BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for September 16, 2009

Between prepping for a presentation this morning and going to last night's terrific Bulls game (more on that later), time's tight, so the Fishwrap is it for BCR posts today until later tonight.

• 150 residents turned out last night for a community input forum on how to close the school achievement gap plaguing black males in particular. The event, one step towards a $1.5m National Education Association grant proposal, brought ideas that DPS' Minnie Forte-Brown signaled an interest in even if the grant isn't won: more diversity training for teachers and a more diverse body of teachers and administrators; more involvement of the community and parents in education; high standards for all; and a popular one, a move away from curricula designed around standardized test goals. (H-S)
• The Bulls won the first game of their best-of-five Governors Cup match at the DBAP, a 4-1 win that featured strong starting pitching from both sides; a solid bunt that, thanks to an error, turned into a triple for the good guys; and a nailbiting end to the ninth as the Bulls' strong closer, Winston Abreu, struck out two straight batters who could have each been the tying run in the game. (Indy, H-S)
• The Durham News has a look at Healthy Start Academy's plans to bulldoze two houses on Jackson St. (a story reported earlier by the H-S but not available online.) Morehead Hill and West End neighbors have protested the impending loss of two vacant bungalows, which were at one point proposed to become the site of a new playground for the school. The charter school says it got the houses when it bought a former church site and doesn't want the houses -- but also can't find a way to use them, either. City Council members opposed the demolition verbally but likely lack the ability to compel their preservation. (N&O)
• A candidate forum at NCCU yesterday was notable for challengers taking potshots at incumbents. From the sound of Ray Gronberg's reporting, it sounds like he couldn't figure out why to-date-unseen Ward 3 challenger Allan Polak called Mike Woodard a "plebe" (which Gronberg goes on to note is a term for freshmen in military academies, of all things -- though we figure Polak was trying to make a plebian/patrician analogy that just didn't work) and accused him of having ongoing conflicts of interest as a Duke employee. Meanwhile, Donald Hughes came out in opposition to both the transit tax and last year's water rate increase, while Sylvester Williams and Sandra Howell took on the question of whether Council has neglected black neighborhoods. Candidates on the right called for youth curfews at McDougald Terrace (Ward 1's Tarantino) and low taxes and fees (Ward 2' libertarian Drew.) (H-S)
• Durham last week became the 14th NC county to become part of NCAware, a system that vastly modernizes court records and will eventually connect up all 100 counties. It provides centralized information on criminals, from outstanding warrants to probation violations and summons. All counties should be online by late 2010. (N&O)
• The H1N1 flu infection count at Duke is up to about 170 -- dwarfed by UNC-CH's 700-plus cases at this point. According to the N&O, a recent study on GI maladies found that few college students follow posted hygiene guidelines, and encouraged changing up terms like "self-isolate" and "gastrointestinal" to say something instead like "they'll puke if they don't wash their hands." Ah, the future of America. (N&O) Meanwhile, NCCU hasn't seen much impact at all. (H-S)
• Duke's changed up its legal team in former lacrosse coach Mike Pressler's slander suit against the university and its former spokesman John Burness. (H-S)

Comments

[Kevin Davis]

Allan Polak has called to say that he didn't call Woodard a plebe at yesterday's meeting. More on this later today.

[Brandon]

Uh oh, could it be? Inaccurate reporting by the Herald-Sun!

Go figure....

[Thomas]

Or just another wacky candidate caught saying something stupid? Like that's never happened in Durham.