🌳 Fullsteam Previews Its 9,000-Square-Foot Comeback at American Tobacco
TL;DR — 3 Things to Know This Week
- Durham Public Schools has 58 teaching vacancies heading into the Aug. 24 return of traditional-calendar students, a historically low number even as North Carolina's statewide shortage tops 6,700 classrooms.
- Fullsteam previewed its 9,000-square-foot taproom in American Tobacco's historic Boiler Room, nearly two years after a landlord dispute closed its original Rigsbee Avenue home, with an opening still loosely set for September.
- Durham City Council split 4-3 on technical changes to Comprehensive Plan policies after Council Member Chelsea Cook pressed staff on how an informal comment changed an annexation policy, and left two Lang Street homeowners' $14,000 paving assessment objections open until October.
Durham Public Schools Heads Into Monday With 58 Teacher Vacancies
Traditional-calendar students return Aug. 24 with the district calling its vacancy count historically low, even as North Carolina's teacher shortage keeps growing statewide.
- DPS has 58 teaching vacancies for the coming year, a number the district frames as unusually low, while bus routes are set to run on schedule despite ongoing driver recruitment.
- The district leaned hard into hiring this spring: more than 700 people registered for its March job fair at Northern High School and 400 showed up in person for teaching, support, and operations roles.
- Durham's shortfall sits inside a bigger problem. More than 4,600 North Carolina classrooms lacked a qualified teacher last fall, and that number topped 6,700 by the 40th day of the school year.
- Superintendent Anthony Lewis has pointed to fewer people entering education and a broader lack of value placed on educators as the root causes squeezing districts statewide.
What to watch: DPS hasn't said how many of the 58 openings it expects to fill before Monday's first bell.
Fullsteam Previews Its 9,000-Square-Foot Comeback at American Tobacco
Nearly two years after a landlord dispute closed its Rigsbee Avenue taproom, Durham's hometown brewery showed off the room it hopes to open in September.
- The new taproom fills the historic Boiler Room at American Tobacco Campus, near the smokestack and the Lucky Strike tower — 9,000 square feet, seating across multiple rooms, and an outdoor patio under the campus string lights.
- One piece of the old place made the trip. The original front door, built by local metal worker Andrew Preiss, has been reassembled inside the new location.
- Fullsteam never actually stopped brewing. Paycheck Pilsner and Rocket Science IPA stayed in production at the RTP facility through the two years the taproom sat dark.
What to watch: Owner Sean Lilly Wilson still hasn't committed to an opening date, which leaves the marquee as the most reliable schedule Durham has.
Durham Council Splits 4-3 on Planning Changes, Leaves $14,000 Assessment Bills Unresolved
Durham City Council · Regular Meeting · August 17, 2026
Council members Chelsea Cook, Nate Baker, and Shanetta Burris broke ranks over Comprehensive Plan tweaks after learning staff had quietly changed an annexation policy based on an offhand comment, not a vote.
- Council passed a package of Comprehensive Plan policy changes 4-3, with Cook, Baker, and Burris voting no after Cook asked staff whether a change to the city's annexation policy had ever gotten a formal council vote. It hadn't; staff had treated a council member's earlier comment and some head nods as direction.
- Two Lang Street homeowners told council they'd been hit with paving and water-line assessment bills over $14,000 with 9% interest for work finished in early 2023, with one saying her bill arrived just two days before the meeting. Council left the item open and will take it up again October 19.
- Council approved extending the 2019 affordable housing bond's issuance window from 7 to 10 years after staff had spent $54 million with $41 million still unissued, and members pressed staff on why projects weren't further along.
- Council unanimously approved selling the city-owned building to Communities in Partnership, the East Durham nonprofit behind weekly food giveaways serving more than 600 families and long-running racial equity training programs.
What to watch: The Lang Street assessment objections and a separate Chalmers Street dispute both return to council October 19, and staff is compiling a running list of Comprehensive Plan policies it no longer formally grades.
Quick Hits
- Flavor Hills, the Black-owned Southern restaurant group, closed all four of its locations including downtown Durham and Raleigh, and is pivoting entirely to catering and private events.
- Council heard a final report on turning the Durham Freeway into an at-grade boulevard — about $500 million, no vote taken. Mayor Williams prefers a freeway cap.
- Visitors spent $1.17 billion in Durham County in 2025, up 0.9%, supporting 7,779 jobs and generating $82.4 million in state and local tax revenue.
- Durham Public Schools is exploring a GoDurham bus pilot for high schoolers, with Northern High as the top candidate, aiming to hit a 90% on-time arrival rate.
- New North Carolina rules taking effect Oct. 1 ban ticket-buying bots and speculative resales, and require upfront total pricing at venues from Motorco to Carolina Hurricanes games.
- Durham Tech's president says the number of high schoolers taking college courses has doubled during his tenure, with an electrical class now carrying the college's longest waitlist.
- Haven Hot Chicken plans to open its first North Carolina restaurant on Ninth Street by the end of the year, the start of a 10-location franchise deal.
- NCCU projects a 15% jump in new undergraduates for fall 2026, with the incoming class's mean GPA rising to 3.31 from 3.26.
- A billing system upload error briefly halted AutoPay and sent false "Pay Immediately" notices to Durham water customers with current accounts; no late fees will apply.
Events
HASAN HATES RONNY | RONNY HATES HASAN
Fri, August 21 · DPAC
Jordan Davis
Fri, August 21 · Red Hat Amphitheater
Three Dog Night
Fri, August 21 · Carolina Theatre
Nitro Circus
Sat, August 22 · Durham Bulls Athletic Park
The Mountain Goats
Sat, August 22 · DPAC
Geek and Grub Market Wizard Edition
Sun, August 23 · Durham Armory
Durham Bulls vs. Norfolk Tides
Wed, August 26 · Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Chance The Rapper
Sat, August 29 · Red Hat Amphitheater
Ira Glass
Sat, August 29 · DPAC
Real Estate
1022 Moreland Ave
$785,000 · 4 bed, 3 bath, 2,408 sqft
1925 Arts and Crafts bungalow, taken down to studs in a thoughtful 2023 renovation.
2320 Englewood Ave
$649,000 · 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,711 sqft
1933 brick Cape Cod in Watts-Hillandale's tree-lined historic district.
515 Duluth St
$550,000 · 5 bed, 3 bath, 2,268 sqft
1970 all-brick single-level home near Eno River Trails and Duke, move-in ready.
Jobs
Combustion Engineer / Scientist
ERG · Research Triangle Park, NC
Troubleshoots combustion systems for EPA emissions testing, wielding gas analyzers and FTIR instruments to diagnose facility issues.
Baseball Grounds Crew
Capitol Broadcasting Company · Durham, NC, 27701
Keeps the Durham Bulls' ballpark field game-ready as part of the grounds crew at the historic ballpark.
Marketing Manager
Carolina Theatre of Durham · Durham, NC
Runs marketing campaigns and ticket sales for the century-old Carolina Theatre of Durham.
Property Manager - Affordable Housing
Housing Authority of the City of Durham · Durham, NC 27701
Manages affordable housing properties for Durham's public housing authority, overseeing residents' day-to-day housing needs.
From Reddit
A Redditor found a kind note left on their windshield at the Scrap Exchange, and says it made their day.
Made my day :) · r/bullcity