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Community Corner

🌱 School Masking To Continue + City Council Talks City Violence

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)

Happy Letter to an Elder Day Durham!

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy and cooler. High: 50 Low: 39.

Here are the top five stories in Durham today:

  1. Durham school leaders unanimously voted to extend the district's mask mandate on Thursday. (CBS17) The vote came after the Durham Association of Educators held a rally to raise concerns regarding pay, staffing, and other issues. (WRAL) Although many school districts and localities across North Carolina have chosen to loosen mask policies, Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation that would have allowed K-12 students to opt out of mask wearing mandates. (Associated Press News)
  2. The Durham City Council work session took place on Thursday, and Mayor Elaine O'Neal raised questions around Durham's violence. Chief of Police Patrice Andrews confirmed that compared to cities of similar size, Durham has experienced more violence, but could not attribute it to a specific reason. Andrews also said that the Durham Police Department has significantly improved its clearance rates for homicides, bringing it more in line with the FBI average. (abc11)
  3. A teenager was shot on Thursday night in the Azalea Park Apartments on Camellia Drive. Police arrived around 9:45 to find the young man with gunshot wounds. The teen was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. (WRAL)
  4. The commercial space company Sierra Space announced this week that it will hire as many as 1,000 workers in its facilities across the county, including Durham. The company is headquartered in Colorado, but with a Durham campus, the city can expect to see an increase in jobs locally. (WRAL TechWire)
  5. ESPN was in Durham Friday to commemorate the upcoming matchup between Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill. ESPN's communications manager said that the company was giving away collector-type items in honor of Coach K. ESPN joined the Krzyzewskiville day celebration at 2:00 pm and led up to a concert for students at 8:00 pm. (CBS17)

Today in Durham:

From my notebook:

  • It's Letter to an Elder Day and there are so many senior living communities in Durham that you can contact to find out who is in need of a letter.
  • Pet Supplies Plus is hosting an Adopt-a-Thon today from 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm.
  • Bull City Ciderworks is hosting a Matador Release Event today from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

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You're all caught up for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— CJ Fullford

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