Reportback from Mayday in Durham and some summer events and anniversaries





Rallying in front of the downtown Durham McDonald's ©. 

Reportback from the Durham May 1st March

I wasn't there for the entire event, but I saw groups or people from Fight for $15, IWW, Durham Workers Assembly (the initiating organizer of the march), the Socialist Party (there were several flags and their 2016 presidential candidate supported it), the NC Green Party, and probably the WWP.  There must have been more groups represented (see the cosponsor list).  I didn't count, but there seemed to be roughly 50 people (possibly more, but fewer than 100) at the ending rally, which is small compared to events elsewhere, but large for a local labor demonstration on a Wednesday and maybe transportation is an issue or local activists went to the larger statewide teacher demonstration all day in Raleigh.  I think some Fight for $15 organizers went into the McDonald's while the main rally stayed on the road that evening.  As we arrived someone, possibly the manager, was gesturing futilely from inside for the marchers to go away.  I don't know of any mainstream media coverage.  Marchers were in the street but the Durham Police stayed out of view.  The organizers plan to march again next year.

Midsummer Calendar

This calendar lists regional events of general left interest and cultural events, along with notable historical anniversaries and news.  More items will be added during coming weeks.

RSN article:  "Why is NPR Carrying Water for Trump on Venezuela?"

readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/57038-rsn-why-is-npr-carrying-water-for-trump-on-Venezuela

NPR station WUNC 91.5 FM's FCC license is coming up for renewal after 8 years this December, and comments can be made (until November) about whether it is serving the public interest, such as in its coverage of the plot against Venezuela, attempts to cool down relations with the DPRK, and attempts to inflame relations with Iran. 

Library booksales

The Friends of the Durham Library will have booksales June 1 - 2, August 3 - 4, October 5 - 6, and December 7 - 8, and the hours for all of these sales will be 10am - 12pm members only and 12 - 4pm open to all on Saturdays and 1 - 4pm $10 paper grocery bag sales open to all on Sundays.  The sales are at a space inside Northgate Mall, next to the former location of Sears (with Sears closed, people will probably have to enter through a side entrance and the FODL store's back service door won't be open).  There are small satellite sales inside the library branches daily ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ).   

The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library will have book sales September 13 - 15 and December 6 -8 ( friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents ).

Friends of the Lee County Library has a continuous book sale:  library.leecountync.gov/friends 

During the Tulsa Race Riot May 31 - June 1, 1921 in Oklahoma there was fighting on the ground and firebombing using private airplanes.

National Trails Day is June 1st.

Controversial project 751 South (Ryan Homes) near New Hope Creek has an opening event Saturday, June 1st 12 - 4pm at 812 Watercolor Way ( www.facebook.com/events/473807706720241/ ).

World Bicycle Day in June 3rd ( www.un.org/en/events/bicycleday/ ).

The International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is June 4, and was created in 1982 following the deaths of many Palestinian and Lebanese children due to Israeli aggression.

General Francisco "Pancho" Villa was born June 5, 1878 (under the name José Doroteo Arango Arámbula).  He sent a raiding party into Columbus, New Mexico March 9, 1916 during the Mexican Revolution, and was accused of being behind raids in Texas.  A US Army force was sent into Mexico for a year and was the first to use motorized transport and aircraft, but failed to find Villa.  He was assassinated July 20, 1923.

Irish revolutionary James Connolly was born June 5, 1868 in Edinburgh, Scotland.  He was executed by firing squad May 12, 1916 after the Easter Rising against British rule was crushed.

Naksa Day is June 5th, marking the beginning of the Six-Day War. 

World Environment Day is June 5th ( www.un.org/en/events/environmentday/ ) and the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, for example the plundering of fisheries around war-torn or weak countries that can't adequately patrol their coastlines ( www.un.org/en/events/illegalfishingday/ ).

The first playable version of Soviet videogame Tetris was created June 6, 1984.  It went on to become one of the most popular videogames ever made and may be useful therapeutically and have health benefits.

World Food Safety Day is June 7th ( www.un.org/en/events/foodsafetyday/ ).

Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats repeatedly attacked the signals intelligence gathering ship USS Liberty in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, killing 34 and injuring 171 personnel.  The ship was decommissioned and later scrapped.  Israel provided compensation for the casualties and the damage to the Liberty. 

World Oceans Day is June 8th ( www.un.org/en/events/oceansday/ ).

Italian-American anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti was born June 11, 1888 in Villafalletto, Italy and was executed with Nicola Sacco August 23, 1927 for an alleged armed robbery and murder. 

The World Day against Child Labor is June 12th (  www.un.org/en/events/childlabourday/index.shtml ).

Chapel Hill Town Council to discuss coal ash dump 

The Friends of Bolin Creek ( bolincreek.org/blog/ ; includes a petition on the coal ash) is asking people to attend the Town Council meeting Wednesday, June 12th at 7pm at the Town Hall (405 MLK Jr. Boulevard) and demand that there be regular monitoring, a long-term solution to the problem, and budgeting to solve the problem instead of putting it off again.  The coal ash is buried at the Chapel Hill Police headquarters up the road from the Town Hall and near Bolin Creek and a trail, and apparently there is a cliff of toxic coal ash bordering Bolin Creek and in places the layer of coal ash is 40' thick.  The government of Chapel Hill wants to let a company build social service facilities or housing on the site under the Brownfields Program.  I haven't been following the issue closely, but I wonder if the ash is from UNC's Co-Generation Plant, in a residential area on Cameron Avenue, the only place burning coal that I know of within a large area ( www.counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/putting-values-into-action/ ).  A train can occasionally be seen trundling slowly through crowded central Carrboro carrying loads of coal, a still active remnant of Carrboro's industrial past.  It's possible that UNC isn't the only entity that still uses coal, for example there is a cement plant nearby.  Under an agreement with student groups many years ago, UNC's coal-burning was probably supposed to have been ended by now or soon (Missy Comley Beattie's article posted on Counterpunch refers to an end in 2020, but I don't know if that is the same agreement).   

