Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 776 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 17 of 78).

Tornado, three years later

Today began for me much the same way it did that Saturday morning exactly three years ago. Then, as now, it was just the dog and me at home while Kelly and the kids were on the road.

Fortunately the similarities end there. This morning’s weather is clear, breezy and very chilly at 34 degrees F with no signs of any tornadoes. In fact, one of the last … er, signs of the tornado in my neighborhood was removed recently. Up until a few weeks ago, a “No Parking” sign stood outside St. Aug’s on a steel post that was twisted almost completely around, a daily reminder of the jaw-dropping power of violent wind.

Sadly, a day before I was to take a picture of it the city replaced the post and sign. Don’t know if I should be sad I missed it or happy the public works department is so on top of things. At any rate, life in East Raleigh is back to normal now.

N&O runs dedication story a week late

In about ten minutes, a group of people will converge on the entrance to the Walnut Creek Greenway near the Worthdale Community Center. They will wait around in the rain until they become bored for a dedication ceremony that has come and gone, and sloppy editing on the part of the News and Observer is to blame.

Sunday’s Midtown Raleigh News carried a front-page story on the greenway dedication, stating the ceremony would occur Tuesday at 4 PM. The problem is that the ceremony took place last week. The story was correct when it ran a week earlier in the N&O but somehow it landed in Sunday’s Midtown edition without being updated to show the ceremony already took place.

I love the N&O’s spotlight of Raleigh’s parks. I called for more coverage in the past and still think Raleigh citizens value their parks highly enough (and they have invested enough in them ) for parks to merit media coverage. That said, inaccurate coverage might do more harm than no coverage at all.

I wish the N&O would work just a little bit harder on fact-checking its local coverage.

Frank Street Sidewalk City Council Petition

FRANK ST. SIDEWALK SAVE THE DATE!

The Raleigh City Council needs to hear from YOU about the Frank Street Sidewalk!

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 1st at 7 PM and express your support for a sidewalk along Frank Street from Norris to Brookside!

Don’t know what to say? You don’t have to speak! You can support the sidewalk just by being there!

The meeting will take place in Council Chambers of the Raleigh Municipal Building, 222 W. Hargett Street, Raleigh. Parking is available in the city deck on W. Morgan Street between Dawson Street. and McDowell Street.

Questions? Contact Mark Turner at 919.741.6329

Can’t get there from here

No-Go Triangle

No-Go Triangle


Why does bus service suck so bad? That’s the question I have after trying to plot a course downtown by bus from our home this evening.

Travis is performing in tonight’s Pieces of Gold performance and needs to be at Memorial Auditorium by 6, so Kelly took him and decided that the 7 PM performance didn’t warrant another trip home. Hallie and I were hoping to take the bus to Memorial Auditorium so we wouldn’t have to fight for parking with the hundreds of other families attending the event but the bus that serves our neighborhood, Capital Area Transit (CAT) bus #3, stops running after 5 PM. Why does it do this? I have no earthly idea.

The result is what you see above. Fully 75 minutes out from showtime, the best that CAT can do is for us to walk over a half-mile to Glascock and hope that the busiest bus in Raleigh has room for two more passengers.

Plain and simple, this service sucks. Sure, there’s a bus stop nearby and apparently plenty of buses available, but try to find one when you need it and you’re out of luck.

Once upon a time, downtown Raleigh rolled up its sidewalks at 5 PM but those days are thankfully long gone. Raleigh really needs to get its buses on a schedule that makes some sort of sense for its passengers.

Oakwood files bogus DMCA takedown notice

I sympathize with neighborhood listserver moderators. I know what they deal with, having moderated a handful of East Raleigh neighborhood lists for several years. It’s not easy keeping certain topics from exposing strong opinions and blowing up into a major snit. This is especially true with the listserver of a nearby neighborhood, Historic Oakwood, full of very passionate citizens.

Recently it came to light that someone was reposting snippets from this neighborhood’s listserver onto a Twitter called OakwoodListserv. The listserver moderator complained that the account violated the listserver’s terms of use and so the account should be removed. These terms, adopted in October 2013, prohibit reposting list content in other forums without the author’s permission.

