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Aug
15

Electronics Recycling Mini-Site Opens

According to MyNC , the City of Raleigh and Eco Lube Service Station have partnered to offer a mini-recycling site that accepts electronic items. The station is located at 4901 Atlantic Avenue. The station will accept “any items with a cord” as well as the “standard 14 materials the City has been collecting” (maybe this refers to this 12-item list ?). Only residents, not businesses, are allowed to use this venue. Stores hours are 8am to 7pm M-F and 8am to 5pm on Saturday.

This site is not mentioned on the city’s Solid Waste Services website , but it seems to be in addition to Wake County’s electronics recycling efforts at the North Raleigh dump and the Apex dump sites .

Aug
15

Caniac Carnival Coming to RBC Center

The Carolina Hurricanes organIzation has set September 20 as the date for the Caniac Carnival. More details to come…

Aug
15

Retail Corner Store Coming to Chavis

The redeveloped Chavis Heights area is getting an interesting addition at Swain and Lenoir. The site plan (.pdf) for the proposed development calls for a 1,600 square foot retail store with two 750-square-foot condos upstairs. The adjoining land will contain 10 parking spaces.

Isn’t it interesting that we finally see a corner retail proposal with residential upstairs…with a “sea” of parking associated with it. According to the site plan’s scribbling, the city requires 8 parking spaces for the retail component and 3 spaces for the residential. It should be noted, though, that Swain is only a 19 foot wide street. Check out the street view of this area (and you’ll appreciate how narrow the street is).

map it

Aug
15

Alice Cooper Coming to DPAC

alicecooper Well here’s something that looks like fun for the whole family. Alice Cooper’s Theatre of Death is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center on September 30. Tickets go on sale on Friday (8/21) at 10am at Ticketmaster outlets.

Aug
14

AC/DC Coming to Greensboro

AC_DC One of the pillars of rock, AC/DC, is coming to the Greensboro Coliseum on October 25. Tickets went on sale at Ticketmaster outlets this morning at 10am.

Aug
13

Jimmy V Classic Comes Home

vFoundation2 On Sunday the stars will be out at the brand new Lonnie Poole Golf Course on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus for the 16th annual Jimmy V Classic . In addition to the main event, several other events will comprise this special week such as tomorrow night’s Wine & Dine event at the convention center ( tix ), the cancer research symposium (Saturday, free), and the black tie Gala featuring Lyle Lovett and his Large Band on Saturday night ( tix ).

The Big Event

Sunday’s main event begins with a shotgun start at 9:30am. Tickets are only $5 thru Ticketmaster . Fans will need to park on Centennial Campus in the designated parking deck on Varsity Drive, and take a shore ride on the shuttle bus to the course. From the classic’s site:

There is no public parking at the golf course. Spectator parking is available in several lots on Centennial Campus. For those entering from Varsity Drive, take the 2nd right off Varsity to the parking deck adjacent to the Venture buildings. For those entering from Loop Rd. via Centennial Parkway, take Main Campus Drive to Varsity; then left on Varsity; then left onto Partners Way to the parking deck there. Satellite lots will be available if the main lots fill. Look for the signs to help guide you. For reference, the following lots are our primary spectator parking lots:

  • Lot A : Venture parking deck, between Varsity Dr. and Research Drive
  • Lot E1 : Monteith Research parking deck, at the corner of Main Campus Drive and Campus Shore Drive
  • Lot V1 : Partners Way parking deck, on Partners Way off Varsity Drive

Celebrities

The classic this year has many familiar faces as well as some extremely interesting lesser-known celebs. Here is the current list:

  • Bates Battaglia (Former NHL, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Tim Brando (CBS Sports Announcer)
  • Rod Brind’Amour (NHL, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Kimberlin Brown (Shelia Carter, "The Young and The Restless")
  • M.L. Carr (Retired NBA, Boston Celtics)
  • Rick Cerone (Retired MLB, NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox)
  • Erik Cole (NHL, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Joe Corvo (NHL, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Bobby Cremins (Head Coach, College of Charleston’s Men’s Basketball)
  • Paul DiMeo (ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition")
  • Dakoda Dowd (16-year-old Golf Prodigy)
  • Todd Eldredge (U.S. Figure Skater)
  • Jack Ford (Co-anchor, "Banfield & Ford: Courtside"; on tru TV)
  • John Forslund (TV Play-By-Play Announcer, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Terry Gannon (Commentator, ABC Sports and ESPN)
  • Bill Goldberg (Retired WWE Wrestler, Host of Spike TV’s "Bullrun")
  • Seth Greenberg (Head Coach, Virginia Tech Basketball )
  • Chris Harrison (Host of ABC’s "The Bachelor")
  • Gregory Harrison (Actor, Producer, Director)
  • Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding, "Saved by the Bell")
  • Dennis Haysbert (Jonas Blane, ‘The Unit’)
  • Gregory Itzin (Virgil Minelli, "The Mentalist")
  • Chad LaRose (NHL, Carolina Hurricanes)
  • Matthew Laurance (Former Duke Radio Analyst)
  • Ewa Laurance (ESPN Billiards Analyst / Former World Champion)
  • Mitch Laurance (Host, "On The Green Golf Video Magazine")
  • Meat Loaf (Recording Artist)
  • Sidney Lowe (Head Coach, NC State Men’s Basketball)
  • David Mobley (Long Drive Champion)
  • Tom Penders (Head Coach, University of Houston Basketball)
  • Jeff Ruland (Former Head Coach, Iona College Basketball)
  • Stefanie Schaeffer (Season Six Winner of The Apprentice)
  • Stuart Scott (ESPN SportsCenter / Studio Host)
  • Howard M. Stevens, Jr. (Retired NFL, Baltimore Colts)
  • Bob Valvano (ESPN Radio Host/Former College Basketball Coach)
  • Dennis Walters (Host, "The Dennis Walters Golf Show", The Golf Channel)
  • Bucky Waters (Former Head Coach, Duke Men’s Basketball)
  • Garo Yepremian (Retired NFL, Miami Dolphins)

Donate

Whether you can or cannot make the event, you still can make a difference. We still have a long way to go with cancer research, and more funding is needed. Anything you can do to help may save a loved-one’s life. The V Foundation’s site has more information on how you can help .

Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up

When I held up the bumper sticker featuring this phrase from the second row behind the UNC bench at a game in 1993 and Phil Ford gave me a thumbs up, I knew it was the beginning of something big. Soon after, Jimmy V’s ESPY speech would become an important part of his legacy; a speech that time will never erode. It takes just over 11 minutes to watch, but it lives with you much longer (just be sure to have the tissues handy).

Aug
13

David Copperfield Coming to DPAC

Magician David Copperfield is coming for four shows at Durham’s performing arts center. The times are 5:30 and 8:30 for each day of October 20 and 21.

5:30 shows:

8:30 shows:

Aug
13

Zac Brown Coming to Cary

The Zac Brown Band is coming to Koka Booth Amphithteatre in Cary on September 24. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

Aug
13

The Fray Coming to Durham

fray Durham’s performing arts center has snagged a date on The Fray’s tour. They are coming September 8th, and tickets go on sale tomorrow at Ticketmaster outlets.

Aug
12

Dogfish Head Beer Tasting at Sitti Thursday Night

dogfish Dogfish Head Brewery will be hosting an evening of beers In Sitti’s courtyard tomorrow night (Thursday). Special pricing will be available on Festina Peche, Raison D’Etre, and Sah’ Tea. A tasting flight featuring these three along with the rare Burton Baton will be available for $14. A Dogfish Head representative will be present from 5:30pm-8:00pm to give insight and answer any questions.

Aug
11

Rock Hall Concert Postponed

The 2nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert scheduled for September 6 at Booth Amphitheatre has been postponed until some time in the Spring of 2010. The show was to feature the members of Prince’s bands (Revolution and Grand Central), White-Sox All-Star band (Alan White, Spike Edney, Jamie Moses, Jeff Scott Soto, Randy Hansen, Geoffery Castle, Berndt Bodal), Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.), Patty Smyth and Scandal, 94 East, Blessed Union of Souls, Nine Days, Freddy Jones Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the Georgia Satellites.

Tickets purchased in person at an outlet or the Amphitheatre Box Office for the September 6 show will be refunded at point of purchase starting tomorrow (Aug 12). Tickets purchased via phone or Ticketmaster.com will be refunded automatically on the same date. Tickets purchased for the September 6, 2009 event will NOT be honored for the rescheduled date in 2010. Tickets for the 2010 rescheduled show will go on sale later this Fall.

