The Good: Snow!
The two-or-so inches of snow the Triangle received last Thursday—depending on where you live—was the first we’ve seen ’round these parts since December 2018, nearly 14 months ago. And it was just about perfect: It was more than a dusting, but there wasn’t too much. The kids got a snow day, the roads weren’t iced over for a week, the region only shut down for a morning, people maintained a reasonable amount of calm, and it all melted by Saturday, when temps were back in the 50s. So nice work, everyone. Had this storm missed us, 2019–20 would have marked only the 12th winter since 1887—as far back as records go—with no measurable snowfall, and (so far as we can tell) the first ever without so much as a trace.
The Bad: Durham County Government
Last week, the INDY obtained a letter that Durham County manager Wendell Davis sent Commissioner Heidi Carter on February 11 accusing her, pretty bluntly, of racism. But there’s some context needed here. Carter is up for re-election. A former school board member, she and Davis have battled over school funding. Davis’s contract, meanwhile, comes up for renewal next year; if Carter loses, he probably has a better shot at keeping his job. School board chair Mike Lee—who is black—argued that Davis was lodging allegations of racism for political purposes. Carter says Davis’s letter contains “misquotes and fabrications,” and “its primary audience was the press.” In response to an outcry from Davis’s supporters at its meeting on Monday night, the Board of Commissioners took steps toward launching an investigation into the matter.
The Awful: Meddlin’ Mitch McConnell
It’s not clear whether the Faith and Power PAC’s goal was to actually help Erica Smith win the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, to try to force Cal Cunningham to take more progressive positions than he otherwise would have ahead of the general election, or to simply cause chaos. Nor is it clear whether the PAC’s involvement did the job or backfired. It was a huge ad buy—the $3 million Faith and Power has dropped on Smith’s behalf is about 10 times what she’s raised herself. But it didn’t take long for media outlets to figure out that Faith and Power had GOP connections, which allowed Cunningham to claim that incumbent Senator Thom Tillis was scared of him. Tillis denied it. But then last week, we learned that Faith and Power is pretty much a pass-through for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. So even if Tillis isn’t scared of Cunningham, it sure seems like his boss is.
Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at jbillman@indyweek.com.
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