Coal Ash Disposal Site Remediation Project webpage:  www.townofchapelhill.org/town-hall/news-events/current-issues/coal-ash-disposal-site-remediation-project

BAJ's June meeting:  Climate Action Confronts Economics of Crisis

From Balance and Accuracy in Journalism:

"7:30 PM Wednesday June 12, at the 

Community Church of Chapel Hill, 106 Purefoy Road

           Balance & Accuracy in Journalism

                            presents

      Tana Hartman Thorn and Betsey Downing

                          of the local 

         Citizens Climate Collective (CCC)

                                 on

            Economics Driving the Crisis

The smallest of climate response groups can draw on the strongest and clearest analysis to support responsible action.  Tana Hartman Thorn, a member of the local Citizens Climate Collaborative (CCC), will introduce a video spotlighting a deep problem:  the current market system that promotes insatiable growth, profligate production of cheap goods, gluttonous consumption, and generation of toxic waste.  In the words of Douglas Brown, “Insatiable is not sustainable.” Tana and climate educator Betsey Downing will lead the discussion.

Australian military researchers now say drastic large scale changes are necessary if human civilization is to survive.  What are those changes and what can individuals and communities do to counter the disinformation spread by Fox News and much social media plus mainstream media indifference?  

Can Greta Thunberg and our own children save us? 

What can we do to protect their future?  

We make the path by walking.

    [ ]

Balance & Accuracy in Journalism

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alternative Radio’s recent broadcast of Dahr Jamail’s talk,

Climate Disruption, presents the realities seen by the scientists 

most closely tracking the melting of ice. We’ll share CDs of his talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DIRECTIONS TO BAJ MEETING SITE

106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill

Community Church, Unitarian Universalist       
FROM EITHER DIRECTION ON THE CHAPEL HILL BYPASS:
take 15-501 [or 54] to the 15-501 Pittsboro exit

