Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton canceled a Thursday morning appearance at the Leadership North Carolina Forum in Raleigh after news of Perdue’s plans spread. He was supposed to speak on the state’s transportation planning and policy.
The LNC mention was posted long enough for me to show it to Kelly. Dalton later convened a press conference and formally announced, after which the LNC reference was removed.
Many parks fees had not been raised for several years, parks board members noted. For example, the citywide youth sports registration fee has been $12 since 2004.
“This is an opportunity to make adjustments that have been needed for a while,” said board chairman Mark Turner. “I didn’t feel they were necessarily drastic … The variety of programs and offerings are still a very good deal for the public.”
An earlier proposal involved using part of the park’s main lawn for a contemporary, window-lined building to house the center. Opponents banded together to fight the proposal, saying the building would clash with the historic charm of the park, home to Raleigh’s most significant antebellum plantation.
“We heard it loud and clear: Nobody wanted to put more buildings on the property,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the city parks board. “This solves that problem.”
A church behind my home has been making a exceedingly-joyful noise unto the Lord for many years now, to the dismay of sleepy neighbors. For years, neighbors have made repeated calls to police to get the church to keep the peace but police have been understandably reluctant to get involved.
At a police-organized community meeting with church leaders Friday evening, neighbors aired their concerns about the noise and church leaders offered solutions. Neighbors even offered to help raise money. It seemed everything was on track to work together.
It didn’t last long, though. The very next night, a group renting the church blasted the neighborhood with music again, causing neighbors to call police again. This time, police entered the church and shut the celebration down. It was 10:30 PM.
The pastor of the group renting the church blasted the police response as racist, and characterized the neighborhood as a “white neighborhood,” though neither is true. Among others, she sent her response to WTVD, which did a story. Reporter Ed Crump asked for a neighbor to be interviewed and I accepted his offer.
I thought Mr. Crump did a fine job with the story and his point about the visiting pastor not being notified is probably true. Since the story ran, the inflammatory post from the visiting pastor has been removed from the church’s Facebook page. I see tonight the story’s headline has also been changed to remove the racist charges and stick more to the facts.
I’m hopeful the church and neighbors can continue to work out our differences and become good neighbors again.
People attending a celebration on the eve of Martin Luther King Junior’s birthday say actions by a Raleigh police officer were racist and violated their civil rights.
It happened at the Glorious Church just northeast of downtown Raleigh Saturday night. A group had rented the church but didn’t know about an ongoing dispute with neighbors over loud music late at night.
Just the night before, church leaders and neighbors had met and begun working out their differences. So, when neighbors heard loud music the next night they called police.
Y’all knew it wouldn’t take long for me to bring up politics in my Highlights list, didn’t y’all? This year had me doing more at the General Assembly, mostly fighting an old battle but also jumping into a new one.
My long-running efforts to protect broadband competition continued in 2011, though this time my luck ran out when the NCGA (with Perdue’s help) passed a law to block other municipalities from providing their own Internet services to their citizens. Some otherwise good legislators like Sen. Josh Stein and Rep. Rosa Gill bought into the pro-business hype and voted for the ban, to my disappointment. I think many supporters of the ban simply didn’t realize what was at stake, in spite of the opinion piece I got published in the News and Observer. (Note: I neglected to add my op-ed to my blog until now). Continue reading →
Mark Turner, outgoing chairman of the East Citizens Advisory Council, has been elected to lead the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council. The RCAC is made up of the chairmen and other leaders of each of the 18 geographically based Citizens Advisory Councils in Raleigh. It provides a forum for the leaders to discuss citywide issues.
Turner, who lives in the Bennett Woods neighborhood, became involved in the East Citizens Advisory Council after he attended the Raleigh Neighborhood College in 2008. The series of classes is sponsored by the Community Services Department to inform residents about the work of city government and how they can have a role.
Turner also serves as chairman of the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board.
I’m glad they mentioned Raleigh Neighborhood College, too. Hopefully other folks will be encouraged to step up and do great things for the city.
N&O photographer Robert Willett captured part of the Turner clan walking in the People’s Procession at last night’s First Night Raleigh celebration.
The disembodied arm in the lower left belongs to Hallie. I’m walking behind her with half of my face out of the frame. Travis is to my left with his face completely out of the frame because he was wearing a box on his head. As for Kelly, she was right behind the gentleman and his daughter so she can’t be seen at all.
Mark Turner, outgoing chair of the East Citizens Advisory Council, has been elected to lead the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council (RCAC) in the coming year.
The RCAC is made up of the chairs and other leaders of each of the 18 geographically based Citizens Advisory Councils in Raleigh. It provides a forum for these leaders to discuss citywide issues.
“The dialogue between the City and the community is the most valuable thing the RCAC provides,” Mr. Turner said. “It’s been the traditional role for the RCAC.” Continue reading →
