Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 775 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 50 of 78).

Raleigh Speedway

Raleigh Speedway in 1965

Did you know Raleigh once had its own NASCAR track? It’s true, though you’d never know it today. The site is now a quiet industrial park that sits next to an equally quiet neighborhood north of the Raleigh Beltline. Back in the 1950s, though, the air was filled with smoke and the sound of revving engines at this track once located a mile outside the city limits.

Raleigh Speedway opened in 1952 as the Southland Speedway (or the Dixie Speedway), when it hosted an IndyCar event. It went on to host major NASCAR events, including Grand National events every Fourth of July. Raleigh Speedway was notable in that it was the first track NASCAR sanctioned for night races.
Continue reading →

East CAC success

I conducted yet another successful East CAC meeting last night. We had about 25 people in attendance: not bad for a day of non-stop rain.

This time around, the streaming video worked flawlessly to carry video (and sound!) to an audience of five. Unfortunately, for reasons I’m still trying to fathom LiveStream did not save a copy of my meeting as it usually does. I’ll have to figure out why.

Next month, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker is on the agenda to discuss growth in East Raleigh. It should be interesting!

Lions Park playground build

Yesterday the whole family participated in a community build of the new Lions Park playground. Initially, Kelly and I were going to switch off so that we could keep the kids occupied and also have time to get ready for the lakehouse. Instead, the kids got to pitch in – meaning we all got a chance to help.

We all had a great time and helped put in a wonderful new addition to our neighborhood park.

Famous family

Tonight at our dinner out, I was talking with the kids about people who shared last names with famous people. Just for fun, I asked them if they knew anyone famous who had Turner as a last name.

Hallie looked at me and said, “well, … you, Daddy!”

“Who, me?” I playfully scoffed. “What makes you think I’m famous?”

“Well, you’re on the Parks and Recreation Board and do all those neighborhood meetings,” she answered matter-of-factly. There was a look of pride in her eye and I wasn’t going to argue with her.

I live a crazy life between work, family, and community. For too many evenings to count, I’ve been in some meeting when I might have been putting the kids to bed, attending one of their practices, or some other event. It’s hard being away, and not always fair to Kelly, but I’m glad to know that Hallie admires what I’m doing. It’s a true honor being famous in the eyes of my kids!

Rockford closes

One of Raleigh’s more interesting restaurants closed abruptly this week: The Rockford on Glenwood, after a 15 year run. Long before Glenwood South became full of cheesy bars, Rockford was serving great sandwiches and affordable beer.

We ate there on many occasions and frequently filled half of their dining room with our crowd. The food was always great, nicely priced, and the beer selection branched beyond the Anheuser-Bush offerings (unlike most of Glenwood South). Like others on the web have written, Rockford had a secret hideout feel to it, with only a nondescript staircase visible from the street. Some have pointed to that as its Achilles Heel but I see it as part of the charm. Judging by the crowd that seemed always present, Rockford didn’t hurt from word-of-mouth business.
Continue reading →

LTE on school board

I just sent this letter to the N&O. I hope they print it.

In light of our area’s high unemployment rate and sagging housing market, I can’t think of a worse time for a costly social-engineering experiment with the Wake County School System: the heart of Wake County’s economic engine.

We’ll have five members of Wake’s school board to thank when our taxes get hiked to pay for this boondoggle.

WRAL misses the point

WRAL’s Cullen Browder brings news that some publicly run venues in N.C. are losing money. I have a few problems with this story:

1. Some privately-run venues are also losing money. In fact, many businesses are losing money now. How is this news?
2. Making a profit isn’t the point of public venues. Public venues are designed to put “heads in beds.” They are designed to generate revenue from the tourists who visit because the venue drew them here.
3. Said tourists spend lots of money on restaurants and hotels while they’re here.
4. Hotel and meal taxes from these tourists go to pay for the public venue.

See how it works? If venues can fund themselves through ticket sales, all the better. But that’s really just gravy. Public venues really fund themselves through the business they generate. For WRAL to miss this important point is quite mind-boggling.

Raleigh works to woo Google fiber

I got a little ink in this week’s Independent Weekly, discussing the Triangle cities’ efforts to lure Google’s proposed 1Gbps fiber network:

East Raleigh organizer and blogger Mark Turner said the Bring Google Fiber to Raleigh! Facebook group he created the day that Google announced the fiber program now includes more than 600 members and has drawn the support of elected officials. He hopes upcoming Internet conferences in Raleigh will add muster to the effort.

“I see fiber and Internet connection as being almost as vital nowadays as sewer service and water service, as far as building communities,” Turner said. “It would really position us for some long-term growth.”

N&O forgets the other side of the aisle

The N&O’s Mark Johnson reported on state Senator R.C. Soles’s guilty plea to assault charges yesterday. I don’t know the true circumstances of what took place at Soles’s house, though when a homeowner shoots a stranger in their home it’s often in self-defense. Soles pled guilty and that’s that.

I do take issue with the way Johnson painted the picture that it’s almost always Democrats in trouble. Johnson seems to forget state Rep. Cary Allred, the Burlington Republican who was about to get ticketed for driving 102 MPH but pulled rank on the trooper and got off – at least until the news broke. He was also said to have showed up drunk to the General Assembly and gave what many witnesses considered to be an inappropriate hug to a female teenage page. Not exactly Boy Scout behavior, is it?

I’m just as upset as others are of the shenanigans taking place with state politicians. Unlike most politics lately, though, this truly is a bipartisan effort. Let’s not omit that, Mr. Johnson.