As we close out my first year as INDY’s editor in chief, I want to say thank you for reading and supporting local, independent news. I'm so proud of this team and the work they’ve done. Now, we’re looking toward 2026.

hark! local songs we loved in 2025 (a list that only scratches the surface). 💕 @indyweek.bsky.social

Newly-elected Durham City Council members are being sworn in at tonight’s meeting. As part of the ceremony, the mayor will select a new mayor pro tem, and a new seating arrangement for the dais. Here’s my guess as to who goes where. CM - City Manager. CA - City Attorney.

How party politics, strategy, and money factored into Tuesday night’s results, and what it means for the next town council.

Durham’s municipal elections were expensive and at times ugly, with firm lines drawn between candidates. What the results mean for the Durham City Council and its work ahead.

The victories mark a blue sweep in the officially nonpartisan race; when the new council members are sworn in, the board will be composed entirely of Democrats.

great @eddysarah.bsky.social on the work of Durham artist & gay rights activist Allan Troxler: his paper cuts w titles like 'Earth Heart' & ruminations like "Seems to me that one big difference between the revolutionary and the fascist is that one tries to understand his own heart and one doesn’t."

Final results are in ⤵️

Tonight in Chapel Hill, hear young journalists talk with some of our state’s top journalism minds about the future of what we do. It’s free and it’s going to be a great time. Tell your students, tell your friends and I’ll see you out there. youthjournalism.org/top-north-ca...

“Read and hold the testimonies of these queer people with care and understanding. Queer people are in a fight for their lives against fascism. Your resistance and disruption may make the difference in how the fight goes." - Desmera Gatewood in @indyweek.bsky.social

Each September, @indyweek.bsky.social works with the LGBTQ Center of Durham on special #Pride coverage. It feels extra important this year and I want to thank everyone who contributed for their putting their hearts on the page at a time when it's very scary to do so.

NEWS from @indyweek.bsky.social: Wake Forest residents have recently started celebrating Pride Month in their town in October, and at a town board of commissioners work session last week, the mayor seemed poised to support their efforts - but then quickly walked it back.

Beautifully written @indyweek.bsky.social piece on Tift Merritt by @eddysarah.bsky.social and beautiful photos from Matt Ramey!

“There’s very few resources to solve the problem, and that has been our only resource,” says Saunders. “We know that handcuffs and hospitals aren’t the solution for most people when they’re in crisis.”

Read this story! (by @writingthings.bsky.social)

Highly recommend this heartfelt profile by @justinlaidlaw.bsky.social of the NCCU student newspaper's longtime advisor, who retired this summer.

"Growing up in North Carolina, the classic thing is people want to leave. Nobody wants to really stay here. Everybody wants to go. So it’s kind of trying to shift that culture. We can make something special here, too."

The agency expressed alarm at contamination near a predominantly Black Durham neighborhood. Then the EPA eliminated its civil rights office.

For this week’s installment of Ask INDY, we take a look at local universities and their interactions with ICE.

Even if you already heard about a Holly Springs bar trying to break the world record for largest Bloody Mary, you should read @indyweek.bsky.social's version bc a) you should read everything Lena @writingthings.bsky.social writes and b) no one else was behind the scenes for this behemoth's creation.

a hilarious and slightly unsettling story about an opulent drink deserves an opulent lede (@writingthings.bsky.social 🦀)

Chapel Thrill, like a lot of uniquely Southern places, has a lot of landmarks and ghosts. This is an excellent story about both, with some details I was not aware of. A good read.

Volunteers have begun moving old skate park equipment from Wheels to Lakewood Shopping Center for a new park that will include Durham’s first public mini ramp.

"We all take for granted that when you just don’t want to be around people, you go to your room, and you close the door. Libraries can provide some of that solitude and space for people.”

