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.
Southpoint Access is your community newsroom for South Durham, North Carolina. We cover the issues that matter here – schools, neighborhood businesses, traffic, youth activities, development, and the people who make this area home.
Unlike larger outlets, we rely directly on community support to fund coverage. Every dollar raised helps us pay local freelance journalists to tell South Durham’s stories.
🎯 Our Goal: $4,000 by Dec. 31, 2025
That’s $300 per week to fund freelance coverage through the end of the year. Your support makes sure our neighborhoods stay informed, connected, and represented.
🏈 How the Rivalry Challenge Works
We’re tapping into the Triangle’s greatest tradition – college football rivalries – to make fundraising fun.
- Pick your team when you give: Duke, UNC, NC State, or NCCU.
- Each donation adds points to your team’s total.
- We’ll update a weekly Rivalry Challenge scoreboard to show which fan base is leading.
- At the end of football season, we’ll crown a champion – and celebrate the real winners: the South Durham community.
Thanks for being part of the SoDu community – let’s dive into this week’s top stories.
Weather
Today, mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Tonight, partly cloudy with a low around 55. On Sunday, mostly sunny with a high near 80. Sunday night, partly cloudy, with a low near 59.
Quick-Hit Summaries of the Week
[SoDu Alert] Duke Health and Aetna Reach New Agreement, Avoid Coverage Disruption
South Durham residents who use Aetna insurance to see providers at Duke Health can breathe easier: the two organizations have reached a new agreement, avoiding a disruption in care.
The Duke Health-Aetna contract was finalized on Friday, Oct. 3, well ahead of the Oct. 20 deadline that had many patients concerned they might lose access to their in-network doctors. Without an agreement, Duke Health would have become out-of-network for Aetna’s commercial and Medicare Advantage plans – affecting thousands of local patients.
Read more in Southpoint Access!
What’s Coming for Sidewalks and Bike Paths in South Durham: 2025 and Beyond
South Durham is moving toward a more walkable and bike-friendly future, with over a dozen sidewalk and bicycle improvement projects planned or underway across the area.
These include new shared-use paths, protected bike lanes, and safer pedestrian crossings along major corridors like NC Highway 55, Carpenter-Fletcher Road, Cornwallis Road, and University Drive. For neighborhoods near Southpoint, Woodcroft, Hope Valley, and Jordan High School, these upgrades could significantly improve both safety and access.
While some of these Durham sidewalk and bike lane projects are already in the final design phase, many are still years away from construction – or waiting for state and federal funding. Others, like the Fayetteville Street sidewalk at Mt. Zion Church and the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway protected bike lanes, are expected to break ground in the next one to two years.
Each project is part of the city’s broader effort to expand its network of bike-friendly and pedestrian-safe routes as population growth and car traffic increase across the region.
The full list below outlines what’s funded, what’s still being designed, and what’s on the long-range planning horizon. Whether you bike, walk, ride transit, or drive, these projects will reshape how people move through South Durham – and may offer new ways to safely connect to schools, parks, businesses, and shopping centers like The Streets at Southpoint.
Read more in Southpoint Access!
Support your neighborhood news source: Southpoint Access!
Dick’s House of Sport Opens at Southpoint Mall in Durham
The long-vacant Sears location at The Streets at Southpoint is getting new life as Dick’s House of Sport, opening Oct. 1 with an experience-driven retail concept tailored to athletes and families.
Read more in Southpoint Access!
New Townhouse Project Proposed on NC Highway 751
A new development, Southpoint Townhomes, is proposed for more than three acres along NC Highway 751 just north of Massey Chapel Road.
Patrick Byker of Morningstar Law Group on Sept. 5 applied on behalf of owner Kimberly Moore to rezone the rural residential property to residential suburban multifamily.
On Oct. 8, the developer has scheduled a virtual neighborhood meeting about the project from 6 to 7 p.m. via Zoom. Register for the meeting at this link. Submit comments or questions before the meeting via email to bfoster@morningstarlawgroup.com.
[Nerdspresso] Alligator: The Glorious B-Movie That Lurks Beneath Jaws
Holy crap, people! How have I gone 45 years without ever seeing Alligator? This magnificently low-rent rip-off of Jaws came out in 1980 and has been lurking in the swamps of pay cable, VHS, DVD, and streaming for more than four decades. It’s just been waiting for me to unearth it on Amazon Prime under a prompt that said “Other films you might like…” It was a revelation.
Watch Episode 12 of Nerdspresso Phase II: Amity Means Friendship!
You get me, Prime. I feel seen. Okay, it’s not like I didn’t know about this cult monster movie Alligator. I remember some guys in junior high talking about it during home room. They referenced the premise about a baby pet alligator that gets flushed down a toilet and then matures to monstrous adulthood. It survives by consuming dead lab animals that have been injected with some super growth hormone and then discarded into the sewers.
Read more from Jeff Stanford in Southpoint Access!
Check out government meeting reels gathered by Southpoint Access with assistance from SeeGov!
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:
🥇 Cheapest Grocery Store in South Durham This Week
Walmart stays on top with the lowest overall basket price: $52.68, followed closely by Target ($54.12) and Food Lion ($55.10).
Crime Snapshot: South Durham (Sept. 21 – 27, 2025)
Vehicle-related crimes once again topped police reports for the week of Sept. 21-27, with 11 incidents logged across neighborhoods, according to police data.
Clusters of motor vehicle burglaries were reported in multi-family and hotel areas along Emerald Forest Drive, Malvern Road, Mayruth Drive, and Farrington Road. In addition, three vehicles were stolen – two from Birmi Drive and one from Exchange Place.
Violent crimes included six assaults and robberies, highlighted by a robbery on NC Highway 55 and aggravated assaults on Loyal Avenue and Meadowrun Drive.
Property crimes spanned both homes and businesses, with residential burglaries on Emerald Forest Drive, Cascade Falls Lane, and Calibre Park Drive, while Highway 54 East and West saw three commercial break-ins.
Fraud and forgery remained steady, appearing at convenience stores, banks, and online, with reports from Fayetteville Road, NC Highway 54, South Alston Avenue, and Somerdale Drive (cyberspace).
A Taste of Greece Returns to South Durham – With a Global Twist
Mark your calendars and bring your appetite – A Taste of Greece returns this October to St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church just off Highway 54 in South Durham. This much-loved cultural and culinary event is more than just a weekend of great food – it’s a celebration of tradition, community, and compassion.
Under the festive outdoor dining tent, guests can enjoy authentic Greek dishes like moussaka, souvlaki, spanakopita, and gyro plates, along with an irresistible lineup of scrumptious desserts – think baklava, koulourakia, and loukoumades. If you’re on the go, takeout is available, and the Taverna will be pouring a curated selection of Greek wines and beers to complete the experience.
This year, a portion of all proceeds will support Ukrainian relief efforts, adding a meaningful dimension to every purchase.
Read more in Southpoint Access!
Author: Wes Platt
Lead storyteller. Game designer and journalist. Recovering Floridian. Email: southpointaccessnews@gmail.com.
