[3] In April 1988 the Independent published endorsements of state political candidates for the upcoming Democratic Party's primary election.

[3] In September 2002, Carolina Independent Publications acquired the area's other major weekly, the Spectator, from Creative Loafing Inc.[3] Founded in 1978 by Godfrey Cheshire and others in Raleigh,[6] the Spectator had been owned by Creative Loafing since 1997 and was well known for its coverage of the arts; the name lived on as the name of the Independent's calendar of events.

The stated reason was that he had failed to follow up on a sexual misconduct tip regarding a local restaurant that had been brought to his attention in May 2019.

Possibly prompting the dismissal, the edit and design staff released a letter stating their unwillingness to work for Billman going forward.

In 2023, the newspaper's owners entered a contract with The Assembly, a two-year-old digital newsmagazine focused on North Carolina, to help manage the Indy Week's business operations, with the option of acquiring it in the future.