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Carolina Curious: What's with the purple street lights?

A photo of the purple streetlight in Katy Shick's Winston-Salem neighborhood. Image courtesy Katy Shick.

Have you ever been driving along at night, and all of a sudden, the entire atmosphere changes? Everything appears in a different light – literally.

That's what WFDD listener Katy Shick experienced in her Winston-Salem neighborhood. And it had her wondering: "Why are all the street lights being replaced with purple bulbs? I feel as though I'm being abducted by aliens when I drive home."

In this installment of Carolina Curious, WFDD's Bethany Chafin decided to illuminate the issue.

It turns out the purple streetlights are not intentional. Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks says they're due to a manufacturing defect in a batch of 2018 bulbs that came from their distributor.

“What's happening is the laminate on the LED fixture begins to erode there and it causes the light to change from the color we want it to be to that purplish color," he says. "And that's what people have seen across the area.”

Brooks says it's a gra

Bethany is WFDD's editorial director. She joined the staff in the fall of 2012. She received her B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from Wake Forest University. Between undergraduate studies and graduate school, Bethany served as the intern to Talk of the Nation at NPR in D.C., participating in live NPR Election Night Coverage, Presidential debate broadcasts, regular Talk of the Nation shows, and helping to plan the inaugural broadcast of ‘Talk of the World.' She enjoys engaging with her interests in books, politics, and art in the interdisciplinary world of public radio. Before becoming editorial director, Bethany was assistant news Director, a reporter and associate producer for WFDD's Triad Arts and Triad Arts Weekend. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Bethany enjoys calling the Piedmont home.

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