BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 16, 2009

• NCDOT's financial position continues to worsen, with the cash-strapped agency no longer able to fund routine street resurfacing this fiscal year and laying off staff. Potholes will still be fixed -- though thanks to the cutbacks and the rescission of the city's contract to do this work on behalf of the state, they may take longer than usual to repair. District 5 now only has $20 million to spend from now through July 1 -- an amount given to each of NCDOT's divisions "without regard to the population or road mileage they're responsible for," sez the H-S.
• The new Durham Station multimodal and bus station downtown will be six weeks late in opening; the push to mid-March instead of February 1 comes after NCDOT asked the City to shore up old clay pipes and drainage basins on W. Chapel Hill St. to stand up better to the weight of buses. (H-S)
• Tomorrow is the last day that Couch's Kwik Kar Wash will be open on Markham near Ninth St.; the community fixture has been open almost 45 years. The H-S' Monica Chen has a nice remembrance. (H-S)
  
• Parks & Rec has shared the survey results for the new East Durham community center being opened at the former Holton school; fitness activities, education and enrichment, and athletics also topped the wishlist. The center, set to open in August, will include a Duke Health community clinic and vo-tech programs from Durham Public Schools. (H-S)
• The Durham Rescue Mission and other non-profits are taking extraordinary measures to reach out to the homeless on recent below-freezing nights. (H-S)