Hop on the Hawks bandwagon

Speaking of the tenuous nature of sports ...

Don't look now, but your Carolina RailHawks are on something of a historic run. And (new)fans are starting to take notice.

"Etienne Barbara's record-setting scoring streak ended at eight games Saturday, but his two assists earned the Carolina RailHawks a more important feat—the club has now won a franchise-high five games on the trot," writes Joe Schwartz for Triangle Offense.

More than 3,000 made it out to WakeMed Park for the game on Saturday, the second game in a row that the attendance has been that high.

The match ... was billed as the renewal of a Southern rivalry with Atlanta returning to competition after a two-year hiatus. The Silverbacks are the closest geographic opponent to Carolina in the eight-team NASL, but the two sides are much farther apart in the standings.

The RailHawks (7-1-1) sit in first and have scored a league-leading 20 goals, never being shut out, and have conceded a league-low eight. By contrast, Atlanta (0-2-6) are on the bottom of the standings, haven't found the back of the net in four matches and have allowed 13 goals, the most in NASL.

The next time to see the Hawks at home is June 18, when they face Tampa Bay. Carolina travels to Edmonton for its next game on June 10.

The tenuous business of sports

The news today is that the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers are moving from the ATL and heading north to Winnipeg.

The AJC's Jeff Schultz writes: "There are hockey teams in Tampa and San Jose and Raleigh, and I could go on. There’s still one inexplicably in Phoenix, which the NHL is floating for another year, maybe because Bettman plans to retire and open up a pawn shop there one day. Is Atlanta an inferior market to any of those cities?"

Not necessarily, Jeff.

While it would be easy to lob darts at Atlanta for losing its SECOND NHL franchise to Canada, we must remember that, in this day and age, nothing is certain. A few years ago, it could've been our Carolina Hurricanes making the trek somewhere else.

True, the Canes have become somewhat of a poster child for the success of Sun Belt hockey expansion. But even that moniker is tenuous. The fans have been great; the franchise has built some great roots through the area's youth hockey leagues. But it certainly helps to not only make playoffs but actually win a Stanley Cup.

And who knows? Leaving could still happen. The News & Observer has reported for several years about the thin-ice -- financially -- on which the Canes annually find themselves. Winning equals fans which equals sustained success -- at least until the winning stops and the fans stop coming.

I hear Quebec would like another team.

CityCamp Raleigh takes place next weekend

The City of Raleigh is teaming up with a variety of partners to host a “CityCamp” that will focus on soliciting “next-generation solutions” to address the needs of the capital city, according to WRAL.

The event, called an “unconference,” is set for June 3-5.

Conference organizers are seeking input from citizens as well as technology professionals, businesses and non-profit groups.

Goals include:

• Streamlining procedures
• Sharing information
• Creating solutions to challenges with new technology

“Our citizens are ready for Raleigh to move forward and be more open sourced focused,” said Mayor Charles Meeker in a statement. “The technology is successful. Raleigh is ready to be the worldwide hub for open source.

From what I've read, CityCamp Raleigh is basically an effort to come up with the best ways to use data sets that the city has for the best public use (ex. track CAT buses, etc). There are free t-shirts, food and $5,000 prize for the best idea. Anybody can come and win the prize - but you have to register (and be one of the first 100 for shirts and food).

Go to citycampral.org/ for more information.

Welcome to CityCamp Raleigh

CityCamp Raleigh is three days of open sourced talks, workshops, and hands-on problem solving, to re-imagine the way the web, applications, technology, and participation will shape the future of our city.

Official Event Schedule

• Friday, June 3, 12:30 – 5pm at Vintage 21, Downtown Raleigh
  • Speakers – Government and Technology Industry Experts
• Friday, June 3, 5:30 – 8 pm at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, Downtown Raleigh
  • CityCamp Raleigh GovUp! GovUp is a MeetUp type event, happy hour style mixing and mingling with a little inspiration from a speaker. Click here for details and to register!
• Saturday, June 4, 9am – 5pm at Vintage 21, Downtown Raleigh
  • Unconference
• Sunday, June 5, 10am – 4pm at The Stockroom, Downtown Raleigh
  • Workshops, Final Presentations, and Awards!

Why can't we have one of these?

I've thought for a few years that a Mast General Store would be an awesome addition to downtown Raleigh, but thought that the city is A) a little too far east for the store, and B) a little too urban.

Well, that apparently hasn't stopped Columbia from getting one.

The new Mast General Store in Columbia has opened, a move city officials hope will help revitalize downtown.

Mayor Steve Benjamin and other officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning. The building will be in a renovated building at the corner of Main and Taylor streets.

Mast General locations evoke the look of a old-time general store, selling barrels of candies, food, clothes, and outdoor gears.

The North Carolina based company has locations across the country, including Greenville, but the Columbia store will be the largest. The new store will be 17,000 square feet with 25 employees, all from the Columbia area.

Columbia city leaders hope Mast General will help revitalize Main Street and attract even more businesses to the area. Mast General considered Columbia 12 years ago, but didn't think Main Street was ready for the store.

