• Dining at a Longtime Durham Deli
  • Katharine Whalen’s Latest Act
  • Behind a UNC School Merger
  • Durham Participatory Budgeting
An order of Tuna salad on a hoagie roll. Photo by Lena Geller.

Good morning, readers.

Sometimes the best eateries are the ones that look a little broken in, past the stiff phase and comfortable enough to let the wear show, like a buttery soft leather jacket at a thrift store. 

Durham’s Blue Ridge Deli & Cafe has that kind of appeal: white paint cracked like dry skin, red umbrellas faded to the color of pencil erasers, nearly all menu items under $10. Located between NCCU and Research Triangle Park, it feels like a cousin to King’s, the venerated walk-up sandwich shop in downtown Durham.

For my latest Lunch Money column, I stopped by this week for tuna salad on a hoagie. The sandwich came wrapped in wax paper and foil, with fresh bread and tuna that sparkled with celery bits.

Read the full column below. Have a good Thursday.

—Lena

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The current lineup of Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad. Photo by David Prather.

Swing State

A pair of brand-new records showcase the ways that Katharine Whalen, the Efland musician of Squirrel Nut Zippers fame, is stretching her stylistic wings, Joe Vanderford writes for the INDY.

Getting Schooled

The Assembly delves into why UNC-Chapel Hill revived a plan to merge its data science and library science schools—and what it has to do with artificial intelligence.

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LOCAL: In a win for team “Stop RDU Quarry,” a judge ordered a mining corporation to give 14 acres of Umstead Park back to the state, WRAL reports.

STATE: WFAE reports immigration arrests tripled in North Carolina in the first nine months of the year.

EDUCATION: The future of Duke’s inequality studies minor is up in the air, The Chronicle reports, with no classes scheduled for spring.

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  • Reminder: Sunday is the deadline for Durham city residents to cast their votes for which projects should be funded by the next Participatory Budgeting cycle.
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