Apex Friendship Middle School's Matin Maani, a 7th grade social studies teacher, has been named Wake County's 2026 Teacher of the Year.
I especially appreciated his comments about helping students engage with difficult topics thoughtfully, with both heart and intellect. That's the kind of teaching students remember.
Congratulations to Mr. Maani and Apex Friendship Middle.
The FBI is now seeking nationwide, near-real-time access to license plate reader data.
Here’s the link:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/fbi-seeks-us-wide-access-to-license-plate-cameras-wants-data-in-near-real-time/
This is the whole Flock issue in plain English.
Apex was told this was local. Limited. Controlled by APD. Not shared with federal agencies. They lied and are still lying to us.
Meanwhile, the FBI is openly trying to buy access to the same kind of ALPR data at national scale. Which firms? Flock and Motorola.
So when Apex records show two unnamed federal organizations connected in March, that is not a side issue. That is the red flag.
Local cameras become regional data. Regional data becomes national access. And residents get told not to worry because it is “just license plates" and they are "catching criminals".
No. It is movement history.
Apex needs to name the federal agencies, release the sharing logs, publish the policy, and explain why APD’s public statements do not match the records.
More here: https://deflockapex.org/
Family is moving to NC and we’re excited. One of us will work in Chapel Hill (and has strong preferences for Carrboro living, but we're realistic) and the other near Cary. We have a kid going into kindergarten. We always heard that the quality of CHCCS schools was outstanding but when comparing Carrboro Elementary (for example) with schools in Cary and Apex, the math and reading proficiency are concerning. I'm sure we're missing more context, but also keep hearing about the enrollment cliff and young families not being able to afford housing in the CHCCS area being a concern. What are people's real thoughts about the quality of elementary schools in CHCCS and in comparison with areas like Cary, Apex, and others we may not be considering right now. Much appreciated. We plan to find a rental first year but would love genuine feedback on this as we look forward to saving for buying a house at some point.
Hide your kids hide your wives, it’s an epidemic. Ticks as big as yer arm out in the open.
Saw this happy boi just chillin on the pathway between Ionna and Tunstall and he wasn’t moving for nobody
A quick Apex budget update: the numbers are still moving.
The original draft budget included a larger property tax increase. After our most recent work session, and after a few of my suggestions were integrated, including increased fund balance use and targeted departmental trims, staff has moved the working draft down to about a 3-cent increase.
At the next budget workshop on May 21, the Town Manager is expected to bring Council more options, including scenarios around 2 cents, 1.75 cents, and 0 cents. The final baseline rate has not been decided yet.
Council will review what is included or removed under each option. We may also vote individual adjustments in or out. Because of that, the public hearing has been moved to June 9, pending the May 21 discussion.
A 0-cent option likely means no meaningful service expansions, including no new APD officers and no increase in vehicle replacements. It may still be an option Council reviews, but residents should understand the tradeoff.
I proposed asking staff to analyze a 1.75-cent option because residents deserve to see a serious alternative before Council settles on a final number. My goal was to reduce the tax impact while preserving key priorities.
That means looking at vacancy timing, delays or reorganizations of unfilled positions, limited fund balance use, operating reductions, software costs, revenue assumptions, and fee schedules.
Lowering the rate reduces the immediate impact on residents. At the same time, every reduction has to come from somewhere: staffing, equipment, maintenance, infrastructure planning, programs, or other town needs.
Residents should not have to decode a budget spreadsheet to understand the choices being made. What should Apex fund now, what can wait, and what tax impact is responsible?
I’m planning a Budget Town Hall on May 26 at 6pm to review the decisions made at the May 21 work session and get one more round of input before the June 9 budget hearing. More details coming soon.
Apex Peakway Southwest Connector is in construction and remains on track.
Recent work includes 20-inch waterline construction along S. Salem Street, bridge approach slabs, curb, gutter, and sidewalks along Peakway/Grappenhall/Towhee, testing for traffic signal pole foundations, and brick pavers.
Next up: completing the waterline work along S. Salem Street, continuing bridge approach slabs, installing barrier rail on the bridge, and traffic signal pole foundations.
This is a big one, and the aerial view helps show the scale of the work underway.
Trails in apex are teaming with wildlife, esp near streams and other waterbodies. I had the best experience here recently.
Just another of the myriad ways flock can impede on someone’s liberty…
It’s always fun and games until it’s you or a loved one.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXozEtAkYnM/?igsh=MXFrenNvd2FuZnoz
Be prepared to be pissed off, folks.
