[SoDu Week in Review] Sept. 27, 2025 - Heat of the Southwest Sun

Welcome to your SoDu Week in Review, the Saturday roundup that goes to all of our readers – free and paid alike. Each weekend we pull together the biggest developments, stories, and neighborhood updates shaping life here in South Durham.

👉 [Support Southpoint Access here]

Thanks for being part of the SoDu community – let’s dive into this week’s top stories.

Weather

An active weather pattern continues through the weekend and into early next week. There is a slight risk (level 2 of 4) of excessive rain Saturday across all of central North Carolina. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible, with locally higher totals. Isolated flooding may occur, particularly in urban areas.

Also, a tropical low pressure system in the northeast Caribbean near Hispaniola may affect the Southeast U.S. including the Carolinas early next week, as it drifts to the northwest and north.

Quick-Hit Summaries of the Week

[SoDu How-To] Give Feedback on Bike + Walk Priorities

The City of Durham and Durham County are calling on residents to help shape the future of walking and biking – and voices from South Durham are an important part of the process.

Through Oct. 31, residents can weigh in on 150 proposed projects for sidewalks, bike lanes, and intersection improvements. The goal is to narrow the list to 75 priority projects that will be included in an updated version of the region’s Bike + Walk Plan.

The projects under consideration include:

New sidewalk and bike corridor connections
Intersection safety upgrades
“Micro-gap” improvements – short connections under 1,000 feet that close key gaps in the existing network

[Raising Durham] Sweater Weather

There’s a strange kind of seasonality to memory. The weather turns, the light shifts, and your body remembers things before your brain does: a good night’s sleep is hard to come by, your muscles feel tense and stiff, your heart races while simply sitting still.

In October, we feel it deeply in our family. The anniversary of Harper’s cancer diagnosis is barreling toward us. It isn’t marked on a calendar, but it announces itself just the same.The memory of that day seems to be imprinted in my nervous system as a difficult and terrible milestone. But this year, as that season approaches, I find myself wrapped in something a little cozier than usual: gratitude.

I’m not talking about the polite and quiet gratitude that fits perfectly on a thank-you card. In our house, we experience and celebrate gratitude that feels like heart-bursting joy.

This summer, we launched a new initiative for our non-profit, Harper’s Home. On Aug. 6, we announced that we would be renting two homes so we could serve families sooner. Our long-term build is still in progress, but this was an opportunity to serve families almost immediately. Knowing how enormous the need is, we set up two registries for furniture and essentials and hoped for the best. Our community delivered, both literally and figuratively!

Read more from Heather Hindin in Southpoint Access!

SoDu Shopping Basket: This Week’s Grocery Price Check

We compared 17 staple items across nine South Durham grocery stores. Here’s how it stacked up:

🥇 This Week’s Best Bargain

Walmart is the lowest-cost option this week with a total basket of $52.83, narrowly beating Food Lion ($54.50) and Target ($54.89).

Crime Snapshot: South Durham (Sept. 14 – 20, 2025)

Vehicle-related crimes led police reports for Sept. 14-20, with 13 incidents logged across South Durham neighborhoods, according to police data.

Clusters of motor vehicle burglaries appeared around Page Road hotels and apartments (three cases), Audubon Lake Drive (two cases), and South Miami Boulevard (two cases).

Violent crimes included five robberies and an aggravated assault, concentrated along NC Highway 54, NC Highway 55, and South Miami Boulevard.

Fraud, forgery, and vandalism cases remained steady, with notable reports from Fayetteville Road and Hope Valley Road.