Bull City Rising

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 7, 2009

Ray Gronberg was a busy man down on Pickett Rd. yesterday, filing three, count 'em, three Metro stories. Besides the circulator update, we've got:

• The initial meeting between city and state staff on the possible transfer of West Point Park on the Eno went well, by the H-S' account. The big piece of news: neither city nor state staff seem to feel that there's a need to push through a transfer in the next few weeks, as the Friends of the West Point Park have requested. FOWPP has expressed their concern the parcel owner and developer might move ahead with redevelopment plans, but hey -- it's a pretty bad economic environment for subdivisions, you know? City manager Bonfield predicts that the city won't move forward with a downzoning proposal for the Black Meadow Ridge parcel that's at the center of the state takeover discussions, a matter that seems likely to please the landowner/developer team. Meantime, city and state staff will continue to evaluate city programs and the state of the facilities at the park. (H-S, N&O)
• The city's initial response to the controversy over the Durham Athletic Park renovations seems, from Bonfield's perspective, to be that the matter's under control and that Minor League Baseball's concerns will be met. The city's choice of a contractor to work on the field that wasn't MiLB's first choice appears to still be a factor. (H-S)
• Rumors of job cuts at IBM -- which could impact RTP, one of IBM's largest worldwide sites -- have IBMers on edge down at the park. (N&O)
• Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Durham County has risen more than 11% between October and November, up to 5.8%. Still, Durham Co. has the sixth-lowest unemployment rate out of N.C.'s one hundred counties, and actually has a 3,300 job increase over this time in 2007. (H-S)
• DPS is planning to ease its background check policy for parents and residents to volunteer in schools, at least for those volunteer opportunities that don't involve intensive contact with children. Previously, you needed to clear a criminal records check even to work at athletics concessions or PTA fundraising events. Those who'll have more intensive contact with students, such as tutoring, still need a Social Security Number and background check. (H-S)
• The H-S reports that Devil's Pizzeria has opened up for business on Ninth St., right next to International Delights. (H-S)

H-S: Meet the new boss

While the Indy's Triangulator blog has been quiet over the holidays, it piped back up on Monday with a number of interesting stories, including the announcement of a little change in the newsroom for Durham's Herald-Sun.

As of today, Offen is the new metro editor of the Durham Herald-Sun. Offen, who lives in Carrboro, has worked at The Chapel Hill Herald, the Durham daily’s Orange County counterpart, for more than eight years and has been its editor for more than six. Now former H-S metro editor Dan Way has moved into Offen’s old position in Chapel Hill.

Offen lamented the move in an email to Chapel Hill contacts on Dec. 30.

“It’s not a position I necessarily asked for or wanted; it was thrust upon me,” he wrote.

The Indy's Fiona Morgan quotes sources at the H-S as saying that Way was not well-liked by reporters -- a statement that wouldn't be shocking given the ratcheting up of workloads that's taken place there in the past six months, though whether that trend started at Way's desk or not is another matter.

Onetime H-S courts reporter John Stevenson appears to pipe up in the comments and add that any dislike to Way isn't universal; Stevenson notes that he got along fine with Way, who arrived at the paper in the wake of the Paxton buy-out of the Herald-Sun in 2005.

Though the commenter is less effusive in expressing feelings for Paxton itself: "As for my opinion of Paxton Media Group as a corporate entity, I will reserve comment."

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 6, 2009

It's a busy day in the fishwraps. Besides the County's budget cuts and proposed building bonanza (covered separately here at BCR today), there's quite a bit happening in the metro pages:

• The vote on urban chickens is paused until February, as predicted -- but at least four City Council members, including the mayor, seem disinclined to support the proposal as it stands. Jim Wise noted Bill Bell and Howard Clement had objections in a previous work session, noting their own childhood experiences growing up near chickens. Clement added to the fray yesterday by expressing concern that the groups requesting the change weren't socioeconomically diverse, and that poorer neighborhoods might see the requested change as leading to more disorder in the city. Farad Ali and Eugene Brown also expressed concerns. (H-S, N&O)
• New Durham district attorney Tracey Cline -- the first African-American female to lead the office -- was sworn in on Monday. Former D.A. David Saacks will serve as Cline's chief assistant D.A. Saacks had replaced embattled D.A. Mike Nifong, who himself was present at the swearing in "at Cline's request," in a bottom-graf item certain to raise interest among the LAX crazies. (N&O)
• Teleflex -- a firm who's had a medical device presence in or around RTP since the 1970s -- may move its entire medical division headquarters to Durham, bringing as many as 200 jobs to the city in 2009. (TBJ)
• Spring Valley Elementary inside the Brightleaf at the Park subdivision opened the doors to its new school facility on Monday; the school had previously been co-located with Oak Grove Elementary pending the availability of the new elementary building. (H-S)
• Principals from Hillside, Southern and Northern High showed off the plans for reform at the three schools, each of which has faced pressure due to test score performance under the No Child Left Behind and associated testing progress programs. Southern's principal noted that a staggering 80% of his school's entering freshmen arrived having failed their 8th grade end-of-year math test. (H-S)
• The inclusion of the pet registration fee on this year's taxable property forms apparently surprised many residents, though the fee -- which provides a steep discount for spayed/neutered cats and dogs -- has been in place since 1990. The tax office expects to collect as much as $1 million for the general fund through their levy of the levy, which has previously been in the animal control office. (H-S)

