Lena Geller
@writingthings.bsky.social
staff writer @indyweek.bsky.social
Pinned
Reposted by Lena Geller
If you think the origins of a pipe cannot make for compelling investigative reporting, boy do I have a story for you
A Stormwater Pipe Is Destroying Her Home. Who’s Responsible?
Mandy McGhee bought her Walltown home through a program designed to help low-income buyers build generational wealth. But a stormwater pipe that’s been eroding her foundation for years is putting that...
indyweek.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
If you think the origins of a pipe cannot make for compelling investigative reporting, boy do I have a story for you
A Durham woman’s foundation is collapsing after 28 years of erosion from a stormwater pipe.
The city shares ownership of the pipe. A local nonprofit sold her the house. Who’s responsible? (for @indyweek.bsky.social)
The city shares ownership of the pipe. A local nonprofit sold her the house. Who’s responsible? (for @indyweek.bsky.social)
A Stormwater Pipe Is Destroying Her Home. Who’s Responsible?
Mandy McGhee bought her Walltown home through a program designed to help low-income buyers build generational wealth. But a stormwater pipe that’s been eroding her foundation for years is putting that...
indyweek.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
A Durham woman’s foundation is collapsing after 28 years of erosion from a stormwater pipe.
The city shares ownership of the pipe. A local nonprofit sold her the house. Who’s responsible? (for @indyweek.bsky.social)
The city shares ownership of the pipe. A local nonprofit sold her the house. Who’s responsible? (for @indyweek.bsky.social)
spent a week digging through Durham candidates' campaign finance reports. some hadn't filed reports until I asked:
Digging Through Durham Candidates’ Campaign Finance Reports
Missing data, top donors, how candidates are spending their money, and more.
indyweek.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
spent a week digging through Durham candidates' campaign finance reports. some hadn't filed reports until I asked:
Following the INDY's investigation into Yes for Durham, all four candidates the group endorsed have publicly rejected its support
Candidates Distance Themselves from Yes for Durham Following INDY Report
Candidates endorsed by Yes for Durham committed to not accept any money from the group, which has yet to disclose its leadership.
indyweek.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Following the INDY's investigation into Yes for Durham, all four candidates the group endorsed have publicly rejected its support
Scoop: A brand new nonprofit endorsing Durham candidates hasn’t disclosed its leadership—but initially listed an endorsed candidate’s husband’s property as its address, and mirrors her campaign messaging
Anonymous Durham Political Group Has Ties to Candidate It Endorsed
Yes for Durham made candidate endorsements. But the group, which hasn’t disclosed its leadership, has ties to one endorsed candidate.
indyweek.com
September 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Scoop: A brand new nonprofit endorsing Durham candidates hasn’t disclosed its leadership—but initially listed an endorsed candidate’s husband’s property as its address, and mirrors her campaign messaging
the East Durham glory hole/Jesus banner mystery has been solved
Who's Coming to This East Durham Storefront? At Last, an Answer About an Eye-Catching Banner
After 15 years in downtown Durham, Dame’s Chicken & Waffles is relocating to 455 South Driver Street in East Durham.
indyweek.com
September 1, 2025 at 8:41 PM
the East Durham glory hole/Jesus banner mystery has been solved
I spent time with Chapel Hill residents whose home flooded during Tropical Storm Chantal. They're trapped in a house no one will buy, watching luxury apartments rise upstream while their land erodes beneath them.
They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, the Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
indyweek.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I spent time with Chapel Hill residents whose home flooded during Tropical Storm Chantal. They're trapped in a house no one will buy, watching luxury apartments rise upstream while their land erodes beneath them.
Reposted by Lena Geller
This is an area near us. In America now, make one serious mistake and unless you have wealth or a needed skill you are done. Happily we are higher than them; and about the highest house on our street. FEMA, I think, has bought endangered houses and destroyed them; no more.
