DURHAM, N.C. — Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will speak at the City of Durham’s Human Relations Banquet tonight at the Durham Marriott Convention Center. Mayor Bill Bell and Durham County Commission Chairman Michael Page will also attend the event. The theme for the evening is “Fair Housing and Justice, the Strength of Our Community.”
The event begins at 6 p.m. tonight at the Durham Marriott Convention Center, 201 Foster St.
WASHINGTON – Congressman David Price (NC-04) released the following schedule of town hall meetings and other public events for tomorrow, Feb. 14, and the week of Feb. 16. At the meetings, Congressman Price will share an overview of economic recovery efforts and then take questions from constituents on issues before the Congress.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
HELPING HAND EVENT AT CAROL WOODS – Price will participate in A Helping Hand’s 8th annual “Valentine Delivery and Serenade” at the Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill. A Helping Hand is a nonprofit founded in 1995 in Chapel Hill that provides escorted transportation and home care to senior citizens and the disabled throughout Orange, Durham, Chatham and western Wake counties.
LOGISTICS: 10:30 – 11:15 a.m., 750 Weaver Dairy Road, Chapel Hill
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16
DURHAM TOWN HALL
Durham Main Library
300 N. Roxboro Street
7 – 8:30 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17
CARY TOWN HALL
Council Chambers
316 N. Academy Street
7 – 8:30 PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19
CHAPEL HILL TOWN HALL
Southern Human Services Center
2501 Homestead Road
7 – 8:30 PM
DURHAM, N.C. – More than 100 people from Raleigh, Durham and as far as Jacksonville, N.C. will be watching Barack Obama’s inauguration at the Four Points by Sheraton in Durham on Jan. 20.
The luncheon, titled “Inauguration 2009, Our History Now,” will include food, social commentary and spoken word. The Triangle alumni chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. and the Cary alumni chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. are sponsoring the event.
This historic gathering will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton, located at 7807 Leonardo Drive in Durham. The hotel is located near the corner of N.C. 751 and Renaissance Parkway, which is close to The Streets at Southpoint Mall.
“This gathering will allow Triangle professionals to watch this historic event in a mature and relaxed setting without the cold, crowds and inconvenience of being in the nation’s capital,” said Andre McDowell, event co-organizer.
McDowell, like many in the Triangle, aren’t able to go to Washington D.C. but wanted to do more than watch the inauguration from home. He said organizers are already receiving strong responses from people who initially planned on going to Washington D.C. but were discouraged by the cost.
Representatives from both organizations and attendees will be available for interviews.
Attendees are purchasing tickets by contacting a member of either organization or by going to www.ourhistorynow.com. Tickets are $20.
For more information, please contact Nakiva McDowell at (919) 744-1392 or at ourhistorynow@hotmail.com.
About Iota Phi Theta:
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., with over 30,000 members, has become one of the premier organizations for African-American men. Iota Phi Theta is a non-profit organization that abides by the principles of scholarship, leadership, citizenship, fidelity and brotherhood. Founded in 1963, Iota Phi Theta has grown to over 200 chapters across the globe, including chapters at N.C. Central University, Shaw University and N.C. State University. The Triangle chapter of Iota Phi Theta, Alpha Epsilon Omega, is the fraternity’s 2007-08 Eastern Region Alumni Chapter of the Year. For more information on Alpha Epsilon Omega, please go to www.triangleiotas.org.
About Sigma Gamma Rho:
Based out of Cary, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. continues to be a dynamic organization for African-American women. Founded in 1922, Sigma Gamma Rho has grown to over 90,000 members and over 500 chapters throughout the world. The sorority’s national programs include Operation Big Book Bag, which gives school supplies to needy children, and the Sigma Youth Symposium, which addresses youth issues. Locally, the Cary chapter, Theta Lambda Sigma, conducts an annual “Kwanzaa Wine & Cheese” and their “Caring Days” health initiative. For more information on Theta Lambda Sigma, please go to www.carysgrho.org.
