Elected officials and administrators from Durham Public Schools and the County met Thursday morning to try to hash out a solution to their gap on school funding, but walked away without an answer, according to press reports. Some BOCC members expressed an unwillingness to raise taxes at all; Ellen Reckhow signaled an openness to more schools funding if she understood better where DPS dollars flow.
Of note: County manager Mike Ruffin told officials during the hearing that additional bond debt coupled with recessionary realities on other sources of revenue may mean as much as a five cent per $100 of assessed value increase in taxes next year -- underscoring his push to keep rates level this year.
In other news:
- More bad news for the owners of West Village: there's yet another lawsuit circling the historic renovation project. This time it's an LLC connect to Raleigh investor David Falk Jr., whose firm Drucker & Falk also manages the West Village apartments. This one's over a quarter-million in debt. (N&O)
- The Ellerbe Creek Watershed Assn. has acquired the marsh behind the Compare Foods by I-85, home of a beaver sanctuary and frequent neighborhood clean-ups on the 33 acre site. (H-S)
- The school board named a new principal for WG Pearson Elementary; Kecia Rogers takes over for Sandy Chambers, who's moved on to the Wake school system. The board also approved contracts for the renovation of the Lakewood Y into a Montessori magnet middle school, and for expansions and improvements to Hillside and Northern. (H-S)
- Durham's Urban Ministries has partnered with McKinney on a marketing campaign to raise awareness of homelessness in the Bull City. Look for new TV ads, online presence, and a MindWorks-designed web site to launch in the coming days. (H-S)
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