As you exit, TURN at the traffic light toward Chapel Hill.
Almost immediately TURN RIGHT just short of the convenience store.
That's PUREFOY ROAD, and you take it almost half a mile,
passing two stop signs as it curves left  up the hill
until you can - just - see the third stop sign ahead of you.
At that point, there is a driveway on the left
with a subtle, tan sign for the church.
That driveway takes you to the parking lot and the Community Church.

~~~~~~~~ "

June 14th is the USA's Flag Day, marking a resolution by the Second Continental Congress in 1777, the US Army was founded June 14, 1775, and apparently Donald Trump was born June 14, 1946.  Americans often have issues with people burning or otherwise mistreating the national flag in protest, even though it is also put on all sorts of things, often violating official flag etiquette and even civic virtue.  Other countries don't seem to have so many controversies over how their national flag is treated, or it is rarely reported in English-speaking media. 

Ernesto (Che) Guevara was born June 14, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, but became famous for his role in the Cuban Revolution, and also fought in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bolivia, and traveled to many other countries.

CommunEcos:  "A Simpler Way:  Crisis as Opportunity" screening

From CommunEcos:

"Friday June 14, 6:30 pm – Join us to watch: 

'A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity'

In 2014 a call was put out in Australia for volunteers to join a 12-mo. project called 'A Simpler Way,' with the goal of finding alternatives to modern society in response to environmental and economic crises. The participants formed an intentional rural community in Gippsland, Victoria. This 2016 film uses interviews and discussions with residents to tell the story of their motivation and discoveries. Their thoughtful commentary, combined with input from experts like permaculture expert David Holmgren and Nicole Foss (The Automatic Earth), help make a  compelling case for rethinking our way of life. 1 hr. 19 min. Location: The EcoLounge. 2811 Hillsborough Rd., Durham, NC 27705.  The spring green house (across from ABC Store) w/ 'Friends of the Earth' sign (although they are not us);  Use side entrance (to right of porch);  Park next door in supermarket lot for best lighting. Light refreshments served, and we pass the hat for suggested donations, no one turned away.

 

Next week:  Fri. June 21, 6:30 pm – Screening of a new and highly controversial film Sexy Killers, exposing the devastating impacts of the still expanding coal industry in Indonesia. The film has “gone viral” with millions of viewers despite attempts by authorities to suppress it.  (scroll down for more)

 

CommunEcos, (former home of the Recyclique creative reuse shop) is a non-profit that hosts films and educational events on sustainability and community empowerment!

2811 Hillsborough Rd., Durham, NC 27705

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Community News:

 

From Dogwood Alliance: Just days after woodchip industry giant Enviva settled a lawsuit over its air pollution practices,  NC's Department of Environmental Quality released draft permits for yet another expansion at one of Enviva's facilities in Sampson County, NC (public hearing - July 15th). The Dogwood Alliance continues to push back against the expansion of this harmful, climate-disrupting industry, and they need your help. Read Dogwood Alliance's full statement here.  Amplify on Twitter! 

 

Join Common Cause NC at the home of Eric and Erika Braun for a Supreme Court Countdown house party on June 27 in Raleigh! Visit our website for more info and to register to attend.  On the eve of a momentous Supreme Court decision in Common Cause v. Rucho, our lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s congressional districts as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders, join us for the latest updates and hear what happens next.  We will get a Supreme Court decision in June and we remain optimistic that we’ll get a favorable ruling forcing new, fair districts for 2020.

 

In the news: From the UK:  New rules give households right to sell solar power back to energy firms https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/09/energy-firms-buy-electricity-from-household-rooftop-solar-panels?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

CommunEcos Calendar

Friday, June 21, 6:30 pm -  Sexy Killers-- A new documentary exposing the devastating impacts of the coal industry in Indonesia. The film swept the country with millions of viewers and over 1000 spontaneous community screenings in a two week period, despite attempts by police and local authorities to ban the screenings. The film has clearly struck a chord in a country facing huge expansion of a polluting and irresponsible industry that is impacting communities land rights, agriculture, fishing industry, health and safety. A whopping 58 new coal-fired power stations are due to come online between now and 2027. Don Nonini will introduce the film and set it in the context of environmental advocacy and violence in Indonesia.

 

Join our 'Friends' list (or unsubscribe): yikes [period] contact [at gmail period com] to stay informed on events, most of which are held on Friday evenings at 6:30. (But we sometimes have Saturday afternoon how-to workshops).

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unless otherwise noted, events are at 2811 Hillsborough Rd., Durham 27705.  Most events have suggested donations, usually $5, or as noted. Park in rear or next door in Food Lion lot.

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CommunEcos is a non-profit environmental education organization

http://www.communecos.org " 

The Magna Carta Libertatum was enacted June 15, 1215 near the English town of Windsor.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15th ( www.un.org/en/events/elderabuse/ ).

Pollinator Festival at Lake Crabtree

Lake Crabtree County Park (1400 Aviation Parkway, Morrisville in Wake County) is hosting its 7th annual Pollinator Festival Saturday, June 15th 10am - 2pm, with exhibits, expert talks, games, crafts, giveaways, prizes, and food vendors:  www.wakegov.com/parks/lakecrabtree/events/Pages/default.aspx

June 16th is Father's Day in the USA, and seems to be more of a holiday for retailers than Mother's Day, but according to Wikipedia it could relate to a major coal mine disaster in Monongah, West Virginia December 6, 1907 that killed 361 people, many immigrants from all over Europe, and leaving about 250 widows and 1000 children.

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space, on June 16, 1963, piloting Vostok 6 and spending about three days in orbit.  According to Wikipedia, with this mission, Tereshkova logged more time in space than the entire US astronaut corps at the time.  

The International Day of Family Remittances is June 16th ( www.un.org/en/events/family-remittances-day/ ).

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is June 17th ( www.un.org/en/events/desertificationday/ ).

National Pollinator Week is June 17 – 23 ( www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week ).

Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov was born June 18, 1882 and was a general secretary of the Comintern during the struggle against fascism, often quoted on the definition of fascism, and was later prime minister of Bulgaria.  

Juneteenth is June 19th, marking the declaration of abolition throughout Texas in 1865 by the Federal occupation force that landed in Galveston following the surrender of most of the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi on June 2nd (a Cherokee regiment surrendered June 23rd). 

R (Rajani) Palme Dutt, a leading official of the Comintern, general secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and editor of the CPGB's Weekly Worker and founder of the Labour Monthly, was born June 19, 1896 in Cambridge, England, UK.  He is well-known for his analysis of fascism. 

