fernandez came to the United States from Barrio el Calvario, El Salvador, in […]
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Durham Bike+Walk Plan Identifies Seventy-Five Priority Projects
The Durham Bike+Walk Implementation Plan, presented Thursday to the city council, calls for eight bicycle corridor projects, seventeen pedestrian-focused projects, twenty-five sidewalk gap projects, and twenty-two intersection improvements. The city has been working for a year to update its old pedestrian and bicycle plans, crafted in 2006. That process has identified 420 miles of sidewalk […]
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Civil Disobedience (and Swearing!): A May Day March on Durham City Hall
Dovie Joyner and her three sons marched down Main Street Monday evening, dancing and shouting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” Joyner, who works as a patient assistant, came out to the International Workers Day March as a member of the Domestic Workers Alliance. Her sons had boxing lessons, but they chose to march instead. Stopping traffic […]