Aug
10

Radio Deal Means End of Line for 850 The Buzz

850 Capital Broadcasting made a stunning announcement today that will shake up the sports radio market. In a complex deal, Capital Broadcasting will acquire 620 The Bull and most of the local talent at 850 The Buzz. Curtis Media will take the 850 signal and convert it to a music format (presumably either a Latin variant or Retiree Radio).

The move means the end of the line for the area leader in sports talk, 850 The Buzz. For me it began back on September 6, 1996, Hurricane Fran had devastated Raleigh, leaving hundreds of thousands without power for days. The next day we were scanning the dial for afternoon discussion about the hurricane damage, and landed on the old KIX signal, 850 am. I didn’t realize that they were doing talk radio at that point, but we couldn’t turn it off. In that era they had The Fabulous Sports Babe, Mark Jackson (sports), and some chick who talked about sex every night. Excellent grammarian Pat Mellon took the afternoon drive time for a while and talked about local issues, especially the struggle to land an NHL team and to get funding to complete the planned arena in West Raleigh.

By a couple of years later, under the direction of programming director Craig Schwalb, 850 had dedicated itself to sports talk and firmly cemented its presence as the local sports talk leader. While 620 had some mumbling curmudgeon each evening mocking the future of the Canes, 850 had a strong local lineup including Mike Solarte, Adam Gold, and Morgan Patrick.

I happened to be the big winner of 850’s trip to eat lunch in NYC with The Fabulous Sportsbabe contest. The station put us up in the Helmsley Park Central, gave us tickets to the BOS/NYR hockey game at The Garden ( lame crowd), and tickets to see Saturday Night Live. It will go down as one of my favorite weekends, so 850 The Buzz will always hold a place in my heart.

As the sports talk format grew in America this decade, 850 faced new challengers. The race for the all-important 18-40 male market has been an interesting one. With a coveted place on the FM dial and lots of “capital” behind it, Capital Broadcasting buys a strong station and will reorganize its lineup.

99.9 FM carries the ESPN brand, and has a long-term contract with the radio network, so we are likely to see the national programming on that station staying put. The popular Jim Rome Show will likely shift over to 620 The Bull. According to someone close to the situation, local sports talk will fill the gaps on both stations in order to always bring a national/regional + local one-two punch.

In the end what we are really seeing is a shift of 850 The Buzz over to 620 The Bull, with a few exceptions. ACC expert Dave Glenn will take the 99.9 drive time slot, while it is likely that Mark Packer will be carried on 620 opposite.

Many, many questions remain to be answered, though. There is no word on what will happen to other local talent such as Morgan Patrick, Bomani Jones, Amnon Nissan, Scott Jackson, Mark Thomas, and Mike Maniscalco. Who will carry Imus In the Morning? What will happen to the Dan Patrick Show?

The transition date has not been set. In fact we don’t know that it will happen before year’s end. In the meantime, enjoy the “strong” signal on 850 the Buzz while you can, and enjoy some of these local talent people I mentioned…while you can.

8/11 Note: This bit of info comes from the TBJ story :

"In addition, Curtis Media is forming a new sports network, which will syndicate radio shows hosted by 850 The Buzz mainstay David Glenn and WPTF sports anchor Taylor Zarzour. Capitol has agreed to broadcast Zarzour on WDNC weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon, while Glenn’s program will air from noon to 3 p.m. on 99.9 The Fan."

Presumably the concept here is to take these two, especially Glenn, and syndicate them to smaller markets in the region. It is perfectly reasonable to see his show, for instance, being carried in markets like Wilmington, Greensboro, Fayetteville, and smaller towns. Perhaps, though, it would be interesting to people in Asheville, Richmond, and beyond given Glenn’s expertise of ACC issues.

Aug
10

Noodles & Co. Coming to Crossroads Plaza

The Friday Sue Stock column in the N&O revealed that Noodles & Co. will open their second area location in Crossroads Plaza during the Fall. There are no formal announcement signs in the shopping center, however the most logical location is the one adjacent to Dickie’s BBQ. It has never been upfitted, and is the perfect size for a Noodles store. map it

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