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed June 19, 1953.   

The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is June 19th ( www.un.org/en/events/elimination-of-sexual-violence-in-conflict/index.shtml ).

World Refugee Day is June 20th ( www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/ ).

The summer solstice is June 21st. 

The Korean War officially began June 25, 1950, but fighting was already going on between revolutionary and counterrevolutionary forces; for example the Jeju Uprising officially began April 3, 1948.  

Where Was Scott's Hole?  A Chapel Hill/Morgan Creek Mystery

In the 1800's a location on Morgan Creek in Chapel Hill called Scott's Hole (after someone who drowned there) was apparently a popular swimming and fishing spot, but is now lost to history.  Botanists are interested in finding it because rare plants grew nearby and it is cited as the location where many samples in the UNC Herbarium were collected.  Chapel Hill Historical Society Vice-President Carl W Anderson and NC Botanical Garden Director of Conservation Johnny Randall will talk about this local mystery and perhaps the site can be rediscovered.  This is part of the NCBG's Lunchbox Talk series, so I think participants are welcome to bring lunch.  It will be Thursday, June 27th 12 - 1pm and is free, but registration is required:  ncbg.unc.edu/calendar/

Author and speaker Helen Keller, famous for overcoming both blindness and deafness, becoming the first deaf-blind person to get a BA, was born June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama.  She was a prominent member of the Socialist Party and the International Workers of the World, a founder of the ACLU and the Helen Keller International.  She passed away June 1, 1968 at her home in Easton, Connecticut and is buried at the Washington National Cathedral in DC.    

The Stonewall riots or rebellion took place June 28 - 29, 1969 in New York City. 

10th anniversary of the coup in Honduras

Manuel Zelaya, the elected president of Honduras was arrested and expelled from the country June 28, 2009, a coup abetted by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  The US-supported coup is rarely mentioned as a reason for Honduran emigration to the US and the current demonstrations and killings of protesters by the rightist government that resulted from the coup aren't mentioned very often or in detail, especially when compared to the amount of (negative) coverage of Venezuela and even Nicaragua.  

School of the Americas Watch is urging support for HR1945, the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, to end "security aid:" www.soaw.org/take-action-on-the-10th-anniversary-of-the-military-coup-in-honduras/  There are currently 61 co-sponsors, but none representing North Carolina.  

For more information see:  www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/honduras-at-ten-years-after-the-coup-a-critical-assessment/ 

The International Day of the Tropics is June 29th ( www.un.org/en/events/tropicsday/ ). 

Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with Mir June 29, 1995, the first time a space shuttle docked with the Soviet/Russian space station (shuttle mission STS-71).  I think I saw this televised, and it seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace, which is understandable given the massive vehicles involved, traveling around the Earth at thousands of miles per hour.  In July 1975 an Apollo module and Soyuz-19 docked in orbit, the first joint US-Soviet crewed spaceflight.      

Triangle Friends of Farmworkers

There was a business meeting June 26th at 7pm in Durham and a picket at a Circle K in Hillsborough (500 South Churton Street) Saturday, June 29th 9:30 - 10:15am.     

Three cosmonauts on Soyuz 11 were killed in space June 30, 1971 due to depressurization through a damaged valve as they prepared to leave orbit after being the first (and only) crew on Salyut 1, humanity's first space station.  Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are the first humans to have been killed in space.

International Asteroid Day is June 30th.  That day in 1908 there was a massive explosion over Siberia, leveling about 830 square miles of forest in a sparsely inhabited region.  The night sky was unusually bright in parts of Europe and Asia for several days after the event.  More recently an asteroid exploded high above the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains of Russia February 15, 2013 with the force of 440 kilotons of TNT, far more powerful than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima, and caused many injuries and damage ( www.un.org/en/events/asteroidday/ ).

The Battle of Gettysburg was July 1 - 3, 1863 in Pennsylvania, and was the Civil War battle with the most casualties, missing, wounded, or killed.  Together with the Federal capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4th July 1863 is seen as a turning point in the War.  

July 3, 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in Iranian airspace while the cruiser was in Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War.  Everyone onboard was killed, a total of 290 civilians (66 children), mostly from Iran, but including people from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, and Italy.  Allegedly the climbing Airbus A300 airliner was mistaken for an F-14 fighter descending for an attack.  The US government expressed regret and paid restitution in 1996, but refused to apologize and the captain and crew of the Vincennes later received various awards.

March 10, 1989 the captain's minivan, driven by his wife, was set on fire by a pipebomb in San Diego and who set the bomb remains unknown. 

See also:  www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/17/remember-the-vincennes-the-uss-long-history-of-provoking-iran/

The Fourth of July festivities

There will be readings, tabling, etc. at Carrboro Town Hall Wednesday, July 4th 11am - 4pm:  www.facebook.com/events/198813814360336/

Chapel Hill will have a fireworks show July 4th in Southern Village 6 - 10pm:  www.facebook.com/events/351184608922912/

Pittsboro Summer Fest will be Sunday, July 7th 4:30 - 9:30pm:  www.facebook.com/events/251396195738237/

The annual Festival for the Eno will be July 4th and 6th:  www.enoriver.org

German communist Clara Zetkin was born July 5, 1857 in what is now Königshain-Wiederau in Saxony, Germany.  She was a founder of the Spartacist League and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, a member of the Communist Party of Germany and represented it in the Reichstag from 1920 to 1933, on the Comintern's executive committee, and she helped found International Women's Day (March 8th).  She died July 20, 1933, exiled in the USSR following the Nazi seizure of power, and her ashes are interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.  Many places in the German Democratic Republic were named after her posthumously.     

The next Carrboro Really, Really Free Market will be Saturday, July 6th 2 - 4pm at the Carrboro Town Hall Commons:  www.facebook.com/events/430848741090732/ and it is Tomato Day 2019! at the Carrboro Farmers' Market 8:30 - 11:30am:  www.facebook.com/events/432525447571058/  

National Moth Week is July 20 – 28 ( www.nationalmothweek.org/ ).  There will be events at the NC Botanical Garden and other parks. 

The Annual National Meeting of the Green Party US will be July 25 - 28 in Salem, Massachusetts and the registration cost will increase July 1st:  salem.gp.org

The 62nd Annual Convention of the NC AFL-CIO will be September 19 - 20 in Charlotte.

The Global Climate Strike will be September 20.

The NC Museum of Natural History's BugFest will be September 21st and this year's theme is beetles (almost 1/4th of all known animal species are beetles).

Demand an End to War:  Rage Against the War Machine

