Raleigh

Community-focused posts

There are 773 posts filed in Raleigh (this is page 59 of 78).

Driver who hit Jason Ray indicted

The driver who struck and killed UNC student Jason Ray has been indicted by a New Jersey jury for causing death while driving without a license. Armen Hovsepian initially claimed to be a passenger in the SUV driven by his father but a tip came in that placed him behind the wheel. Hovsepian could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

MT.Net wrote many times before about Jason Ray due to the conversations my wife Kelly had with him shortly before he passed away. Ray performed as the UNC mascot Rameses for three years and was expected to perform at a charity event Kelly was organizing.

Brad Cooper indicted

Brad Cooper was indicted today by a Wake County jury and arrested for the death of his wife, Nancy Cooper.

“This has really never been the case about a jogger being randomly attacked,” said Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore. “It has been a case of domestic violence of the very worst kind.”

I gave Brad the benefit of the doubt and in the eyes of the law he’s still considered innocent, but things aren’t looking good for him. In the vast majority of these cases its the husband whose guilty. This may be no different.

Sitti by Neomonde

I got a sneak peek today of Sitti by Neomonde, the new joint project between Neomonde and Greg Hatem’s Empire Eats opening at the corner of Hargett and Wilmington Streets. All I can say is wow! Sitti takes Neomonde’s great food and provides it with the atmosphere its always needed.

I have always delighted in introducing my friends and colleagues to Neomonde. Its like I’m letting them in on a secret; like they become members of the club. Word of mouth is what led the first tucked-away, Beryl Road restaurant to double in size. It also led to the opening of a Morrisville location. With popularity came the pains of growth: even with the expanded size, the Raleigh restaurant sometimes has more diners than available tables.
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Lions Park: a park born of love

I took a tour this afternoon of Raleigh’s Lions Park with the park director, Mark Wilson. On the way out he handed me a photocopy from a book which tells of how the park came to be.

Reading it blew me away. A huge number of Raleigh citizens and civic leaders banded together to donate their time, money, and sweat to create this park. I truly had no idea. What a contrast to today’s park process: one which has been accused of completely ignoring the citizen involvement.

I’ve retyped the article in its entirety on my East Raleigh blog. Reading it will open your eyes to this jewel in our midst (a midst that was once known as “North Raleigh”)!

James Taylor plays Raleigh’s Moore Square

Its strange to see a music star the magnitude of James Taylor play a corner of Moore Square. On the other hand, the unassuming Taylor seemed at home there. The stars align like this maybe once in a million years, so I wasn’t about to let this chance pass me up. My officemate and I played a bit of hookey to see the show.

After catching up on work emails this morning, I took a stroll down to Moore Square a little after 10 to see what was happening. To my surprise, roadies were setting up a modest stage while maybe a dozen fans waited around in the warm morning sun. Then my officemate then called and needed to be let back into the office. Only when I got there did I find out I missed Taylor’s soundcheck by minutes.
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What’s in a name?

Our home is on many different borders. It shares plans with a much older subdivision, though it has a distinct name. Its at the very end of our street, which is itself at the end of another street. Our neighborhood shares a street with the Belvidere Park neighborhood but shares a community watch with Oakwood Park.

And what is Oakwood Park neighborhood? Its kind of a loose collection of homes bordering the Oakwood Park on Brookside Drive. The homes comprising Oakwood Park fall into different CACs (Citizens Advisory Councils): the East CAC (of which I am current chair) and North Central CAC.

I found out today that another neighborhood to the west of us is organizing itself as Mordecai East (previously it was content to be grouped with Mordecai proper). There is also a neighborhood somewhere in-between known as Oakdale.

I find all the neighborhood groupings to be amusingly arbitrary and shifting. This is a good thing, as it reflects the transformation taking place in these neighborhoods. They are in the midst of creating an identity and these names reflect this reaching for an identity. I’m glad to be here participating in this identity creation.

Strickland park

If I didn’t get my fill of excitement last night I’ve got more fun tonight. Tonight’s the night the Parks and Rec board votes on the master plan for Strickland Park.

I’m not happy with how the public process was handled here, though I think the park will be a welcome asset to the neighborhood, ultimately. There are a few changes that I would like to see – and that I will ask for – but I’m not optimistic that these will be accomplished. I think some people have made up their minds and little will change their positions.

The big chair

I attended my first Raleigh CAC meeting (as opposed to the East CAC ones that I lead). I sat at the City Council table for the first time and the meeting was televised on RTN channel 11.

The meeting was dull for the most part. Up until the end, that is, which came after the meeting stopped its scheduled airing on cable. That’s when some longtime CAC chairs unloaded about the perceived lack of cooperation they have been getting from the city’s community services department. Though I was missing half of the televised presidential debate I couldn’t pull myself away from the fireworks.

Yet another unexpectedly-exciting first meeting I’ve attended!

Trickle-down economics

A friend of my coworker works at a local homeless shelter. He says homelessness is up 30% now due to the economy. Urban Ministries of Durham is warning of the same increase in homeless people.

“The current economic condition of our country is pushing many people into homelessness, and Durham will be no exception,” said Greg Rowland, Urban Ministries’ vice-chair. “We are committed to increasing our capacity to provide food, clothing, shelter and recovery to everyone who walks through our door.”

It might hurt to lose pretend money in the stock market but its important to remember those for whom the economic stress is painfully tangible: our homeless.