All posts tagged: durham

What’s going on at the Durham County Jail?

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By Monica Chen The Durham County Sheriff’s Office is still using COVID lockdown protocols at the jail, and activists are sounding the alarm about the conditions amounting to solitary confinement for the hundreds of inmates. In fact, for some of the inmates at the Durham County Jail who were incarcerated on or before March 2020, that means their solitary confinement has lasted now three years. Activists Marcia Owen and Andrea “Muffin” Hudson sent an open letter in December to local officials, including Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, District Attorney Satana Deberry, Chief District Court Judge Clayton Jones and Police Chief Patrice Andrews. They called for the urgent need to alleviate conditions at the jail. The letter has been signed by hundreds of people and organizations. Owen and Hudson also have met with Birkhead and others to discuss their concerns. “Muffin and I understand from our meeting with the sheriff on Nov. 16 that the jail has sustained the 21-23 [hours] alone in cell for every incarcerated person since late March 2020,” Owen said in an e-mail this …

There are serious problems with the Durham Police Department

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By Monica Chen I complained about a Sheriff’s Deputy. Then, the Durham Police started harassing me. Then, it got even worse. First of all, I have had positive experiences with law enforcement in Durham. Friendly and responsive officers who left me feeling safer than before they arrived. Unfortunately in Durham, public safety has been declining since 2013. And then since 2017, the police have increasingly, actively been disrupting and bullying good residents, peaceful homes and neighborhoods instead of protecting them – protecting us. The police have been on the side of bad people, even coddling them. I think the actions of the Durham Police are about controlling movement, and breaking the normal rules of engagement, interaction, communication – so that incompetence and corruption would not be exposed. We are not allowed to engage with the Durham Police on our own terms, in normal ways. So this happened to me in June. The short version is that I was upset by a Sheriff’s Deputy’s actions with puppies that I had rescued. I called to complain about …

Election Day 2021

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By Monica Chen It was a beautiful, sunny Autumnal day on Tuesday as voters in the Triangle headed to the polls to cast their ballots. After 2020, this year was decidedly less intense, but for many, it was still an important election. In Orange County, the school board and the town council were up for re-election, as was the mayor. Durham had a less complicated election, with three seats on the city council and the mayor’s position open that, as it turned out, became an uncontested race. On Tuesday, candidates and volunteers made a last-minute push to get out the vote, camping out at polling places with booths and flyers. Meanwhile, voters headed to polls with major concerns about their communities and their governments. Growth and development were the biggest issue for voters in both counties. Here was the scene at four polling places in Durham and Orange. Carrboro Town Hall, 11 a.m. In sunny Carrboro, candidates and volunteers alike flocked to the parking lot to appeal to voters, who arrived in a steady stream …

Durham Fire Department to build $8M new station in South Durham

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Durham Fire Department wants to build a new fire and EMS station to the tune of $8 million in South Durham by the city-county line. Instead of renovating the existing fire station in the Parkwood subdivision, the department has staked out a new site at 6919 Herndon Road two miles away, along a rural and residential stretch. On Tuesday morning, the department got the go-ahead from the Board of Adjustment for the project. It was a decision that neighbors in the area seem to have expected. “They drive by here all the time. We see them several times a week,” said Enrique Galvan on Monday as he stood on his front porch, lined with pots of bright red Christ thorn bushes.   Tracey Price, who also lives on Herndon Road, echoed Galvan’s observations. “They come this way anyway,” she said. Durham City bought the land in 2017, paying $700,000 for the 2.2-acre lot, which is assessed for $182,280. The new station is projected to cost $8.02 million. Durham County will be paying for 24.8 percent of …

