Mapping Raleigh Crime
Spotcrime.com
is a Google Maps mashup which allows users to map varying levels of crime in their area. Whether it’s theft, burglary, robbery, assault, arson, shooting, vandalism, or arrests, spotcrime maps it. They do not map pedophiles and sex offenders, though. Those scarlet letters are mapped through the
North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry.
222 Glenwood Pool Courtyard Nearly Complete
Some photos were sent to me by a very nice person showing the central courtyard/pool area of the nearly-completed 222 Glenwood condo building. Any thoughts?
Graduations Feel The Heat
Today marks the first day in five that did not reach the 100-degree mark. It is only one of 3 4-day 100 degree streaks in history and is the earliest on record. Unfortunately is came during a period when Wake County Public Schools are holding graduations . Thousands of graduating students and their families will sit in oppressively hot ceremonies held in non-air-conditioned facilities. It used to not be this way.
While seven high schools will have the luxury of graduating in air conditioned facilities such as Memorial Auditorium and (Broughton’s) Holliday Gymnasium, ten schools will be graduating in the sweltering environment of Reynolds Coliseum. These schools are being forced into the N.C. State facility because the City of Raleigh closed its old civic and convention center in 2005 in order to make way for a new convention center hotel. This was a facility that was not well-suited for any particular function, but was flexible and offered ample, comfortable space for functions like high school graduations.
The City of Raleigh’s new convention center opens up later this summer, and will be used for future graduations, however the setting of a large, flat, convention floor will be a big disappointment for those in attendance.
We already have a perfect facility for high school graduations, and it is not being used. It’s the RBC Center. The $158M building, centrally located in Wake County, was built with $22M that comes from the county’s hotel and prepared food tax. Additionally Wake County is pitching in $1.5M annually for renovations which will keep the site economically viable. With so much county welfare money going into such a fine facility sitting in the dark this time of year ( webcam ), the least that Gale Force Holdings can do for a major stakeholder in the RBC Center is to operate the building for a day of graduations.
With the lower level split down the middle by a curtain, two simultaneous graduation setups can accommodate a dozen graduations in one day. If graduations in the North End begin at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and South End graduations begin at 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, and 8pm, a total of twelve high schools could all graduate in one day. Certainly one wouldn’t want a cacophony sounds from bands and competing speakers, so a little bit of creative scheduling could offer a smooth experience for all schools involved.
It is unfortunate that the parties involved are having to settle for substandard conditions when perfect opportunities, for which the taxpayers paid dearly, are being ignored.
En Fuego
Should we talk about the weather? (
Hi. Hi. Hi
.) Nevertheless, this recent weather trends have been strange. We did not reach 90 degrees until June 1, an abnormally late time to hit the benchmark. However in the 9 days of the month so far, we’ve hit 100 three times, and been over 95 on five days. The photo was taken when I left work at 6:10pm last night.
With all of this heat, it is important to remember to water your lawn correctly and to play by the rules. Though Falls Lake remains above a “full pool” (still!), the City of Raleigh is under Stage 1 Water Restrictions . Refer to the following chart for current watering rules. Also remember to water only in the morning. Evaporation is a major waste factor in the afternoon.
![image](/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/image-thumb6.png)
RBC Plaza from Floor 33
Champ Claris
, a realtor with YSU, had the opportunity to go up in the frighteningly “hanging off the side of the building” construction elevator of the RBC Plaza yesterday. Thanks for the photos, Champ!
(Click on the first photo to see the slideshow).
Top, Brooks, Dunn, Atkins coming to TWC
Time Warner Cable Pavilion will welcome an all-star event on September 6.
ZZ Top
will be performing along with
Brooks & Dunn
, and
Rodney Atkins
.
Kiplinger Ranks Raleigh #2
Kiplinger’s July issue contains a feature ranking the best places to live, work, and play , according to the Martin Prosperity Institute. Raleigh finished #2 just behind Houston in the study. New downtown projects scored big with the magazine, as well as the low cost of living, high proportion of workers with college degrees, and strong economic growth. There is also a 3 minute video featuring Raleigh and Cary accompanying the story.
Choice Merchandise T-Shirt Contest Aims to Put Raleigh On Your Bod
Choice Merchandise , a downtown merchandise supplier, is launching a new line of Raleigh T-shirts and needs some good slogans. They want to develop something similar to a shirts like “Nashville – the New L.A.”
Some ideas that have been tossed around are “Raleigh – The biggest medium-sized city in the world.” and “Raleigh – The Big Nut (with a picture of an acorn)”.
Winners submitting entries that go to print will receive $25 cash along with 2 VIP Passes to the show of his or her choice at Downtown Live this summer, and a free shirt, of course.
Submit your entry by emailing Erik@ChoiceMerchandise.com
N.C. Zoo Closed for the Weekend
The (fantastic) North Carolina Zoo will be closed through the end of the weekend due to a broken water main,
Durham to Get Tesla Dealership?
Durham has apparently made the very short list of cities that may get a Tesla dealership. The first dealership for the all-electric sportscar opened on Thursday in Los Angeles.
According to Autoweek
, the next wave of stores will come to Menlo Park, CA (Silicon Valley), New York, Miami, Seattle, and Chicago. The third wave, however, mentions Washington, Boston, and Durham.
The Tesla is the first wide production all-electric sportscar. It boasts acceleration of 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds and tops out at 125mph. Delivery time is currently 15 months for the $109,000 cars.
Sara Foster Featured in Bon Appetit
Be sure to check out the June
Bon Appetit
issue. On page 108 is an article by Durham’s Sara Foster called “Pasta In A New Light”. I’m not sure which looks better, the Orzo with grilled shrimp, summer vegetables, and pesto vinaigrette or the Farfalle with chicken, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. (
via
)
If you haven’t gotten a chance to eat at Foster’s Market in Durham, make some time, especially for a lunch outing. The salads and sandwiches are fantastic. A Tennessee native, Foster went on to do the NYC thing, then on to being one of Martha Stewart’s catering chefs. After a stretch in Connecticut, she and her husband moved to Durham to open a market with “great seasonal prepared foods to eat in or take out, specialty grocery items, locally roasted coffee and select wines”. There is now a location in Chapel Hill, too, but don’t bother with it unless it is decidedly more convenient to visit that location.
Raleigh Free Press Ducks Out
I was sad to read the news that S. Beaumont over at Raleigh Free Press is hanging it up (for now at least). As I’ve repeated, the more local blogging we have, the stronger we are, and the community will no doubt feel this loss. This is a hobby that takes much persistence and can burn one out easily. Hopefully Beaumont will get a recharge of the batteries after a little while and come back to the table.
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