Wake County: Triangulator, Indy Week

N.C. State reaffirms position as Triangle's leading college for general bigotry

Will Huntsberry — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:19:00 -0400

Update, March 27: O'Rear lost his bid for Student Body President, coming in third with 12 percent of the vote.

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Raleigh Chamber comes down against county commission

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:17:15 -0400

In defending county commissioner’s hostile takeover of school ownership, commission chair Joe Bryan recently told INDY Week that the measure had widespread support, going back years.

He was quick to say the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce had pushed such a proposal in the mid-2000’s—as if the Chamber’s blessing signals that all reasonable people should agree.…

Legislature wants to renege on Dix park deal

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:01:00 -0400

Apparently, when you sign a contract with the State of North Carolina, the ink never dries.

In December, then-Gov. Bev Perdue and the North Carolina Council of State voted to lease Dorothea Dix campus to the City of Raleigh for 99 years, so the city could create a massive public park.…

Raleigh universities urge Wake commissioners to stop delaying transit

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:00:36 -0500

Wake county commissioners are being called out on public transit—again.

This time it's Raleigh colleges and universities insisting commissioners stop blocking a half-cent sales tax referendum that would bring light rail and expanded bus service to the Triangle.…

INDY Week columnist Bob Geary wins leadership award

Will Huntsberry — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:16:00 -0500

My work often takes me to community advocacy meetings and puts me in contact with people who fight fiercely for a better Wake County. When I tell them I work with INDY Week, the first thing they tell me, almost 100 percent without fail, is how much they love Bob Geary.…

Bad news for Raleigh's school capacity

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:48:00 -0500

On Monday, Wake County commissioners voted to kill a proposal that would have created badly needed school capacity near downtown Raleigh.

The commissioners considered buying the former YWCA building on East Hargett Street to convert into a school.…

Community gardens get go ahead

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:57:00 -0500

Creating urban gardens on vacant lots in economically depressed areas of Raleigh will now be easier, after a City Council vote Wednesday.

Progressive urban planning organizations maintain that community gardens can have a major impact, not only by creating additional food sources in areas with less access to grocery stores, but also by creating a gathering place within the community.…

Wake's "new" assignment plan not really new

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:31:00 -0500

Read the headlines and stories from every major TV station as well as The N&O and you’ll see that the Wake school board passed a “new” student assignment plan Tuesday night.

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"I want to get good kids out of failing schools" ~Chris Malone

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:16:00 -0400

A new robo-call by Republican candidate for N.C. House District 35 Chris Malone tells constituents that he wants to "get good kids out of failing schools."

Malone currently serves as a Wake County school board member and has recently been mired in scandal over allegations of an affair with fellow board member Debra Goldman, who is running for state auditor.…

Relaxing Raleigh's food truck rules... Maybe

Will Huntsberry — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:00:00 -0400

Raleigh is set to consider another milestone in its slow crawl toward a more accepting food truck culture downtown. City councilors will hold a public hearing Tuesday on whether or not to allow more food trucks per lot and to allow the mobile businesses to come closer into downtown.…

From guns to schools at the Wake County commission

Will Huntsberry — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:38:10 -0400

Two interesting items on the agenda at today’s Wake County Board of Commissioners' meeting (2 pm, Wake County Courthouse). One: the commissioners are asking the school board to promise stability on a career and technical education high school that’s still in the planning process.…

Wake school construction bond likely to be delayed

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:10:00 -0400

Since former superintendent Tony Tata's firing, Wake County school board members continue to pump the brakes on key initiatives regarding the future of the school system.

Last week, the board decided not to go through with a revamp of student assignment, but instead use 2011-12 student assignment maps to decide where children will attend school next year.…

Conservative opposition comes alive at Wake school board

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:56:00 -0400

As Democratic school board members might have guessed, community activists, who were once the voice for neighborhood schools, are in an uproar over the firing of Superintendent Tony Tata.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, members of the Democratic majority elaborated little on their reasons for firing Tata, Republicans pounded them for it, and public commenters joined in for about an hour and a half.…

State considers five new Triangle charter schools

Samiha Khanna — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:24:00 -0500

State education officials are reviewing 27 applications for new charter schools across the state, including two in Durham County, two in Wake County and one in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district.