They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
indyweek.com
August 16, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This is an area near us. In America now, make one serious mistake and unless you have wealth or a needed skill you are done. Happily we are higher than them; and about the highest house on our street. FEMA, I think, has bought endangered houses and destroyed them; no more.
Reposted by Lena Geller
Read this story! (by @writingthings.bsky.social)
They Can’t Sell. They Can’t Stay. From a Chapel Hill Floodway, The Future Looks Grim.
For Lou Horton and her husband, Chantal was a singular catastrophe and the yearslong culmination of watching their situation grow more precarious.
indyweek.com
August 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Read this story! (by @writingthings.bsky.social)
Reposted by Lena Geller
From @writingthings.bsky.social: Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family, his daughter Loretta the former U.S. attorney general. Now tenants of his derelict properties are mired in a legal dispute with the family.
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
A Legacy in Limbo
Loretta Lynch's father Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family. Now tenants of his derelict properties and the family are in a legal dispute.
www.theassemblync.com
August 14, 2025 at 10:19 PM
From @writingthings.bsky.social: Rev. Lorenzo Lynch Sr. was the patriarch of a prominent Durham family, his daughter Loretta the former U.S. attorney general. Now tenants of his derelict properties are mired in a legal dispute with the family.
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Reposted by Lena Geller
a hilarious and slightly unsettling story about an opulent drink deserves an opulent lede (@writingthings.bsky.social 🦀)
August 14, 2025 at 8:09 PM
a hilarious and slightly unsettling story about an opulent drink deserves an opulent lede (@writingthings.bsky.social 🦀)
Reposted by Lena Geller
Even if you already heard about a Holly Springs bar trying to break the world record for largest Bloody Mary, you should read @indyweek.bsky.social's version bc a) you should read everything Lena @writingthings.bsky.social writes and b) no one else was behind the scenes for this behemoth's creation.
“You can put this in print: we wanted to put our foot in their ass,” says Paul Walters, Alexis’s husband. “That way, next time somebody wants to step up, they just have to pull us out.”
A Private Investigator, 34 Texans, and an $8,887 Bloody Mary Walk Into a Holly Springs Bar
Last week, a group of out-of-towners traveled to local restaurant The Blind Pelican with ambitions of breaking multiple world records.
indyweek.com
August 14, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Even if you already heard about a Holly Springs bar trying to break the world record for largest Bloody Mary, you should read @indyweek.bsky.social's version bc a) you should read everything Lena @writingthings.bsky.social writes and b) no one else was behind the scenes for this behemoth's creation.
Reposted by Lena Geller
the New Yorker just published a comprehensive piece on Trump's "No Tax, No Tips" wolfe-in-sheeps-clothing proposal. From June, here's @writingthings.bsky.social's interview with Triangle chef Cheetie Kumar about her work trying to amend the legislation and push for fairer policies.
Restaurant Owner Cheetie Kumar Wants Congress to Amend "No Tax on Tips" Proposal
The vice president of the Independent Restaurant Coalition breaks down the policies she believes will most benefit restaurant workers.
indyweek.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
the New Yorker just published a comprehensive piece on Trump's "No Tax, No Tips" wolfe-in-sheeps-clothing proposal. From June, here's @writingthings.bsky.social's interview with Triangle chef Cheetie Kumar about her work trying to amend the legislation and push for fairer policies.
you may have seen ads for Switchyards, a rapidly expanding "work club" chain that's open 24 hours a day. for @indyweek.bsky.social, i wrote about the vanishing line between work and everything else
Durham’s Newest Club Knows You Can’t Clock Out Anymore
Switchyards, a national coworking chain, opens a location in Durham next month. It brands itself as a new kind of office-away-from-home.
indyweek.com
July 28, 2025 at 8:25 PM
you may have seen ads for Switchyards, a rapidly expanding "work club" chain that's open 24 hours a day. for @indyweek.bsky.social, i wrote about the vanishing line between work and everything else
Reposted by Lena Geller
“Richards was struck by how quickly the sense of community dissolved.”