I wrote about Durham old-time musician Joseph Decosimo's beautiful new album, "Fiery Gizzard," with all its layers and textures from past. (@indyweek.bsky.social)

“What you do with them after is none of my business,” she says. I think that’s as close to a blessing as I’m gonna get. Total with tip: $14.16.

This is a big deal: “AIPAC, along with its members and affiliated superPAC, became her single largest benefactor in 2022 when it poured over $2 million into her campaign and made the race the most expensive Democratic congressional primary in state history.”

Rep. Valerie Foushee mentions the story the @indyweek.bsky.social broke in 2024 - about her non-publicized trip to Israel to meet with Netanyahu - in her town hall answer about the decision to not accept AIPAC money in the next election.

SCOOP from @indyweek.bsky.social today: Rep. Valerie Foushee's campaign says she will not take money from AIPAC in her 2026 reelection bid. indyweek.com/news/northca...

Ask INDY is a regular series in which @indyweek.bsky.social staffers put their expertise to use answering your questions. This Ask INDY is all about Triangle colleges and campus life. Staff writer Chase Pellegrini de Paur and intern Daneen Khan are on deck. indyweek.com/ask-indy

INDY staffers took home several awards recently for writing and visuals.

What questions do you have about Wake municipal elections? Or other elections coming up in the Triangle? Are you curious about voting trends? Or what local elections boards do? Maybe voter ID requirements? Send us your Qs! An INDY staffer may take on your question for our next Ask INDY.

What questions do you have about Durham elections? Or other elections coming up in the Triangle? Are you curious about voting trends? Or what local elections boards do? Maybe voter ID requirements? Send us your Qs! An INDY staffer may take on your question for our next Ask INDY installment.

Incumbents and challengers filed for Durham’s mayoral, Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 3 council seats.

Durham’s Transportation Department wants to give one of the city’s busiest traffic corridors a major upgrade by developing its first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route.

Cary elects its mayor, two at-large town council members, and four district town council members to staggered four-year terms in odd-year elections. This year, one at-large seat and two district seats are on the ballot.

The last time Zebulon elected a mayor, in 2021, it was about as sleepy an electoral cycle as you could imagine. Four years later, the tiny town in eastern Wake County is gearing up for a very different mayoral race.

“I try to make it a point to take him with me. Because I pick him up from daycare, one of his first words was ‘bike.’”

I fell down a bit of a hole, writing this feature and listening to Elizabeth Woodman's fascinating podcast on Rachel Crook – a story about outsiders, murder, small towns and legendary spaces, debts to the dead. (or something along those lines). for @indyweek.bsky.social

"This is not a neutral political moment. Raising children in it means making choices. I want them to know what solidarity looks like, what protest feels like, and how to recognize propaganda when they hear it."

A former chicken house that Rachel Crook had renovated into a shop where she also lived, Crook’s Corner had an “unusual but misleading name,” a 1949 article in the Chapel Hill Weekly quipped, forebodingly.

"DoorDash gave her half pay for her delivery attempts. She went home and ate the pizza she’d tried to deliver earlier."

Former Magnolia Grill chef Amanda Orser to open a counter-service sandwich shop, LRB Provisions, in a former Durham hot dog stand.

Local groups are looking for volunteers and donations in the storm’s aftermath.

Local cinephiles can celebrate the spirit of Hot Labor Summer at the Chelsea Theater’s special May Days: Labor on the Move! screening series.

NC has the nation's 5th most 9/11 heroes after NY, NJ, PA, and FL. You'd think keeping our promise to them would be a higher priority for the NCGOP delegation than handing trillions in tax cuts to billionaires in the bill they passed last week. But you'd be wrong.

I spoke to two women trapped at a Chapel Hill mall during the flood—one hunkered down in a movie theater until 1am, the other escaped to keep delivering for DoorDash

It's been very fun to learn about the surprisingly serious world of competitive pinball from INDY intern Eva Flowe - excited to see her write-up out in the world!

What are some smaller line items in the city's budget? You asked, @justinlaidlaw.bsky.social answered!