A new state law passed this year raised the limit on charter schools in North Carolina, which previously had been capped at 100.…

Senate bill to allow digital billboards remains in committee after Wednesday talks

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:34:40 -0400

Several state senators expressed concern Wednesday over a bill that would allow digital billboards across the state’s interstates and highways, regardless of local rules that might prohibit them. The bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown of Jacksonville, said he just wanted feedback Wednesday, and no vote was taken.…

Chatham residents, Wake mayors, business leaders debate pipeline

Joe Schwartz — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:54:37 -0500

(This story was updated Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.)

MONCURE—More than two dozen people spoke before the Chatham Board of County Commissioners Monday night at a public hearing a plan to run an 8.1-mile underground pipeline from Western Wake County through Southeastern Chatham County.

Western Wake Partners—the towns of Apex, Cary, Morrisville and Research Triangle Park-South—are constructing a $327 million wastewater treatment plant in unincorporated New Hill, but they need to build the pipeline to funnel treated wastewater to the Cape Fear River.…

New Hill Community Association settles with Western Wake Partners

Rebekah L. Cowell — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:41:00 -0500

The New Hill Community Association announced this morning it has dropped its lawsuit against Western Wake Partners in exchange for amenities including a $500,000 New Hill community center.

For the past five years the association has fought the Western Wake Partners' plan to build a $327 million wastewater treatment plant in New Hill’s historical and predominantly African-American neighborhood.…

Hundreds dress in red to oppose Crabtree Quarry expansion

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:02:00 -0500

RALEIGH—Passionate neighbors dressed in red and overflowed from the Raleigh City Council chambers Tuesday night to urge the council and planning commission to deny a rezoning request that would allow Hanson Aggregates to expand its Crabtree Quarry operation.

Unfortunately for him, Chris Ward, the vice president and general manager of Hanson Aggregates Southeast, didn’t get the dress-code memo.…

Justice Department, Garner settle Fair Housing Act suit

Joe Schwartz — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:27:00 -0500

The U.S. Department of Justice settled a lawsuit with the Town of Garner today that alleges that the town violated the Fair Housing act by refusing to allow eight recovering drug and alcohol addicts to live together and receive treatment.

Federal investigators filed the discrimination suit in May 2009 after Oxford House, a nonprofit Maryland-based group that runs more than 1,200 rehabilitation centers nationwide, claimed the town and its Board of Adjustment violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to listen to their requests to increase the number of residents from six to eight.…

Chatham Commissioners opt out of permit extension, Western Wake Partners easement request

Rebekah L. Cowell — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:28:00 -0500

Outgoing Chatham County commissioners voted 5-0 to opt out of the state's one-year extension for all development permits. By doing so, the commission is requiring commercial and residential developers to reapply and submit to newer environmental regulations.…

Election 2010: Who are the poll observers? Ask for them by name.

Lisa Sorg — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:10:00 -0400

Voters in Wake County have lodged at least a dozen complaints to the county board of elections alleging poll observers have aggressively approached them as they entered early voting sites, reported The News & Observer today.

In Wake, both Democrats and Republicans have poll observers, although the complaints have been about the GOP.…

New Hill's the Rev. James Clanton receives enviro justice award

Rebekah L. Cowell — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:34:00 -0400

All struggles have their costs, and leaders and activists often go unacknowledged for the work they do. That is why one local activist, who has received recognition for his leadership and dedication to his community, hopes that others will be inspired to remain steadfast to their causes.…

Holly Springs breaks up with Western Wake Partners

Rebekah L. Cowell — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:10:00 -0400

The town of Holly Springs has withdrawn from the Western Wake Partners, a multi-town alliance that is building a controversial sewage treatment plant in New Hill.

The town officially announced its decision Sept. 23, leaving Cary, Apex and Morrisville as the remaining partners.…

New Hill Community Association formally contests Western Wake Partners' wastewater plant

Rebekah L. Cowell — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:57:00 -0400

The New Hill Community Association (NHCA) and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a Petition for Contested Case Hearing today in an attempt to stop the Western Wake Partners from building a $327 million wastewater treatment plant in the historic and primarily African-American town. petition.pdf

The petition asks that a neutral third-party review the partner's actions, and make a final ruling.…

Google humbled by response to fiber program, launches new Web site

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:36:41 -0400

Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill/Carrboro were among 36 municipalities in North Carolina and almost 1,100 nationally to apply for Google Fiber, the company announced today.

The tech giant rolled out plans in February to build a fiber-optic network for ultra-fast broadband in one or more communities sized between 50,000 and 500,000 people.…