I spoke to two women trapped at a Chapel Hill mall during the flood—one hunkered down in a movie theater until 1am, the other escaped to keep delivering for DoorDash
Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
indyweek.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
“Richards was struck by how quickly the sense of community dissolved.”
I spoke to two women trapped at a Chapel Hill mall during the flood—one hunkered down in a movie theater until 1am, the other escaped to keep delivering for DoorDash
Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
indyweek.com
July 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I spoke to two women trapped at a Chapel Hill mall during the flood—one hunkered down in a movie theater until 1am, the other escaped to keep delivering for DoorDash
Reposted by Lena Geller
Also unsurprisingly @indyweek.bsky.social has excellent coverage.
It was the kind of night that makes you think about your disaster preparedness plan, the women say—and whether to double down on planning or accept that some things are beyond your control.
Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
indyweek.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Also unsurprisingly @indyweek.bsky.social has excellent coverage.
Reposted by Lena Geller
"DoorDash gave her half pay for her delivery attempts. She went home and ate the pizza she’d tried to deliver earlier."
Trapped at the Mall: How Two Women Navigated Chapel Hill’s Flash Flood
As Chapel Hill flooded, a mother at Silverspot Cinema and a DoorDash driver outside faced the same rising water—but made different choices.
indyweek.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:15 AM
"DoorDash gave her half pay for her delivery attempts. She went home and ate the pizza she’d tried to deliver earlier."
wrote about Big Bob's, where business cards for a bail bondsman named "The Rock" sit by the register and the burgers are larger than God
Lunch Money: A Big Burger and Big Surcharge at Big Bob’s
Car quarters, crinkle cut fries, and an ambitious cheeseburger at old-school restaurant Big Bob's in Hillsborough.
indyweek.com
June 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
wrote about Big Bob's, where business cards for a bail bondsman named "The Rock" sit by the register and the burgers are larger than God
new for @indyweek.bsky.social: the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, which owns & oversees nearly 500 acres of protected lands in Durham, has quietly dissolved
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association Dissolves Amid Turnover
The environmental nonprofit, which oversees nearly 500 acres of protected land in Durham, is undergoing restructuring after dissolving in January.
indyweek.com
June 13, 2025 at 7:38 PM
new for @indyweek.bsky.social: the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, which owns & oversees nearly 500 acres of protected lands in Durham, has quietly dissolved
well, this is surreal!
June 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
well, this is surreal!
made it into The New York Times for being a trash goblin
June 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
made it into The New York Times for being a trash goblin
Reposted by Lena Geller
Not only did @writingthings.bsky.social write this story I've wanted to read a version of for years, she made much more of it than I could have imagined indyweek.com/culture/duke...
I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
indyweek.com
May 31, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Not only did @writingthings.bsky.social write this story I've wanted to read a version of for years, she made much more of it than I could have imagined indyweek.com/culture/duke...
Reposted by Lena Geller
My sister, writing about the fortunes that Duke Students throw out after every semester.
The first time I went down there, last week, I noticed something neon in a tote bag and pulled out $395 Balenciaga slides. Nearby were $980 Valentino sneakers—worn, but definitely wearable.
I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
indyweek.com
May 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
My sister, writing about the fortunes that Duke Students throw out after every semester.
Over the past few weeks, I salvaged $6,000 worth of luxury goods Duke students threw away in my apartment building—Balenciaga slides, Valentino sneakers, barely-used Lululemon. In trying to make sense of it all, I made spreadsheets and cried:
I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students. Why Did It Make Me Feel So Terrible?
At the end of the school year, a lot gets tossed by Duke students at my downtown Durham apartment building. This year I decided to dive in.
indyweek.com
May 27, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Over the past few weeks, I salvaged $6,000 worth of luxury goods Duke students threw away in my apartment building—Balenciaga slides, Valentino sneakers, barely-used Lululemon. In trying to make sense of it all, I made spreadsheets and cried: