Lena Geller
@writingthings.bsky.social
📤 1373
📥 227
📝 67
staff writer
@indyweek.bsky.social
pinned post!
well, this is surreal!
4 months ago
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Following the INDY's investigation into Yes for Durham, all four candidates the group endorsed have publicly rejected its support
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Candidates Distance Themselves from Yes for Durham Following INDY Report
Candidates endorsed by Yes for Durham committed to not accept any money from the group, which has yet to disclose its leadership.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-candidates-distance-themselves-from-yes-for-durham-following-indy-report/
9 days ago
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Scoop: A brand new nonprofit endorsing Durham candidates hasn’t disclosed its leadership—but initially listed an endorsed candidate’s husband’s property as its address, and mirrors her campaign messaging
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Anonymous Durham Political Group Has Ties to Candidate It Endorsed
Yes for Durham made candidate endorsements. But the group, which hasn’t disclosed its leadership, has ties to one endorsed candidate.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/yes-for-durham/
11 days ago
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the East Durham glory hole/Jesus banner mystery has been solved
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Who's Coming to This East Durham Storefront? At Last, an Answer About an Eye-Catching Banner
After 15 years in downtown Durham, Dame’s Chicken & Waffles is relocating to 455 South Driver Street in East Durham.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/dames-chicken-and-waffles-east-durham/
23 days ago
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I spent time with Chapel Hill residents whose home flooded during Tropical Storm Chantal. They're trapped in a house no one will buy, watching luxury apartments rise upstream while their land erodes beneath them.
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They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, the Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
https://indyweek.com/news/orange/chantal-flooding-chapel-hill-eastgate/
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
about 1 month ago
This is an area near us. In America now, make one serious mistake and unless you have wealth or a needed skill you are done. Happily we are higher than them; and about the highest house on our street. FEMA, I think, has bought endangered houses and destroyed them; no more.
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They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
https://indyweek.com/news/orange/chantal-flooding-chapel-hill-eastgate/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
about 1 month ago
Read this story! (by
@writingthings.bsky.social
)
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They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
https://indyweek.com/news/orange/chantal-flooding-chapel-hill-eastgate/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
The Assembly
about 1 month ago
From
@writingthings.bsky.social
: Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family, his daughter Loretta the former U.S. attorney general. Now tenants of his derelict properties are mired in a legal dispute with the family.
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
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A Legacy in Limbo
Loretta Lynch's father Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family. Now tenants of his derelict properties and the family are in a legal dispute.
https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/courts/lynch-tenants-lawsuit-housing-durham/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
about 1 month ago
a hilarious and slightly unsettling story about an opulent drink deserves an opulent lede (
@writingthings.bsky.social
🦀)
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Willets
about 1 month ago
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.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
about 2 months ago
the New Yorker just published a comprehensive piece on Trump's "No Tax, No Tips" wolfe-in-sheeps-clothing proposal. From June, here's
@writingthings.bsky.social
's interview with Triangle chef Cheetie Kumar about her work trying to amend the legislation and push for fairer policies.
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Restaurant Owner Cheetie Kumar Wants Congress to Amend "No Tax on Tips" Proposal
The vice president of the Independent Restaurant Coalition breaks down the policies she believes will most benefit restaurant workers.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/cheetie-kumar-no-tax-on-tips/
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you may have seen ads for Switchyards, a rapidly expanding "work club" chain that's open 24 hours a day. for
@indyweek.bsky.social
, i wrote about the vanishing line between work and everything else
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Durham’s Newest Club Knows You Can’t Clock Out Anymore
Switchyards, a national coworking chain, opens a location in Durham next month. It brands itself as a new kind of office-away-from-home.
https://indyweek.com/culture/switchyards-coworking-durham/
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Peter Haugen
3 months ago
“Richards was struck by how quickly the sense of community dissolved.”
add a skeleton here at some point
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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
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Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
https://indyweek.com/news/orange/university-place-chapel-hill-flooding-chantal/
3 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Melody Joy Kramer, MLIS
3 months ago
Also unsurprisingly
@indyweek.bsky.social
has excellent coverage.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
3 months ago
"DoorDash gave her half pay for her delivery attempts. She went home and ate the pizza she’d tried to deliver earlier."
