Mason, Ethan, Grain & Berry

👋 Good Morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, September 24, 2026 and this is the 90th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

The Peak Weekly is now in the 90s.

But The Peak of Good Living is now in the 60s!

I hope you are able to get outside over these next few days and enjoy this break from the heat.

I have some fun things to do this weekend listed down below, a couple of new businesses opening, and an updated event list for the month of October so you can start planning ahead.

I also want to say hi to Mason and Ethan - my two newest, and very special, subscribers. And with that, let’s get into it!

Miscellaneous Info:

🏆️ Stanley Cup Coming to Apex
Don’t miss your chance to take a photo with the Stanley Cup on Monday, September 28th, from 2pm - 3:30pm at Pleasant Park Field 1. The field opens at 1:30pm. The event will happen rain or shine.

👻 Tour of Frights Applications
The Tour of Frights is an annual program that features Apex homes and business with some of the very best Halloween or fall-themed decorations. The tour is open from October 10-31. If you want your home or business to be included in the Tour of Frights, you can apply here.

📝 Credit by Demonstrated Mastery
Did you know that Wake County Schools allow students to earn high school credits without taking the course if they’re able to prove that they have already mastered it? Applications for non-traditional calendars are open now. Applications for students on traditional calendars open October 5. More details here.

🪇 Latino Arts Festival This Weekend
This Saturday, visit Town Hall Campus for live music and performances, booths featuring Central and South American culture, an Ofrenda Workshop, arts and crafts scavenger hunt, vendor marketplace and food trucks from 3-7pm.

🌱 Grass Clipping Vote Delayed
On Tuesday, Town Council was set to vote on ending the grass clipping collection service. The writing was on the wall that this vote would pass, effectively ending the service on January 1. As Councilmember Mahaffey stated before the meeting, giving us insight as to what his vote would be, “Grass-clipping collection will likely end in Apex on January 1st, 2027.”

Fortunately, Mayor Gilbert listened to the many residents who rely on this service and kept pressing and kept asking questions to see if we had really exhausted all of our options. On Tuesday, Council agreed to delay the vote and to direct Public Works to bring back a more comprehensive report on the information, options and potential impacts. So, at least for now, there is no end date set for collecting grass.

Things to Do This Weekend in Apex:

Today, September 24

🍡 Explore S’more
5:30pm - 7:30pm | Apex Nature Park

🌀 Emergency Preparedness 101
6pm - 8pm | Senior Center

Friday, September 25

🛍️ Mabopane Marketplace
7am - 12pm | 3913 US Hwy 64W 

Saturday, September 26

🧑‍🌾 Apex Farmers Market
8am - 12pm | The Depot

🏍️ 10th Annual Day Behind (handle) Bars
8:30am | Apex PD

🏃‍♀️ Run Club Apex
Meet at 9am | Foxtail Coffee

🛍️ Mabopane Marketplace
10am - 1pm | 3913 US Hwy 64W 

🍂 Fall in Stars Hallow (handmade market)
10:30am - 3:30pm | The Studio

🍻 Peaktoberfest
starts 11am | Southern Peak Brewery

💃 Latino Arts Festival
3pm - 7pm | Town Hall Campus

🎸 Deep 6 Pearl Jam Tribute Band
starts 7pm | TapStation

Local Business Updates

Bear Hands Reopens Saturday
Reopening their (new) doors on September 26th, Bear Hands is back and is making an entire magical weekend out of it. Details here.

Grain & Berry Opening Soon
The superfoods cafe will be opening in Beaver Creek on October 10. From energizing açaí bowls and smoothies to wholesome wraps, salads, and juices - Grain & Berry uses real ingredients and makes everything fresh to order.

Civic News:

👀 One to Keep an Eye on
On October 13, a rezoning application will be in front of the Town Council to vote on. This is Rezoning #25CZ24, referred to as North Salem Street Mixed-Use PUD. This is a 32-acre plot of land that is planned, upon rezoning approval, for 285 homes, 175 townhomes and commercial space. This land is already partially zoned for high density. The re-zoning request is essentially asking for a larger area of that land to be high density. Many residents have been speaking out online and at the planning board meeting with concerns about traffic and stormwater impacts (the proposed pond draining and tree removal). Definitely one to keep an eye on and to share any concerns you may have with Town Council members.

I feel so bad for the wildlife in Apex man. Just bulldozing trees like it’s nothing. We can sue a woman for solving a school parking issue, we can spend time writing UDO changes to allow data centers but could we do something about Apex being one of the fastest towns in Wake County to destroy its tree canopy?

🌳 Speaking of Needing Responsible Development…
The Town of Apex has a Council Committee called the Responsible Development Committee. That’s great. With rapid development in Apex, we need a committee focused on how we continue to move forward responsibly.

Here’s my concern. The Chair of that Committee is Terry Mahaffey. And Mahaffey’s largest political donor is the NC Realtor Political Action Committee. They explain their purpose like this: “The sole purpose of NC REALTORS® PAC is to help elect real estate-friendly candidates to public office.”