This sequel to the March on the Pentagon last fall ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/10/reportback-from-womens-march-on.html ) will be Friday, October 11th in front of the White House and the Anti-Imperialist Revolution Summit will be Saturday, October 12th ( marchonpentagon.com/demand-an-end-to-war-rage-against-the-war-machine/ ).

Burdens Creek Bluff and surrounding landscape, trashed





Looking down into the floodplain in late March. The buckeyes are leafing out and the trout lilies are about done blooming ©.

About a mile north of the pinxterflower azaleas threatened by Duke Energy there is another area with unusually diverse and abundant wildflowers for this part of the Triangle, but marred by rampant trash dumping and there are other problems nearby (for the pinxterflower article, posted September 8^th, see: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/09/pinxterflowers-duke-energy-and-federal.html ). From the pinxterflowers, we go north along the edge of RTP, crossing TW Alexander Drive at the light, quickly coming to the top of a hill, stopping before the bridge over Burdens Creek. On the east a relatively young forest, hiding some brickwork and a former farm pond (visited by the occasional great blue heron and bordered by buttonbushes, a very good flower for butterflies and other pollinators, if I remember correctly), was levelled and the pond filled in around 2009 to build what is now a Duke Health office building surrounded by a large treeless parking lot (where the pond was). I think the builder was required to build a mulched trail along the sewer easement paralleling Burdens Creek, but floods washed it away and it was never replaced. As I started writing this article the site was owned by Phoenix, Arizona-based Cole Real Estate Investments, but maybe two weeks later the name changed to Cole HC Durham NC LLC and the mail is directed to The RMR Group in Newton, Massachusetts (see Durham's interactive GIS maps at durhamnc.gov/1455/Interactive-Maps ). There are a lot of wildflowers in the surrounding woods, though English ivy, multiflora roses, and other non-native plants grow in the swampy woods north of the parking lot and the population of native Indian grass on a utility easement along Alston seems to have been destroyed by utility or road work. South of this site there is a brick building long housing an American Legion post, now apparently used as a church. Some native and introduced flowers grow along Alston, and old-fashioned pink and dark red roses bloom (or once bloomed) in May at a secluded spot closer to the Social Security Administration facility. To clarify some details in the earlier article, property records say that the SSA's building was built around 2008 on land last sold May 1, 2007 and is owned by Winston-Salem-based JDL-RTP LLC.



Swampy forest left between Burdens Creek and the Duke Health building, visible on the right. Amphibians breed in these seasonal pools and there are many wildflowers, but this young forest also has more non-native plants than the forest on the west side of Alston, for example the Japanese honeysuckle visible here ©.

On the west side of Alston there were a few small houses, but today only one is left, overlooking the bridge at Burdens Creek. At the crest of the hill a house surrounded by woods was used as a daycare for a long time, but was replaced by a complex with three brick buildings (5310 South Alston Avenue) in about 2002. It apparently won a 2003 Merit Award in the North Carolina Architectural Competition, sponsored by the Brick Association of NC (but I can only find one reference: www.loopnet.com/Listing/14218503/5310-South-Alston-Avenue-Building-100-Durham-NC/ ; other photos at: www.loopnet.com/Listing/19797681/5310-S-Alston-Avenue-Durham-NC/ ). I think I read once that the office complex was designed by Durham's Freelon Group, Inc., and it houses their office, merged with Perkins+Will in 2014. The complex had been listed as belonging to The Dilweg Companies, LLC ( www.dilweg.com/ ), with offices in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, and a focus on office buildings, but in recent years the owner has been listed as I-LOFT RTP LLC, based in Suite 210, the same address as Dilweg's Corporate Office. I was thrown out of this complex once, which I attribute to white collar bias. Parts of the complex are listed as belonging to the Life Community Church of RTP NC INC (with an RTP address; I haven't seen any activity at building 100, on the south end, but it is apparently Life International's Global Leaders Center). John S Carbone LLC (in nearby Morrisville) and CCR Durham Land Holdings (in Santa Monica, California) are also listed as owners, and other companies lease office space. There are few wildflowers in the remaining young, piney woods surrounding the complex, but the property lines extend down the slope behind the buildings and across the floodplain where there is older deciduous forest with more floral diversity.
 

There is a lot of privately-owned open space in Durham, even in the urban core, often owned by companies far from North Carolina. In urban areas there is the similar issue of public spaces that are increasingly privately-owned, so people can be deprived of rights more easily than in truly public city squares and parks. There is also the issue that volunteers can freely pick up trash in a park, but could be barred by private owners, even if the owners refuse to take responsibility themselves. There are a few more or less working farms in Durham (and more in nearby Orange County), but the non-built up parts of Durham are mostly long abandoned farmland now returned to forest, probably because farming so close to an urban center became cost prohibitive. Over the decades a lot of “development” in Durham has been on this former farmland at the periphery. Durham had two malls, to which was added Southpoint Mall at the south end of the County, so Durham briefly had three malls, and at least two more close by in neighboring counties, but then older South Square Mall closed and that site still hasn't been completely re-developed, so Durham is back to having only two malls. Supposedly sprawl wasn't going to spread from Southpoint, but that is what seems to be happening, even before the General Assembly forced Durham to accept 751 South few years ago. It has only been relatively recently, maybe in the last 10 to 20 years, that there has been much building downtown, in the abandoned ruins of the tobacco industry and open spaces.
        

The main concern is next to the offices, at the Falls Pointe at the Park Apartments (100 Cascade Falls Lane, www.fallspointeattheparkapartments.com/ , formerly fallspointeapartments.com/ ). I thought they were built after the office complex, but property records say Falls Pointe was built around 2001. For several years if not from the beginning Falls Pointe belonged to The NRP Group, LLC ( www.nrpgroup.com/ ), based in Cleveland, Ohio and having 16 offices, all in the East, including one office in NC (4515 Falls of Neuse Road Suite 100 Raleigh, NC 27609). According to property records, the complex was sold (by subsidiaries NRP Alston Village, LLC and NRP Alston Management, LLC) April 25, 2018 to Fairfield Residential ( http://www.fairfieldresidential.com/ ), based in San Diego, California (5510 Morehouse Drive Suite 200 San Diego, California 92121), although the actual owner is a subsidiary called Fairfield Falls Pointe LLC, with the same San Diego address. NRP still owns a large area of floodplain that surely cannot be built on, perhaps as mitigation for construction elsewhere (last sold December 27, 2000, presumably the date when they originally acquired the land). This article mainly covers the period under NRP management, and it is possible things will improve, but there was still plenty of trash in the woods in the fall. Before the apartments were built there were about two small houses near the road, with a large field of tawny broomsedge and lawn in between, and young lobolly pines, red cedars, and maybe a thicket of sumac or blackberries towards the back, but this mostly flat area drops off steeply to the edge of the swampy floodplain west and northwest, forming what can be called Burdens Creek Bluff. Older deciduous hardwoods grow on the slope and in the floodplain. A slough, probably a former course of Burdens Creek, runs along the base of the Bluff, which slopes more or less steeply down from the apartments, with some natural terraces.
 