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Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
https://indyweek.com/news/orange/university-place-chapel-hill-flooding-chantal/
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wrote about Big Bob's, where business cards for a bail bondsman named "The Rock" sit by the register and the burgers are larger than God
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Lunch Money: A Big Burger and Big Surcharge at Big Bob’s
Car quarters, crinkle cut fries, and an ambitious cheeseburger at old-school restaurant Big Bob's in Hillsborough.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/lunch-money-big-bobs/
3 months ago
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new for
@indyweek.bsky.social
: the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, which owns & oversees nearly 500 acres of protected lands in Durham, has quietly dissolved
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Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association Dissolves Amid Turnover
The environmental nonprofit, which oversees nearly 500 acres of protected land in Durham, is undergoing restructuring after dissolving in January.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/ellerbe-creek-watershed-association-dissolves-amid-turnover/
3 months ago
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well, this is surreal!
4 months ago
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made it into The New York Times for being a trash goblin
4 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
David A. Graham
4 months ago
Not only did
@writingthings.bsky.social
write this story I've wanted to read a version of for years, she made much more of it than I could have imagined
indyweek.com/culture/duke...
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I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
https://indyweek.com/culture/duke-students-dumpster-diving/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily052725&utm_source=144fe5d6e6&utm_source=INDY+Week&utm_campaign=efc5463717-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_23_04_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-efc5463717-482845692&mc_cid=efc5463717&mc_eid=15ae972d9c
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Jacob Geller
4 months ago
My sister, writing about the fortunes that Duke Students throw out after every semester.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Over the past few weeks, I salvaged $6,000 worth of luxury goods Duke students threw away in my apartment building—Balenciaga slides, Valentino sneakers, barely-used Lululemon. In trying to make sense of it all, I made spreadsheets and cried:
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I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
https://indyweek.com/culture/duke-students-dumpster-diving/
4 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
4 months ago
The first time I went down there, last week, I noticed something neon in a tote bag and pulled out $395 Balenciaga slides. Nearby were $980 Valentino sneakers—worn, but definitely wearable.
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I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
https://indyweek.com/culture/duke-students-dumpster-diving/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Justin Laidlaw
4 months ago
A year later, McLaurin and his team are preparing to open their own permanent brick-and-mortar location in American Tobacco Campus!
@writingthings.bsky.social
got the scoop on what to expect at the new cafe.
@indyweek.bsky.social
indyweek.com/food-and-dri...
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Popular Pop-up Bakery Finds Permanent Home on American Tobacco Campus
Lutra Bakery's new 2,600-square-foot location at American Tobacco Campus is set to open by the end of 2025.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/lutra-cafe-and-bakery-american-tobacco-campus/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Field%20Guide%20May%2016&utm_source=144fe5d6e6&utm_source=INDY+Week&utm_campaign=2959b9cf05-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_16_09_48&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-2959b9cf05-482841429&mc_cid=2959b9cf05&mc_eid=b2a69365ea
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Colin Campbell
5 months ago
I appreciate this approach to food coverage so much more than the breathless coverage of whatever new "concept" one of the Triangle's five celebrity-ish chefs is gonna open next year.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
5 months ago
A $9.50 lunch special, twenty-plus entree options, and a fortune cookie at Durham’s oldest operating Chinese restaurant.
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Lunch Money: Shanghai's Open Doors
A $9.50 lunch special, twenty-plus entree options, and a fortune cookie at Durham's oldest operating Chinese restaurant.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/lunch-money-shanghai-durham/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
5 months ago
cool
@writingthings.bsky.social
story on restauranteur Anthony Guerra, who says that workers should benefit from restaurant success and is tangibly working to make that happen
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To Keep Up With Demand, Oakwood Pizza Box to Open Takeout Location
As Oakwood Pizza Box grows, Anthony Guerra says he wants to make sure that employees also reap the benefits.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/oakwood-pizza-box-take-out-location/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
5 months ago
“There’s this old New Yorker cartoon of a dog sitting at a keyboard, talking to other dogs on the computer, and no one knows you’re a dog. Radio is kind of like that. It’s mysterious. You are talking into the void and making human contact with somebody you’ve never met.”
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In an Uncertain Time, Ham Radio Sees a Signal Boost
Amateur radio enthusiasts have been preparing for emergencies for decades. Now their expertise is drawing packed rooms of newcomers.
https://indyweek.com/culture/ham-radio-durham/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
5 months ago
Is it possible to find a satisfying meal for under $15 in 2025? In the INDY’s new column, Lena Geller visits Durham’s most affordable lunch spots to find out. (
@writingthings.bsky.social
)
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Lunch Money: In the Queue at Durham’s Que Dogs
Is it possible to find a satisfying meal for under $15? In the INDY’s new column, Lena Geller visits Durham’s lunch spots to find out.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/lunch-money-que-dogs/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
6 months ago
Over the course of nine decades, Miriam Elizondo (also known as Doña Miriam) delivered much of the population of the Costa Rican village of Tres Equis and gave birth to 19 children of her own—all at home, never in a hospital.
