Tues., Jan. 28

  • SENATOR RICHARD BURR announced that he’d oppose removing Donald Trump from office even if there was a quid pro quo. 
  • The Research Triangle Foundation announced a partnership with the Dallas-based KDC to develop HUB RTP, a 43-acre multiuse urban district with a million square feet of office space and 30-story buildings.

Wed., Jan. 29

  • A new report from ENVIRONMENT NC shows that the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area had 90 days of poor air quality in 2018—the second-highest in the state, following Winston-Salem. Raleigh had 75 days. 
  • The Durham Housing Authority’s price tag for repairs and evacuations of MCDOUGALD TERRACE tops $5 million.
  • Eighty-eight UNC ALUMNI filed an amicus brief challenging the UNC System’s $2.5 million settlement with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, arguing that the deal “seriously damages the reputation of the University.”

Thurs., Jan. 30

  • FRANKLIN GRAHAM was banned by a second UK city—Sheffield—over his “repulsive” anti-gay rhetoric. 
  • North Carolina reports nine more FLU-RELATED DEATHS, totaling 54 for the season. 
  • The percentage of North Carolina PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS who left the profession has declined from 9 percent in 2015–16 to 7.5 percent in 2018–19.
  • A Raleigh police officer shot KEITH COLLINS near Glenwood Avenue after someone called 911 and said he was armed and acting suspiciously. He later died. Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown pledged to seek the release of body-camera footage.
  • JIM WHITEHURST, the CEO of Red Hat, was named president of IBM.
  • A Triangle-based Hindu group announced plans to build a temple with the world’s tallest statue of the warrior god Lord Murugan, soaring 155 feet into the air, in east Chatham County.
  • Durham city manager Thomas Bonfield criticized city council member JILLIAN JOHNSON over a USA Today op-ed she co-authored in which she said that the Durham Police Department is “one of the poorest performing cities in the country when it comes to use of force.”

Fri., Jan. 31

  • In oral arguments during its appeal of a multimillion-dollar nuisance verdict, SMITHFIELD FOODS claimed that the smell of pig poop isn’t as bad as the plaintiffs allege. That prompted a stern lecture on environmental justice from Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III.
  • SENATORS BURR and THOM TILLIS voted against allowing additional witnesses and documents in Trump’s impeachment trial. 

Sat., Feb. 1

  • After missing 11 games, UNC star freshman COLE ANTHONY returned to the court, but the Tar Heels lost to Boston College 71–70.
  • The KRISPY KREME CHALLENGE, which involves running and donuts, happened for an inexplicable 16th time in downtown Raleigh.

Sun., Feb. 2

  • SIR WALTER WALLY saw his shadow, meaning we’re in for another six weeks of winter. (That’s a weird sentence to write when it’s 72 degrees outside.)   

Mon., Feb. 3

  • Trustees at EASTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY were accused of bribing a student to run for campus president and vote with them. 
  • Responding to a lawsuit over its coal-fired power plant, UNC-CHAPEL HILL argued that, under the Clean Air Act, it couldn’t be sued because a regulatory agency is reviewing the claims.
  • UNC professors petitioned the campus’s BOARD OF TRUSTEES to allow the school to rename buildings honoring slaveholders and white supremacists.

Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at [email protected]. 

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