Behind Falls Pointe the hillside has a lot of plant diversity, and is literally covered with flowers in early spring, probably because of atypical soil weathered from igneous rocks that intruded into the surrounding sedimentary rocks millions of years ago; the long time the forest was left mostly undisturbed; and the cool, moist microclimate formed by the steep, generally northwest-facing hillside. Some flowers can bloom as early as December, but definitely by March yellow trout lilies densely cover the slope, especially at the top, while lower down there are numerous grasslike spring beauties with white flowers that open when it is sunny. Relatively rare toothworts, another white to pinkish flower, are common on a moist terrace and there are rare pennyworts. Other spring flowers include rue anemone (also known as windflower, a forb with white flowers that nod in the wind), purple-colored violets, saxifrage, and possibly relatively rare white star chickweed, related to the rare firepinks once found down the road. The blue or lavender to white flowers of Hepatica, formed by sepals rather than petals, can appear as early as December or January. Hepatica and evergreen wild ginger have leathery leaves with interesting marbled patterns as if for camouflage. Trout lilies also have striking leaves, finely dappled like the sides of a native brook trout, only visible in spring. Trout lilies are also known as dogtooth violets, but are lilies. Many of these native wildflowers are relatively rare in the Triangle and are very abundant here. Being flowers of older woodlands and early blooming (several are spring ephemerals, perennials that only appear aboveground for a short time, before the trees leaf out), they are probably unknown to most people today.
 

Five hundred years ago these flowers and species now entirely absent might have grown all over what is now Durham, but agriculture and overharvesting are probably the reasons they are now restricted to older woodlands near waterways. Overgrazing by deer might be another factor, and the scarcity of predators (due to human persecution and habitat loss, but some remain) or areas where deer can be hunted allowed their population to boom. Catesby's trilliums, if not other species of trillium, are supposed to grow in the Triangle, but I have never seen any, except for a dark red species growing along woodland trails at the NC Botanical Garden, presumably planted. Further west, Randolph County must be full of them, if they can allow acres of trilliums to be drowned under recently impounded Lake Randelman, on the Deep River south of Greensboro and north of the town of Randleman ( ptrwa.org/index.htm ), from what I have heard.

 

Trout lilies and some spring beauty leaves in late February ©.

 

A few toothworts and spring beauties still blooming in late March and there are many trout lilies not blooming and a sprig of strawberry bush ©.



Spring beauties in bloom and trout lily foliage ©.



Toothwort, rue anemone, and spring beauty flowers ©.

The forest floor in April is carpeted with blooming spring beauties along with many other wildflowers, not blooming, such as pink wood sorrel ©.

Later in the spring pink wood sorrel, mayapples, alumroot, and Solomon's seal (or a relative) bloom, while at the foot of the hill there seem to be Atamasco or Easter lilies. I have heard that these large white lilies used to be abundant at what is now the Greenwood Commons shopping center nearby. There is a huge patch of dwarf crested irises, though they might be too shaded to flower. There could be some Carolina blue bluets around, a relatively common spring flower, though I haven't noticed many in recent years. Cranefly orchids have leaves that are dark green on top and bright purple below during the cool months, but are leafless by the time they flower in summer. Beechdrops also bloom in summer and are always leafless, being parasitic on beech tree roots. There are jack-in-the-pulpits in the bottomlands. Spring is the best time for flowers at the Bluff, but some composites bloom in the summer and fall when there is mostly heavy shade.

Dark evergreen Christmas ferns grow near the foot of the hill, and there are a few other ferns. Large igneous boulders at the top of the slope are covered with clinging resurrection ferns, so-called because their thick leaves can shrivel up, but resurrect green and flat again later. There are also a few spleenworts amid the rocks and even growing out of small cracks. There is little if any poison ivy on the hillside. In May bright red coral honeysuckle blooms along the forest edge behind the apartments, as do very large strawberry or hearts a'bustin (with love) bushes, named for their spiny, hot pink capsules that dangle red-orange seeds in the fall; their flowers are much less spectacular. The shrub layer also includes lots of painted buckeyes that have yellow flowers in March, visited by bumblebees; maple-leaf viburnums that have clusters of white flowers in May; and pawpaws, possibly the dwarf variety. Taller pawpaw groves are common along nearby creeks and have large, cloying, bananalike fruit in late summer. The hillside has a few scattered dogwoods, redbuds, and fringetrees that bloom in March and April when they get enough light down in the understory. Overhead there are various oaks, hickories, American beech, ash, sugar maples, and a large black walnut, surrounded by legumes during the summer.



Resurrection ferns, cranefly orchids, trout lilies, coral honeysuckle, and other plants at the top of the Bluff ©.

Frogs and probably also salamanders breed in the pools below the Bluff in early spring. Marbled salamanders and small snakes shelter under debris on the moist hillside. Eastern newts, seemingly rare in this part of Durham, have been found in the neighborhood, and much more common Eastern box turtles can also be found. By late summer large brown mosquitoes make going into the forest problematic, but there are also many fireflies and large black damselflies, the territorial males jet black with bodies that flash with blue and green iridescence in the forest shade. In the large area of bottomland forest barred owls, hawks, migratory yellow-bellied sapsuckers, herons, and other birds can be heard or seen at various times. There could be wood ducks, pileated woodpeckers, prothonotary warblers, woodcocks, and even turkeys. River otters are said to live in relatively small and clear (except when it turned opaque and yellow as 540 was being built upstream) Burdens Creek. There are many crayfish and fish in the Creek, and probably freshwater mussels, though the main species might be an Asian species. There are also beavers. Once in these woods I suddenly found myself walking along next to a possum during the day and there are raccoons and deer. With the people there are also feral or pet cats. Maybe there are nocturnal flying squirrels, and there must be flocks of moths and katydids on summer nights, Urbanization must be reducing their numbers, but I see a lot on Hopson Road on summer nights.
 

