INDY Week

Made in 2024, “Dancing Queens” includes studio interviews with a dozen town staffers, b-roll from rehearsals, and several clips from Mamma Mia! the movie. This is one of the 12 internal videos about town projects and culture that Cary spent more than $330,000 on to produce.

beautiful poetry profile by Brian & the most lush photos - read!!

"The Mirror in Our Music," a new collection by former Carrboro Poet Laureate Fred Joiner, is rich in references to art, music, and collaboration. ift.tt/wKOY8SX

Including $5K for the rights to a Coldplay song and $10K for a video to be narrated by a PBS host indyweek.com/news/cary-vide…

UNC Health made an offer after learning Atrium had struck a merger deal with its Triangle neighbor. ift.tt/vdF4iX8

At the end of January 2025, there were 8,805 federal workers in Durham, Wake, and Orange counties. About half of them worked for the Veterans Health Administration. By the end of January 2026, that number had dropped 12%, to 7,752. indyweek.com/news/triangle-…

The small project is underway at Central Campus, with room for expansion. Its energy usage could complicate the university’s climate goals. ift.tt/uLZ3W59

How Cary Spent $330,000 on Videos Taxpayers Were Never Meant to See indyweek.com/news/cary-vide…

'Stories Told By Breath: Native American Voices in North Carolina' is on display at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design through September 26. ift.tt/ZYyhA5D

Hundreds of riders took to the streets to raise awareness for traffic safety during the national Ride of Silence as improvements to one of Durham’s most dangerous corridors for cyclists move forward. ift.tt/y86p3gL

For decades, K&W Cafeterias fed the South on familiarity and habit. Their closure marks the loss of more than a restaurant chain—it signals the erosion of a shared, middle-class dining culture. ift.tt/Ldp69iK

Lily King’s “Heart the Lover” commemorates three chums who bonded as students in Chapel Hill. With two of them departed, their friends recall an uncommon alliance that ended too soon. indyweek.com/news/culture/b…

“All of those people were people who had committed their lives to service." A Year After Federal Job Cuts, Workers in the Triangle Are Still Picking Up the Pieces indyweek.com/news/triangle-… by @abe_kenmore @indyweek. @AFGENational #1u

absolutely wild scoop by my @indyweek colleague Chloe Courtney Bohl on the Town of Cary’s $330k spend on “documentary-style videos about town projects and culture”—including a mini doc about the leadup to a staff flash dance—for internal use. indyweek.com/news/cary-vide…

Citing an unprecedented decline in revenue, the city manager’s budget draft maintains the property tax rate but reduces funding for partner organizations and skips some employee raises. ift.tt/s84IEAC

Historically Black neighborhoods in Raleigh have seen large increases in property values, but many residents don’t qualify for existing tax relief programs. ift.tt/M7DTXNu

“Legacy of Leadership,” which is 10 minutes long, cost $62,828, including PBS Frontline’s Will Lyman's $10,000 voice-over fee and a $5,000 fee to license the background song, “A Sky Full of Stars,” from Coldplay and The Piano Guys.

The most expensive, “Inspiration Lives Here – The Story of Downtown Cary Park,” is 22 minutes and cost $70,000. The series of six short videos on the town’s “Live Inspired” motto cost $61,140 total.

Between 2021 and 2025, the town of Cary spent more than $330,000 to produce 12 documentary-style videos about town projects and culture. The INDY obtained them, along with associated invoices and emails, through a public records request.