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 5, 2009

• City Manager Tom Bonfield will be testifying in favor of N.C.'s current municipal annexation rules in front of a legislative panel studying the issue; the recent addition to the Bull City is expected to share his experience in Florida, where difficult annexation rules left cities forced to provide significant services without the tax base to support it. (H-S)  Incidentally: if you're looking for an interesting perspective on annexation from south of the (Carolina) border, the Raleigh Philosophical Society blog recently looked at the issues facing Columbia, S.C., which it posits suffers from that state's more restrictive annexation rules.
• Incoming Durham D.A. Tracey Cline and restrauteur Charlie Deal -- whose downtown tacqueria Dos Perros is apparently still on track for a mid-March opening in Greenfire's Rogers Alley -- are featured as two of the region's Nine to Watch in '09. (N&O)
• The new restaurant Revolution gets the feature treatment in the H-S this morning, courtesy of business reporter Monica Chen. (H-S)
• A late entry from this weekend's H-S: Waldenbooks will be closing in late January in Northgate Mall; the chain announced in 2007 it would be closing half its stores, and the Borders-owned bookstore becomes the latest retailer to succumb in the longtime Durham shopping center. Whitehall Jewelers also recently closed in the wake of a corporate Chapter 11 filing. (H-S)

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report: New Year's Weekend Edition

Holiday that it may have been, it's been a busy few days for the local newsers, who've caught up with some looks back and updates on important local stories over the past few days:

• Jim Wise takes a close look at the state of the Rolling Hills redevelopment, which has been in stall mode with the withdrawl of Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and the difficulty St. Louis urban redevelopment firm McCormack Baron Salazar has had in raising investment funds to begin the intensive planning process. In the meanwhile, Self-Help and the Southside neighborhood association are moving ahead with their own efforts in the neighboring district, but it's an open question when and if Rolling Hills will move forward in the current economic climate. (N&O TDN #1, #2)
• City Manager Tom Bonfield and state parks staff members will meet on Tuesday morning to kick off negotiations over the fate of West Point Park on the Eno. The city-owned park could end up under state control as a way to help preserve the Black Meadow Ridge tracts, though city staff are working to negotiate the right to ongoing events like the Festival for the Eno should a transfer happen. (H-S)
• The H-S has a bit more to say on earlier reports that Scott Harmon and Susana Dancy have abandoned their attempt to purchase some Roxboro St. parcels from the city after being unable to find financing due to market conditions. The paper notes that Harmon is working with UDI on the controversial Little Five Points area, with the hopes of seeing small-area commercial or retail on the site, which preservationists have fretted over given a feared demolition of some of the structures currently in play. (H-S)
• Fullsteam Brewery's Sean Wilson gets named the N&O's Tar Heel of the Week and gives a preview of his new Durham venture, hopefully to open in 2009. (N&O)

Shooting the Bull: Podcast for December 25, 2008

In case you missed it on WXDU, the podcast of Barry and my year-end wrap-up and top stories show is now available for download. We review our picks for the top ten stories of the year that's just passed in a 30-minute review of '08.

Thanks as always to the folks at WXDU for the opportunity to host this weekly show. Barry will be on-air this week solo with downtown developer and architect Scott Harmon.

You can download or listen to the show from the Internet Archive, or listen to it via this embedded player. You can also subscribe to the show in iTunes, via WXDU's hosted podcast.

