In case you missed it:

DHA BUYS LINCOLN: The Housing Authority has bought Lincoln Apartments. But it won't help any tenants still living there. The DHA, which paid just $300K, will raze the complex. Gloria Lloyd has our story. (Link here)

STAGVILLE AT FULL SPEED: Historic sites are one of Durham's best-kept secrets. I was at "Christmas in the Carolinas" at Bennett Place on Saturday and there were way too few people there. Stagville, an antebellum plantation, has had a lot of staff turnover lately. Jim Wise provides an update. (Link here)

DUKE CANCER SERVICE: Each December the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program honors people who have battled, who are living with or who are making a difference in the lives of those with cancer. Read Carlton Koonce's report to see who this year's honoree is. (Link here)

Bob Wilson reflects on the life and violent death of Mohammed Sundal. Tracey Fellers takes a walk in Duke Gardens. And The Durham Community Martin Luther King, Jr. Steering Committee Inc. is accepting nominations for the 2013 Keeper of the Dream Award.

All that and much more. Tell us what's on your mind at editor@newsobserver.com, and thanks for reading,

Mark

In case you missed it:

BIG MAN OFF CAMPUS: That giant poster of Dean Smith (and one of Michael Jordan) in the new Tobacco Road restaurant at East 54 has gotten the town's attention. Is it a sign? Is it art? Tammy Grubb has our story (repeated in today's N&O for readers who don't get the CHN). (Link here)

ARTSCENTER REBOUNDS: Back in the black, the ArtsCenter's latest financials are good news. But longtime concerts director Tess Ocana Mangum is out of a job after new director Art Menius decided the department had been losing money long enough. We have two stories. (Link here)

FIRE INSURANCE SAVINGS: Residents in the New Hope Fire District got their bonus checks early this year, when improvements in the fire department lowered their homeowners insurance. Find out how much in Tammy's story.  (Link here)

UNC professor Michele Berger joins our My View lineup with a column called "The Queen grows up." Welcome, Michele. The president of the Occoneechee Council says the Boy Scouts makes safety its top priority. And in Sunday's letters, readers sound off on traffic hazards, school redistrcting and whether the Carrboro Board of Aldermen is engaging in social engineering. Hmmm ...

As always, tell us what you think at editor@newsobserver.com. And, thanks for reading,

Mark

By Tammy Grubb

The Sierra Club has named the proposed Durham-Orange light-rail system one of the 50 best transportation projects in the nation.

The 17.3-mile line would have 17 stops between UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and Alston Avenue in Durham. Both counties will start collecting a half-cent sales tax April 1 to help pay for the $1.3 billion rail construction project and more than $100 million in other transit improvements.

The Sierra Club praised the project for giving commuters an alternative that will reduce congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The rail line also is expected to spur sustainable, transit-friendly communities around its stations, the report said.

This is the first time in 10 years the Sierra Club has rated auto, freight, pedestrian and bicycle projects for their potential effects on public and environmental health.
The report, “Smart Choices, Less Traffic: 50 Best and Worst Transportation Projects in the United States,” also spotlighted Durham and Wake counties’ efforts to build a commuter rail line.

It also panned two N.C. projects: a 20-mile Monroe Bypass toll road near Charlotte and a nine-mile project that would require drilling a 2,870-foot tunnel almost 500 feet beneath Stecoah Gap in western North Carolina.
 

Due to incorrect information we received yesterday, we reported the wrong day for a prayer vigil to honor the life of Mohammed Sundal, the Durham restaurant owner fatlly shot outside his restaurant last week. Here is the correct information, from the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham.

A Vigil to honor the life of Mohammed Arfan Sundal will be held on December 13, 6:30PM, at the Mr. Sundal’s Kabab & Curry House Restaurant, 2016 Guess Road, near Broad Street. Mr. Sundal was fatally shot on Thursday, December 6th. He was 51 years old and father of two daughters and two sons. The purpose of the vigil is to honor Mr. Sundal with our presence, prayer/moment of silence, to offer comfort to his family, friends and neighbors, and to affirm the peace with us. People of all faiths, no faith, and ages welcome. 



