Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 41 of 78).

Red Hat hangs its hat in downtown Raleigh!


Looks like Red Hat plans to hang its hat in downtown Raleigh, taking a lease in the new Progress Energy building! Now didn’t I tell you that company was smart?

I just returned from Durham’s American Tobacco Complex and admired its startup incubator there, thinking Raleigh could use a startup incubator, too. Red Hat is no longer a startup company but it is a well-known tech company that will draw other tech companies into downtown. Not only that, but downtown’s nightlife and condo market should see a boost as well.

Downtown Raleigh just became a whole lot cooler. This will lead to more great things for the city!

Efforts underway to oust Carr from Raleigh ballot

Since Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher told the News and Observer that no one has stepped up to challenge Lent Carr’s candidacy now that he’s back in federal prison, at least one District C citizen has. The Board of Elections has received word that at least one citizen intends to challenge Carr’s candidacy based on his status as an active convicted felon.

North Carolina’s election law states as follows:

ยง 163?55. Qualifications to vote; exclusion from electoral franchise.

[snip]

Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the following classes of persons shall not be allowed to vote in this State:

(1) Persons under 18 years of age.

(2) Any person adjudged guilty of a felony against this State or the United States, or adjudged guilty of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, unless that person shall be first restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

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Lent Carr back in prison

Yesterday came news that Raleigh City Council District C candidate Lent Carr was sent back to federal prison for violating his probation.

While some folks on the WRAL message boards (okay, nearly all of them – WRAL’s boards are typically clogged with knuckle-draggers) think his predicament is funny, I think Carr should’ve been sent off to a mental institution rather than prison. Carr clearly has mental health issues and even today we as a society do not treat this issue seriously.

Then again, maybe prison is the best place for him. Maybe now he’ll get the help he needs. It’s a sad fact that if you want free healthcare in America you have to get locked up.

CERT disaster drill

A goner


Saturday was a long, busy day for the Turners! Wake up was an unheard-of 6:15 AM so that we could get the kids off to their 7:30 AM (ouch – it hurts just to write this) swim meet at Optimist Pool. Kelly took the kids to the meet while I got ready for an event of my own: yesterday’s CERT disaster drill at 9 AM.

The drill was designed to show us a little of what it would be like to experience a disaster rescue. We had had a few hours worth of training up to that point as well a thick binder of information so it wasn’t like anyone felt like an expert. At least I didn’t! But as Scott Adams’s Dilbert points out, one is always promoted to one’s level of incompetence. When our instructor Marc Duncan asked for a volunteer to lead our team (acting as the “incident commander”) I raised my hand. I guess in four years of Navy life I never learned the old joke that Navy stands for “never again volunteer yourself!”
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Ultimate neighborhood compliment

In the midst of a challenging day at work today, I was delighted to find that my neighborhood received the ultimate compliment today. A police officer is looking to move into the neighborhood. Why is this a compliment? Because cops know crime and they don’t want to live near crime.

We as a society ask an awful lot of our men and women in uniform. Our officers work long hours for low pay and frequently get no thanks for what they do. As they like to say, if an officer visits you you’re usually having a bad day. Also, their work can be intense. And dangerous. They deal with dangerous people every day so the rest of us don’t have to.
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When is a parking violation not a parking violation?

My neighbor Mike Stenke runs a food truck business, Klausie’s Pizza. Recently there’s been a battle between the food truck operators and some downtown restaurants, who want some rules put in place on operating food trucks on public streets.

While I can sympathize with the restaurant owner’s arguments, I find it curious that no one’s raised a stink about the hot dog vendors that operate around town. I figure if a hot dog vendor can operate his food establishment on a public street, why not a food truck? Also, why should a required distance be placed between a food truck and a restaurant when no rule would keep a brick-and-mortar restaurant from opening right next to an existing restaurant? Do the existing restaurant owners want to legislate buffers between all potential competitors? If a restaurant owner is going to have a competitor, one would think he would prefer a competitor that could go away once in a while.

Anyway, the City Council heard the issues in a session last week and Stenke, because his livelihood depends on it, was also present for the discussion. After the meeting, though, someone pulled a dirty trick on Stenke, calling the cops about how his truck was parked.
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Peace College Goes Co-Ed | New Raleigh

It’s clear that the New Raleigh blog has good taste in pictures. They followed the Raleigh Downtowner’s lead and illustrated it’s Peace College story with my public domain Wikipedia pic.

Peace College announced in a press release today that, beginning in the Fall 2012 semester, it will admit male students to its day undergraduate programs for the first time in its over a century and a half existence.

via Peace College Goes Co-Ed | New Raleigh.

The Brewery and Farmhouse to be razed

I’m bummed to learn that The Brewery, one of Raleigh’s oldest music venues, is closing its doors for good this weekend. The building’s been bought and will be razed for a mixed-use development. The last band will take the stage Friday evening.

I’ve seen many shows at the Brewery and made some fantastic memories there. It was small (or shall we say, intimate) and had a lacking beer selection, but those are about its only faults. You could stand anywhere in the room and have a great view of the band. And it had the best sound guy anywhere: the bands always sounded great. I’ve seen many local and national acts there: Cracker, Mojo Nixon, Whiskeytown, Dig, Southern Culture On The Skids, and many, many others.
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City wants healthier New Bern Ave.

While I am happy to see that N&O’s Matt Garfield is shining a light on the city and community’s effort to spruce up the New Bern Avenue corridor, I’m disappointed he didn’t talk with one of the main forces behind the push: the East CAC. Nearly all of the proposed improvements are in the East CAC area, with the remaining portion in the Central CAC.

None are in the South Central CAC area.

As the city moves toward a makeover of New Bern Avenue, planners are eyeing possibilities to create a “spectacular and innovative gateway” they describe as a model for urban street design.

There’s talk of a 60-foot “super transit strip” with a sidewalk, bike path and gravel jogging path on the south side of the corridor.

Streams concealed in pipes could be exposed to serve as a natural feature winding through the area.

Neighbors dream of seeing the Longview Shopping Center, once home to a Winn-Dixie, redeveloped as a walkable urban village with a farmers’ market.

via City wants healthier New Bern Ave. – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.