TL;DR — 3 Things to Know This Week

• The IRS proposed stripping Duke's tax exemption after federal investigators found its medical and law schools discriminated against white and Asian applicants in violation of civil rights law.
• Durham County commissioners are weighing a $278,200 study of three school-related sites, including Durham School of the Arts, before the county and school boards decide whether to seek a developer.
• Commissioners also discussed a comment letter opposing proposed federal Head Start rule changes that advocates say could affect nearly 500 Durham children. Public comments are due Oct. 6.

IRS Proposal Puts Duke's Tax Exemption at Risk

A federal finding that Duke's medical and law schools discriminated against white and Asian applicants has turned into a direct threat to the university's tax-exempt status.

• The IRS proposed rules in early September that would strip tax exemption from private schools found to discriminate on race, a direct response to two federal investigations that found Duke's School of Medicine and Law School violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

• The administration is leaning on a 1983 precedent: That year, the Supreme Court upheld the IRS's decision to revoke Bob Jones University's exemption over the school's ban on interracial dating.

• Losing the exemption would end tax deductions for Duke donors, a real threat to the $605 million the university raised in fiscal year 2025, most of it earmarked for faculty and research.

• The timing piles onto existing pressure: The federal government froze $108 million in Duke research funds in 2025, and Medicaid cuts and new endowment taxes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cost hundreds of millions more.

What to watch: The IRS is accepting public comment through Nov. 3, and Duke has said it will take part but hasn't stated a position. The IRS estimates the rule could affect up to 18,000 private schools nationwide. Yale's medical school and several University of California medical schools have also been accused of discrimination by the federal government.

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Durham County Weighs $278K Study of Three Development Sites

A proposed eight-month study would examine three school-related properties before county and school officials decide whether to seek a developer.

• Commissioners discussed expanding a planning contract with UNC's Development Finance Initiative to study the Durham School of the Arts site, the former Northern High School property and the former Lowe's Grove School site on South Alston Avenue, adding $193,200 to bring the contract to $265,600.

• A companion budget amendment would pull the full $278,200 from the county's General Fund balance to pay for it, with staff estimating the analysis would take about eight months.

• No developer gets picked in this phase. Commissioners and the DPS Board of Education would first have to agree on guiding principles, and DFI plans to brief the school board in October.

• Commissioners floated planning all three school properties together and raised the possibility of affordable housing set aside for DPS staff, a question Commissioner Michelle Burton said community groups have been asking about for a while.

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Also at the County Commission: Head Start, Child Care and Youth Grants

Durham Board of County Commissioners · Regular Meeting · September 28, 2026

Beyond the three-site study, commissioners spent Monday's meeting on proposed federal Head Start changes, a new county child care task force and a youth grant program.

• Head Start: Commissioners discussed submitting written comments opposing proposed federal Head Start rule changes, including an English-only instruction rule and a cut in the administrative cost cap from 15% to 5%. Kate Irish of Durham's Partnership for Children said her organization and Families and Communities Rising together serve nearly 500 Durham children from birth to age 5. Public comments are due Oct. 6.

• Child care: A proposed Durham County Early Childhood Task Force would focus on care for children ages 0 to 3, who are too young for Durham Pre-K or NC Pre-K. County Extension Director Donna Rewalt said even two-income families struggle to find affordable, high-quality care for that age group, and staff said the ARPA-funded Build Babies Durham scholarships are expiring.

• Youth grants: Staff outlined a $500,000 program that would award $40,000 to $50,000 each to an estimated 10 to 12 nonprofits for youth mental health, enrichment and academic support. Under the tentative timeline, applications would open Oct. 16 and close Nov. 20.

• Property taxes: Commissioner Wendy Jacobs asked that an upcoming economic update estimate how proposed property-tax levy limits could affect county revenue and services.

See the full meeting →

Quick Hits

• Durham police arrested four adults and four juveniles after searching a Moore Place home and finding 14 guns, two of them reported stolen, in an investigation into vehicle thefts and break-ins.

