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Community Corner

🌱 Hedingham Suspect's Parents Issue Statement + WakeMed Data Breech

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

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Christina Fullford, Neighbor
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(Patch Media)

Happy International Chefs Day Raleigh!

I hope you're bundling up and staying warm now that we're starting to get some freeze warnings in the area. As much as I've been excited for holidays, I am so not ready to defrost windshields and bundle up. Regardless, grab your blanket and a warm coffee to catch up on:

  • School reassignment second draft for Wake County Public Schools
  • Free entry to the fair for Hunger Relief Day
  • WakeTech health and sciences expansion

But first, today's weather:

Mostly sunny. High: 64 Low: 37.

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Here are the top stories today in Raleigh:

  1. Alan and Elise Thompson have issued a written statement to the public after their son took the lives of five, including their other son. The parents shared in grief with the families of those who lost loved ones, extended prayers for the healing of Marcille 'Lynn' Gardner and Casey Clark, and emphasized that they have many unanswered questions. The family said that they saw no indications or warning signs that their son, Austin, was capable of enacting such violence. The family also expressed that they are fully cooperating with law enforcement to help them understand why and how the incident happened. (abc11, abc NEWS, AP News, Count on 2, NY Post, Washington Post, WFMY2) The family also announced a celebration of life to be held for their son James today at 7 p.m. (abc11)
  2. On Tuesday, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson spoke at Tuesday's Raleigh City Council meeting gave an update on the investigation into the Hedingham neighborhood mass shooting. In the update, she shared that the surviving victims in the shooting are improving, as Marcille Gardener remains in the hospital but is showing great signs of improvement. The suspect in the shooting still remains in critical condition in the hospital. Patterson did not reveal much regarding the investigation, however she said that the department's five-day report would include a detailed outline of events. City officials also announced that a public vigil will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday outside the Memorial Auditorium. (abc11, WRAL)
  3. The Wake County School System released the second draft of its assignment plan on Tuesday. It plans to add three new schools to the 2023-24 student assignment plan and will affect 50 schools of the nearly 200 in the school system. A public hearing is set to be held on November 10, with voting on a final assignment on November 16. The revision is in response to more than 2,000 online responses to the original plans. (WRAL)
  4. On Wednesday, WakeMed was operating on restricted access after the Wake County Health Department building was briefly evacuated. At 9:30 a.m. at least five Raleigh police cars were at the health department on Sunnybrook Road. The building was locked down after police notified staff about an unspecified incident, and out of an abundance of caution the building was locked down at 9:10 a.m. Normal operation resumed by 10 a.m. (WRAL)
  5. Raleigh and Durham rank fourth for the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. for 2022. The report comes from the Kenan Institute's American Growth Project that highlights the Triangle's position as a national "powerhouse" for biotech. The Triangle remains a strong entity for the tech industry as existing talent, and local higher education give the area a competitive edge. (abc11)
  6. WakeMed is alerting patients that their data privacy may have been breached after some patients information was transmitted to Facebook's parent company Meta in error. In March 2018, WakeMed placed a pixel provided by Meta on its website and MyChart patient portal. The pixel's software code may have transmitted some information entered by visitors into the MyChart patient portal back to Facebook. WakeMed has not been able to determine whether Facebook collected or used the information. As a precaution WakeMed has notified all individuals who logged into their MyChart account between March 2018 and May 2022. (WRAL)

Today in Raleigh:

Friday in Raleigh:

From my notebook:

  • It's National Chefs Day and Raleigh is home to some incredible chefs. This year several chefs were semifinalists for James Beard Awards. (U.S. News)
  • Wake Tech is planning a major expansion of the health and sciences education programs. (WakeTech)
  • The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be careful as the application for student loan forgiveness has been released. (WNCT)

You're officially in the loop for today. I'll see you around!

— CJ Fullford

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Raleigh Daily? Contact me at raleigh@patch.com

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