Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 776 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 62 of 78).

N&O shrinks staff yet again

Last weekend I couldn’t help but notice the Lowe’s sales circular which normally arrives in the Sunday paper came instead by First Class mail. I don’t know if Lowe’s wanted to put it in the hands of its customers earlier to take advantage of the Labor Day weekend or if Lowe’s simply didn’t find the News and Observer up to the task. Either way, that’s revenue the N&O would’ve banked but didn’t.

Decisions like Lowe’s don’t bode well for the N&O, as yesterday the beleaguered paper announced more buyout packages in an effort to reduce staff (I was going to say “headcount,” but they’re people, dammit). I wonder if McClatchy’s 2006 decision to buy Knight Ridder seems so prudent in the face of today’s economy.

Shrinking product or no, I still enjoy my morning paper and I hope things settle down there soon.

Indy disses Raleigh yet again

I was all into the Independent Weekly’s look at Raleigh when I came to this story by Vernon Coleman, called Seeing the city through a conventioneer’s eyes: Wanderlust in Raleigh. Its the same old tired story of Durhamites looking down their noses at Raleigh. Coleman spends an afternoon wandering around downtown, asks advice from some homeless people, and assumes that since he is totally clueless that there’s nothing going on here. Moron.

Just when I think the Indy is finally on the Raleigh bandwagon they trot out tripe like this. I never thought I’d say I miss the Spectator.

Quoted in the paper

I was quoted in the paper today regarding a proposed topless club on Capital Boulevard.

“We don’t want a concentration of places,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the East Citizens Advisory Council.

“It drags down the property values or the safety of the hotels, like the Milner Inn,” Turner said. “Something like this happening sets us back.”

While the quote was accurate I wish I’d had more time to collect my thoughts. A neighbor had given the reporter my work phone number and he called me when I was right in the middle of crunch time on a big project. Deadlines notwithstanding, I should have asked to call him back. I wonder if its just human nature for one to wonder if one sounds like a moron whenever quoted in the paper.

At any rate, yesterday morning I thought of a big reason I’m wary of the project: robberies. Strip clubs are cash-driven businesses. Latinos have a reputation (right or wrong) for keeping large amounts of cash on them. I fear a Latino strip club will become a robbery magnet and overburden our already-overworked officers with more robberies to solve.

Graffiti hotline

I’m probably one of the top callers to Raleigh’s Graffiti Hotline, the number to call when graffiti is spotted anywhere in the city. In fact, I’m on a first-name basis with them! After walking by a clean spot Monday that 24 hours earlier had spray paint on it, I felt I had to let someone know what a great job Raleigh’s Street Maintenance division has been doing to keep the city clean.

Below is my email to the division’s director, Elwood Davis, which cc’d city officials:
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Funky Towne

I love the marketing campaign for Raleigh Wide Open III, announcing the grand opening of the new convention center September 5th and 6th. The signs hanging from Fayetteville Street lightposts are hilarious. They say “Thou art now in Funky Towne,” “Get down with thy bad self,” “Get thine merriment on,” among others.

Very clever!

House moves this Saturday

LNR Properties will be moving two historic Raleigh homes Saturday morning beginning at 7AM (weather-permitting). The Watson and Merrimon Wynne homes will be shifted to new lots as part of the Blount Street Commons project, with the Watson home moving first.

If you’ve ever wanted to see a home being trucked from one place to another you’ve got two chances Saturday!

Here’s what Doug Redford of LNR Properties sent to a neighborhood mailing list:
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Back from Barack

I got back from the Barack Obama town hall meeting about an hour ago. What I thought would be a seat in the bleachers directly behind Obama turned out to be a seat about 30 yards away. Though I wasn’t in fist-bumping range with Barack I did enjoy the experience. It was fun seeing how whipped up the crowd was, too. I also got to hang out with my busy friend Grier Martin, and see familiar faces from the Kerry-Edwards rally from four years ago.

I sat with the vets on the upper bleachers, about four people to the left of the end of the “Change We Can Believe In” sign. I’m not in any of the photographs I’ve seen on the AP or Reuters wire. If anyone can find video of the event, let me know.

And by the way, the disabled veteran who had the last question tonight is Michael Bishop, a Marine Corps veteran. I shook hands with him earlier in the evening – a very friendly fellow – but until he asked his question to Obama I had no idea he was homeless.

It really burns me up that men and women like Bishop wind up on the street after all they have given to our country. In spite of being a veteran himself, McCain has an abysmal record when it comes to supporting veterans. I hope Bishop gets the assistance he needs.

Update: WRAL has the video, and if you squint you can see me on the top left side of the screen from 00:01:00 to 00:01:10.

Update Two: New Raleigh has pictures showing me in the audience. You’ll see me in this photo: above Obama’s left shoulder, back row, and behind the dude in the yellow shirt standing and holding a camera. I’m wearing a green shirt and my dorky Navy ballcap.

East CACalacky

At last night’s East Raleigh CAC meeting I was elected by the membership as chair. Also elected were Sue Sturgis as secretary and Andrew LeLiever as vice-chair. Together we hope to grow the East CAC and use it to better our neighborhoods. Wish us luck!

F-street parking

I think Raleigh officials botched the parking layout of Fayetteville Street. The city should’ve made its parking spaces angled. There’s all this wide, unused sidewalk, another four or five feet of which could’ve added a huge number of parking spaces to this area of downtown. The sidewalk wouldn’t have even missed it.

While I’m a pretty big tree-hugger and no fan of the concrete behemoth that used to be the “pedestrian mall,” inadequate street parking limits the growth of downtown business. If one wants a vibrant city core, good parking is a must. There’s enough room on F-street for plenty of parking and sidewalks. What we have now is the result of a botched decision.