These rules are prudent and understandable. Listserver moderators have the right to regulate what goes on on their lists and to expect list members to abide by certain standards. I get that because I’ve done it myself for years. I’ve regretfully had to kick certain members off my lists because they couldn’t behave.

It’s what I didn’t know until today that gives me pause. On March 4th, someone representing the neighborhood filed a DMCA complaint against the mocking Twitter account, claiming copyright infringement. Twitter subsequently deleted the account and there would be no trace of it today save for the DMCA abuse-tracking website Chilling Effects. Here’s the complaint as posted by Chilling Effects:

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RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast

The N&O writes about Little Raleigh Radio.

RALEIGH — When Little Raleigh Radio’s on-air sign glowed red for the first time a few weeks ago, station founders Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey knew they had made it.After years of planning, they had officially launched a community radio station.“People got to listen, which is one of the most exciting moments we’ve had,” said Reid, who, like Downey, was once a disc jockey at N.C. State’s WKNC 88.1 FM.The station’s mission is to offer music and news programs produced by locals for the Raleigh community. Already, listeners can tune in to shows featuring everything from heavy metal and contemporary classical to museum exhibits and beer.For now, the station is streaming online from a studio off St. Marys Street, but Reid and Downey hope to secure a home on the FM dial – 106.5 – as well.

via RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast | Local/State | NewsObserver.com.

Now that Little Raleigh Radio is on the online air, what can you actually hear? | Music Feature | Indy Week

Indy Week ran another great story on Little Raleigh Radio, this one focusing on the programming we’ve been “airing” during our preview phase. It feels great to know that people are paying attention!

For nearly five years, Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey had dreamed of and planned for what happened at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17.Tucked away in a small studio off of St. Mary’s Street, the pair finally took Little Raleigh Radio—their brainchild of a station dedicated to local news, music and interests—online.

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via Now that Little Raleigh Radio is on the online air, what can you actually hear? | Music Feature | Indy Week.

What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative

Cary Town Councilmember Lori Bush discusses what she learned from last week’s visit to the Triangle by Google Fiber representatives.

There’s been a lot of excitement about Google Fiber coming to the Triangle – and I have to admit that I’m on that band wagon. I’ve received more than 100 separate emails from Cary citizens, excited about this possibility!If you’d like to read more about our Cary position on this announcement, the Town has a FAQ on Google Fiber. You can also check out the Open Letter to Cary Citizens from our Mayor.Last week, I met with Google Fiber representatives about their plans for the Triangle, and to learn more. They were in town to meet with the municipalities about the “check list” of items that will make it easier for them to decide if Google Fiber will go forward in this area.Here is what I learned in that meeting.

via What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative.

Fiber letter runs in N&O

I wrote a letter to the editor last week after being amazed at all the buzz that was going around about Google considering the Triangle for Google Fiber. It created huge buzz, even though we’re not a sure bet to get it and whatever fiber Google does lay down won’t be lit for at least a year.

Here’s my short-but-sweet letter:

News that Google Fiber might bring gigabit Internet to the Triangle brought to mind the stir that must have accompanied the arrival of the railroad. Sure, a horse and buggy will get you there, but the future rides on fiber optics.

Mark Turner
Raleigh

Time Warner Cable raising Internet rates 40%

Time-Warner-Cable
As a customer of Earthlink’s cable modem service, I’ve been happy being relatively immune to the frequent and outrageous price hikes imposed by Time Warner Cable on its customers. I’ve heard grumblings recently from my friends unfortunate enough to still be Time Warner Cable customers that their Internet rates were going up. Thinking I was once again free from this nonsense, I chirped at how my rates weren’t rising.

Then a friend pointed out the insert in this month’s bill, clearly stating that, yes, my rates would be going up. How much, you say? By thirty-eight percent!

That’s right: Internet service that has been $41.95 per month would now be $57.99, an almost 40% jump in one month.
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