Relocate Triangle - An Insider's Guide About Moving To The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Election Night Events

With Tuesday, Nov. 4 as Election Day, obviously there will be winners and losers for many offices from the national to local level. If you are a real political junkie and want to be in the midst of a (potentially) good time, and watching or listening to poll results just are not enough for you, check out the activities that will be happening election night. By the way, it may be an oversight, but the North Carolina Republican Party has no official election night celebration listed on its Web site as of this writing.

North Carolina Democratic Party: The new Marriott Raleigh City Center State Ballroom at 501 Fayetteville St. will host this shindig from when the polls close at 7:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. There will be music by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road as well as light snacks and cash bars. For those who want to spend the night there, hospitality suites are available. For more information, call Sallie Leslie at 919-821-2777 ext. 205 or e-mail sleslie@ncdp.org.

Downtown Raleigh Election Night Party: If you are favoring neither Democrats nor Republicans for this campaign, why not give this a shot? At 101 Lounge + Café at the corner of Davie and Blount streets (actually 444 S. Blount St., if you need a precise address), DJ Prince will start spinning tunes at 5 p.m. downstairs while all TVs upstairs will be tuned to election coverage. There will also be plenty of food and drink specials all night. You are encouraged to wear your candidate’s gear and plan to celebrate (hopefully!) the end of this long political process. For more information, visit here.

Election Night on the Big Screen: The Broad Street Café at 1116 Broad St. in Durham will host from 7-11 p.m. the chance to see election results while among a crowd of strangers. Hey, some people like that, so … For more information, visit here.

Durham Election Night Party: Another supposedly nonpartisan event will be held at Six Plates Wine Bar, which normally features four wines to buy for only $4 a glass on Tuesdays (woo hoo!). The bar is located at 2812 Erwin Road, Ste. 104. For more information, visit here.

Enjoy whatever option you choose. And remember – get out and vote Nov. 4 in case you have not already done so, OK?

Green Tip of the Week 10/31

Shower Over Bathing

Save your time, as well as energy and take a shower as against a bath. A bath uses approximately 18 gallons of water, whereas showers use only 7 gallons.

For more information on go to www.readthegreenbook.com

Green Tip Of The Week - 10/24

Avoid using a cover page

Avoid using a cover page when faxing documents to save paper on both ends of the transmission. Seventeen million trees per year are cut down to supply fax paper in the United States.

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Halloween Hijinks

As it nears time for ghosts and witches of all ages to take to the streets for treats, we thought we might provide you a few pieces of advice regarding Halloween as it is celebrated in the Triangle. So keep these things in mind come Friday, Oct. 31:

Chapel Hill Celebration To Be Toned Down

This year, Chapel Hill’s annual downtown costume ball on Franklin Street will be toned down from previous efforts due to concerns by public officials it is getting out of control, with an estimated 80,000 visitors attending last year’s event. For one, thing, the town has negotiated with local bars and restaurants to limit alcohol sales. As a result, on Halloween every bar and restaurant on Franklin Street will charge a minimum $5 cover charge starting at 10 p.m., and they will all close their doors to new patrons at 1 a.m.

Also, accessing the downtown area will be difficult. Starting at 8 p.m., inbound traffic on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Estes Drive toward downtown and on East Franklin Street from Estes Drive toward downtown will be restricted to one lane, and one lane will be reserved for emergency vehicles.

If you have little children, you really do not want to go to this event, even though it is not restricted for families. It is more of an adult “dress-up” affair with cool outfits. Getting to and from it are never easy, and obviously will be less so this year. But if you like being among crowds of people on Halloween, go for it.

“Rocky Horror” at the Rialto in Raleigh

If you still want a costume contest for adults under less rigorous circumstances, then let’s do the Time Warp again and go to the Rialto Theatre for their big showing at midnight of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Again, though, do not take the kiddies, or rather you should not, since the movie is rated R.

Habitat Halloween 100 in Durham
For those of you with a more humanitarian bent, and want to do something with your kids too, why not benefit Habitat for Humanity of Durham? There are two events connected to this deserving charity. First, the Durham Jaycees are hosting their annual Haunted House fundraiser at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park which on Fri., Oct. 24 will be raising money for Habitat of Durham. Tickets are $7 at the door, with $2 off with the donation of a tape measure.

Then check out the fifth annual “spook-tacular” Halloween 100, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 1. The routes of 100, 62, or 31 miles are fully supported and start and finish at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham. Prizes include “best costume.” For more details on both events, visit here.

Hope these events gave you some ideas for having fun. Keep in mind that whatever you do or wherever you go, weather forecasts are predicting us to have cool nights, so dress warmly. And don’t let the goblins get you, heh heh!

