Lena Geller

"According to the owner of The Fruit (who apparently interned for the INDY 30 years ago!), there are no election-themed drinks tonight. There is, however, a puppet show rehearsal going on in the basement."

A State Senate Primary Pits a Folk Hero Against a First-Term Force The two candidates, Sophia Chitlik and DeDreana, bring different tactics, backgrounds, and reputations to the race to represent District 22.

Hi! Definitely agree that's a big factor in this race - the blurb was just meant to tee up one thread going into tonight. I did a much more comprehensive piece last month that gets into temperament concerns and other baggage:

Fresh Off Defeat, Freeman Challenges Chitlik for State Senate Seat Former city council member DeDreana Freeman, who lost her reelection bid last month, filed Wednesday to challenge first-term Sen. Sophia Chitlik for the District 22 seat.

BREAKING: Fresh off losing a reelection bid last month, former Durham city councilor DeDreana Freeman has filed to challenge state senator Sophia Chitlik for the District 22 seat

Activist Banned from Durham City Hall After Disrupting Swearing-In Durham resident Amanda Wallace faces a two-year ban from city hall after interrupting council member Matt Kopac’s oath of office.

An activist who interrupted a swearing-in ceremony in Durham has been banned from city hall for two years, which may be unprecedented:

Employees closed down La Superior grocery store following reports federal agents were coming. (Lena Geller for INDY)

Scenes of panic, paranoia, and solidarity unfolded across Durham on Tuesday as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents descended on the Triangle.

www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

“They’re Just Kind Of Grabbing People”: Fear Grips Durham As Federal Agents Arrive Federal agents detained at least three people as volunteers mobilized to track the agents through Durham.

BREAKING: Federal agents detained at least three people in Durham on Tuesday, chasing them through a shopping center parking lot as stores locked down and shoppers fled.

A Stormwater Pipe Is Destroying Her Home. Who’s Responsible? Mandy McGhee bought her Walltown home through a program designed to help low-income buyers build generational wealth. But a stormwater pipe that’s been eroding her foundation for years is putting that...

If you think the origins of a pipe cannot make for compelling investigative reporting, boy do I have a story for you

A Stormwater Pipe Is Destroying Her Home. Who’s Responsible? Mandy McGhee bought her Walltown home through a program designed to help low-income buyers build generational wealth. But a stormwater pipe that’s been eroding her foundation for years is putting that...

A Durham woman’s foundation is collapsing after 28 years of erosion from a stormwater pipe.

The city shares ownership of the pipe. A local nonprofit sold her the house. Who’s responsible? (for @indyweek.bsky.social)

Digging Through Durham Candidates’ Campaign Finance Reports Missing data, top donors, how candidates are spending their money, and more.

spent a week digging through Durham candidates' campaign finance reports. some hadn't filed reports until I asked:

Candidates Distance Themselves from Yes for Durham Following INDY Report Candidates endorsed by Yes for Durham committed to not accept any money from the group, which has yet to disclose its leadership.

Following the INDY's investigation into Yes for Durham, all four candidates the group endorsed have publicly rejected its support

I didn't ask specifically about endorsement criteria, though in response to one of my other questions, they said "The organization is focused on advancing its policy agenda and has identified candidates who support that agenda."

Anonymous Durham Political Group Has Ties to Candidate It Endorsed Yes for Durham made candidate endorsements. But the group, which hasn’t disclosed its leadership, has ties to one endorsed candidate.

Scoop: A brand new nonprofit endorsing Durham candidates hasn’t disclosed its leadership—but initially listed an endorsed candidate’s husband’s property as its address, and mirrors her campaign messaging

Who's Coming to This East Durham Storefront? At Last, an Answer About an Eye-Catching Banner After 15 years in downtown Durham, Dame’s Chicken & Waffles is relocating to 455 South Driver Street in East Durham.

the East Durham glory hole/Jesus banner mystery has been solved

They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, the Future Looks Grim. For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.

I spent time with Chapel Hill residents whose home flooded during Tropical Storm Chantal. They're trapped in a house no one will buy, watching luxury apartments rise upstream while their land erodes beneath them.

They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim. For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.

This is an area near us. In America now, make one serious mistake and unless you have wealth or a needed skill you are done. Happily we are higher than them; and about the highest house on our street. FEMA, I think, has bought endangered houses and destroyed them; no more.

They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim. For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.

Read this story! (by @writingthings.bsky.social)

A Legacy in Limbo Loretta Lynch's father Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family. Now tenants of his derelict properties and the family are in a legal dispute.

From @writingthings.bsky.social: Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family, his daughter Loretta the former U.S. attorney general. Now tenants of his derelict properties are mired in a legal dispute with the family.
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...

a hilarious and slightly unsettling story about an opulent drink deserves an opulent lede (@writingthings.bsky.social 🦀)

Even if you already heard about a Holly Springs bar trying to break the world record for largest Bloody Mary, you should read @indyweek.bsky.social's version bc a) you should read everything Lena @writingthings.bsky.social writes and b) no one else was behind the scenes for this behemoth's creation.

Restaurant Owner Cheetie Kumar Wants Congress to Amend "No Tax on Tips" Proposal The vice president of the Independent Restaurant Coalition breaks down the policies she believes will most benefit restaurant workers.

the New Yorker just published a comprehensive piece on Trump's "No Tax, No Tips" wolfe-in-sheeps-clothing proposal. From June, here's @writingthings.bsky.social's interview with Triangle chef Cheetie Kumar about her work trying to amend the legislation and push for fairer policies.

Durham’s Newest Club Knows You Can’t Clock Out Anymore Switchyards, a national coworking chain, opens a location in Durham next month. It brands itself as a new kind of office-away-from-home.

you may have seen ads for Switchyards, a rapidly expanding "work club" chain that's open 24 hours a day. for @indyweek.bsky.social, i wrote about the vanishing line between work and everything else

lol

“Richards was struck by how quickly the sense of community dissolved.”

late summer ☀️

Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.

I spoke to two women trapped at a Chapel Hill mall during the flood—one hunkered down in a movie theater until 1am, the other escaped to keep delivering for DoorDash

Also unsurprisingly @indyweek.bsky.social has excellent coverage.

Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.

"DoorDash gave her half pay for her delivery attempts. She went home and ate the pizza she’d tried to deliver earlier."

Lunch Money: A Big Burger and Big Surcharge at Big Bob’s Car quarters, crinkle cut fries, and an ambitious cheeseburger at old-school restaurant Big Bob's in Hillsborough.

wrote about Big Bob's, where business cards for a bail bondsman named "The Rock" sit by the register and the burgers are larger than God

Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association Dissolves Amid Turnover The environmental nonprofit, which oversees nearly 500 acres of protected land in Durham, is undergoing restructuring after dissolving in January.

new for @indyweek.bsky.social: the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, which owns & oversees nearly 500 acres of protected lands in Durham, has quietly dissolved

nooo i was hoping this was going to be a metaphor when i read the first sentence, so sorry