• The Durham Public Schools board committed up to $1.3 million from local reserves for employee bonuses, cutting the district's unassigned fund balance from $10.2 million to $8.9 million.

• The Durham County Sheriff's Office opened a permanent annex at Hub RTP, adding five dedicated deputies and on-site records services as the area grows into a residential community.

• Duke cognitive scientist Felipe De Brigard won an $800,000 MacArthur Fellowship for research on memory and forgiveness, becoming the 16th North Carolina-based winner.

• A judge granted a default judgment against Durham nonprofit CJF America and four individual defendants after they failed to appear in an unpaid-wages lawsuit filed by seven former workers.

• Durham police launched Operation Safe Passage along Fayetteville and Pilot streets and around the American Tobacco Trail after a spike in resident calls, making two arrests and seizing guns, cash and crack cocaine.

• Boxyard RTP welcomes stationery shop Pen Pals on Oct. 3 and celebrates dessert spot The Pudding Man's opening the day before.

• Fullsteam opened its new American Tobacco Campus taproom with beer service starting Sept. 29 and kitchen service the next day. The space includes a 100-seat theater, though brewing now happens off-site.

• Durham's weeklong Pride celebration runs through Oct. 3, ending with a parade and protest along Ninth Street from noon to 2 p.m.

Events

Fest Fest!
Thu, October 1 · Glass Jug RTP
Glass Jug pours its own Festbier, a strong, pale golden German lager brewed for Oktoberfest, alongside four guest versions from noon to 10 p.m.

Hot Metal Cold Beer
Fri, October 2 · Glass Jug Downtown
Liberty Arts and The Glass Jug pair a hands-on foundry experience and live metal pour with happy hour, 6 to 9 p.m.

PLAYlist Presents: Natural Wonder
Fri, October 2 · Durham Central Park
Natural Wonder, a Stevie Wonder tribute band active since 2012, performs for Durham Central Park's PLAYlist concert series.

Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs
Sat, October 3 · Carolina Theatre
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers co-founder Mike Campbell performs with special guest Sarah Lee Guthrie.

Russian Circles w/ Pelican
Wed, October 7 · Cat's Cradle, Carrboro
Russian Circles and Pelican share the bill. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8.

Good Moon: Sylvan Esso with Meshell Ndegeocello
Thu, October 8 · DPAC
Sylvan Esso and Meshell Ndegeocello open Good Moon's DPAC run.

Duke Baseball vs. East Carolina
Fri, October 9 · Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Duke hosts East Carolina in a fall exhibition at the DBAP. First pitch is 6 p.m.; gates open at 5:30.

Good Moon: Tyler Childers with aja monet
Fri, October 9 · DPAC
Tyler Childers headlines Good Moon at DPAC with poet and performer aja monet.

Real Estate

2938A-2944 Chapel Hill Rd
$4,300,000 · 16 bed, 16 bath, 18,504 sqft
The week's biggest listing: 16 bedrooms and 16 baths across 18,504 square feet on Chapel Hill Road.

2613 W Cornwallis Rd
$595,000 · 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,927 sqft
1965 brick ranch with a hidden speakeasy-style bar and mid-century personality.

1632 University Dr
$985,000 · 3 bed, 3 bath, 2,087 sqft
1930s Forest Hills home with hardwood floors and fluted pilasters overlooking the park.

Opportunities

Pilot Operations Manager
Vulcan Elements · Research Triangle Park, NC
Oversees rare earth magnet manufacturing at pilot scale in RTP, turning R&D into repeatable production workflows.

Facilities Technician I
Museum of Life and Science · Durham, NC, US
Full-time, on-site facilities role at the Museum of Life and Science.

Senior Data Engineer – Tech Equity Fellowship
Code the Dream · Remote (Durham-based)
One-year, $80,000 fellowship building ETL pipelines and cloud infrastructure while mentoring apprentice data engineers.

From Reddit

A halo of light appeared around a Durham water tower one afternoon last week, and a r/bullcity poster caught it on camera.

Water tower halo · r/bullcity