Durham Co. unemployment rate dropped in May

The Durham County unemployment rate fell by .2 percent between April and May, the N.C. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday.May’s rate is 1.1 percent lower than it was a year ago, and the county had the 11th lowest rate in the state with 6,678 unemployed out of a 159,847-person labor force.

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.

Duke University to build a third Medical Sciences Research Building

Duke University has revealed plans to build a third Medical Sciences Research Building ,MSRB III. Preliminary site work began over Memorial Day weekend in anticipation of approval to construct the new $103 million, six floors above ground and one below, 155,000-square-foot building that will exclusively house bench lab research. MSRB III will be located on Research Drive between the Occupational & Environmental Safety Building and the Medical Sciences Research Building II. Construction is expected to begin immediately and completed in the late summer/fall of 2018.

Littler now open

The owners of Pizzeria Toro opened their new restaurant Littler, this past weekend. Located at 110 E. Parrish St. The restaurant is an intimate space, with a dozen tables and a small bar. The menu, which ranges in price from $12-$28, includes a few permanent items, like oysters and a lamb burger, and the rest will vary and change often. Littler is open for dinner only, six nights a week (closed Tuesdays).

Durham City Council approves $409.9M budget for 2016-17

The City Council has unanimously approved a $404.9 million budget for the fiscal year 2016-17, beginning July 1.The budget represents an increase of about 4 percent over last year and includes funding for 20 new Durham Police Department officers and a three-year phase-in for a take-home car program for officers, a three-year phase-in for a $15 minimum wage for all full-time city employees and the inclusion of Veterans Day as an official city holiday.

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.

NCCU recieves a $1.1M grant from the Institute of Education

The N.C. Central University School of Education has received a $1.1 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in the scientific community. NCCU will create training programs to develop a more diverse field of top-quality education researchers. In partnership with Duke University and UNC-Wilmington, NCCU will launch the Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE). The program will enroll 60 upper-level undergraduate students to study inequities in American education, especially those affecting African-American and Hispanic students.