And their goals like this: “…to enact legislation that protects the real estate industry, current and future homeowners, the real estate-based economy and private property rights.”

Realtor PACs typically advocate for policies that benefit the real estate industry, which often means promoting more development, faster zoning approvals, and fewer building restrictions. I’m just asking the question. Should an elected official endorsed by the NC Realtors PAC - who is pro-development - be in charge of a committee whose purpose is supposed to be regulating growth?

📹️ Did Apex Flock Cameras Get Hacked?
That’s what the Apex Police Chief wants to know. On April 14, 2026, Chief Johansen sent an email to Erika Sacco, the Director of Information Technology for the Town of Apex and told her:

He then asked her which cameras were accessed, when, and by what means. Erika responded 17 days later stating that Town Manager Randy Vosburg asked IT to look into the concern about 3 months prior. At that time, Chief Johansen was asked to provide contact information to Flock so that Flock could contact IT and they could then ask about the hack. She then states:

So here’s a quick summary up to this point. There was either a confirmed hack or at the very least some suspicion that one of the Flock cameras in Apex was hacked.

The Town’s IT department then investigated by… waiting for a phone call.

I filed a public record request for any and all emails or correspondence related to this. And 7 business days later, these two emails are the entirety of what has been produced. (In fairness, the Records Coordinator stated, “At this time, there are no additional responsive records identified, but staff is still working to confirm if any do exist.” so it’s possible more communications surface, but seems doubtful.)

There you have it. The Chief of Police asking for details about someone who had “successfully hacked into one of our deployed ALPR cameras” and then a Town Manager and Director of IT who have done absolutely nothing about it and to this day, and by their own admission, have no idea what the security vulnerability was and if it has been fixed or not. You can see the email chain here.

If you’re surprised by this, then you must not follow The Peak Weekly. I’ve uncovered multiple data security failures and each and every time this is exactly how the Town Manager handles it. Ignore it. Deny it. People eventually will forget. And the Town Council who should be addressing these failures to protect the people who elected them? Same playbook.

Upcoming Meetings:

Monday, September. 28
Tree Canopy Subcommittee Meeting
4:30pm | Mason Street Municipal Building

Wednesday, September 30
Parks & Rec Advisory Board Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

Thursday, October 1
Public Safety Committee Meeting
3pm | Town Hall

A Look Ahead:

October 2
Puzzlepalooza | Senior Center

October 2-4
Fall Play: “Drinking Habits” | The Halle

October 3
Family Pumpkin Painting | The Halle

October 3
St. Paul’s Lobster Fest | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

October 4
Love Local Showcase | Downtown Apex

October 6
Apex Night Out (featuring Touch-a-Truck) | Town Campus

October 9-11
Fall Play: “Drinking Habits” | The Halle

October 10
Apex Oktoberfest | Town Campus

October 12
Indigenous People’s Day Ceremony | Apex Nature Park

October 16
Fall Harvest Night | The Depot Parking Lot

October 16
Drive-in Movie at The Park (Hocus Pocus) | Pleasant Park

October 17
Arbor Day Celebration | Pleasant Park

October 17
Shred Day | Public Works Dept

October 17
Community Conversation on Suicide Prevention | Senior Center

October 21
Apex Sands United Against Hate | Apex Nature Park

October 23
Apex Community Dance | The Halle

October 24
Goblin’s Groove Family Dance | The Halle

October 24
PokéFest | Apex Senior Center

October 30
Witches Night Out | Downtown Apex

In Case You Missed it:

🍂 New Yard Waste Schedule
Beginning October 19, Apex will transition to a biweekly yard waste collection for all residents. Residents will now be placed into two collection zones: Zone A and Zone B. Each is collected every other week. In regular season you get an assigned day; during peak leaf season you get an assigned week and pickup can land any day in it. A postcard and route map are coming soon to let you know.

🖼️ Mural Feedback
CAAB needs your feedback on the designs as they work with professional muralists on a couple of upcoming designs. Saunders Street Retaining Wall Mural Design and the Nature Park Amphitheatre Mural Design.

🛣️ Street Resurfacing Project
The Town maintains more than 259 miles of streets, and based on a regular pavement condition survey, several neighborhoods are selected each year for pavement improvement projects. This work consists of extensive asphalt resurfacing in some areas, and with patching and microsurfacing in others.

🀄️ Mahjong Socials
Enjoy playing Mahjong? The Town is hosting a few upcoming Mahjong Mondays (Oct 5, Nov 9, Nov 23). Just $5. Register here.

🎬️ Drive-in Movie Night
Tickets for these drive-in movie nights usually go fast. So get them while you can - Hocus Pocus will be playing at Pleasant Park on October 16 and tickets just went on sale. Get them here. And How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be shown on December 18. Tickets are on sale for that event too here.

A Final Note:

Thank you for taking time out of your day today to read this week’s edition of The Peak Weekly. If you love it, please forward it to a friend. If you don’t love it, please unsubscribe.

And, as always, if you have any ideas of how to make this newsletter better, want to nominate a local business or organization to be featured, or anything else, please respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

See you next Thursday... 😘