Fortunately the richest and oldest woods were mostly left alone when the apartments and offices were built, but the apartments come very close to the edge of the slope, which people seem to take as an invitation to dump their trash, and NRP never seemed much troubled by it. Landscaping contractors dumped fallen leaves, uprooted bushes, excess soil, etc., though one of NRP's local managers claimed they were against this (it seems like they should have been in control of their own contractors). The large debris piles take years to decompose, so plants underneath are killed, and this debris propagates non-native bushes into the woods. People go to these piles and dump trash, or throw it just inside the forest edge or over the slope. Maybe a year or two ago one brush pile had a lot of disposable diapers and the one next to it a lot of bagged pet waste, leading to the question of which is worse, the fecal coliform bacteria and pathogens or the plastic that won't decompose or fragment for a very long time. At various times there have been small piles of kitchen garbage, mattresses, furniture, a sofa, a broken wall mirror, rugs, tools, cellphones, a wrecked laptop, a computer monitor, batteries, plastic food packaging, plastic and glass bottles, cans, pots, shoes, etc. The complex has a central trash compactor and recycling center and they must have rules about trash disposal. NRP's local management claimed they cleaned up trash something like once or twice a year, probably meaning at most only a few feet into the trees, even though NRP owned and still owns a large area of the forest. The only reason there isn't more trash there now is because volunteers clean up some of it, mainly the plastic, one to three times a year. A few years ago Durham County passed a law forcing people to clean up excessive trash or aesthetic 'problems' on their land, and that helped here three years ago. The law is probably aimed more at penalizing homeowners, who may be poor, old, or prefer unconventional or naturalistic, wildlife-friendly landscaping, rather than companies that don't care about trash as long as it isn't in front of their offices. Besides the trash, herbicide is or was periodically sprayed along the forest edge and chemicals are probably spread on the lawns. Native solitary bees, providers of valuable and free pollination services, dug their burrows in one spot. Some stormwater is sent over the hillside, causing erosion, though I have seen worse though probably legal examples, such as behind the Phillips Research Park Apartments, located on a hill off Ellis Road at the north end of RTP, also surrounded by biologically rich older woodland, and at the Old Chatham Golf Club in Chatham County, though that might have been corrected by now.



Some of this is snow, but most of it is trash thrown behind Falls Pointe in winter 2010 ©.

  


A few volunteers picked up some trash that spring (photo) and in the fall ©.



Trash picked up in spring 2015 (there were other cleanups through 2018 not shown) ©.

Here is a pile of yard waste and trash that same spring ©.

Three mattresses thrown in a brush pile, a sofa, a burned bicycle, etc. dragged out of the woods in fall 2015 ©.



A pile of trash in summer 2017 ©.

Having corporate offices far away, selling frequently, and creating subsidiaries helps those in control avoid accountability while generating capital. The land, created by nature over an eternity, is seen as a commodity, something created only for exchange on a market, rather than for its use-value, as the common environment humanity and the rest of nature inhabits. I did a short search to see what Marx said regarding the natural environment, and, among other works, there is a chapter of The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (International Publishers, 1964, reprinted 1984, page 101 – 102; another translation is posted online at: www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/rent.htm ), containing some of his early writing. This passage is mainly about land used for agriculture and the transition from feudal landed property to capitalist commodification of the land, as is common around the world today, and especially in the USA, created out of colonies with few or no leftover feudal relations, after the land had been basically seized from its native inhabitants, who also had few or no feudal relations. Marx writes without sentimentality about the transition from feudalism to capitalism, which can then be replaced by socialism: “It is necessary that this appearance be abolished [“the semblance of a more intimate connection between the proprietor and the land than that of mere material wealth” and the “political” and “human, intimate” connection between the proprietor and his serfs] … ”that all personal relationship between the proprietor and his property cease, property becoming merely objective, material wealth; that the marriage of convenience should take the place of the marriage of honor with the land; and that land should likewise sink to the status of a commercial value, like man. It is essential that that which is the root of landed property – filthy self-interest – make its appearance, too, in its cynical form. It is essential that the immovable monopoly turn into the mobile and restless monopoly, into competition; and that the idle enjoyment of other peoples' blood and toil turn into a bustling commerce in the same commodity ... The medieval proverb nulle terre sans seigneur [there is no land without its lord] is thereby replaced by that other proverb, l'argent n'a pas de maître [money knows no no master], wherein is expressed the complete domination of dead matter over mankind,” domination over both the landowner and the worker. Later he writes that “Association,” replacing capitalist relations, has both economy of scale and equality, and “reestablishes, now on a rational basis, no longer mediated by serfdom, overlordship and the silly mysticism of property, the intimate ties of man with the earth, since the earth ceases to be an object of huckstering...” There is extensive discussion of the false view of land and other economic factors as commodities in The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time by economic historian Karl Polanyi, published in 1944 (quotes are from the Second Beacon Paperback, published in 2001). He writes that “A market economy must comprise all elements of industry, including labor, land, and money … But labor and land are no other than the human beings themselves of which every society consists and the natural surroundings in which it exists. To include them in the market mechanism means to subordinate the substance of society itself to the laws of the market” (page 74 – 75). But even in the early 40's it could be seen that in treating land as a commodity “Nature would be reduced to its elements, neighborhoods and landscapes defiled, rivers polluted, military safety jeopardized, the power to produce food and raw materials destroyed … no society could stand the effects of such a system of crude fictions [labor, land, and money treated as commodities] even for the shortest stretch of time unless its human and natural substance as well as its business organization was protected against the ravages of this satanic mill” (page 76 – 77).  

There would have to be much more trash to kill the wildflowers, but this special area that should be appreciated and protected is instead marred with trash, and the trash is harmful to the plants and possibly wildlife. Whatever waste isn't decomposed or buried washes into Burdens Creek and on towards Jordan Lake, where a large amount of trash is cleaned up by volunteers and government employees every year. No doubt tons of debris and trash have to be cleaned up at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area's swimming areas after the prolonged flooding in the fall. There are worse threats to local biodiversity, but the attitude that it is okay to dump trash in a woods, where few will see it, is like the attitude that it is fine to let exotic chemical GenX or pharmaceuticals get into the Cape Fear River, leave coal ash where it could contaminate groundwater and waterways, bury toxic waste near Crabtree Creek, or send excessive carbon dioxide and poisons from fossil fuels into the atmosphere. It might be out of sight and out of mind, but it adds up to become a problem for the community. Things like light pointlessly radiated into the night sky, the winter roar of traffic on I-40, and native trees engineered to suit the timber industry are also a kind of dumping and lack of consideration that could harm other people and our common environment. I hope to write about some of these problems in the New Year.