The vigil is sponsored by the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham. For more information please call Marcia Owen at 919-358-1113.

Today starts with a trip to Raleigh for the editors retreat. I've been asked to talk about some of the ways we try to reach out to readers on our community papers: features like our front page My View columns, solicited guest commentary, fun stuff like the Best Shot and more. I'll also talk about active vs. passive journalism and ways we are trying to involve you, the readers, in the news gathering process.

Before we get to the headlines, I want to say thanks again to columnist Robert Wallace and all the Durham News My Viewers who read at the Regulator last Wednesday night. We had a great turnout, and I was moved by several of the essays. It's one thing to read these as they come in by email; quite another to hear folks like Kifu Faruq read them aloud. I had a blast.

In today's news:

PRAYER VIGIL: In today's N&O (too late for today's DN) read how police are still seeking the killer(s) of Guess Road restaurant owner Mohammed Sundal and how you can help the family as they prepare to now leave the Triangle. Here is the link.

CRUELTY CASE: As we first reported on www.thedurhamnews.com last night, read how the APS of Durham is trying to find a home for Remy, a pit bull boxer mix found tied up with no food or water last summer. Her former owner pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor cruelty to animals (if you go to the link and look at the photo in full view you can see the ribs). Here is the link.

LEAVING LINCOLN: In today's print DN, Jim Wise write about Alta Green, one of the displaced Lincoln Apartment tenants. Jim was there to write and photograph Housing for New Hope workers help Green relocate. But as he notes, many other families still wait for help. Here is the link.

We've got a killer photo from staff photojournalist Chuck Liddy of rehearsals for this week's Christmas-themed play at Southern High School, columns by Connie Campanaro on Durham's disconnected youth and by Margaret Coates on why it's time to protect primates used in medical research. Plus ArtsWeek, local sports and more.

Coming up Dec. 19: Our 2012 Current Events Quiz, and a chance for you to win free movie tickets.

Thanks for reading,

Mark

Artist Matthew Mahler stands beside the Cow Store cow, which he is in the process of restoring. The fiberglass cow, an officially designated historic landmark, stands atop the Taqueria La Vaquita at 2700 Chapel Hill Road.

Originally advertising a drive-up convenience store, the cow has been in place since 1963 and had begun to show its age. Neighbor Mary Wible began a campaign earlier this year to have it restored and by late November had raised enough money to contract with Mahler to do the job.

Mahler is being paid $1,175 for his labor and supplies. Restoration involves sanding away peeling paint, patching holes with new fiberglass, repainting the cow and applying three coats of weather-resistant varnish.

Photo courtesy Mary Wible

In case you missed it, here is some of what made headlines in yesterday's Durham News.

POLICE COMPLAINT: A group of protesters says a Durham police officer beat a woman during an arrest. The woman won't talk about it, and Police Chief Jose Lopez says her supporters, led by community activist and former political candidate Victoria Peterson, are hampering his department's investigation. Read Jim Wise's story here.

TRAFFIC TIE-UP: The NC 54 corridor can be a bear at rush hour. Tonight the Durham City Council will weigh a development that proposes to put 365 apartments  near the intersection with Barbee Road. Jim has that story, too, here.

HOW TO HELP LINCOLN: Find out how to help the residents facing the shutdown of Lincoln Apartments. Housing for New Hope is coordinating aid, from cash to mattresses. Get the details in this story and in the infobox in the column just to the right of the story here.

Jim is all over the Sunday paper. For a moving essay on what makes a house a home for the holidays, or anytime, read his My View essay. Find out who's giving the commencement address at Duke, who's tromping in the waters of Ellerbe Creek (and why) and why size does matter ... when it comes to syringes and the fight against AIDS.

And thanks for reading,

Mark

In case you missed it, here are some of the local news stories making headlines in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

STEEP BILL: The apartments known as Old Well, Abbey Court and Collins Crossing have always been among the most affordable in Orange County. Now a new owner is proposing a $5,000 per unit fee to begin making long-needed repairs. Read what local nonprofits whto own units there have to say about it in our story here.

