Departing Raleigh City Council members Bonner Gaylord and Mary-Ann Baldwin said goodbyes to colleagues Tuesday but didn’t get the farewell gift they wanted: passage of an ordinance allowing homeowners to rent out part of their homes in the short term. The council has been wrangling with the issue for several years, but only Mayor Nancy […]
Thomas Goldsmith
Posted inNews
After the INDY’s Report About Judicial Nominee Thomas Farr Misleading a Senate Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein Wants Answers
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday she’s “disturbed greatly” by the INDY’s report that Raleigh lawyer Thomas Farr wasn’t truthful with her in committee hearings on the federal judgeship for which he was nominated by President Trump. In addition, two national nonprofit advocacy groups, […]
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NAACP Legal Defense Fund Calls for Thomas Farr to Reappear Before the Senate Judiciary Committee for More Questions About His Role in the 1990 Helms Campaign
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Thursday called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to bring back Raleigh lawyer and federal judicial nominee Thomas Farr before the panel to answer renewed questions about his role in the 1990 Jesse Helms campaign for U.S. Senate.As the INDY reported yesterday, Farr informed U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, a California […]
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Did Former Helms Lawyer Thomas Farr Lie to the Senate Judiciary Committee? It Sure Looks That Way.
Raleigh lawyer Thomas Farr, a nominee for a federal judgeship, knew well in advance about a controversial 1990 postcard campaign designed by Republicans to intimidate blacks who wanted to vote, according to a former Department of Justice investigator. The statements made this week by Gerald Hebert, a federal attorney in 1990, directly contradict Farr’s sworn […]
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At a Budget Workshop, Wake Commissioners Complain about the School Board Surprising Them with Funding Requests
Wake County’s school board and Board of Commissioners share responsibility for spending more than a billion taxpayer dollars every year. But they have a hard time agreeing on where the money should go, as witnessed by the battle over funding for this fiscal year that ended in June. The purse-string-holders at the county commission, most […]
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Newly Reelected Mayor Nancy McFarlane Grapples with the Fact That Large Swaths of Raleigh Feel Left Behind
On election night, Mayor Nancy McFarlane got a call from Charles Francis, her Democratic challenger. From the time the first precincts reported that night, it was obvious McFarlane had prevailed over Francis. Unofficial totals showed the mayor, who is unaffiliated politically, with roughly 58 percent of the vote. “He told me he was calling to […]
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Sig Hutchinson: If Wake Stops Investing in Schools and Transportation, It Will Slip Off Those Best-Places-to-Live Lists
Riffing on the familiar gospel song “This Little Light of Mine,” Board of Commissioners chairman Sig Hutchinson on Monday praised the bright side of life in Wake County—the rapid growth, increased transit choices, a wealth of educational opportunities, and the much-heralded quality of life. The occasion was the annual State of the County address, where […]
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Wake Students Will Skip a Tobacco Survey for First Time Since 1999, Prompting a Pushback from County Commissioners
Wake County public middle and high school students will skip a statewide tobacco-use survey this year for the first time since 1999. And county commissioners, irate over of the loss of data about an important health risk, are calling school board members to a special meeting on the matter. Wake County Board of Commissioners chairman […]
Posted inNews, Housing
Raleigh City Council Shoots Down Backyard Cottages—At Least for Now
Outgoing Raleigh City Council member Mary-Ann Baldwin suggested Wednesday that the city move quickly to give all residents the right to build backyard cottages—the subject of a piece in this week’s INDY—hoping to gain approval for a cause to which she has given her passionate support. But the council, rarely known to move hastily, beat […]
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Over Their Own Staff’s Objection, Wake Commissioners Move Forward With a $23 Million Park
The crowd of people in matching green T-shirts at Monday’s Wake County Board of Commissioners meeting left with their missionapproval of a new county park in Fuquay-Varinapartially satisfied. Commissioners ended more than four hours of discussion by voting 4–3 to enter into an agreement to begin a multimillion-dollar conversion of the former Crooked Creek golf […]