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 2, 2009

• Ray Gronberg has more on the state of transit discussions. Wake, Orange and Durham leaders are discussing within their counties -- but, it seems, not much between their borders -- a strategy for transit, including how to wrangle local sales tax dollars out of the General Assembly. With the failure of Triangle Transit's original dating-to-the-90s rail plan several years back, though, the now much-larger Wake County sees its leaders concerned that any revenues raised in Wake should stay in Wake for transit, a move that could strongly limit the financial base for a system that would connect western and eastern part of the Triangle. (H-S)
• Pizza Palace closed after this year's New Year's Eve bash, with the Guess Rd. building's landlord not interested in renewing the lease; the Rodenhizers report there may be a "next time" for Pizza Palace to find a new home in the Bull City, this time one the business would own. (H-S)
• The Eno River Association announced a $1 million purchase of 60+ acres from the Brame family; this acreage has been added to the Eno River State Park and will help to build the Mountains-to-the-Sea Trail and horse paths. (H-S)
• The economic slowdown and falling consumer spending is hitting ad agencies, with downtown's McKinney letting eight employees go and falling to a total employment level of 160. (N&O)
• Apparently attacking law enforcement vehicles is a sport rising in popularity, and one no longer affecting just state troopers, after a man took a golf club to a D.P.D. cruiser yesterday. (WTVD, WRAL)

'09 elections: Bell back for mayor; will Council seats roll?

As we noted here yesterday, Ray Gronberg's New Years Day story in the Herald-Sun did a nice job wrapping up the current rumors and murmurs about 2009's municipal elections.

The interesting story over the past few months has revolved around Mayor Bell, and whether he'd choose to run again this fall. It was widely assumed that Bell's 2007 run against conservative Thomas Stith was Bell's swan song for the mayor's seat, with reports abounding that Bell had told persons close to him that he wouldn't run again.

As of three months ago, we here at BCR still were hearing that story from most -- but not all -- sources, with a growing tide of voices suggesting that Bell was considering a run for a fifth term.

All of which puts Cora Cole-McFadden (Ward 1) and Mike Woodard (Ward 3), both of whom had been reported to have been eyeing the center of the dais.

D-Bull makes an outfield appearance on MLB Network

January 1 was the launch date for MLB Network, professional baseball's own full-time cable network, which is available on Time Warner and DirecTV in the Triangle.

In the past week, of course, we've learned that the relationship between Minor League Baseball and the Bull City has been a bit strained in recent months over MiLB's concerns over the field quality and schedule for the Durham Athletic Park renovations; the league will run the DAP as a training facility under an operating agreement and is concerned the field conditions will be sub-standard and that MiLB will be held to blame.

Somehow, though, that strained relationship hasn't stopped a bit of Bull City baseball imagery from making it onto MLB Network:

Yes, that's a replica of the "Hit Bull Win Steak" sign that arose during the filming of "Bull Durham," and which has been transplanted to the new DBAP (and replaced at least once.) The text to the right of the bull reads "Hit A Bull Win A Steak."

The sign appears in one of the network's two studios: MLB Park, a half-scale replica of a ballpark allowing analysts to demonstrate on-field action and moves. It's also known as Studio 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson.

We can't see what's at the bottom of the sign -- it looks like it says something about a steakhouse.

Or perhaps it says "Now Hiring: Bond Project Overseer - Starts Immediately"...?

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for January 1, 2009

Wish I could say that the lateness of this morning's, er, evening's Fishwrap is due to a wonderful and bibacious New Year's Eve -- but no, the phone rang at 3 in the morning, turning my day's schedule on its ear. From the better-late-than-never department:

• Ray Gronberg has the biggest local story of the day, with a good wrap-up of what looks to be the City Council and mayoral line-up in '09. The big news: Bill Bell is planning to run for another mayoral turn, a move that will at least forestall the Cole-McFadden v. Woodard race that would have likely occured in the event of Bell's retirement. Meantime, DDI's Bill Kalkhof and Rev. Mel Whitley may have interest in Howard Clement's ward seat, with Frank Hyman an apparent wild-card in the mayoral or Ward 1 (Cole-McFadden) seat. More thoughts on this here Friday. (H-S)
• Despite noting that the budget picture this year will be challenging to say the least, county manager Mike Ruffin suggests that the human services complex and downtown courthouse are both likely to move forward with spring and 2009 starts, respectively, with Ruffin expecting discussion in the General Assembly this year on a system such as a special Triangle local sales tax for transit. BOCC chair Michael Page, meanwhile, emphasizes the need for ongoing funding for education and downtown revitalization. (H-S)
• As noted here yesterday, neighborhood activists shocked by the murder of Trevor Spain are working to form a committee with representatives from in-town neighborhoods to look at crime issues, including its root causes and how to address them. (H-S)
• ABC11 has a nice feature on John Martin's purchase, relocation and renovation of the Tate House, which escaped an uncertain future on Markham across from Duke's East Campus and has now been relocated to Old West Durham and beautifully renovated. (WTVD)
• The Indy Weekly takes a revealing look at Forest View Rehabilitation Center in western Durham, which was forced to close in November after investigators "noted serious, even critical hygiene, health and safety violations," including fire ants invading one resident's room and person, and including cases where mentally impaired persons were allegedly sexually assaulted by other residents. The facility, which lost its right to participate in the federal Medicare/Medicaid programs, is for sale. (Indy)