STAIRWELL ACCIDENT: As if any proof was needed of the need for those repairs, a 10-year-old boy was injured last month when the concrete stair tread in one of the Collins Crossing buildings gave way beneath him. Read more about in correspondent Sara Mansur's story here.

COLUMBIA HEADACHES: The widening of South Columbia Street (center turn lanes, bike lanes etc) could cost Chapel Hill Transit a bundle if the system tries to maintain the same level of service through detours that now travels through the busy corridor, as often as every 90 seconds during peak hours. Find out how much in staff writer Tammy Grubb's story here.

The Town Council has a big viote tonight, Lynden Harris has a secret and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools hold the first of two public hearings on redistricting tonight. Get all the details, along with schools Superintendent Tom Forcella's (left) first monthly report in Sunday's Chapel Hill News, now reaching 38,000 homes.

And thanks for reading,

Mark

I attended last night's InterNeighborhood Council meeting at Golden Belt to try to get the community group to read and participate more in The Durham News. Herald-Sun editor Bob Ashley and I asked the group to send both our papers its news and to let us know when they have interesting issues or events to cover. (This essay applies as much to The Chapel Hill News, so I'm posting it on both blogs.)

Bob, a thoughtful editor I once worked for, noted how he sometimes ends his conversations these days by telling callers his paper might not be able to cover an event but if they have someone taking pictures or who could offer a small write-up to please send it. I do this too. In fact, community newspapers have always done this. There are many small but important events -- charity fundraisers, volunteer projects, recognition ceremonies -- that we can't staff but can publish, letting more people know about them.

It stung to hear criticism last night that the papers are no longer doing a good job covering neighborhood issues. Some of the strongest words ("no way to run a newspaper") came from a community leader I interviewed during the Watts-Hillandale July Fourth parade in Oval Park, a story we started on the front page of The Durham News with a big picture of three generations of women carrying American flags and continued inside with a full story and more photos. In fact, we are all over Durham's neighborhoods, covering events like the parade, the annual Beaver Creek pageant to benefit Ellerbe Creek, the speeding complaints in Trinity Park, the slow but much hoped-for resurgence of East Durham.

I didn't sleep easy last night, though it may have had as much to do with the afternoon coffee as the meeting. This morning, I realize that that community leader's words are a challenge. We can say we're doing the best we can with what we've got, or we can continue to find new ways (and return to proven old ways) to bring you the news. I started my day with a thank you email to INC leader John Martin (not the critic and actually quite supportive last night), inviting the group again to send us letters and guest columns. (editor@newsobserver.com)

But the bigger request, one I touched on last night, is to simply talk to us. Too much of the conversation in our country and communities today takes place in"silos," blogs and email lists where like-minded people or groups of people with a common interest talk to one another and sometimes no one else. Newspapers, print and online, have been a place where disparate groups come together, or at least the place where you might bump into a new issue while reading about something else. But we need your help, and yes, your participation.

Thanks again to the INC for the opportunity to talk with the members last night.

Mark Schultz

919-932-2003

mschultz@newsobserver.com

The lights are still out on the R. Kelly Bryant Pedestrian Bridge across the Durham Freeway, but the problem is no longer technical.

It's a matter of who pays to fix them.

The contractor, S.T. Wooten, and the designer, Stewart Engineering, "are deliberating" about who's responsible for picking up the tab, or how to split it, according to city public works engineer Michael Hughes. "

They are at an impasse," Hughes said.

The blue lights are supposed to outline the bridge at night and provide a glowing gateway to Durham — as in Stewart Engineering's photo illustration above. But the lights went out not long after the bridge was opened in 2009 and have never worked reliably, Hughes said.

That's in spite of one try after another to fix them. Now, everything is lined up to take care (one hopes) of the situation and brighten up the bridge once and for all.

The electrical situation, that is. As for the money part, well, the lawyers are involved. ...