Mayor Bill Bell and three City Council members — Howard Clement, Cora Cole-McFadden and Mike Woodard — are up for re-election this year, the Durham Herald-Sun reports.
DURHAM, N.C. — Internal investigators are examining whether some Durham police officers posted derogatory remarks about President-elect Obama on their MySpace pages.
Both supporters and opponents of Durham’s prepared meals tax know there are just four more days to convince people about whether it’s good for county residents or not.
DURHAM, N.C. — State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan will attend a rally on the campus of Duke University, sponsored by the Duke Democrats at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
She will speak at the Duke University, Griffith Theatre at the Bryan Center in Durham.
According to her campaign, Hagan will cast her early vote Thursday morning in Greensboro.
The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People is officially and “overwhelmingly” opposed to Durham County’s proposed 1-percent prepared-food tax, committee chairwoman Lavonia Allison said today.
By Josh Green
DURHAM, N.C. — On Wednesday morning, restaurant owner Gene DeVine put a new phrase up on his store sign outside
Under “Welcome Duke,” he spelled out three words: “No Food Tax.”
“Everything’s in a crisis. Our economy’s in a crisis. Taxes are skyrocketing,” said the owner of DeVines Sports Corner & Grill on Main Street in Durham. “If it’s the worst time to do anything, it’s now.”
At a news conference at his restaurant Wednesday morning, DeVine joined members of the Durham Citizens Against The Food Tax committee to speak out against the proposed tax. Through a referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot, Durham residents will decide whether or not the county can levy a 1 percent tax on prepared meals. That would include restaurants, banquets, catering and more.
Here’s how the county would use the money:
“We’ve got a golden opportunity to give all the projects that we love and care about their own funding stream,” community activist Melvin Whitley said. “Now is the time we ought to do it.”
Supporters of the tax say the tax on prepared meals will make visitors share the expenses in developing and maintaining Durham’s “cultural and recreational attractions.” They say visitors will pay for about 40 percent of the revenue coming from the tax. That includes those who work here, but don’t live here.
“If people want a baseball museum, then people who go to the baseball museum need to pay for it,” said Dallas Woodhouse, Treasurer for the Durham Citizens Against The Food Tax. “None of these projects have to be built. We are not talking about putting up a fire station to save people’s lives.”
Supporters argue that the taxes would ease Durham residents’ burdens, including homeowners in the long run.
“In order to generate this much revenue through property taxes, you’d have to have a one-cent increase in the city property tax and a one-cent increase in the county property tax,” said Chuck Watts, co-chairman of the committee in charge of promoting the initiative, at a kickoff event two weeks ago. “Meaning city-dwellers would pay an additional two cents in property tax.”
But opponents say it’s not worth it.
“There have been who have been salivating over this tax for 17 years and the stuff hasn’t been built…and, as far as I can tell, Durham is functioning fine,” Woodhouse said. “The idea that we are going to build these things and we’re going to do these things and it is inevitable is simply a false argument.”
But others, like Whitley, believe it would be a worthwhile investment.
“We’ve gone from group to group to group to explain the benefits of this tax,” he said. “I spoke to a group this morning and – once they understood what it was about – they were for it.”
Paul Stone, President & CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, said it creates an unfair burden on restaurants.
“Why should one industry be targeted? Why not hardware stores? Gift shops? Grocery stores,” he said. “None of these folks are being asked to carry the weight on this.”
Wake County and Hillsborough both have the tax already. Whitley said some of those backing the failure of the tax are not even from Durham.
“When I go to Raleigh and spend money at a restaurant in Raleigh, I help pay for their facilities,” he said. “Now…Raleigh’s telling us that our facilities are unimportant.”
Woodhouse said residents shouldn’t be paying the tax at all.
“I think we ought to repeal it in Wake County,” he said. “You have a fundamentally different socio-economic make up in Wake County. This is a poorer population in Durham County. That is just a reality.”
