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)