Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 776 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 41 of 78).

Raleigh incubator, part deux

In my job quest, I began checking into Adzerk since I’ve got connections there. On Adzerk’s blog, Andy Schrader bemoans the (perceived) lack of pizazz that Raleigh offers startups:

Problem is that we’re barely considering a move to Raleigh because of its perceived lack of culture (we’re not a law firm or a government office).

Raleigh has made great strives to rejuvenate Fayetteville street and bring businesses back downtown but why no attention to startups?

Here’s your proof that Raleigh’s “stodgy” reputation is driving away promising startup companies.
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Raleigh startup incubator

I went to an job interview last week at a business in Durham’s American Tobacco Complex. The energy there was impressive. I couldn’t help but think it was cool that so many small companies are all right there, building the Next Big Thing.

It got me thinking that it’s high time Raleigh had a startup incubator of its own, bringing tech startups into downtown Raleigh and creating a buzz of its own. Raleigh’s downtown has a bit of a stodgy reputation, filled with lawyers, municipal employees, and electric company people. Until Red Hat announced its intention of moving downtown, there really hasn’t been a tech scene downtown. It’s time to change this!

When I Tweeted this last week a number of my friends immediately jumped on the bandwagon, asking how we begin. I heard from Councilor Mary-Ann Baldwin that plans are in the works for just this thing, which is fantastic. Too often the tech jobs locate in that desert known as Research Triangle Park when they should be feeding their own creativity in places like Durham’s American Tobacco (and, hopefully soon, Raleigh’s downtown too).

Billie Redmond’s love/hate relationship with debt

The News and Observer published a letter today from Raleigh mayoral candidate Billie Redmond, in which she responded to mayor Charles Meeker’s reassurance regarding Raleigh’s debt.

Redmond’s letter closed with this:

Making our debt a high priority, based on a slowing economy, and demanding that we spend within our means – and not take on new projects we cannot afford – is not being critical. It’s being responsible.

Let’s take a look at Billie Redmond’s history with debt, shall we?
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Red Hat hangs its hat in downtown Raleigh!


Looks like Red Hat plans to hang its hat in downtown Raleigh, taking a lease in the new Progress Energy building! Now didn’t I tell you that company was smart?

I just returned from Durham’s American Tobacco Complex and admired its startup incubator there, thinking Raleigh could use a startup incubator, too. Red Hat is no longer a startup company but it is a well-known tech company that will draw other tech companies into downtown. Not only that, but downtown’s nightlife and condo market should see a boost as well.

Downtown Raleigh just became a whole lot cooler. This will lead to more great things for the city!

Efforts underway to oust Carr from Raleigh ballot

Since Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher told the News and Observer that no one has stepped up to challenge Lent Carr’s candidacy now that he’s back in federal prison, at least one District C citizen has. The Board of Elections has received word that at least one citizen intends to challenge Carr’s candidacy based on his status as an active convicted felon.

North Carolina’s election law states as follows:

§ 163?55. Qualifications to vote; exclusion from electoral franchise.

[snip]

Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the following classes of persons shall not be allowed to vote in this State:

(1) Persons under 18 years of age.

(2) Any person adjudged guilty of a felony against this State or the United States, or adjudged guilty of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, unless that person shall be first restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

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Lent Carr back in prison

Yesterday came news that Raleigh City Council District C candidate Lent Carr was sent back to federal prison for violating his probation.

While some folks on the WRAL message boards (okay, nearly all of them – WRAL’s boards are typically clogged with knuckle-draggers) think his predicament is funny, I think Carr should’ve been sent off to a mental institution rather than prison. Carr clearly has mental health issues and even today we as a society do not treat this issue seriously.

Then again, maybe prison is the best place for him. Maybe now he’ll get the help he needs. It’s a sad fact that if you want free healthcare in America you have to get locked up.

CERT disaster drill

A goner


Saturday was a long, busy day for the Turners! Wake up was an unheard-of 6:15 AM so that we could get the kids off to their 7:30 AM (ouch – it hurts just to write this) swim meet at Optimist Pool. Kelly took the kids to the meet while I got ready for an event of my own: yesterday’s CERT disaster drill at 9 AM.

The drill was designed to show us a little of what it would be like to experience a disaster rescue. We had had a few hours worth of training up to that point as well a thick binder of information so it wasn’t like anyone felt like an expert. At least I didn’t! But as Scott Adams’s Dilbert points out, one is always promoted to one’s level of incompetence. When our instructor Marc Duncan asked for a volunteer to lead our team (acting as the “incident commander”) I raised my hand. I guess in four years of Navy life I never learned the old joke that Navy stands for “never again volunteer yourself!”
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Ultimate neighborhood compliment

In the midst of a challenging day at work today, I was delighted to find that my neighborhood received the ultimate compliment today. A police officer is looking to move into the neighborhood. Why is this a compliment? Because cops know crime and they don’t want to live near crime.

We as a society ask an awful lot of our men and women in uniform. Our officers work long hours for low pay and frequently get no thanks for what they do. As they like to say, if an officer visits you you’re usually having a bad day. Also, their work can be intense. And dangerous. They deal with dangerous people every day so the rest of us don’t have to.
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When is a parking violation not a parking violation?

My neighbor Mike Stenke runs a food truck business, Klausie’s Pizza. Recently there’s been a battle between the food truck operators and some downtown restaurants, who want some rules put in place on operating food trucks on public streets.

While I can sympathize with the restaurant owner’s arguments, I find it curious that no one’s raised a stink about the hot dog vendors that operate around town. I figure if a hot dog vendor can operate his food establishment on a public street, why not a food truck? Also, why should a required distance be placed between a food truck and a restaurant when no rule would keep a brick-and-mortar restaurant from opening right next to an existing restaurant? Do the existing restaurant owners want to legislate buffers between all potential competitors? If a restaurant owner is going to have a competitor, one would think he would prefer a competitor that could go away once in a while.

Anyway, the City Council heard the issues in a session last week and Stenke, because his livelihood depends on it, was also present for the discussion. After the meeting, though, someone pulled a dirty trick on Stenke, calling the cops about how his truck was parked.
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