Sir Walter Raleigh Award Nomination Period Is Open
The City of Raleigh is accepting nominations for the 2009 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Community Appearance.
Coordinated by the Raleigh Appearance Commission, the annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards recognize outstanding new development projects, building rehabilitation efforts, and conservation of natural resources. The awards program was established in 1983 to commemorate exemplary achievement in enhancing Raleigh’s appearance. To date, more than 200 projects, sites, and individuals have been honored.
Nominations for the 2009 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards are being accepted through June 25. There are 11 different award categories: for new residential, commercial, or industrial construction, as well as historic preservation, and tree and landscape conservation. The award for “Maintained Outstanding Appearance” honors developments more than 5 years old that have consistently contributed to Raleigh’s image. New in 2009 is a category for “Sustainable Design” which recognizes projects that integrate resource-conserving land design, architecture, and building principles while respecting natural and community context.
Nominations for the 2009 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards can be made using printed forms available at City government offices or online . In addition to project information, a compact disc (CD) of six or more digital photos of each nominated project or individual is required.
Award winners will be selected based on set criteria, including exhibition of a new standard of excellence, awareness of land stewardship, community involvement, innovation, conservation of natural and/ or historic resources, and exceeding applicable ordinances.
An independent jury will meet in July to review the nominations. The Raleigh City Council will confirm the jury’s selections in August. Awards will be presented Oct. 7 at the Fletcher Opera Theater in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.
Don’t Drink, Don’t Smoke, What Do We Do?
U.S. News and World Report recently released a few surveys which included the most/least smoking cities and most/least drinking cities. ironically Durham, the former “City of Tobacco” was named as the 5th Most Smoke-Free Metro area. Greensboro, Wilmington, and Hickory were mentioned in the 10 Smokiest. Raleigh and Fayetteville were mentioned in a tie for 5th in the Most Sober Metro Areas survey. The numbers were compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Further evidence that we don’t need to be called “Tobacco Road” by the national sports media, and evidence that there really are two North Carolinas.
New York Times Visits The Triangle
Today’s
New York Times features a 36-hour visit
to some of the Triangle’s eclectic offerings. From Poole’s to the Scrap Exchange to the Eno River Park, the writer bounced along several interesting stops. (The Cat’s Cradle story isn’t quite right, though. Nirvana and Pearl Jam both played to very full houses in the same summer, 1991.)
Today Show Notes Raleigh “Rebound”
The Today Show did a feature on cities that are rebounding from the real estate crisis. Raleigh came in at #2 on the list with its concentration of good universities, strong family atmosphere, good weather, and strong job growth.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy
Frank Harmon Named to “Top 50”
Architect Magazine’
s “Architect 50” rankings
for 2009 are out. Included at #26 is Raleigh’s
Frank Harmon Architect PA
. The only other North Carolinian firm is Charlotte’s
Little Diversified Architectural Consultants
at #43.
Jason Mraz Coming to Cary
On July 29 Jason Mraz will be playing at Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre. Tickets went on sale today.
Council Gives City Manager Raise In Woeful Economy
Last week the Raleigh City Council gave City Manager Russell Allen a 5% raise . Instead of $210,000, he will make $220,000 annually (a 57% increase over his original 2001 salary). In other news, North Carolina’s unemployment rate in March was 10.8%, the nation’s 5th worst. The rate for Raleigh/Cary was 8.8%, the national average.
There is no hope for anyone needing more evidence showing how out of touch the Raleigh City Council is. To quote the president,”"There are American dreams that are being deferred, and that are being denied, because of the current economic climate." Perhaps now is not the time for our city to hold a gun to the taxpayers’ heads, demanding increased salaries for public figures while people are losing jobs in “the worst crisis since the Great Depression.”
WakeUP Sponsors School Growth Panel
On Tuesday (May 12) WakeUP will co-sponsor a free session entitled “ Achieving Educational Excellence in Times of Challenge and Change ”. The session will be at McKimmon Center and goes from 7:00pm to 9:30pm. Featured panelists include:
- Tom Oxholm, Co-author of "A School District’s Journey to Excellence"
- Ann Denlinger, Wake Education Partnership
- Johnna Rogers, Deputy Wake County Manager
- John Dornan, NC Public School Forum
- Stan Norwalk, Wake County Commissioner
- Nelson Dollar, NC House of Reps
- Beverley Clark, Wake Board of Education
- Charlotte Turpin, NCAE
- Jim Blackburn, NC Assoc of County Commissioners
Idols Live Tour Coming to Greensboro
On Sunday, August 2, the American Idols Live tour will be swinging through Greensboro Coliseum. The tour features this season’s Top 10 finalists, including Chapel Hill’s Anoop “Dawg” Desai.
The presale will be Friday (May 8th) from 10am to 10pm (password: Idols2009). $1 from each ticket will go to City of Hope.
NOAA Hurricane Hunter Coming Wednesday
The NOAA’s annual Hurricane Awareness tour will be swinging through RDU Airport on Wednesday (May
5
6
). The tour includes specialists in hurricane meteorology, but features a WP-3 Orion, an NOAA hurricane hunting airplane. Head out to RDU and take a tour of the plane and have your questions answered!
- Tours are from 3:00pm – 5:00pm
- Use Park & Ride #2 (next to the control tower), and walk to the General Aviation Terminal.
[ via ]
Dalton Wins Miss USA Pageant
Congratulations to
Wilmington’s Kristen Dalton
who
won the Miss USA Pageant
last night.
More at WRAL
(
video
)
Backyard Bistro Now Open
In the former Damon’s location in the shadows of the RBC Center,
Backyard Bistro
opened its doors on Monday.
The restaurant’s menu
features American fare such as hot wings, ribs, steaks, burgers, etc. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the menu is that they are getting their beef for both steaks and burgers from the Angus Barn’s butcher.
Forbes Names Raleigh As Most Popular
WRAL just spotted
that Forbes has showered Raleigh with yet another accolade. This time Raleigh tops
Forbes’ list of fastest-growing (ie “popular”) metros
. Austin, Charlotte and many other southern cities made the top 10.
Recent Stories
- North Carolina Loses The Great Teacher February 9, 2015
- City Lays Markings for Currituck Obstacle Course February 4, 2015
- History Making Heels and Wolfpack Prepare for Battle January 14, 2015
- 25 Predictions for 2015 January 5, 2015
- Raleigh’s 10 Biggest Stories of 2014 January 2, 2015
- 2014: The Rain Year January 2, 2015
- Tupelo Honey Sets New Casual Standard December 1, 2014
- 2013 Predictions. A Look Back November 18, 2014
- Wicked Taco Bringing Fresh-Mex to Western Blvd November 17, 2014
- DOT Unveils I-440 Widening Plans November 12, 2014
- County Power Shift Brings Major Changes to Raleigh’s Future November 5, 2014
- Jarrett Bay Store Coming to Crabtree September 25, 2014
- FirstWatch Coming to Glenwood Avenue September 9, 2014
- Big Shindig Releases Set Times September 5, 2014
- Appearance Commission to Review Residence Inn September 3, 2014