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Talking With the Durham Filmmakers Behind "The Last Partera"
"The Last Partera," an intimate portrait of a centenarian Costa Rican midwife, will see its world premiere at Full Frame this weekend.
https://indyweek.com/culture/talking-with-the-durham-team-behind-the-last-partera/
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spoke with
@sobsey.bsky.social
about his new memoir "a jewish appendix" where he falls mysteriously ill in romania, his ancestral homeland, and recovers the day he leaves. we discuss jewish identity beyond the holocaust, the gnawing feeling of non-belonging, etc:
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In Poetic Memoir "A Jewish Appendix," Adam Sobsey Encounters Signs and Wonders
Talking with the Durham writer about his new memoir, which takes him around the world and back to a Durham wine bar.
https://indyweek.com/culture/in-poetic-memoir-a-jewish-appendix-adam-sobsey-encounters-signs-and-wonders/
6 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
6 months ago
I was interviewed & my memoir ‘A Jewish Appendix’ beautifully considered by
@lenarosegeller.bsky.social
@indyweek.bsky.social
. Writers dream of such generous treatment.
indyweek.com/culture/in-p...
(Please buy my book from
@flyleafbooks.bsky.social
or order here:
bookshop.org/p/books/a-je...
)
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In Poetic Memoir "A Jewish Appendix," Adam Sobsey Encounters Signs and Wonders
Talking with the Durham writer about his new memoir, which takes him around the world and back to a Durham wine bar.
https://indyweek.com/culture/in-poetic-memoir-a-jewish-appendix-adam-sobsey-encounters-signs-and-wonders/
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Joe Killian
7 months ago
Now this is a great, fun community story. “It Smells New”: Durham’s Revamped Wheels Roller Skating Rink is a Blast from the Past
indyweek.com/news/durham/...
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“It Smells New”: Durham’s Revamped Wheels Roller Skating Rink is a Blast from the Past
For an INDY staffer Wheels' HGTV-worthy reno feels like “somebody took my childhood memories, ran them through the wash, and handed them back to me pristine.”
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/it-smells-new-durhams-revamped-wheels-roller-skating-rink-is-a-blast-from-the-past/
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i wrote about Wheels reopening in Durham. it's exactly how you remember it, only better. serving lava-hot pizza and nostalgia by the slice
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“It Smells New”: Durham’s Revamped Wheels Roller Skating Rink is a Blast from the Past
For an INDY staffer Wheels' HGTV-worthy reno feels like “somebody took my childhood memories, ran them through the wash, and handed them back to me pristine.”
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/it-smells-new-durhams-revamped-wheels-roller-skating-rink-is-a-blast-from-the-past/
7 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
I'm just Jeff, your friend who cares
7 months ago
Maybe the feel-good civic story of the year, one that makes you proud to live in Durham.
@lenarosegeller.bsky.social
's writing is, as always, impeccable in capturing the moment and the joy. Can't wait til my kid is old enough to get out there with some rental skates and a walker!
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Sarah Edwards
7 months ago
If you want to kinda cry while reading about rollerskating, representation, mozzarella sticks, and the reopening of Wheels,
@lenarosegeller.bsky.social
(per usual) has the piece for you. 🛼 (
@indyweek.bsky.social
)
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“It Smells New”: Durham’s Revamped Wheels Roller Skating Rink is a Blast from the Past
For an INDY staffer Wheels' HGTV-worthy reno feels like “somebody took my childhood memories, ran them through the wash, and handed them back to me pristine.”
