What we're working on right now in Durham and Orange counties

Busy day.

DURHAM

Magnolia Grill is closing. Big loss for local foodies. Read Andrea Weigl's story here.

State Senate District 22 candidate Kerry Sutton is criticizing opponent City Councilman's Mike Woodard for campaign-reporting lapses. Jim Wise is updating yesterday's Bull's Eye blog post with a more complete story for Thursday's N&O.

ORANGE

George King of George's Towing has sued the town of Chape Hill over its cell phone ban and new towing rules. Katelyn Ferral is working on that. You can read her initial story here and see the judge's injunction here. 

UNC system President Tom Ross will meet tonight with critics of Senate Bill 575. The legislation would remove an estimated 22,000 UNC system workers from the State Personnel Act and put them under a new system to be created by the UNC system. Katelyn Ferral will attend the meeting.  

In Hillsborough, correspondent Tammy Grubb is sitting in on the Josh Bailey murder trial. Yesterday a forensic expert provided the first testimony likely linking evidence found in defendant Brian Minton's garage to the burial site. Look for her stories daily from the trial at newsobserver.com and chapelhillnews.com.

If you would like to speak to the reporters working on these stories call Katelyn at 919-932-8746, Jim at 919-641-5895 or Tammy at 336-380-1325. 

If you would like to comment on these issues, email us at editor@newsobserver.com