There must be other trash-filled natural areas in Durham, but I am glad to rarely come across them. At one time, possibly when suburbs first came to these parts, trash was dumped at certain bridges and the ends of roads, and volunteers cleaning up trash for Earth Day (April 22^nd) and Big Sweep (early October in Durham) still find appliances, mowers, shopping carts, even cars, but much of the trash has been removed and nature is overwhelming and burying the junk. The early suburbs also dumped partially treated sewage into creeks and while the water released by treatment plants into many creeks today is far cleaner, it is still a source of pollution. Sometimes people still dump trash and yard waste on roadsides or in secluded areas, but they can get into trouble if there is a witness or something that bears their address is included. In one of the more unusual cases, pounds of seemingly edible bread were scattered along So-Hi Drive. Rural trash middens, half-buried deposits of antique glass jars, etc., sometimes even divided by brand, are hidden in woods all over Durham County. This trash is half-buried, becoming more of a 20^th century archaeological curosity than an eyesore or hazard, though animals such as mice and emerging cicadas could get trapped and snakes have been known to swallow bottles and golf balls, another frequent find in wooded areas. Fresh litter is abundant in many places, escaping from dumpsters behind businesses, discarded along high-traffic roads, or washed in during floods. Every week Durham's semi-automated trash trucks release litter as they make the rounds in my neighborhood.

 

Lots of trash, probably from Durham, dumped at the Northeast Creek Waterfowl Impoundment in Chatham County (owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and operated by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission) and probably cleaned up by government workers ©.

  

Litter and bags of trash and tires dumped where Ellis Road crosses Northeast Creek in Durham ©.

Keep Durham Beautiful probably lacks the power to prevent a lot of these problems, but also doesn't help concerned citizens enough, and local and state governments also seem to care little, though they have some power to stop the dumping and get it cleaned up. It is very hard to get the NC DOT to fulfill its responsibility and pick up large junk dumped on rural roadsides, which they claim they can't find when informed, though they were very diligent in spraying herbicide along Scott King Road and Highway 54 over the summer (see the earlier post). Volunteers can adopt roads and clean up litter there two or three times a year, but not all roads can be adopted, including even some roads that have signs saying that they are available.  
 

Across the railroad tracks behind Falls Pointe there have been plans to build on hills at the northeast corner of TW Alexander and Highway 55, across from the Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant (and a sludge drying facility will be built on the southeast corner) for several years, but clearing started a few weeks ago, before the snow, and a Charlotte-based subsidiary of the PulteGroup, Inc. ( www.pultegroupinc.com/home/default.aspx ), one of the largest residential builders in the US, bought the corner October 9, 2018. The site was last cleared several years ago, but a thick young forest resprouted. I don't think there are a lot of wildflowers there, but there might be some jack-in-the-pulpits. I thought Pulte might leave some woods between the houses and the treatment plant (though it has been upgraded several times over the years and doesn't produce as much of a smell now), but everything is being cut, except along a stream coming from the SSA site and a wetland that might have been flooded by beavers. The hill has a good view, but it would not be surprising if Pulte mass grades it down to a more mediocre level, allowing a lot of silt to erode into the stream, which goes into Burdens Creek, with few around to see it.

 

Looking south from the Pulte site, across TW Alexander Drive to the large field where a high hill once stood; the SSA facility is in the distance on the left ©.

 

Another view of the Pulte site; the saplings have mostly been cleared, but it is doubtful if any of the larger trees still standing, or even the contours of the land will still be here when they are done ©.

 

A barred owl perched in this relatively large oak, but it is just barely on the wrong side of the "Tree Protection Area" fence, and will probably be cut (or will it be saved by the blue band painted on it?), as well as the beech next to it and the loblolly pine saplings in the background ©.

Over the last three or four years many townhouses have been built several miles away around the intersection of Highway 54 and Barbee Road, on a ridge which forms the watershed between Northeast Creek and smaller Crooked Creek (Barbee Road basically marks the top of the ridge between the two basins). The construction on 54 hasn't done much for the roadside scenery and the design didn't take into consideration the good views of the sky and landscape there, or the former farm ponds, now filled in. Public engineering companies in Durham claim they can't add features highlighting a site's natural advantages because of local regulations that make features like trails too expensive. The height of buildings must be regulated, but if companies and local governments are going to build dense housing and increase mass transit services, allowing higher buildings in the suburbs could save land. Pulte built the townhouse project on the northeast corner at 54 and Barbee and previously, in 2009, Pulte merged with the Centex Corporation, the company behind many of the residential projects near Barbee Road (typically large “McMansions” with little space in between and few trees left standing, which might be the current 'style' or the result of a push for density by the Durham Planning Department). Despite erosion controls, the small streams around 54 and Barbee turned opaque yellow, and after rain Northeast Creek was unusually yellow, though there is additional construction going on upstream as well, such as along Ellis Road at 147 and on NC 55. Southern Durham's clayey Triassic Basin soil, weathered from sedimentary rocks created in rift valleys that opened up when dinosaurs were around, erodes when exposed and then doesn't settle easily.

Several years ago the Triangle Brick Company clearcut its extensive holdings where Durham, Wake, and Chatham counties meet, across Highway 55 from the pinxterflowers, and sometime in 2018 more land was cut along Grandale Road around the border between Durham and Chatham counties. I thought Durham had or has a policy of not building densely south of Scott King Road, but a residential project along 751 was approved and Cary is advancing from the other side, so I wonder if this is just timber harvesting or something more. Durham has a rule regarding building after clearcutting, but someone has to be watching. In the current brushy state these areas will benefit the deer population, as well as rodents and red-tailed hawks, but not species that need large unbroken woodlands. The combination of protected gamelands and mostly forested private land there forms a valuable corridor for wildlife, something the NC Natural Heritage Program pointed out to local governments.

 

Burdens Creek Bluff - today the land rests under a blanket of snow ©. 

 

Part of the Burdens Creek floodplain, probably flooded by beavers ©.





A wading bird track beside the slough and a Chinese privet ©.