Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 27 of 78).

Providence Day comes to Raleigh

Students from Providence Day learn about Raleigh’s CACs


As I had mentioned they would, a group of 150 9th graders from Charlotte’s Providence Day came to Raleigh today to learn about its Citizens Advisory Councils and to learn more about civic participation. As I expected, I loved every minute of it. I even called Kelly at lunch and gushed at how I was in my element.

I didn’t have a real agenda in front of me until this morning. That’s when I found out I would be leading the first hour of the discussion about what CACs are and what they do. I was wondering how I would fill up this hour but it turned out to be easier than I anticipated. We started quite a bit late and when asked to say a few words about how they became involved with CACs, some of the chairs on the panel talked at length about the whole CAC experience.
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Sidewalks

The sidewalks along Frank Street across from Conn Elementary don’t reach to Brookside Drive. Being the civic geek that I am, I thought I would petition the City of Raleigh to put one in.

It looked like a slam dunk to me: the city will install sidewalks and pay for them provided the affected property owners agree. There’s been a well-worn “goat trail” from the Brookside crosswalk to the corner of Frank and Norris from years of kids coming and going to school. The city owns 75% of the affected property, with only one private property owner to deal with.

Therein lies my problem. The city may own most of the property affected but it doesn’t take a position on these projects. Thus it doesn’t count towards the petition. That means instead of getting the normal 75% of property owners to agree, I have to get 100% of one property owner to agree.
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Veterans Day parade

Kelly and Hallie had haircut appointments Saturday morning, so Travis and I had a little free time on our hands. After a few attempts prying him from his video game, T and I went downtown to see the Veterans Day parade.

We arrived there about 10:15 but saw no parade. Fayetteville Street was deserted, with no cars and no people. We heard drumming coming from the State Capitol area so we walked over to see what was going on.

There was a crowd milling around the armed forces memorial on the north side of the Capitol but it wasn’t a parade-worthy crowd. Instead, it was kind of small. Based on the crowd after the parade, I’d be willing to bet that there were more people who marched in the parade than watched it.
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Stepping away from CACs

This morning I let my fellow RCAC members know that I would not be running for a second term as chair of the RCAC when my term is up in January. It was a difficult decision for me as it’s been an honor to serve as the leader of leaders. I’ve really seen folks working together to a degree I hadn’t seen in a long while. That seems like a good time to step aside, though, doesn’t it? When things are going well?

I have had a few chairs ask if I would consider staying on but I was noncommittal until today. Part of my job as leader is to help create other leaders. People tend to step up when there’s a leadership opportunity. I have confidence that the RCAC will have a great leader to follow me and that the RCAC will continue to grow and prosper.
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Airdevil plans Atlantic crossing using 365 balloons

Raleigh resident and part-time daredevil balloonist Jonathan Trappe will be headed for the skies again next summer, this time on a trip across the Atlantic Ocean!

The big balls in the sky won’t just be the cluster balloons!

AN adventurer who became the first person to fly the English Channel dangling under helium-balloons is now planning to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Intrepid Jonathan Trappe, 38, plans to navigate an incredible 2,500 miles next summer in a seven-foot lifeboat suspended by 365 huge UV-resistant balloons.

His outlandish aircraft will have an open roof with a canopy to protect him from high-altitude winds and frost bite.

Floating at between 18,000ft and 25,000ft – beating his previous record of 21,600ft – Jonathan will have to fly ten times further than his previous record of 230 miles to succeed.

via Airdevil plans Atlantic crossing using 365 balloons | The Sun |News.

Can we let go of the anger now?

Yesterday was Election Day and, like many other elections, I found some time to volunteer for a campaign. My friend Sig Hutchinson was running for state senate, so I stood outside the Lacy Elementary polling place as a poll greeter for Sig from before sunrise to 9 AM.

As I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the poll greeter across from me was also supporting Democratic party candidates. For the first hour we were alone, wondering where the Republican poll greeters were. Soon after, we were joined by others, one supporting Dr. Jim Fulghrum, one supporting Dan Forest, and one supporting Caroline Sullivan. Aside from the signs and campaign material, though, you never would’ve known that we all weren’t simply good friends, though. We were having such a fun and friendly conversation that I felt compelled to snap a picture of us all, lest I wake up this morning and think it was all just a dream.
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N&O paywall goes up December 19th

Here it goes. The N&O announced yesterday that it will be putting up a paywall on December 19th:

The News & Observer announced this week that it will begin charging for digital content starting Dec. 19.

The newspaper’s e-edition, which looks the same as the print paper; all content on the N&O’s website, newsobserver.com; and content on its mobile site and iPhone and Android smartphone apps will move behind a pay wall.

This will further distance the newspaper from the news-reading public, which has largely migrated to online sources. It will also stop bloggers like me from linking to N&O articles, because I don’t like including links in my blog that are time-limited or go nowhere.

I’ve said before how paywalls don’t work but it bears repeating.
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Wake school board’s Goldman named colleague Malone in theft

Oh my God. With the possible exception of Deborah Prickett, the Republicans on the school board are nutjobs. This is crazy stuff.

Wake County school board member Debra Goldman named fellow board member Chris Malone as a suspect in June 2010 when she reported a burglary from her Cary home of $130,000 worth of jewelry, cash and coins, according to a police report.

Cary police interviewed Malone and dropped him as a suspect after an investigation, but not before recording conflicting statements from both Goldman and Malone about whether they had a romantic relationship.

via Wake school board's Goldman named colleague Malone in theft – Wake County – NewsObserver.com.

Bloomberg/Businessweek.com ranks Raleigh 18th

Bloomberg and Businessweek.com came out with their latest 50 Best Cities list and ranked Raleigh 18th.

In its description of the city, Bloomberg and Businessweek.com had this to say about Raleigh:

Raleigh wins the Carolinas, with strong median household income, low crime, and five universities. As one-third of the Research Triangle region, Raleigh is just minutes from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University. The city features a major historical tradition with such properties as the Mordecai House and Tucker House. Residents who aren’t so interested in uninhabited old houses—especially younger residents—might prefer the sights at BugFest, the event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

See that? Raleigh is “just minutes” away from UNC and Duke, but the reporter apparently failed to notice the 35,000-student North Carolina State University located squarely in the middle of Raleigh.

While I’m fond of Mordecai Historic Park and Tucker House, I wouldn’t exactly say these properties are worthy of national attention. There’s no mention, for instance, that Raleigh is the state’s capital, either. It’s as if all the reporter’s research on Raleigh came from Wikipedia or something (though Wikipedia would be more accurate).

“Culture of fear” echoes in the press

Looks like what I’d heard about Tony Tata’s “culture of fear” was right on the mark. The News and Observer’s T. Keung Hui wrote about it on October 6th:

Wake County school board Chairman Kevin Hill said Friday that former Superintendent Tony Tata’s autocratic leadership style created a culture of fear among school system employees.

Then on Wednesday, the Indy Week’s Will Huntsberry wrote about it and included quotes from many school employees backing it up:

Some school board members and former administrators allege that former Wake superintendent Tony Tata created a “culture of fear” in the central office. His generous public persona, which earned him wide popularity, contrasted with his threatening private demeanor in the workplace, they say.

I was particularly galled when I read what Tata allegedly told his staff:
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