• Durham Adds Shelter Beds for Cold Nights
  • Things to Do in the Triangle This Week
  • How Two Arts Organizations Are Pivoting After Flood Damage
  • ICYMI: Activist Banned from Durham City Hall
  • Raleigh Needs Volunteers for Holiday Events
Credit: Illustration by Aiden Siobhan

Good morning, readers.

In the last week, nighttime temperatures dropped well below freezing. And while many of us were snuggled up on the couch binging the new season of Stranger Things with a hot drink, our most vulnerable neighbors were searching desperately for ways to keep warm and find shelter to rest their heads for the night. 

Starting this week, Durham nearly quadrupled the number of beds available for people on white flag nights, which occur when temperatures are forecast to be at or below 32 degrees, or 35 degrees with rain or snow.

Union Baptist Church is providing 52 beds at a school building adjacent to the church. Reverend Prince Rivers, senior pastor, said his congregation—nearly 4,000 people—was excited for the opportunity to answer the call in the community’s time of need.

“When I announced that we were doing this on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, there was roaring applause from the congregation,” Rivers says. “They know there’s a need, and even though the hands-on volunteer opportunities may be limited, we continue to get calls almost every other day from people who are trying to see if they can volunteer.”

—Justin

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The latest from INDY, plus other stories around the state you’ll want to read. Handpicked every day by INDY Editor-in-Chief Sarah Willets.

INDY Selects

A tintype demonstration, a solstice walk, a mid-century modern home tour, and more events around the Triangle we recommend this week.

At the River’s Edge

Months after Tropical Storm Chantal, two longstanding arts organizations take stock of what was lost—and what lies ahead, Andrea Richards writes for the INDY.

Credit: Illustration by Nicole Pajor Moore with photo by Abigail Bromberger for The 9th Street Journal

No Entry

An activist was barred from Durham city hall after disrupting a council member’s swearing-in. INDY’s Lena Geller reports both the disruption and the ban may be unprecedented.

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LOCAL: INDY alum Victoria Bouloubasis has a faith-in-humanity-restoring report in the Guardian on how volunteers mobilized to support Durham students and their families amid November’s deportation sweep.

LOCAL: The Chronicle profiles Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson’s journey to leading the Women’s National Team. 

STATE: Someone with measles traveled through the RDU International Airport, potentially exposing everyone in the terminal at that time, WRAL reports.

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  • Welcome Baby is aiming to collect 600 coats this winter, with a particular need for toddler sizes. Find out how you can contribute.
  • A truck got stuck in a tunnel near the airport and now Redditors are trying to come up with a name for it, a la Can Opener.
  • The City of Raleigh is looking for volunteers to help out with holiday events at Pullen Park tomorrow and Saturday.
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