From the Newsroom: The Times News

What are Opportunity Zones? Where are they in Burlington and Alamance County? What do they mean for investment and economic growth here?

Burlington Economic Development Director Peter Bishop fleshes out the US Dept. of Treasury / IRS program and how it funnels trillions in capital gains going unused to kickstart low-income areas nationwide.

Burlington has two zones: around Maple Avenue and northeast Burlington. Alamance County's other two are in Graham, and a swath of Haw River and Green Level.

In this episode:
:00 - What are Opportunity Zones, broadly, and how do they work?

3:40 - How and why were Alamance County's zones chosen?

6:30 - Where are Burlington's zones and why?

10:00 - How could this program help East Burlington economic development?

12:30 - Business growth, expansion, real estate, new business development

13:00 - Program puts more eyes on Alamance County and Burlington

14:00 - The possibility of a local  or regional Opportunity Fund

16:00 - Direct versus indirect investment

18:00 - How the City of Burlington is promoting its Opportunity Zones

23:00 - When could we start to see results?

25:00 - $4 trillion in unrealized capital gains nationwide now available to invest

28:00 -- Return on investment versus local/regional impact: Which may win out?

30:00 - How can the average person get involved in these programs?

37:00 -- City of Burlington's documents and web resources coming soon

The recording of the initial 911 call to Caswell County emergency communications reporting the lion attack that killed 22-year-old intern Alexandra Black on Sunday, Dec. 30.

This recording was edited to remove the caller's name and telephone number. Otherwise, this is the recording as it was provided to us by Caswell County management.

We ran a piece today, Jan. 3, by reporter Isaac Groves that detailed a lawsuit brought by Elon University against a former student over a loan debt. It's unusual to see the university suing a student over anything.

Isaac found out the now defunct federal Perkins Loan Program saddled individual schools with debt -- nationwide -- and campuses are working to recoup that money.

The story has met with some pushback online: Why would we cover this? Why did we name the ex-student? Etc.

So Isaac and online editor Michael Abernethy sat down to talk about the process behind the story, the questions we had, and the rules we follow to determine and report news. (Yes, there are rules, and a lot of them about when and why we could withold someone's name in a public record or public process.)

We hope this gives you a little more insight into how we operate. Thanks.

The Conservators Center has been an attraction near the Alamance-Caswell County line, north of Burlington, for almost 20 years. It began by rescuing big cats and other exotic animals that were seized in U.S. Department of Agriculture investigations and raids.

On Sunday, 22-year-old Alexandra Black was killed during a routine enclosure cleaning when a lion escaped a separate holding enclosure and attacked. Black was an intern at the center and planned to pursue a career in animal husbandry or zookeeping.

Reporter Kate Croxton has been following the story all day.

Have you met Peter Bishop?

If you're a business owner or entrepreneur in Burlington, he's someone you'll want to know. Among other things, his job is to help you grow your business and harness resources that local and state governments offer.

This is the first of what we hope will become a regular podcast with Peter Bishop, who has his fingers in all sorts of pies as Director of Economic Development for the City of Burlington. He's the first economic development director in our city's history.

Future casts will get into the details of growth and projects in Burlington and Alamance County, but for now, let's get to know him and his job.

In this podcast:
Peter's background in Cleveland and eastern NC
19:00 -- Role and goals of economic development
20:27 -- The LabCorp/ACC biotech partnership and what that means for biz
22:30 -- Aiding start-ups
27:00 -- Which entities does Peter work with locally and statewide?
32:30 -- Economic and job growth comes from small businesses. Peter's job is to help those business plan well and succeed.
37:00 -- Who's on the city's economic development team?
40:00 -- A day in the life of a city economic developer
42:00 -- What's happening at the city's old landfill site near the airport, and what Peter has to do with it.
47:30 -- How data helps attract, retain business interest
48:30 -- Beginning to end: How an economic development director assists a business development or expansion.
54:00 -- "If it's not one person's job, it's nobody's job."

An Alamance County deputy shot and killed a family's German shepard while responding to a medical emergency call Dec. 4. The Irby family posted their own surveillance video of the incident online and officials say at least eight shots were fired.

This story is sparking heated debate online about officer training, why there won't be an official investigation, and why the dog's body will go to the landfill.

Reporter Kate Croxton and online editor Michael Abernethy talk through the story.

It's possible - not certain - that some Triad areas could get 10 inches of snow by Monday night. The forecast late Thursday called for between 4 and 8 inches of snow in most northern Piedmont counties, beginning Saturday night, capped off by sleet and freezing rain.

No one's sure just what or how much snow, freezing rain or sleet we may get in Alamance County and statewide this weekend, but state agencies are starting to worry.

Reporters Jessica Williams and Isaac Groves covered both scenes last night at the Alamance County Board of Commissioners meeting: the one inside the old courthouse for the actual meeting, and the demonstrations and protests outside in opposition to Sheriff Terry Johnson holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainess in the Alamance County Detention Center and a group of ACTBAC members and public fearful of the COnfederate monument being torn down.
They share what they saw, heard and reported.

It's been a tumultuous fall for Allied Churches, which provides Alamance County's only homeless shelter. In late September, the now former executive director put out an emergency call for $50,000, threatening the shelter could close otherwise.
He and some other fulltime staff were then let go, and the board has been largely silent as its worked behind the scenes to keep the shelter and services running.

Reporter Kate Croxton fills us in after a sit-down with ACAC Board Chair Kelly Paul and United Way of Alamance County President Heidi Norwick and as she finishes a story for Sunday, Nov. 18.