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Community Corner

🌱 Celebratory Gunfire Consequences + Know Before The New Year NC

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Durham.

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Christina Fullford, Neighbor
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(Patch Media)

Happy New Year's Eve Durham!

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy and warm. High: 68 Low: 60.

Here are the top five stories in Durham today:

  1. The Durham Police Department is reminding the community that celebratory gunfire is a crime. The department is sharing a video PSA commemorating the life of Mrs. Paulette Thorpe who was killed at 74 by celebratory gunfire while sitting on a friends porch on July 4, 2020. (Durham Police Department Facebook)
  2. Officer B.K. Gardner of the Durham PD is recovering in the hospital after a driver crashed into his patrol car on Wednesday night. Police suspect that the driver, Byron Cinto-Lopez, was intoxicated during the incident and he attempted to flee following the crash. Officer Gardener is suffering injuries that are believed to be non life-threatening and his K9 companion Choco was not in the car at the time of the crash. (abc11)
  3. On Wednesday, police reported that Steven Carrol Herring, victim of a hit-and-run on December 22, died from his injuries. Police are still working to find the white Pontiac Grand Am and identify the driver, and are asking for anyone with information to contact Investigator J.A. Bell or CrimeStoppers. (CBS17)
  4. As we head into 2022, Durham Emergency Communication Center (DECC) is still struggling to fill 911 operator positions. The city's website shows 28 out of 60 positions vacant at this time. At the beginning of 2021, there were 20 vacancies, and during the year the number generally stayed between 21 and 30. Mayor Elaine O'Neal announced that the city is partnering with Durham Tech to start a 911 academy to help fill the vacancies. (CBS17)
  5. Public health officials reported more than 9,000 new COVID-19 cases in North Carolina on Wednesday, with more than 2,100 people hospitalized. (abc11) With the surge in demand, Labcorp has also expressed that it is pausing orders on COVID-19 home collection kits to "meet customer expectations during limited holiday shipping delivery windows." (FOX8) If you are looking for a test, NCDHHS offers a search engine to find no-cost community testing events. (NCDHHS)

Today's Durham Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Durham!

Today in Durham:

From my notebook:

  • It's New Year's Eve and if I were to post every event/party that Durham has to offer, we'd be here a while, but thankfully Discover Durham has put together a list of some of the great events to help ring in the new year!
  • You don't want to go into 2022 without knowing this:
    • Patch 18 laws that go into effect on January 1, 2022
    • abc11 Changes you need to know about ahead of tax season

Loving the Durham Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

Thanks for following along and staying informed! I'll see you soon.

— CJ Fullford

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

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