Rapid Fitness opening spot in old Buckhead Saloon/Jillian's location

Gym Raleigh Rapid Fitness will be renovating the old Buckhead Saloon/Jillian's spot at 411 W. Morgan Street in downtown Raleigh.

Apparently, one of Rapid's other locations will be moving to this spot. The move is expected to take place in mid-August.

In other DTR retail news, Southern Frock, based out of Rocky Mount, is planning to begin work on new offices at 208-204 S. Wilmington Street. The clothing designer will open up space in a 1,000-plus-square-foot location.

Pitmaster Mitchell leaving The Pit

From the N&O:

Famous Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Pitmaster Ed Mitchell is leaving the Pit in downtown Raleigh. Here is the press release that just went out:

The Pitmaster™ Ed Mitchell today announced that he is leaving The Pit restaurant in Raleigh to focus on developing a new barbecue restaurant concept and other business ventures related to his distinctive brand of whole hog barbecue, roasted and sauced in the tradition of the great Pitmasters of North Carolina.

"I am extremely pleased with how popular The Pit has become since 2007 when we set out to bring a new level of whole-hog barbecue to Raleigh, " said Mitchell. "I thank Greg Hatem for providing a wonderful location and ongoing support that allowed us to make The Pit into a nationally recognized barbecue restaurant. ..." ...

Mitchell is leaving The Pit to allow more time to plan a new barbecue concept restaurant that he hopes will be located in The Triangle and to focus on other business opportunities that extend The Pitmaster brand into new markets.

Noticed fewer pigeons downtown?

Could be since there is a hawk's nest on First Baptist Church's steeple. I noticed it 2 weeks ago as I walked by the Dept. of Agriculture building on Edenton. I caught a glimpse of an adult taking flight and then saw the nest. This evening I headed back to get some shots. For those that can't place this, it's at the corner of Salisbury and Edenton across the street (northwest) from the Capitol. I think these are juvenile red-shouldered hawks and there looks to be four of them. I am trying to learn more about NC's birds

but have a ways to go. Can anybody confirm or deny my ID? While I was there tonight, none of them took off but it appears the nest goes behind the smaller steeple closest to the Capitol with two looking out one way and two looking out the other. Maybe waiting for the folks to bring back dinner.

I haven't seen a black bear in town yet (ok maybe that would be a little too much) but it is very nice to know that nature is finding a way to get along beside us. At least in this instance.

What'd we miss while we were gone?

Sincere apology for the lack of posts of late. But what can I say? I was on vacation. A couple of Raleigh-centric items worth noting that I missed were the announcement of the tornado benefit concert to be held on June 3 at the Raleigh Amphitheater.

The lineup looks solid: Connells, Marcy Playground, Kooley High, the Love Language and much more.

The show starts at 5.

Another thing that I missed was the fact that -- finally -- the Triangle is running out of 919 phone numbers. Of course, I swear people said about a decade ago that we were on the cusp of this.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that 95 percent of phone numbers with the 919 area code are already taken. The state Utilities Commission has told phone companies they have a month to come up with a strategy to implement a new area code, which will be 984.

People in the region will have to dial 10 digits even when calling across the street. That's already the practice in Charlotte and other parts of the country.

Reminds me of that "Seinfeld" episode.

PHONE MAN: All right, miss Benes, all finished. Here's your new number.

ELAINE: Ahem. 646? What is this?

PHONE MAN: That's your new area code.

ELAINE: I thought 646 was just for new numbers.

PHONE MAN: This is a new number.

ELAINE: No, no, no, no. It's not a new number. It's--it's--it's just a changed number. See? It's not different. It's the same, just...changed.

PHONE MAN: Look, I work for the phone company. I've had a lot of experience with semantics, so don't try to lure me into some maze of circular logic.

ELAINE: You know, I could've killed you, and no one would've known.

PHONE MAN: I could've killed you, and no one would've known.

...

EXT. CITY SIDEWALK - DAY

Elaine and a man are talking.

MAN: You're probably one of those women who doesn't like to give out her number.

ELAINE: No, I'm not. Here you go.

MAN: 646?

ELAINE: It's a new area code.

MAN: What area? New Jersey?

ELAINE: No, no. It's right here in the city. It's the same as 212. They just multiplied it by 3, and then they added one to the middle number. It's the same.

MAN: Do I have to dial a one first?

Elaine nods and the man crumples up her number.

MAN: I'm really kinda seein' somebody.

ELAINE: Yeah? Well, so am I!

CAM: A new jewel for Downtown Raleigh

By this time, there have been plenty of reviews of both the exterior (the building) and the interior (the actual art) of the new Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) in Downtown Raleigh's warehouse district. I'm not gonna rehash any of that. Instead, I'll just say my two young daughters and I walked over on Sunday and found it to be a fantastic addition to the Raleigh's cultural offerings. It adds to Raleigh's reputation as the "Smithsonian of the South." Kudos to everyone who made it a reality.

Here are a few more photos of the new CAM. Get out and enjoy it!