Lena Geller

Staff Writer at Freelance

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Articles

Lunch Money: A Big Burger and Big Surcharge at Big Bob’s

1 week ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

I hadn’t planned on visiting Big Bob’s City Grill for this week’s column. I had my sights set on another restaurant. A last-minute Google search, however, revealed some unsettling sanitation information about this other restaurant—a low score paired with details about a non-functioning freezer—that sent me pivoting toward Big Bob’s, a Hillsborough establishment I found while searching online listings.
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association Dissolves Amid Turnover

2 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

The future of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association—and the nearly 500 acres of protected lands it owns and manages—is up in the air after the environmental nonprofit’s dissolution. ECWA’s board voted to dissolve in January after significant staff and leadership turnover and declining organizational capacity, board president Shannon Arata told the INDY. ECWA has not issued any public statement about its dissolution. “It’s a series of events that happened over a number of years,” Arata says.
Restaurant Owner Cheetie Kumar Wants Congress to Amend "No Tax on Tips" Proposal

2 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

When Congress passed the “No Tax on Tips” bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in May, it was vaunted as a rare policy win for service workers. The legislation, supported by both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on the 2024 campaign trail, would allow tipped employees to deduct up to $25,000 in tip income from their federal taxes. The tax break is projected to save eligible workers an average of $1,800 per year.
Durham Residents Arrested While Praying At D.C. Moral Monday Protest

2 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

When police officers approached Suvya Carroll in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda last Monday, her eyes were closed and her hands were raised in prayer. She was among protesters demonstrating against proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits. “I was asking the Lord to just open these people’s eyes who are trying to take this away and have them put themselves in our seats as disabled people,” Carroll says.
“Rock Popera" Musician Mad Gallica Guides Audiences Through the Vortex

3 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

During a three-year period of mysterious sickness that left her largely bedridden, Dylan Louise Linehan discovered something otherworldly.
Lunch Money: Cajun Food and Pleasant Chaos at Imbibe

3 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

Before I even set foot inside Imbibe, my restaurant experience is off to an endearing, slightly chaotic start: While trying to preview the menu on their website, I click a link that inexplicably opens the FaceTime app on my laptop. Imbibe is located just off Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. The restaurant has been through some identity shifts since opening in 2016: at some point, it started incorporating “Rougarou”— “werewolf,” in Cajun French—into its name.
Chapel Hill High Students Walk Into Woods for Palestine Protest Following Dispute with Admin

4 weeks ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

The 50 Chapel Hill High School students who walked out of class Thursday morning and marched across the street, a quarter mile into the woods, to protest what they called the âintensification of Israelâs genocide in Gaza,â wouldâve preferred to stage their demonstration on campus. âWe wanted to work with the administration to hold the walkout on campus and make the event as safe as possible,â says sophomore Finn McElwee.
Buc-ee's Opponents Still Gnawing Away at Mebane's Coming Gas Station

1 month ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

A small group of activists gathered in a Mebane park Tuesday morning to say that their fight against a Buc-ee’s location coming to the town is not over, despite the city council’s approval of the project over a year ago. The gathering was pegged to the release of “Buc-ee’s Burden,” a 34-page report examining the health, environmental, and economic impacts of mega gas stations.
I Salvaged $6,000 of Luxury Items Discarded by Duke Students

1 month ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

I live in an apartment building in downtown Durham that houses more Duke University undergrads than any other category of personâ€”a friend once characterized it as an â€śadult dormâ€ťâ€”so it wasnâ€™t all that surprising when, last week, I found a cute little table in the trash room on my floor. At the end of the school year, a lot gets thrown away. The table was in great condition, amid stacks of linens and unopened boxes of date-nut energy bites.
Lunch Money: A Map of Choices at Yagg Sii Tenn

1 month ago | indyweek.com | Lena Geller

When I walk into Yagg Sii Tenn, an African restaurant in Apex that shares a building with an urgent care center, the dining room is empty, so I take a few minutes to look around. There’s a lot to take in. Tables and chairs are painted with flags from African countries—a visual representation of the restaurant’s pan-African approach rather than focusing on just one cuisine.