Water Damage Restoration in Holly Springs, NC

With the Triangle being one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, there’s a decent chance that some of you reading this might be fairly new to the area.

But even if you’re not — even if you’ve lived here all or most of your life — we hope you’ll still find our exploration of life in the Triangle both useful and fun: the college basketball fandom, the crazy road construction, the unpredictable weather, the delicious food, the critters (oh, our copperhead snake obsession!).

In this first package, we’ll give a general overview of life in the Triangle and talk a little about the geography of the place and getting around. In future installments, we’ll look at weather, food, things to do and getaways.

We want to be your source for navigating life in the Triangle and in North Carolina.

Traditionally, the area we meant when we’d say Triangle (and we’ll say it a lot) included all of the towns in Wake, Durham and Orange counties. But thanks to tremendous growth in recent years, that area now includes towns in Johnston and Chatham counties.

The term first came about because of Research Triangle Park (RTP), a research park founded in 1959 and named because of its location in the center of three major university towns: Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill (in Wake, Durham and Orange counties, respectively).

The 7,000-acre RTP is the largest research park in the United States, and home to hundreds of companies. It may even be why some of you moved here.

You know where you didn’t move to? Raleigh-Durham.

We can blame Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) for training the world to call our area Raleigh-Durham, but we don’t like it. At all.

If you use that term with someone who lives in Raleigh or Durham, you’ll likely get a dead-eye stare and a reply along the lines of: “Oh you live at the airport, huh? Good for you.”

So remember, you can either live in Raleigh or Durham. You don’t live in Raleigh-Durham.

Wake County is the largest and most populous county in the Triangle. It has a lot of towns, so let’s get oriented.

Let’s imagine Wake County as being shaped (very roughly) like a bunny in profile, facing right.

Hear me out.

As we outline the bunny, the ears are Falls Lake, with Wake Forest on top of the head and Rolesville at the eyes. Zebulon is its nose. Wendell would be the bunny mouth, and Knightdale just west in its throat. Fuquay-Varina sits near the bunny’s back feet and Harris Lake at the fluffy tail. Along the back, about where you might pat the bunny, you’ll have Apex and Morrisville.

We’re going to say Cary is the bunny’s lungs and Garner is its stomach (I’m not a vet). We can argue later about exactly where Holly Springs sits (we’re so sorry, Holly Springs, this got away from us) – but Raleigh is at the heart.

I could keep going with this, explaining how Durham sits behind the bunny’s ears, Chapel Hill at its back and Clayton just under its chest, but I’m sure by now everyone is begging me to stop (or begging me to seek help).

Here’s a quick look at the other counties:

Our hope is that wherever you live in the Triangle, you’ll branch out and get to know the other towns. They all have something interesting to offer.

On Twitter: Follow local reporters to keep track of city, county and state happenings:

We’re sorry to introduce controversy so soon in our getting-to-know-you process, but the realities of life in the Triangle mean you’re gonna have to pick some teams.

Your first team will be pig-related.

In North Carolina, you must decide if you’re on the eastern NC barbecue team, or if you prefer western NC barbecue. Eastern NC barbecue is traditionally a whole-hog style of barbecue, with a vinegar-based sauce. Western NC barbecue has a ketchup-based sauce.

We’ll get much more into barbecue (and burgers and biscuits and breweries — all the best Bs) later, but for now, just know that it’s OK if, after all your research into North Carolina barbecue, you decide you like them both. We do.

Oh yes, if you’re vegan, our best advice is to turn down any invitations you receive with the words “pig-picking” in them.

The next team you’ll need to pick will be an actual team.

The Triangle is home to some really amazing colleges — and some great college sports teams. At some point, you’ll have to decide if you’re going to pull for Duke, NC State or UNC.

If you didn’t attend one of these schools and you didn’t move here to work at one of them, you might pick your allegiance based on proximity. You might also get attached to a team because you like a coach’s personality, or you like to root for an underdog. Bandwagon-fanning is also OK.

However you make your decision, make it. It may seem silly now, but when the ACC and NCAA tournaments roll around each March and the porch flags start flying, it will all make sense.

We have professional teams here, too – the Carolina Hurricanes (NHL), the NC Courage (professional women’s soccer) and the Durham Bulls (Triple A baseball) to name a few, but we all mostly agree to love those teams without fistfights. (Also, we’ll talk more about sports in another installment where we detail things to do in the Triangle.)

Depending on what area of the country or world you moved here from, it might take you a while to get accustomed to some Southern accents and sayings you’ll hear.

Some of it may already be familiar, like the word “y’all.”

“Y’all” is pretty well accepted all over now (it means “you all” and the contraction goes just after the y). It’s a brilliant and extremely useful word. It’s familiar, it’s friendly and it’s gender-inclusive. Use it often.

A very useful extension of “y’all” is “all y’all,” which means “every last one of you” — as in “All y’all can take that ketchup-y barbecue back to Lexington where it belongs!” Or “Are all y’all going to the Carolina game today?”

Also, if there’s a cold snap and someone tells you to put on your toboggan (pronounced TOE-boggan), don’t reach for a sled. They mean a knit cap (ski cap, beanie, what have you). Don’t argue about it, just accept it.

We’re also particular about how we pronounce place names around here.

It’s “Rah-lee,” not “Raw-lee” or “Rally.” It’s “Durm,” not “Dur-ham.”

The tiny community of Bahama, north of Durham, is pronounced Ba-HAY-ma. And the Raleigh neighborhood Mordecai is pronounced “Mor-da-KEY.”

And this might be controversial, but as a born-and-bred native North Carolinian, I can promise you that “bless your heart”/”bless their heart” is not always meant as a passive-aggressive insult. It’s all about context, folks, and it can mean a lot of things.

There are many times you’ll see a true Southerner receive sad news about a friend or neighbor and mutter “bless their heart” with genuine anguish in their soul. But because this truth is less funny than saying “bless your heart” is always a put-down, I expect exactly no one to believe this.

We need to talk about snakes.

You’re going to see them – in your yard, in your garden, on the sidewalk, in trees (hopefully not inside your house, but maybe) – and nearly all of them are totally harmless. (It’s hardly worth mentioning 2021’s escaped spitting zebra cobra, right? Right.)

In this part of North Carolina, the snake you’ll need to exercise caution around is the copperhead. It’s the most prevalent venomous snake in the state and we see a lot of them in this area. We’re kind of obsessed with them.

You can usually distinguish a copperhead because of its distinctive Hershey’s Kiss-shaped markings.

But herpetologists want to assure us that they won’t bite unless they feel threatened, so if you see one, just leave it alone. Walk away. Cede the space.

The bite, though painful (and sometimes expensive to treat), is almost never fatal to adult humans. But be extra careful walking your dog or taking out the garbage in flip-flops at night.

We could literally go on and on about copperheads, but instead, we’ll refer you to our big story on what to know about copperheads, and our guide to spotting all six of North Carolina’s venomous snakes.

While we’re talking critters you could encounter, you should familiarize yourself with coyotes and foxes, the occasional harmless (except to your garbage cans) black bear, and ticks and spiders. Oh, and there are a handful of poisonous plants that can make your life miserable.

And be nice to the squirrels.

There’s more to come in our Triangle Living series. On May 11, we’ll continue our look at life in the Triangle with stories about food and weather. On June 1, we’ll look at things to do in the Triangle and the best day trips and getaways.

This story was originally published April 27, 2022 6:00 AM.

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) -- It was the first in-person open house about the Complete 540 project since before the pandemic. While construction never ceased, anticipation has only grown about the eventual completion of this end of Raleigh's Outer Loop. The Q&A United Methodist Church had residents from Garner, Fuquay-Varina and here in Holly Springs clamoring for information.

"The part going towards the airport, it'll be a quicker route. And going to RTP will be a quicker route," said Apex resident Raj Selvaraj, excited about the convenience.

Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie was on hand alongside engineers from NCDOT and town staff. Mayefskie talked up the importance of the massive 540 interchange that's going up now at Kildaire Farm Road and the soon-to-be widened and modernized Holly Springs Road.

"New restaurants, new shops, new commercial -- it's a big deal," the mayor said. "You're going to hear it a lot. This is going to be our new gateway. This is gonna be a big part of the puzzle, a new piece to the town."

More than 100 residents turned out for the open house about the ongoing effort to connect 540 at Highway 55 to Interstate 40 near U.S. 70 in Clayton. Construction began in 2019.

"We're very pleased with the turnout. We're hearing a lot of questions about progress; when are we going to be finished," said Dennis Jernigan, deputy chief engineer at NC DOT Turnpike Authority.

Brittany McClain had a separate question.

"My question is what are y'all doing for the people that are potentially gonna be displaced? Because we built this community," asked the seventh-generation Holly Springs native. "My mom was born on the road I'm talking about. And so I just want to get some answers and a clear vision of what they're trying to do for us."

Back at the maps lining every window in the church auxiliary room, Jernigan and his team were there to help to put fears like McClain's to rest.

"So, anybody whose property was going to be affected is already aware of that. And that process is well behind us," Jernigan said of the years-long process to acquire and purchase private properties affected by the construction.

This weekend, a major stretch of Holly Springs Road will be shut down by the NCDOT so crews can work on the realignment of Kildaire Farm Road.

Construction on this phase of the Complete 540 project is expected to wrap up by spring 2024.

SAINT HELENA ISLAND, S.C. – Garrett Risner is tied for seventh and leading Elon University men's golf as the team played the opening round of the 2022 CAA Championship on Sunday, April 24. This year's conference tournament is being played at the par-72, 6787-yard Cotton Dike Course at Dataw Island Club.

"We got off to a good start all in all," said head coach Don Hill. "A few careless bogies on the second hole from just off the green, but certainly in a positive spot early in the round. Unfortunately the par-5 seventh hole kicked us in the teeth. Statistically we lead the league in par-5 scoring, but today we played them two over par and the leaders played the par-5s at seven under. And that's the day in a nutshell. It's a razor thin margin but that's golf. Hopefully we will counce back tomorrow and claw our way into contention."

The Phoenix combined for a six-over par 294 and is currently in fifth place in the team standings. College of Charleston is atop the leaderboard with a seven-under 281, UNCW sits in second place with a five-under 283 and Drexel is third with a two-over 290. Delaware is one stroke ahead of the maroon and gold and in fourth place with a five-over 293.

HIGHLIGHTS Risner made two birdies on the front nine and another two on the back nine, finishing the day at two-under par with a 70. The sophomore from Holly Springs, N.C. native is tied for fourth in par-5 scoring with an average of 4.50 and made a team-high 12 putts for par. Bronson Myers shot an even 72 to tie for 13th place and followed Risner with three birdies. Juan Callejo Ropero recorded an eagle on the par-5 third hole and is 25th with a three-over 75. The freshman out of Madrid, Spain added two birdies on the back nine as well as nine pars. William Frodigh started off the day hot as the redshirt senior from Westwood, Mass. carded three straight birdies. He'll head into Day Two tied for 29th at five-over 77. Matthew Doyle turned in a score of seven-over 79 to tie for 38th.

UP NEXT The Phoenix will tee off from the first hole between 9:42-10:30 a.m. on Monday.

2022 CAA Championship April 24-26 | Saint Helena Island, S.C. Team Standings 1. Charleston (281) -7 2. UNCW (283) -5 3. Drexel (290) +2 4. Delaware (293) +5 5. Elon (294) +6 6. Towson (295) +7 7. William & Mary (308) +20 8. Hofstra (318) +30

Elon Individuals T7. Garrett Risner (70) -2 T13. Bronson Myers (72) E 25. Juan Callejo Ropero (75) +3 T29. William Frodigh (77) +5 T38. Matthew Doyle (79) +7

-- ELON --

Wegmans Food Markets has unveiled plans to open a new supermarket in Lake Grove, N.Y., marking its entry in metropolitan New York’s Long Island market.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans said Monday that it has entered into an agreement to buy 8.5 acres of the 28-acre DSW Plaza from Prestige Properties & Development, which will continue to own and operate the rest of the shopping center. The 100,000-square-foot store will be located in the plaza at the corner of Middle County Road and Moriches Road.

