Amen to Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen for speaking out against the Plensa-designed art project for downtown Fayetteville Street. I love the idea of public art but this particular art doesn’t make any sense.

I can’t help but think that stringing up wires with LEDs is going to attract pigeons, which will then add their own, uh, “artwork” to the wires and anyone foolish enough to be under them. The LEDs likely won’t be bright enough to be seen during the daytime, especially if they’re viewed with the sky in the background (i.e., from the ground). And what happens when it snows or ices? Boom, the whole thing comes down in an expensive, tangled mess.

I’m all for world-class, signature art. I really am. I just don’t think bird-magnet LED netting is the message we want to send to the world. If Plensa wants to take a second swing at this, let’s let him come up with something bold. Bold but fitting, too. Let’s work towards having the PR this thing generates be good PR and do it right the first time.

Let’s pull the plug on the LEDs. Please.

Crusing into work this morning on the west Raleigh side of the Beltline, I saw a motorist pulled over by an unmarked car I didn’t recognize. It seems the N.C. Highway Patrol may have a new unmarked car out clocking speeders.

While I am not completely sure of the vehicle model, it certainly wasn’t the usual Crown Vic. The car was large with a prominent front grille, similar to a Dodge Charger. This particular vehicle was dark blue with blue lights hidden in the visor area and strobes hidden in the back-up lights. The trooper was dressed in civilian clothes, in this case a red shirt.

Slow it down out there or the muscle car creeping up behind you may be delivering a surprise!

I was dismayed to learn this morning that Cheviot Hills, the neighborhood golf course, has been sold to car salesmen. The new owners are MLC Automotive of Raleigh and Crossroads Holdings, the companies which control land holdings of the Leith and Crossroads dealerships, respectively. One can assume that the links will soon be paved over and loaded up with shiny new cars.

Isn’t it wonderful? Capital Boulevard has sorely needed a car dealership or two and then this old golf course comes up for sale. Now we have everything!

I think I’d rather let crazy ol’ Parker Edwards take out a few dozen more deer than to have yet another lot full of cars blot the landscape. Besides, isn’t there some kind of law about used car salesmen being too close to neighborhoods? Like they have to register with the state or something?

I hope the new owners have done their homework, as this isn’t the best place to put a dealership. You see, when it rains the way it did a two weeks ago most of this property is underwater. Imagine a fleet of shiny new cars here.

Oops.

(this post’s title shamelessly stolen from the N&O’s Jack Hagel.)

I was in the middle of some house projects Saturday when my brother Jeff called me up.

“Hey, have you been out today?” he asked. “There’s something going on at the water plant.”

He told me of a large number of fire trucks at the scene, including a HAZMAT team. I needed to cool off from working in the attic, so I grabbed my camera and headed that way.

I came upon four fire trucks, one police car, the fire chief’s car, a Wake Emergency Management car, an ambulance and a HAZMAT truck. The gate to the treatment plant was open and first responders were milling around in the shade.

I was snapping a few pictures of the scene when an RPD officer wandered up. He explained that mechanical equipment had started a fire in a room there. According to the officer, the chemicals weren’t explosive but they didn’t want them to catch fire.

He was kind of vague about what the chemicals would do. Two HAZMAT members in protective suits were walking away from the building. Neither was wearing breathing gear, so I assumed it couldn’t be that bad. Still, I wondered why four fire trucks showed up for what looked like a routine fire.

The building was labeled “potassium permanganate room.” Acccording to the Wikipedia article, potassium parmanganate is used to remove the sulfur smell from water. It isn’t flammable or reactive, but could cause irritation. It does ignite when mixed with certain chemicals, such as powdered sugar and water, and will create deadly chlorine gas when mixed with hydrochloric acid.

While this fire was quickly brought under control, it makes me wonder what other, more dangerous chemicals are over there and how careful the City of Raleigh is in handling those chemicals. That would make a good news story.

I’ve put up pictures from yesterday’s Americas’ Sail opening ceremonies in Beaufort. I spent a little time with Captain Horatio Sinbad and his crew, who are all great people, I might add.

The ships didn’t go anywhere yesterday as it was just the kickoff. The real excitement starts today through July 3rd, as Sinbad’s crew take the Meka II out to defend their trophy.

Check out the pictures in the gallery.

The Onion has a funny satire of North Carolina hockey with an article titled Carolina Residents Confused, Terrified As Victorious Hurricane Players Riot In Streets.

Kudos to the Onion for the gratuitous mentions of local Raleigh landmarks!

I just found out that my favorite Internet-only comic strip, the legendary Doctor Fun is no more. Dave Farley has drawn a comic strip nearly every day since 1993, before most people knew what the Internet was. He has decided to pull the plug after thirteen years of humor.

Who will supply me with my yearly peeps fix now that Doctor Fun is gone?

A murder suspect escaped his shackles earlier this week while being transported to a doctor’s appointment in Wilson. Then once he was in custody he did it again:

Eddie Ellis, 23, refused to tell investigators how he escaped from a prison transport van on Tuesday afternoon, but told them he could do it again if they locked him up in shackles in a room by himself.

Four minutes later, he was knocking on the room’s door for authorities to let him out, Maj. John Farmer of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

So how the heck is this guy getting loose? Is it really as simple as he makes it to look? What the heck are they using for restraints in Wilson, anyway? Who put Barney Fife in charge?

They better check the jailhouse doors, too. The locks they got in the cereal boxes might not be up to the job.

Well, it looks like I don’t have to worry about gunshots from the golf course any more. Parker Edwards, owner of the Cheviot Hills Golf Course, is selling the course. The last round of golf will be played June 30th.

While I won’t miss the guns, I will miss the course. Development has surrounded it from all sides, which added to its charm. Here’s this course from the 1930s: a slice of the past in my backyard. I read on its website today that the Edwards family homestead dates from 1792. Quite impressive.

The article quotes other real estate sources claiming that the site would be “great for mixed-use development.” Those are simply code words “another big box strip mall.” With the exception of The Lassiter at North Hills, I can think of few properties touted as “great for mixed-use” that turned out to be anything other than asphalt and big boxes.

Edwards isn’t saying why he’s selling it (probably because pesky neighbors won’t let him hunt at night). He’s also not saying who is buying it, so there’s no telling what the future holds for the course. Most likely it will be paved.

One thing keeping it from big-box stardom is the very limited access the property has from Capital Boulevard. There is a frontage road leading to it from the Gresham Lake Road – Capital Boulevard traffic light. There’s also an entrance on Capital with no signal. Neither one is ideal for moving lots of traffic to and from the property. That is a busy stretch of Capital to begin with and adding another traffic light is only going to make things worse.

Ah well. I’ve got a mere few weeks to find a day to go play Cheviot Hills before its gone for good. Any MT.Net readers want to join me for a foresome? (Do I have enough readers for a foresome?)

Where’s the Triangle’s super-entrepreneur John McConnell when we need him?