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/it-smells-new-durhams-revamped-wheels-roller-skating-rink-is-a-blast-from-the-past/
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powerful investigation by
@ccourtneybohl.bsky.social
and
@eringretzinger.bsky.social
into the crisis at Saint Augustine's University: unpaid wages to 370+ employees, controversial property deals with florida developers, and a board chair who compares oversight concerns to a "terrorist attack"
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The Fight that Fractured Saint Augustine’s University
As the Raleigh HBCU battles to retain accreditation, complaints and lawsuits reveal disputes about how the board of trustees has managed the institution.
https://indyweek.com/news/wake/the-fight-that-fractured-saint-augustines-university/
7 months ago
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wrote about Durham's most charming food critics: 92-year-old Margaret Teta and her grandchild Ae, who hunt down local desserts and review them on Instagram
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This Durham Grandma and Grandchild Are Instagram’s Sweetest Influencers
When Ae Bügger moved to Durham to take care of their grandmother, the pair discovered a delectable new way to spend their time together.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/this-durham-grandma-and-grandchild-are-instagrams-sweetest-influencers/
7 months ago
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I'm at the union election vote counting party outside Amazon's RDU1 warehouse in Garner, NC, where workers and supporters are gathered as NLRB officials begin tallying ballots.
7 months ago
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over 100k people are expected to come see the cherry blossoms at Duke Gardens this year but the main entrance and parking lots will be closed for renovation. here's how to see the blooms without losing your mind
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How to Navigate Duke Gardens’ Cherry Blossom Season During Construction
Last March, 150,000 people visited Duke Gardens during peak bloom. With both parking lots closed, this year's pilgrimage will look different.
https://indyweek.com/culture/how-to-navigate-duke-gardens-cherry-blossom-season-during-construction/
8 months ago
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Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls is rallying workers in Garner, NC ahead of next week’s unionization vote at RDU1 warehouse
8 months ago
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durham's newest dessert spot has a xanax framed on the wall and serves scones in flavors like cacio e pepe
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Afters Dessert Bar Makes for a Sweet Stop
Now open in Brightleaf Square, the dessert shop offers a playful invitation to passersby: slow down, take a break, and treat yourself.
https://indyweek.com/food-and-drink/afters-dessert-bar/
8 months ago
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"this case is a little different, because it's almost like we've met our Greenland or our Canada." here's how Durham city council voted on the Moriah Ridge development
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Durham City Council Unanimously Rejects Moriah Ridge Development
Council members denied a request to annex land for the 1,000-unit Moriah Ridge development, upholding the city's recently established Urban Growth Boundary.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-city-council-unanimously-rejects-moriah-ridge-development/
8 months ago
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durham city council is voting tonight on whether to break its urban growth boundary and annex land in orange county for a 1000-unit development.
@justinlaidlaw.bsky.social
and i took a look at what's at stake
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Durham Council To Vote on Whether to Break Growth Boundary for Proposed Moriah Ridge Development
The Moriah Ridge proposal would extend Durham’s jurisdiction months after the city committed to containing sprawl.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-council-to-vote-on-whether-to-break-growth-boundary-for-proposed-moriah-ridge-development/
8 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
Ry
8 months ago
"Big high rises are not why you want to go to a city.” One of the coolest "celebrity in town" pieces I can remember in a while, from
@lenarosegeller.bsky.social
🙇
add a skeleton here at some point
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wrote about
@pattonoswalt.bsky.social
's spontaneous trip to Rubies, where he found "fierce, human light" and met someone with a Ratatouille tattoo
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Even Patton Oswalt Is Charmed by Rubies on Five Points
Upon dropping by Rubies, last week, the comedian wrote in an Instagram post that the Durham space offers a “fierce, human light.”
https://indyweek.com/culture/patton-oswalt-is-charmed-by-rubies-on-five-points/
8 months ago
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before he became a filmmaker, David Lynch was just a kid who lived in lots of places. durham was one of them. here, at age 8, he started smoking—a habit that would continue until 2022, two years before emphysema claimed his life. for
@indyweek.bsky.social
:
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Paying Tribute to David Lynch's America in Durham
Before he became a filmmaker, David Lynch was just a kid who lived in lots of places. Durham was one of them.
https://indyweek.com/culture/paying-tribute-to-david-lynchs-america-in-durham/
8 months ago
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BREAKING: The NLRB has granted Amazon workers' petition for a union election at RDU1 warehouse in Garner, NC
9 months ago
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reposted by
Lena Geller
INDY Week
9 months ago
Breaking: Amazon's RDU1 warehouse in Garner has filed for a union election. If successful, it would be the 2nd unionized Amazon warehouse in the country. The first, Staten Island's JFK8, voted to unionize in 2022.
@lenarosegeller.bsky.social
has followed the effort from the beginning. Thread below.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Amazon workers filed for a union election at RDU1 warehouse in Garner, NC today
9 months ago
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