Currently, no timetable has been set for the store’s construction and opening, Wegmans reported.

“We are delighted and proud Wegmans has chosen our DSW Plaza Shopping Center for their first location on Long Island,” Sam Shalem, chairman and CEO of New York-based Prestige Properties & Development, said in a statement. “Wegmans is a first-class asset and will be an incredible addition to Lake Grove and the surrounding communities. We look forward

to partnering with Wegmans on this landmark location.”

Wegmans only recently has begun growing its presence in the lucrative metro New York market, which covers parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The company operated a store in Woodbridge Township, N.J., for years before entering New York City with the October 2019 opening of a 74,000-square-foot store at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard development. That was followed by a 121,000-square-foot store opened in August 2020 in Harrison, N.Y., in Westchester County north of Manhattan. And this past July, Wegmans unveiled plans to open its first Manhattan store in the second half of 2023. That store will occupy a former Kmart space at Astor Place in the East Village section.

Communities often lobby Wegmans to locate a store in their area, as the retailer’s supermarkets are widely considered a neighborhood asset.

“Wegmans will be such a positive addition to our village, as it will help rejuvenate all of the retail in the area. The company has a reputation that will bring folks near and far into Lake Grove to do their shopping,” Lake Grove Mayor Robert Scottaline stated. “We are so excited to welcome Wegmans to our beautiful village. We look forward to working together to make a positive impact in the community.”

Last month, Wegmans also announced plans to to open its first Connecticut location with a new store in Norwalk, which will bring the chain into its ninth state. A construction and opening time frame for the 95,000-square-foot, two-level supermarket is pending.

Currently, Wegmans operates 106 supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and North Carolina. In October, Wegmans said it began hiring for its first store in Washington, D.C., an 84,000-square-foot location due to open this summer. Wegmans aims open two other new stores in 2022, including an 81,300-square-foot location this spring in Alexandria, Va., and a full-size store just outside Wilmington, Del. Other future stores listed on the Wegmans website include Rockville, Md.; Holly Springs, N.C.; Yardley, Pa.; and Reston, Va.

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HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WNCN) – All day long, trucks haul garbage into the South Wake Landfill in Holly Springs.

What they bring in can be smelled by Holly Springs neighbors.

“It’s pretty foul at times,” said Carol Barnello. She and her family live behind the landfill. They didn’t realize there would be a problem with the smell coming from it when her daughter bought property.

“There’s been days where it’s been nice outside. You go and sit outside and all you smell is that garbage so it’s just kind of ruins the neighborhood,” she said.

Barnello said some days, the stink can last all day.

Wake County said it has made improvements since 2020 thanks to a new method of covering up the garbage. In December, the County said it received fewer than 100 odor reports.

Barnello said she’s among those still smelling it.

“We need something done with it in order to even stay here,” she said.

The County said it is working on it by making new investments.

“A landfill will have odors. During the day, the working faces are open to accept waste,” said John Roberson, Wake County’s solid waste director.

Roberson said in the next fiscal year, $3.7 million will be spent to address the stink. He expected that will cut odor reports by 30 percent. In the next decade, the county will spend $13 million on resolving the issue.

“When the wind direction is unfavorable, and the various weather factors are fighting against us, that should be the only time we have odor issues,” he explained.

In areas of the landfill that won’t get any new waste for a few years, the county will cover them with a special liner rather than just topping with soil. Roberson said that liner will be more effective in trapping odors.

Roberson said personnel issues and not having the right people or contractors in place made it challenging to make this change sooner. Neighbors hope this new strategy and money will finally be enough.

As Roberson said, the smell will never be 100 percent gone.

If you do smell it, it can reported to the county. The county’s website said those reports are reviewed daily. It’s best to submit your the report of your odor within two hours. Click here to submit an odor report.