durham
Durham City Council rejects huge housing development proposal in Falls Lake watershed
Competing concerns over Triangle's housing shortage and fragile environment fuel 4-2 vote. The contentious Kemp Road project – 655 single-family houses and townhomes on 280 acres in the environmentally fragile Falls Lake watershed – is dead, at least temporarily. But before sticking a fork in the proposal, Durham City Council members dug into several underlying issues vexing residents of one of the fastest-growing areas in the country: housing, gentrification and race.
North Carolina communities making LGBTQ equality gains, according to annual report
North Carolina towns and cities are largely scoring higher on LGBTQ equality measures, according to a new study from The Human Rights Campaign. The national LGBTQ advocacy organization released its annual Municipal Equality Index Wednesday, scoring more than 500 cities across the country on 49 different criteria with regard to law, policies and services of […]
Report shows contaminated groundwater is migrating toward Teer Quarry, site of Durham’s future water supply
High levels of several toxic chemicals have been detected in groundwater near Teer Quarry, storage site for Durham’s future water supply, and are migrating toward the pit itself, state documents show. However, it is still uncertain if these compounds will reach the quarry, and if so, at what concentrations. The contaminant of greatest concern is 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen.
666 houses and townhomes proposed for sensitive land near Falls Lake, major drinking water supply
Update: The Durham Planning Commission voted 11-0 to send an unfavorable recommendation to City Council, which has the final say. A Cary-based developer is proposing to build up to 666 houses and townhomes on land in Durham and near Falls Lake, a major drinking water supply for the City of Raleigh. The 280 acres along […]
Garner becomes latest NC town to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance
The Garner Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt Wake County’s LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, joining dozens of communities around the state in broadening protections from discrimination. According to a resolution and inter-local agreement, Wake County will enforce the ordinance within the town The ordinance, which does not apply to religious organizations prohibits discrimination on […]
Durham District Attorney Satana DeBerry discusses improving public safety, gun violence and restorative justice
Learn more in the District Attorney’s annual report.
Right-wing legislators want to inspect Durham’s voting machines. Election officials say ‘no.’
A group of right-wing North Carolina House members calling themselves the Freedom Caucus want to crack open Durham County’s voting machines to check for vote manipulation despite no evidence of irregularities. Members of the group announced their intentions at a news conference Thursday morning, and said they were picking a county at random. Durham is […]
Durham Department of Social Services sued for institutionalizing disabled toddler
The Durham County Department of Social Services violated the rights of a toddler by sending the 16-month old to a treatment facility more than 100 miles away from home, alleges a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The lawsuit, filed by the advocacy group Disability Rights NC, […]
ICYMI: A conversation about race, mass incarceration and criminal justice reform in North Carolina (Full video)
By all indications, North Carolina and the nation at-large have entered a critical and, perhaps, hopeful phase in their centuries-old conversations about race, crime, punishment and the undeniable links between them. If you missed it this week, Policy Watch hosted a powerful conversation via Zoom exploring where things stand, how we got to this place, […]
White teachers urged to use privilege responsibly in fight to keep Durham schools in remote learning
In Durham, plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction continues to play out in dramatic fashion. This week, Ronda Bullock, chair of education committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People took white, female educators to task for acting like “damsels in distress” and for reacting angrily to the Durham school board’s […]