Apex PD told us Flock was 10 cameras and local control. The records tell a very different story.
Well, we finally got a batch of Flock records back from Apex PD through a public records request. And the chief was clearly lying.
I've been reading through them. I need you to understand what's in here.
At the January 29 work session, the Chief looked at Council and said, quote: "We do not share with federal entities. Hard stop." He named FBI, DHS, and ICE specifically.
Here's what a March 2026 Flock sharing snapshot shows for Apex NC PD:
994 agencies. For a town that told us this was a limited local tool with 10 cameras and 30-day retention.
And then April's snapshot? 1,070 sharing relationships. And the federal field now says "No Federal."
So two federal agencies were there in March. By April, gone. No explanation. No public disclosure. No Council vote.
I need someone to explain that to me. Because either the Chief's assurance was wrong, or the March snapshot was wrong, or someone quietly changed the settings after people started asking questions. None of those answers are okay.
That's not all.
The records show MacGregor Downs Country Club shared its private Flock cameras with Apex PD. That means a private entity owns the camera and police get searchable access to the footage. That was never part of the public conversation about "10 cameras."
There are also records showing outside agencies sharing custom hot lists with Apex-connected users, including WakeMed Campus PD. Hot lists are the watch lists that trigger alerts when a plate is scanned. Who approved those? What are the criteria? Nobody told us.
This was sold to Apex as a few cameras to help solve car break-ins. What it actually is: a searchable surveillance network connecting Apex PD to over a thousand organizations, with private cameras feeding in, outside hot lists triggering alerts, and a federal-sharing question that still doesn't have an answer.
I don't care where you fall on the politics. This is a transparency problem. Residents were given one story. The records show something different. Council needs to demand a full accounting before any renewal or expansion.
I'm building out deflockapex.org with the findings and will be posting the source documents so anyone can read them. The site has every Council member's contact info and pre-drafted emails if you want to do something about it.
No renewal. No expansion. Shut this down now.
UPDATE: All documents are uploaded to the site.
Another capital projects update: Apex's wayfinding signage project is moving from design review toward construction.
Council approved the PGA Construction contract on April 28. The Notice of Award was sent April 29, and the tentative Phase 1 schedule has fabrication and installation running from June through December 2026.
The practical goal is simple: make it easier for residents and visitors to find parking, public destinations, downtown businesses, bike routes, and pedestrian connections.
Apex is growing, and that means the Town has to keep making real choices about roads, parks, public safety, utilities, downtown, greenways, and how we pay for it all.
So I’m curious:
What’s one Town investment you think would make the biggest difference in your day-to-day life?
Could be a sidewalk gap. A safer intersection. More shade at a park. Faster permitting. Better traffic signal timing. A greenway connection. Something else entirely.
Anyone in this sub familiar with Apex history?
There used to be a bar on the corner of S Hughes and E Williams St.
Along with this bar was a small row of townhome style homes.
And at the end of Herbert St, which is just off S Hughes, there was a house at the end of Herbert St. It was owned by the guy who owned the bar.
All of these houses/bar appear to have been torn down.
Google maps can't even view the end of the street (Herbert) where the house used to be, it stops at the house before.
I have no idea what the name of the bar was or who the owner was, but I lived in that house on Herbert St in the mid 90s.
Anyone been around a while and know what I'm talking about?
My husband and I are considering a home currently assigned to Apex Middle and Apex High. Our son will be in 5th grade next year, so we have one more year in elementary, and I fully understand about the school districts frequently being re-assigned, and have done a lot of research on the area schools, but assuming nothing changes, that’s where he would attend. My concern is that I haven’t seen a whole lot of positive input on these two schools. I get that, in general, they’re fine academically, but the little information I’ve found (including the NC teacher survey) has me concerned that bullying and fights among students might be a problem there. I recognize that these are common problems and everyone has a different experience, but I guess I’m hoping to hear what the general reputation of the school is from people already living in the area. All thoughts appreciated!
Looking for somebody around Apex/Cary for basic grass cutting sometime this week. Yard’s gotten a little overgrown and I haven’t really had time to deal with it lately.
Not as frequent as they used to be, but we still see them.
On a somewhat related note... looks like he locked down his vanity subreddit to mod-approved posts only. And of course he's the only mod 🙃
Time for Apex to follow suit.
(Alternate title: the town divestment that would make the biggest improvement to my quality of life)
Pittsboro canceled their Flock contract early! https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/counties/chatham-county/article315723217.html
Also, why doesn’t Apex have a transparency portal for this like Pittsboro, Cary, etc?
