Durham · Chapel Hill · Raleigh · September 13, 2026

Freeze-Dried Ice Cream in East Durham, 60 Car Break-Ins in Chapel Hill, and Sculpture Season Opens

⚡ Quick Hits

  • 🍦 Pierce Freelon is opening a freeze-dried ice cream company in East Durham.
  • 🚗 Chapel Hill police counted about 60 vehicle break-ins early Saturday morning.
  • 🗿 The Botanical Garden's 38th sculpture show opens today in Chapel Hill.

First Up

Pierce Freelon has served on the Durham City Council, picked up a Grammy nomination, and founded Blackspace. His next act is freeze-dried ice cream. Coco Fro is going into an East Durham building that was a church, then a coffee shop, then vacant, and the name is a triple play — coconut cream, freeze-dried, Afrofuturism. He wants a clean-label, dairy-free version nobody is selling yet, with the business underwriting a safe space for neighborhood kids.

📰 Around the Triangle

  • Durham City Council backed tenants' rights: the council passed a resolution supporting renters, ahead of the policy fights that follow. (INDY Week)
  • Hillside's marching band is raising money for the Sugar Bowl: the Durham high school got the invitation — now it needs the airfare. (9th Street Journal)
  • About 60 cars were broken into in Chapel Hill early Saturday: police tracked the 3 to 4:30 a.m. spree along major routes including Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Raleigh counted 25 more near a Brier Creek hotel the same night. (ABC11)
  • A Chapel Hill nonprofit bought its own building: the space becomes a new B3 Clubhouse, so the program stops renting and starts planning. (Chapelboro)
  • NC State told Salvadoran staff not to work, then reversed course: the university walked it back after confusion over federal immigration status. (INDY Week)
  • The Cary pastor held by ICE has been released: Gabriel Johnson, 55, is moving to a 24-hour rehabilitation hospital for medical treatment, his family said. (WRAL)

📅 Plan Your Week

🎺 Sunday, September 13 (Today)

  • Honduran Independence Festival: 1515 N Pointe Drive, Durham, 3 to 8 p.m. Hondureños Unidos NC throws the party. Free, $5 donation suggested. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Bull City Treasure Hunt: Durham Bottling Company, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Forty-plus small businesses in one curated market. (Details)
  • Sculpture in the Garden opens: North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill. The 38th edition scatters sculpture through the beds and stays up until December 6. Free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

🎬 Monday, September 14

  • Ackland Film Forum: "Z": The Lumina Theater, Chapel Hill, 7:30 p.m. Costa-Gavras's 1969 thriller about an assassination in broad daylight and the investigation that follows. Free, but reserve a ticket. (Details)

🔭 Tuesday, September 15

  • Views from the Durham: The Durham Hotel roof, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Morehead Planetarium educators bring telescopes for a waxing crescent moon and Venus, DJ Skylan brings the music. Free, all ages. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Grito de Independencia: Consulate General of Mexico, Raleigh, 7 p.m. The Consulate marks Mexican independence on the night Hispanic Heritage Month begins. Free. (Details)

🪕 Wednesday, September 16

  • Duke Arts at American Tobacco: Kaia Kater: American Tobacco Campus, Durham, 6:30 p.m. The JUNO-winning banjo player opens a free series curated by Tift Merritt, on the stage under the Lucky Strike water tower. Bring a chair. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

🍿 Thursday, September 17

  • "I Love Boosters" with Boots Riley: Rubenstein Arts Center Film Theater, Durham, 1:30 p.m. The Sorry to Bother You director screens his new film and stays for the panel. Free, first come, first served, rated R. (Details)

🔥 Friday, September 18

  • Iron Heroes and Iron Pour Kickoff: Liberty Arts Foundry at Durham Central Park, 6 to 9 p.m. Ten years of the Iron Pour, and you can learn to make a "bott" from sand, clay, and sawdust. Free, all ages with a grown-up. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Sensory-Friendly Science Night: Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill, 6 to 8 p.m. A whole evening of the museum adjusted for sensory sensitivities. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)

🎸 Saturday, September 19

  • 919 Day at The Corner: Centennial Campus, Raleigh, gates at 5 p.m., music at 6. Live bands and local food for a city celebrating its own area code. Free. 👨‍👩‍👧 (Details)
  • Coffee with FRANK: FRANK Gallery, Chapel Hill. The monthly slow morning with coffee and pastries provided. Free. (Details)

That's a sliver of what's out there. The whole list lives on the calendar, and it keeps going well into fall.

💬 Heard Around Town

  • Cary adopted an 18-month pause on new data centers, the longest in the Triangle, while it studies water, grid capacity, and noise. Apex and Holly Springs have paused too. (Thread)
  • Three million eggs are landing at North Carolina food banks, free to anyone who needs them. (Thread)
  • A note from NCCU to everyone who runs and walks the campus: the lawns are a point of pride there, so the sidewalks are the polite route. (Thread)

🏡 Triangle Pulse

📊 Stat of the brief: A Durham home took a median 61 days to sell in August, up 17.3% from a year ago and the sharpest slowdown of any Triangle county. (Realtor.com research data, August 2026)

Before You Go

The dog someone left in a Durham dumpster has a home. He's named Kingston now, and he was adopted this week. (WRAL)

🧠 Brain break: today's Daily Fury is live. Five questions, the same five for everyone. Defend the Triangle's honor.

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