Anita Bennett, protagonist in Durham's small-business loan scandal of few years back, has been in court again, and she's still in a heap of trouble.

Not to mention causing it. To wit, Bennett hasn't been paying her court-ordered restitution for bilking the city out of $828,000 while running its small-business loan program, Senior Assistant City Attorney Sherri Zann Rosenthal told the City Council Thursday.

The City Council decided this afternoon to put Southern Durham Development's utility extension on its Feb. 20 agenda.

City Attorney Patrick Baker informed Southern Durham attorney Cal Cunningham of the decision after a closed session with the council.

Here is an early look at Bob Wilson's column in Sunday' Durham News. Tell us what you think below (with your name, so we may publish your comments in the paper) or at editor@nando.com

By Bob Wilson

The prospect of a charter high school in Research Triangle Park  has the Durham School Board in a lather, and that's good. The board and Superintendent Eric Becoats are getting an education in market-driven schools.

In other words, Durham Public Schools must learn to compete. The public schools in this city are losing their monopoly. Durham's existing charter schools already account for almost 9 percent of the city's elementary students, the highest market share in the state, according to a Feb. 1 N&O report published in last Sunday’s Durham News.

Predictably, the school board is fighting the RTP charter school tooth and claw, warning that the school will be yet another draw-down on local education funding.

Moreover, the board has thrown a hoary specter into the mix: resegregation.
That's a curious tack, considering that minorities comprise 73 percent of the student population in Durham's public schools. If that's not resegregation, what is?

After some confusion on Orange County's position, plans for the light-rail line between Chapel Hill and Durham got unanimous approval this morning from a bi-county transportation committee.

Today's vote for a "Locally Preferred Alternative" route keeps the project on schedule to apply for a federal grant this year. It also moves the project along to another round of public hearings, on environmental effects, in the spring.

Orange County commissioners approved preliminary plans to bring more bus service and light rail to the county, giving the local transit authority the go-ahead to apply for federal funding for the project.

Commissioners voted 5-2 Tuesday night to approve a "locally preferred alternative" for a rail and bus plan that would connect Orange County to Durham County.

The preliminary plan includes a rail line that would run along N.C. 54, connecting UNC Hospitals to Alston Avenue near Duke University and downtown Durham.

The commissioners' vote will inform the the transportation committee of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization during their meeting Wednesday morning.

Commissioner Alice Gordon will represent Orange County commissioners at that meeting, and was advised to inform transit advisers on the vote and express a preference for a route that would not go through Meadowmont on N.C. 54.

Commissioners Earl McKee and Steve Yuhasz voted against moving ahead with the rail and bus options, both saying light rail would not benefit the whole county.

"My no vote is not again transit, it is a no vote against this particular technology in this particular corridor," Yuhasz said,

A "Proactive Rental Inspection Program" for Durham is on the City Council's work session agenda Thursday. The proposal switches housing-code inspections of rental property to a  systematic regimen instead of the past practice of inspecting only when someone complains.

The program, according to Housing Code Administrator Rick Hester, is intended to motivate property owners to keep their houses and apartments up to code or get extra attention and expense from City Hall.

Read more about the program in Wednesday's Durham News. Links to some program documents are here:
 

Documents:

Southern Durham Development has withdrawn its attempt to collect expenses and "sanctions" from plaintiffs in the 751 South lawsuit.

According to the withdrawal notice, Southern Durham did so "as a gesture of good faith."  Attorney Cal Cunningham said the company "has agreed to resume confidential mediated settlement discussions" and would make no further comment.

This just in:

Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed retired Superior Court Judge A. Leon Stanback to serve as interim District Attorney for Durham County.

“Judge Stanback has served North Carolina and the Durham community with distinction as a prosecutor, parole commissioner and Superior Court judge,” Gov. Perdue said. “He is the ideal person to bring strong leadership to the district attorney’s office at this challenging time.”

Judge Stanback served as a Superior Court judge for the 14^th judicial district beginning in 1989 until his retirement in 2009. His distinguished legal career includes his private law practice and his service both as a member of the North Carolina Parole Commission and as an assistant district attorney in Guilford County.

Look for a full story on newsobserver.com today on the latest in the Tracey Cline situation.