Green Tip Of The Week - 10/17

Tone down the take-out. All that packaging adds up to about a third of all garbage tossed in the U.S. Cooking just one more dinner and packing just one more lunch a week will have a big impact on unnecessary waste and will save you money. For more information click here

Time for the State Fair

When it hits mid-October in the Triangle, many people know that this time of year signals the beginning of the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. Running from Oct. 16-26 this year, the fair showcases our bountiful agricultural scene with farm animals, plants, crafts and more on display, plus carnival rides and foods your doctor does not want you to eat on a regular basis. Here’s the general 411 on it for you. Basics on Attending The State Fair begins Thursday, Oct. 16, with the fairgrounds opening at 3 p.m. and closing at midnight. The midway carnival rides run 4 p.m.-midnight that day, while the exhibit halls are open from 4:45 p.m.-9:45 p.m. For the rest of the run, the fairgrounds are open from 8 a.m.-midnight, midway rides 10 a.m.-midnight and exhibit halls 9 a.m.-9:45 p.m. Entrance tickets are $7 per person ages 6-64, free if you are 65 and older or 5 and younger. Midway rides run $1 per ticket. Kiddie rides are typically two to three tickets each. Larger rides are three to five tickets each, and spectacular rides are up to six tickets each. Food prices vary according to the vendor. To avoid paying an entrance fee, fairgoers can bring four cans of food to the N.C. State Fair on Thursday, Oct. 23, to receive free admission at Food Lion Hunger Relief Day at the Fair. This benefits The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which will distribute the cans to needy people and hunger-relief agencies in a 34-county area surrounding Raleigh. Free parking is available on State Fair, Carter-Finley Football Stadium and RBC Center properties. Fairgoers are encouraged to take Wade Avenue (exit 289 off Interstate 40, for those heading from the west of Raleigh, including Durham and Chapel Hill) to the Edwards Mill Extension to park in these lots. However, be aware that on opening day at 7:30 p.m., the N.C. football team will face off against Florida State at home, and the stadium is adjacent to the fairgrounds parking lot, so it will be a crowded time to find a space. Transportation Options If you do not wish to take a vehicle to the fair, you can use the following other options: Wake – You can take the CAT bus from stops along Hillsborough Street in Raleigh or express routes from the IBT Holdings building at 2912 Wake Forest Road in North Raleigh and WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Cost is $4 round trip per person, except $2 for those with disabilities or senior citizens and free for children under 40 inches tall with a parent. Durham – The DATA bus can take you from the Downtown Terminal on the hour from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sunday shuttles from Durham will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 7 p.m. DATA shuttle tickets are $2 roundtrip for individuals over the age of 12. Riders with a DATA ID card or Medicare Card can buy a $1 roundtrip ticket. Orange – On Saturdays and Sundays Triangle Transit will operate express buses to the fair from the Eubanks Road Park-and-Ride Lot in Chapel Hill. On Saturdays, Express buses will depart on the hour between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Buses will return from the State Fairgrounds on the hour between noon and 10 p.m. On Sundays, Express buses will depart on the hour between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Buses will return from the State Fairgrounds on the hour between noon and 6 p.m. The Triangle Transit express bus ticket price will be $5 round-trip for individuals over the age of 12. Youth ages 12 and younger ride free. Seniors (65 or older) and persons with disability pay $2.50 round-trip. Other Happenings Anyone interested in concerts can check out several acts appearing at Dorton Arena each night, most of them country musicians, but not all, such as chef Bobby Flay cooking up his specialties. These acts cost extra, and some are already sold out, so be warned. There is much more available at the fair, including special days for senior citizens, military personnel and others. For more details on the fair, visit its official Web site here.

Green Tip of the Week - 10/10

Green Your Microwave Cooking

The greenest, and safest, way to cover your food for microwave heating and cooking is to use oven-safe glass cookware, which eliminates waste and the potential for chemicals leaching from plastic wrap.
•If you do use plastic, only loosely cover food, allowing steam to escape, and never let plastic wrap touch food directly.
•Only use ink-free paper towels in the microwave. Most printed paper towels use non-food-grade inks.
•Microwave-safe" and "microwavable" labels on a plastic container or on plastic wrap packaging only means that the plastic won't melt or crack in the microwave, but doesn't guarantee that it won't leach chemicals into your leftovers.

For more information click here

Voting in the Triangle

Heard anything about an election coming up soon? Yeah, we thought you might have. So, now is as good a time as any to give you a few basics about participating in the upcoming election here in the Triangle.

Last Day to Register to Vote – Friday, Oct. 10

The North Carolina Board of Elections has announced that the state will stop registering people to vote in the Nov. 4 general election by the end of this week. Registrations occur not only at the local county board of elections but also the state Department of Motor Vehicles when conducting official DMV business at the same time (e.g., applying for or renewing a driver’s license) and through several state agencies. For a complete list of what they are, visit here.

One-Stop Voting Runs Oct. 16-Nov. 1

If you do not want to risk the possibility of facing long lines at your voting precinct on Nov. 4, there are several locations you may choose to use instead to vote in person in advance of that date. In the Triangle, they are as follows:

Wake – There are 15 locations, including at the main campus of Wake Technical Community College, