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- Residents Oppose Wake County Data Center
- Duke Bus Driver Faces Risk of Deportation
- Supreme Court Races Get More Political
- Op-Ed: The Value of Curiosity
- African American Cultural Festival in Raleigh
Good morning, readers.
At the Apex town council meeting last night, a group of around 30 people packed the chamber wearing red. They weren’t there to show support for the Wolfpack in its season opener against East Carolina on Thursday, as major Jacques Gilbert joked. They were there in opposition to a massive data storage facility that’s proposed for New Hill, a community in unincorporated Wake County that’s close to the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant and the neighborhood Jordan Pointe, home to thousands.
Plans for the facility from the Maryland-based developer Natelli Investments LLC call for four to six buildings, up to 75 feet tall, and 80 three-megawatt generators of a 189-acre tract of New Hill farmland. The proposal requires annexation into the Town of Apex and makes New Hill one of many residential communities grappling with the impacts of data storage facilities popping up across the country to power technology and, increasingly, run ever-more powerful AI.
Doug Stewart, a Jordan Pointe resident, spoke for nine minutes on behalf of the red-shirted group. He listed their concerns about air pollution, health risks, financial costs, and disruption from light and noise. He brought with him a wooden birdhouse, crafted by his grandfather, noting that his family has lived in the area for generations.
“Just like this bird house here, our community is handcrafted,” he told the council. “It’s imperfect, but it’s also built to last, just like our town is, and each of you as its council have been a part of hand crafting our future. Ultimately, you’re the composers of the Apex orchestra.”
Read the story below.
—Jane
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DURHAM
Unprotected Status
A beloved Duke University bus driver is facing risk of deportation after the Trump administration revoked Temporary Protected Status for Honduras, NC Newsline reports.
STATE
Supreme Politics
Campaigns for a seat on the state Supreme Court used to be removed from the political debates of the day and generally nonpartisan. The Assembly reports that’s not the case any more.
OP-ED
Getting Curious
The president’s cuts to scientific research will be felt for years into the future. BP Blakley, a Ph.D. student studying planetary science, writes for the INDY on the value of funding science and encouraging curiosity.
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DURHAM COUNTY: Duke has launched its own generative AI tool for the university community, DukeGPT, which, The Chronicle reports, seems prone to hallucination.
STATE: Legislators still haven’t passed a budget for the current fiscal year. WUNC reports it’s unlikely they’ll do so soon, as most legislators were absent yesterday for the start of a brief session.
WAKE COUNTY: A proposed update to the Town of Garner’s logo is causing a rift among council members, WRAL reports.
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