Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 35 of 78).

Open records and city boards

I’m a big fan of open government, having seen what closed government gets us. When I was chair of the East CAC, I offered streaming video of our meetings so that as many people as possible could see them. But some in the CAC became concerned last year when City Attorney Tom McCormick’s deemed that CAC chairs’ email are public records.

I’ve blogged before about how I thought Mr. McCormick was wrong about CACs, but I agree with him (and the N&O editorial page) that new social media technologies present a challenge to the Open Meetings Law. Do I think the law can ever keep pace with technology? No, not a chance. So what is one to do?
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Stop signs vs. traffic lights

Safer than a signal?


Neighbors near my home have complained for years about speeding traffic along Glascock Street and Brookside Drive. Finally, some opted to petition the city to implement traffic calming measures and the city agreed to act.

Part of the plan includes removing the traffic signal at Glascock and Brookside in favor of stop signs. Some neighbors in Oakwood expressed concern about this change, fearing that it would cause confusion, especially when kids are walking to school.

Well, I have kids at the local school and we either walk or ride bikes there every school day. Glascock isn’t part of our preferred path because, not only is Edmund Street more convenient for us but also too many cars speed on Glascock. Even so, I walk through the Glascock/Brookside intersection nearly every other morning and can say that even with traffic signals (and pedestrian heads) crossing there remains a dicey undertaking.
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At the controls

Triangle Radio Reading Service


I was feeling in a bit of a funk today. I suspect part of it is my semi-annual mental fog brought on by the time change, or it could be work-related issues on my mind, or it could simply be that I was hungry. Whatever the reason, this afternoon I was feeling down and wondered what it would take to rise above it.

Then at 6:15 I was headed over to Triangle Radio Reading Service for a volunteer shift. Earlier today I’d gotten an emergency call from TRRS’s volunteer scheduler that they desperately needed a reader for tonight’s USA Today session. I checked with Kelly to see if she’d have things under control with the kids and, once she agreed, I accepted the shift.
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Amtrak 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train

This looks like fun!

How often do you hear the whistle of a train these days? Probably not as often as 40 years ago, when Amtrak first opened its passenger cars to America and transformed the way people get around. Chances are, if you hear a whistle in Raleigh on March 10-11 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., it will be the free Amtrak Exhibit Train heading to the downtown Raleigh Amtrak station to commemorate the train’s 40th anniversary!

via Amtrak 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train « visitRaleigh blog.

Encouraging volunteerism

On my way out of the municipal building yesterday, I passed Cindy Trumbower, volunteer coordinator of the city’s Parks and Rec program. She told me she just got back from a volunteer event where a bunch of students from Michigan State University had painted a city gymnasium as part of their Spring Break service. These kids didn’t hit the beach and stay drunk and rowdy for a week (even being from a chilly place like Michigan) but instead gave their time to help others. How cool is that? I thought that was just awesome and asked if she could provide the Parks board details at our next meeting.
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City council appearance

I made an appearance at Raleigh City Council this afternoon for a Parks board item which requested the city apply for status as a Playful City USA. Before I got to the microphone, the Council told me they were all fine with the agreement and promptly voted unanimously to approve it. It took me longer to put on my suit than it did to present the item, which was a welcome change!

The Council also approved making recycling theft a crime. Only District B Councilor John Odom voted against it, which is surprising to me. I thought he would be all for protecting the city from having to raise its recycling fees, and willing to protect the privacy of his constituents by discouraging strangers rummaging through their recycling. I’m not sure his reasoning, since at one point during today’s debate he said he “wasn’t against” the ordinance yet voted against it anyway.

With multiple homes in my neighborhood losing their air conditioning units (one just two doors down) to metal-scavenging thieves, I feel we should discourage these jackasses from prowling the neighborhood. Hopefully this will help.

Update 7 March: In response to a comment on the N&O story about this, let me say again: this isn’t about homeless people, it’s about professional metal scavengers working neighborhoods. Homeless people don’t fill up their pickup trucks with cans (and work in teams, for that matter). Folks need to apply some common sense here.
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Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Coming to 919 Region Mar. 31

Went to the city’s website today and found out that Raleigh will require 10-digit dialing by the end of the month. I didn’t hear anything about this until now.

The March 31st deadline doesn’t leave a lot of time for phone system vendors, alarm vendors, and others to update their equipment. This could be a trainwreck in the making.

The growing population in central North Carolina and addition of devices that require a phone number is exhausting the available numbers in the 919 area code. The North Carolina Utilities Commission has announced a new area code is coming to the 919 region. The 984 area code will overlay the 919 area code bringing 10-digit dialing to the region. You won’t have to change telephone numbers, just the way you dial in the 919 area code. The 984 area code will be assigned only for new telephone numbers within the area code.

Effective March 31, 2012, 10-digit dialing – the appropriate area code (919 or 984) + the seven-digit number – will be necessary for local and expanded local calls. It will not be necessary to dial a "1" or a "0" when dialing your local and expanded local calls. Local calling areas and rates will not be affected by this change.

via Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Coming to 919 Region Mar. 31 – The Official City of Raleigh Portal.

Introducing Little Raleigh Radio

Little Raleigh Radio


One of the initiatives that’s been taking up my Copious Free Time is helping start a low-power FM community radio station in Raleigh. A few months ago, a friend mentioned the Little Raleigh Radio (LRR) project and I became determined to help this project succeed.

I’ve been following low-power FM (LPFM) for quite some time so when I learned that the FCC’s window for granting new licenses may be opening again, I felt I had to help.
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