Nicholas School
In the food world
STUDY BLOWS TOP OFF COAL MINING
THE MAGIC OF MUSHROOM PAGE 3
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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
XXXXXDAY, MMMM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER XX, 2013 18, 2013
Recurring power outages nag 9th Street
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH NINTHYEAR, YEAR,ISSUE ISSUEXXX 18
Durham police standoff turns fatal
by Elizabeth Djinis THE CHRONICLE
Ninth Street businesses lost electricity for an hour Tuesday morning, forcing some stores to close their doors during that time. Shop owners were just beginning to open their stores when, at around 11:00 a.m., the power suddenly went out. Most of the small businesses do not have generators to maintain their power and calls were immediately made to Duke Energy, the street’s electricity provider. The company told owners the power would not return until 2 p.m., but at 12 p.m. it abruptly came back. “It messed up everything,” said Antonio Rios, co-owner of Blue Corn Cafe. “We couldn’t do anything. We just opened the doors and waited until the electricity came back.” This is not the first time Ninth Street has had its electricity cut off, and it is certainly not for the longest period of time. Rios cited a particular incident in the past year that had the restaurant lose electricity from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Blue Corn Café was obligated to refrain from serving dinner that night and was not reimbursed for its lost business in any way by Duke Energy, Rios added. Another popular Ninth Street eatery, Francesca’s Dessert Cafe, could not offer some of its services during the powerless hour but was able to serve hot teas, pastries and other items that did not need constant electricity to stay fresh, said Al Belmouloug, an employee. For other businesses, the outage did not have as big of an impact. Both The Regulator—a bookstore—and Vaguely Reminiscent—a fashion boutique—experienced the outage almost immediately after opening but were able to keep their doors open to the public throughout the period. Losing power did make financial transactions more difficult, noted Tom Campbell, the Regulator’s co-owner. Without electricity, Campbell resorted to using an old credit card machine the store had saved. Karen Merowchek, a Vaguely Reminiscent employee, said the outage encouraged customers to use cash in paying for their purchases. “We can’t run credit cards if the power is out so we said we can write down your credit card number and just charge you later,” Merowcheck said. “But the See POWER OUTAGE, page 6
JULIAN SPECTOR/THE CHRONICLE
A crime scene investigator documents evidence at CCB Plaza, where the shooting occurred. by Danielle Muoio THE CHRONICLE
A police officer fatally shot an apparently suicidal man in Downtown Durham Tuesday afternoon. Witnesses said the man drove into CCB Plaza and held a gun to his head when the Durham police were called. When officers arrived at 4:19 p.m., the man was outside of his car, wielding the gun near the large bull statue on Corcoran St. Officers negotiated with the man for approximately an hour. He then turned the gun at the police officers, prompting one officer to shoot him in the torso. Police have not yet released the name of
the victim, who died soon after he was transported to the hospital. Jackie Wilson, who arrived at the scene after recognizing the man in the news reports, said the victim was a friend he worked with at a local lighting manufacturing company. “We were supposed to go f---ing fishing tomorrow,” Wilson said with tears in his eyes. Wilson said he had not noticed any signs that his friend was suicidal. He added that he wished the police officer had not targeted the man’s torso, a vulnerable area. “They could have shot him in the foot or the leg or something,” he said. Taufiki Lee, a pastor at A More Excellent
Way Temple, said he was in the church, which is several feet away from the plaza, when he heard the gun shot go off. He noted that Corcoran St., Parrish St., East Chapel Hill St., Foster St. and Rigsby Ave., among others, were all taped off following the shooting. At 7 p.m., all the blocks leading into CCB Plaza were still closed off. Multiple police cars blocked the entry points to the plaza, and crime scene investigators were photographing the evidence near the bull statue. A black Dodge was parked near the bull statue with its lights on. Wilson said the car See SHOOTING, page 6
Raleigh police to implement DWI checkpoints by Hailey Cunningham THE CHRONICLE
Drinkers in downtown Raleigh will soon face a greater chance of enforcement if they drive while intoxicated. In October, the Raleigh Police Department will receive a $525,700 grant to set up a Driving While Intoxicated squad—a group of police officers intended to apprehend drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol. “Even though we [already] make a large number of arrests, the number of wrecks is slowly increasing,” said police Lt. Timothy Tomczak. “We wanted another tool in our toolbox to help attack this problem.” The squad was created to curb driving
after drinking, Tomczak said. Tomczak helped to develop a federal grant proposal that brought in the necessary funds and said that the squad will further decrease the number of wrecks caused by impaired drivers. Although Durham has yet to put its own DWI squad in place, checkpoints are periodically set up around the city. “Our officers who are patrolling the campus are attentive to driving that may indicate a driver is under the influence,” Duke Chief of Police John Dailey wrote in an email Monday. “The risk of injury or death is just too great.” Tomczak noted any district, including a smaller one like Durham, would benefit
from DWI squads. He said that Raleigh has been watching other cities that use squads and has learned from their example. “There are benefits to be gained by any jurisdiction [implementing] DWI squads,” Tomczak said. “If it worked for other programs, it was very likely that if we instituted something similar, we would also see the benefits.” Some students also cited the benefits of DWI squads in Durham. “I worry about other cars on the road at 11 p.m.,” senior Amanda Young said. “Because I live off-campus, I drive a lot more past 11 p.m., and [DWI squads] would See DWI, page 6