Mon., Jan. 13

  • Durham County became the first in North Carolina to ban the purchase of single-serve PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES with county funds, except in emergencies. 

Tues., Jan. 14

  • In a one-day session of the General Assembly, the state Senate failed to override Governor Cooper’s veto of the Republican budget, then adjourned, meaning NORTH CAROLINA TEACHERS will go without a raise. 
  • A survey from Public Policy Polling showed that 31 percent of registered Democrats in North Carolina backed JOE BIDEN, while 18 percent and 15 percent backed Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, respectively. 
  • The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law announced that it would appeal Orange County Superior Court Judge R. Allen Baddour’s decision denying students and faculty standing to oppose the $2.6 MILLION CONSENT AGREEMENT Baddour approved between the UNC System and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. 
  • A video that circulated on social media showed two Raleigh officers kneeing, kicking, and punching BRAILY BATISTA-CONCEPCION while pulling him from his car. The Raleigh Police Department said Batista-Concepcion’s car matched a vehicle suspected in three hit-and-runs on Tuesday morning. Batista-Concepcion was charged with driving while impaired, possession of marijuana, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice. 

Wed., Jan. 15

  • A study ranked Raleigh the third most attractive city in the country for MILLENNIALS to relocate, behind only Denver and Austin. Raleigh has seen a 13 percent increase in its millennial population since 2014.

Thurs., Jan. 16

  • After the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said it would rather buy land currently owned by the RDU Airport and add it to UMSTEAD PARK than see the airport erect a $2 million (!) fence to keep mountain bikers out, the airport authority delayed a vote on a fence contract. While RDU is prohibited from selling the land, it can lease it. 
  • The STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH reported 11 flu deaths during the week of January 5–11, bringing the total this season to 33. 
  • A construction worker was killed when a TRENCH COLLAPSED at the site of a future Durham gas station near Brier Creek. 
  • Wake County District Attorney LORRIN FREEMAN said she would not ask the State Bureau of Investigation to review the actions of the two officers who beat Batista-Concepcion. She said she trusted the RPD to do a “thorough review.”

Fri., Jan. 17

  • UNC System leaders, last seen handing the Sons of Confederate Veterans $2.6 million, complained that the legislature’s BUDGET STANDOFF could turn state universities into collateral damage. 
  • The RALEIGH POLICE DEPARTMENT released body-camera footage of two incidents: from the beating of Batista-Concepcion and from January 4, when an officer fired four shots at a man suspected of trying to steal a city garbage truck (the officer missed).

Sat., Jan. 18

  • Hundreds of ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS gathered on Bicentennial Plaza to demand that lawmakers dictate to women what they can do with their bodies. One speaker bemoaned the evil combination of abortion and prenatal genetic testing, which are being used together for “genocide.”

Sun., Jan. 19

  • The News & Observer reported that, according to Triangle MLS data, the number of area homes that sold for MORE THAN $1 MILLION increased by 360 percent between 2010 and 2019. 

Mon., Jan. 20

  • About a hundred congregants and protesters gathered at the First Presbyterian Church in Durham for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day service, which this year featured local politicians—Mayor Steve Schewel, Congressman David Price, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, and others—explaining that they were trying to address the crisis at MCDOUGALD TERRACE. 

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