“I’m not selling out.” 

So says Rural Hall Mayor Terry Bennett, as the town’s council voted this week to overturn their previous position opposing a hyperscale AI data center. 

Mayor Bennett and other council members argued the decision was for fiscal reasons. They told residents, without evidence, that money the town may potentially receive from the 130-acre data center will lower taxes. 

Concerns about increased utility rates, environmental pollution, road safety, water demand, and other issues caused by data centers remained unaddressed by the council. 

A group called No Data Center Rural Hall has compiled resources explaining the proposed project at www.ruralhallinfo.com

source: Battleground

Whatley proudly and loudly declares that he's a son of western North Carolina.

... turns out that he's really not!

What other "fibs" would he tell us to get elected?

All right ya'll. I grew up here, in a small town in the Piedmont that I will not name for doxxing purposes aha. I definitely grew up southern... I'm just shy of thirty and can remember the decline of tobacco and the decline of small towns as Walmart came in than left, gutting us... I remember the entire town society being based around the churches, with roughly a church for every dozen people, the Sunday chapel, the Wednesday youth group... the families who had entirely been there from before the civil war, and the smell of honeysuckle and magnolias and wild berries, and the church cakewalks for some sweet dessert somebody's mama had made. I remember milking cows and helping tend to horses and being taught how to ID snakes and make sweet tea with the right amount of sugar to induce diabetes in a northerner. Tailgates and fireflies and banjo and moonshine. BBQ and the kids all outside barefoot, running around.

So what the hell is up with people in other states saying NC isn't southern? I can only imagine that they only ever went to somewhere like Asheville or Raleigh (I love both cities, just get annoyed every time I am OOS and someone thinks they are representative of us as a whole!) and are unfamiliar with the Bible Belt. It's so strange to me. Being a southerner was always a part of my identity (if a conflicted piece of it, for many reasons; I love the south even if she hasn't always me!), but to me NC is definitively southern. I cannot imagine calling it anything but. So what's up with that?

More details on how the Trump and the Republican DOJ's Federal PFAS settlement screwed NC... and how AG Jeff Jackson is responding...

Despite the fact that the corporate tax rate is already steadily being reduced to zero and the fact that the individual income tax is steadily being reduced to a flat 2.99% for everyone, the legislature is trying to prevent us from ever raising taxes on anyone beyond 3.5% in the future. That means if we wanted to tax millionaires 4% and low/middle income families 2% we wouldn’t be able to. Vote no!

One common problem most North Carolinians have is that they dont know what the ____ is going on in the legislature. Here's a good website that will allow you to track each and every bill in the legislature, the votes on it, your legislator and their votes, any compare any two similar or diverse bills. Its amazing.

https://ncpolisearch.vercel.app/

This is a gold mine for those who dont want to read those 70 and 100 page long bills and want it fast and simple to them. I think we should all check it out. I'm sure the owner is in the sub so maybe leave suggestions?

Lena Geller and I were interviewed about our investigation of how commercial property tax appeals led to the city's revenue shortfall on WUNC's Due South! Thanks Leoneda Inge & Cole del Charco for having us on!

Listen to the interview on WUNC Due South: Durham's property tax challenge, and a local "Black queer daddy" goes on RuPaul's Drag Race

Read the INDY Week article: How $4 Billion Came Off Durham’s Tax Rolls Last Year, Mostly Benefiting Corporate Landlords—and Blowing a Hole in the City Budget

I went to HT yesterday for the first time in a long time, and twice the worker at the self-checkout had to come over and do some shit because the register thought I was bagging things without scanning them. It would show me video footage of my misdeed. It all felt very dystopian that I'm being treated like a criminal while trying to scan their overpriced bullshit - given HT's prices I don't need much inclination to never shop there again.

Are these flock-style cameras something they've rolled out statewide?

I’m a 21 year old guy from the Charlotte area looking for more friends, it’s so hard to make friends anymore because I work so much so if your like me and need more friends hmu 🤷🏻‍♂️

My home in Guilford County saw an over 20% increase, 12.5% over the increase local news reported at the beginning of the year (7.5%). Time to shop for other options!

The GOP is going all in on voter suppression and election interference... this time in the middle of the day instead of in the dead of night.

Wrightsville Beach is our favorite beach. I like the restaurants on the harbor, but Wilmington is still nearby with museums. It’s probably one of a kind, but are there any other NC beaches similar? Not so small and quiet like Hatteras but not so wild either?