At the release end of the Jordan Lake Dam in Chatham County, an osprey fishes for its dinner. The bird spins in the air, dives low over the water, and yanks a fish out with its talons. A heron, watching from the riverbank, squawks jealousy and lunges at the osprey. But with its long legs and giant beak, the heron is too slow and cumbersome compared to the osprey, which soars away with its scaly meal. The scene plays out in the Haw River as it runs through the concrete...

This story originally published online at the 9th Street Journal. The Durham Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted on Saturday to appoint Anthony S. Lewis as the district’s next superintendent. “I am elated to be selected as the next Superintendent of Durham Public Schools,” Lewis said in a statement. “While many great things are happening in this district, I am ready to work to continue and accelerate those successes. The community also recognizes some challenges remain that we must and will address directly.” Former DPS Superintendent Pascal Mubenga resigned...

On Monday, city manager Wanda Page announced she is retiring from the City of Durham at the end of the year after 36 years of service. “Now is the right moment to begin the transition of passing the torch to new leadership and allow fresh perspectives to shape the future of our beloved city,” Page said in a statement. Page has held a multitude of roles during her tenure including audit director, assistant city manager, and deputy city manager, serving in the latter role under former city manager Tom Bonfield...

In any given month, when making odds for the movies you want to see, it can often be useful to just look at the cast lists. Certain actors are known for only selecting the best and most interesting film projects. It’s not a foolproof method—good actors make bad movies sometimes—but it’s a fun way to choose. For instance, the new anthology film Kinds of Kindness features the kind of performers who can be trusted to make good career choices, including Willem Dafoe, Emma Stone, Hong Chau, and Jesse Plemons. The...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Gov. Roy Cooper broke ground Monday on a new high-speed rail line that will link Raleigh to Richmond, marking the project’s first phase, which includes constructing a bridge to carry Durant Road over a railroad line. The $1.3 billion project funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest grant ever received by the NC Department of Transportation. It will provide passenger service between downtown Raleigh and Wake Forest by 2030 and is the first leg of a planned high-speed rail connection between Raleigh,...

A local nonprofit that provides mental health services to Latino communities will receive nearly half a million dollars in funding over the next two years from Alliance Health, the managed care organization (MCO) that serves uninsured residents and Medicaid recipients in the Triangle. The funding will go toward expanding El Futuro’s Mentes Fuertes, or “Strong Minds,” program, which launched earlier this year.

In his first major public appearance after Thursday night’s presidential debate in Atlanta, a fiery and animated President Joe Biden addressed a loud and enthusiastic crowd on Friday at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. In a speech interrupted repeatedly by applause and chants of “four more years!” and “yes you can!” from an audience that seemed almost as if it was trying to provide him with an infusion of energy, the 81-year-old chief executive ticked off a long list of his administration’s accomplishments, blasted what he said were...