Government watch: Durham Board of Adjustment, April 27

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Stone Bros. & Byrd planning some moves A new mixed-use development appears to be in the works at the long-time downtown garden store Stone Bros. & Byrd. According to an application with the Board of Adjustment, what’s planned for the site at 512 W. Geer St. are tenant spaces at the front of what is currently the store, a residential lobby and structured parking. The Board of Adjustment will hear this matter and others at its monthly meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. When The Spring Magazine reached Stone Bros.’ long-time owner George Davis this week, Davis referred questions to Beacon Street Development of Raleigh. Beacon Street recently built “620 Wade,” a five-story condominiums development located at 620 Wade Ave. in Raleigh. The swanky condos, the web site for which boasts of their 10-foot ceilings and white oak floors, and amenities such as a fitness center and a rooftop terrace, are near the corner with St. Mary Street. The luxury development is located next to the Raleigh Rehabilitation Center, at 616 Wade Ave. A fire station …

The music of the Ciompi Quartet

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On a recent bright winter day, the members of the Ciompi Quartet gathered at Duke University to play. Inside the airy concert hall space of Baldwin Auditorium, the quartet started, stopped, and tweaked the way they played. An audio technician sat to the side with a laptop and recording equipment for the session. Negotiations abounded. Because of coronavirus restrictions, the group played with their masks on. And then there were the discussions with the composers, both in person and over Zoom, on how to best approach their pieces. The four pieces were by students in Duke’s Music Department. The music was challenging, abstract, moody, with discordant melodies, full of feelings of disconnection and isolation. The music uncomfortably heightened what was going on in the world. One of the pieces was even called, “Disconnected.” After one successful “take,” viola player Jonathan Bagg asked, “How did that sound to you, James?” The composer, himself taken aback by the beauty of the quartet’s playing, had to snap back to reality before responding, “That was great. Thank you.” Despite …

Election Day 2020

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On the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 3, this year, people quietly, wearily went about their business, too exhausted to be excited about the election. Later that night, voters would see the results of this contentious, overly partisan fight between President Donald Trump and the former Vice President Joe Biden for the White House, in this historic election that has been much referred to as a fight for the soul of this country. For more than a year, there have been protests, bumper stickers, yard signs, a screaming, shouting Democratic Party primary, followed by the fears, anxiety and exhaustion resulting from the lockdowns from the coronavirus. But in the end, many people still went about the voting process like normal, rushing to cast their votes before polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. At Hope Valley Baptist Church in Durham, toward the end of the day, voters were still rolling into the parking lot, bringing their kids with them after work. Erin Durkin, a volunteer with Democracy NC, a Morrisville-based nonprofit advocating for voter’s rights, had been …

Election 2020: Biden in Durham

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By Karen Tam Former Vice President Joe Biden made a mysterious trip to Durham on Sunday where few people heard or saw him. Biden had a virtual meeting with African-American faith leaders and he spoke inside the Riverside High School campus to a selected few. As he spoke at Riverside, Redouane and Kim Hafidi of Durham wore their “VOTE” masks as they stood outside the fenced area. Redouane Hafidi, originally from Morocco, said he thought Biden would be a better president who will be more supportive of the immigrant population. Eight-year-old Owen Weinard of Durham, along with his mother, Ashley Weinard, also waited outside Riverside, hoping to get a glimpse of Biden. Owen said he is also counting the years till he can vote. Later in the afternoon, the Latino part of the Biden campaign, Todos con Biden, organized a car parade. Cars gathered at the Compare Foods shopping center on University Drive, lining up for what would become a horn-honking caravan to the South Regional Library for early voting. Biden did not make an appearance at the Todos …

Blog post: Pierce Freelon has been appointed to the Durham City Council. But is it legal?

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Durham City Council voted on Aug. 31 to appoint Pierce Freelon to the Ward 3 seat. The seat had been left vacant by Vernetta Alston in April when she left for the 29th district seat on the state House of Representatives. Freelon is a musician and son of the late architect Phil Freelon and jazz musician Nnenna Freelon. He had run unsuccessfully for the state senate this year and for Durham mayor in 2017. In April, the city council was debating whether to appoint someone to the seat or to let the public decide on election day. So why was the appointment of Freelon suddenly made some four months after Alston left? And was this action legal? Both the city charter and the state statute are written in such a way that they require the appointment to be made soon after the vacancy occurs, and that the appointment should be in place only until when the public can elect a new representative. That is, the law protects the public’s right to vote for their elected …