Lots to get to in this morning's papers:
EMC Adds $280m Data Center, 400 Jobs: Data storage, software and services firm EMC expands the footprint it gained when it acquired RTP and Apex facilities from Data General in '99, adding 400 jobs to the 900 in the Triangle over five years. A $280m data center and research lab, plus a significant number of those jobs, will go to a Durham site separate from existing RTP and Apex facilities. A state grant helped; Durham's expected to consider city/county incentives shortly. (TBJ, N&O, Herald-Sun)
City Pegs $420k to Rolling Hills Plan: City Council members broadly supported spending $65k on Rolling Hills planning yesterday and are expected to support another $355k next month; the funds come after a private developer partner couldn't find the dollars -- but planning now is needed to have a chance at a $30m+ federal grant the city wants to help develop the site. 250 rental units (at Rolling Hills) would be part of the project, and presumably would then help to attract private development to one of downtown's best sites. (Herald-Sun)
Raleigh, Durham Prep for Falls Lake Debate: A City staff member warned City Council yesterday that agreement between Durham and Raleigh over who pays how much to clean up Falls Lake. Staff in Raleigh (which gets much of its drinking water from Falls) have recommended the City of Oaks foot some of the cleanup tab in Durham (which has polluted streams running to the lake but doesn't drink from it), but there'll be much discussion and negotiation about how much by whom, and so forth. (N&O)
City Frets on NCCU Parking: Parking's a perennial complaint at NC Central -- by students and faculty, as well as by neighboring street residents who feel overwhelmed by cars. City Council members yesterday were cool to the idea of one enterprising Central student who wanted permission to allow his towing company to tow parking transgressors on sight, but pressed DPD to work harder with the university on the issue. (Herald-Sun)
School Board Meeting Sees Parental Complaints: About 10 parents showed up to the DPS school board meeting last night to complain about the Reading Street program, while longtime school dissenters Jackie Wagstaff and Steven Matherly showed up to complain about how long the school system considered its suspension policy before changing it. Kinda makes you tear up for those days when school board meetings were Durham's must-see-TV. (Well, not really.) Meanwhile, DPS is almost 250 students over its projected enrollment this year, a move that could bring extra funds to the system. (Herald-Sun #1, #2)
Lights Back on at Central: NCCU is open for business again after an off-campus power issue led to electrical power loss and the cancellation of classes on Thursday afternoon. (Herald-Sun)
NC Pride Parade Arrives: Pre-parade festivities kick off today for the NC Pride Parade, the 25th consecutive year for the state's and the southeast's largest gay rights and pride event. DPD chief Jose Lopez and state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird will be among the speakers, while Durham's own Pam Spaulding (national blogger at Pam's House Blend) is the keynote speaker. (Herald-Sun)
BillG Goes Northgate: The rumor was on-point: Bill Gates and his wife, Duke alumna Melinda, visited Durham's Performance Leadership Center to see how their foundation's investment was supporting youth education. Students were reportedly thrilled to get to meet the Microsoft founder. (Herald-Sun)
Eagles, Blue Devils Ready for Football: A decent crowd turned out for yesterday's football pep rally in advance of Saturday's inaugural NCCU-Duke football game; as the Herald-Sun's Neil Offen points out, it was a good-natured gathering that saw fans and participants supporting both schools cheering on both of Saturday's participants. Now that's sportsmanlike. (Herald-Sun)
NC Mutual Archives to Duke, NCCU: Speaking of inter-school connections, both Duke and NCCU will jointly administer the historic archives of the NC Mutual Life Insurance Company; the historically African-American firm will be moving its records from the company's HQ to Duke's library services center for processing next month. (Herald-Sun)
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