West Durham's Hosiery Mills dye house to undergo transformation

Scott Bednaz, best known for the changes he’s already made to the Straw Valley Project properties in west Durham, wants to turn the old Durham Hosiery Mills dye house at 708 Gilbert St. into the next Durham hotspot. His idea includes fully renovating the interior, which could open it up for a mix of uses, including office space on the second floor, retail shops, restaurant space, storage and even room for a brewery or distillery operation.Plans to keep the heavy timber wood framing and steel trusses, which are original to the 1920s-era building, and other elements will allow it to maintain its status on the National Register of Historic Places. The estimated cost of the project is about $4 million. The project is pending city approval.

Multimedia Storytellers to Create New Interactive Conversations About Race

American Documentary, Inc., producer of the award-winning PBS documentary series POV (Point of View), and The New York Times announced the selection of three innovative digital producers for a new project; “Embedded Mediamaker.” Durham digital storyteller, Saleem Reshamwala was chosen as one of the three out of hundreds of applicants and will work with POV and The Times to create new forms of documentary and interactive content with a team of Times writers, editors and visual storytellers involved in Race/Related, a newsletter and reporting project exploring race as it is lived today.

New Disney movie "Queen of Katwe" has ties to Durham man

Troy Buder ,a Durham man, bought the rights to a story in 2009 and sold it to Disney. Buder got involved with an international soccer ministry and learned about a chess program in Uganda that changed children's lives. Then, local author Tim Crothers wrote an article in ESPN Magazine. That article became a book, published in 2012, and now the "Queen of Katwe" is coming to the big screen. Disney is scheduled to release the movie next month.

WUNC presents innovative public media project; Storymakers:Durham

WUNC is one of 15 stations across the country to be chosen to be a part of the innovative public media project called Localore: Finding America. "The project invites people in strikingly diverse cities to reflect on the forces that unite and divide us – race, class, inequality of opportunity – to look one another in the eye and converse, and to tell stories from their varying perspectives." Storymakers: Durham is produced by John Biewen, a producer with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and host of the Scene on Radio podcast.

Amazon has signed a lease to occupy Centerpoint I industrial building

Amazon.com has signed a lease to occupy the entire 324,838-square-foot Centerpoint I industrial building on T.W. Alexander Drive in Durham. Centerpoint I was the market’s single largest block of existing Class A industrial space for lease in the triangle.

Tour de Fat Durham stop raised over $29k

Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing’s traveling festival of bikes, beer and hilarity in charity, raised $29,093 in Durham on June 25. About 4,000 bicycle and beer enthusiasts came to Diamond View Park downtown for the event, with 1,000 riding in the bike parade. Proceeds from beer and merchandise sales and donations at the Durham stop went to Bike Walk NC, Triangle Spokes Group, and Durham Bike Co-op. In total, Tour de Fat has raised more than $4 million for cycling nonprofits around the country.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/durham-news/article88203962.html#storylink=cpy

Pastor Shirley Ceasar recognized with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Pastor Shirley Ceasar has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Caesar’s is the 2,583rd star on the Walk of Fame. She is celebrating 50 years as a recording artist and has garnered 11 Grammy Awards throughout her career.

Durham's population has increased 12.8% since 2010

In a recent report, UNC’s Carolina Population Center released the state's fastest growing cities. Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Greensboro (in order) were the five cities with the highest population increases between 2010-2015. Durham has the third largest population increase gaining 29,218, 12.8% total population in the five years.

Go Triangle extends transit to Carrboro

GoTriangle, the public transportation authority that provides regional bus transit to Wake, Durham and Orange counties, will soon go to Carrboro. Beginning in August, the 405 route, which runs through Durham and Chapel Hill, will extend its route to and from Carrboro.

Durham is the state's fourth largest city

Durham has more residents than St. Petersburg, Fla. according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Durham’s population was an estimated 257,636 last July, making it the 79th largest city in the country just behind Buffalo NY. Durham solidified its position as the state’s fourth largest city, ahead of Winston-Salem but behind Greensboro.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article78491832.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article78491832.html#storylink=cpy

New home construction to increase dramatically throughout the triangle

Triangle Home builders are up 17 percent production in 2016 compared to this time in 2015. Durham County permits for new single family homes are up 36 percent in the first quarter with 448 building permits issued.

City Council calls for repeal of HB2

The City Council  unanimously passed a resolution calling for the repeal of House Bill 2 and affirming its support of the LGBT community in Durham and the state.

Taxi Taxi begins serving Durham in 2016

Starting in January, Durham residents will be able to book Taxi Taxi, the hybrid concept taxi fleet. Local officials approved the expansion from Raleigh and will begin staging vehicles in Durham, and Chapel Hill in January. Customers will be able to book their rides through Taxi Taxi Mobile, the company’s booking app that operates on both Android and iPhone platforms. Customers preferring a more traditional method can reach a customer service agent 24/7 by calling (919) 333-3333.

NC Idea awards Durham startup grant

NC Idea awarded six N.C. startups grants for the Fall 2015 cycle. Of those six, Brim, created in Durham, is the world’s first productivity network, connecting people in remote locations to collaborate on files, hold online video conferences and webinars, manage tasks, share and organize data. 

Durham's property values increase after property reappraisals

Results from the state's  property reappraisals have been released and Durham's residential property values increased, on average 11.9 percent, commercial property values increased 27.1 percent and industrial property values increased 10.4 percent.

Premier Research to expand Durham operations adding 260 new jobs

Contract research organization Premier Research is expanding its Durham operation with 260 new jobs over the next five years. The new positions will span operations, such as project managers and clinical monitors, and hold an average salary of $73,296. Premier, headquartered in Philadelphia, currently employs 62 people in Durham and has 1,000 employees worldwide.

Residents input sought in search for future police chief

Durham residents interested in providing feedback about the future police chief  may now do so at the website, http://bit.ly/durhampolicechiefsearch. This website is part of the first phase of the national search process to allow the public to provide input directly to Developmental Associates, the search agency hired to help the city.

Two Communities recognized for Excellence in Affordable Housing

The City of Durham Bungalows at Southside and CASA’s Denson Apartments for Veterans earned the 2015 Housing North Carolina Awards from the North Carolina Housing Agency, which honored these two projects for their affordability, design, sustainability, community contribution, resident services, and creative partnerships.

Durham recognized for job growth

The N.C. Department of Commerce recognized the Durham-Chapel Hill metro for adding more jobs than the Raleigh-Cary metro for the second month in a row.

Moogefest seeks $150K form city, county

Moogfest, scheduled to be held in Durham May 19-22, 2016, has raised more than $750,000 for the project, and are working to continue to raise money from the private sector. They are asking for cash contributions of a total of $125,000 as well as $25,000 in in kind contributions — for a total of $150,000 in investments from the city and county. Estimates for the festivals economic impact, done by Shelly Green , CEO of DCVB, include direct and indirect visitor spending to be about $5.6 million, with about $130,000 coming in tax values. Green noted her economic impact estimates were “conservative.”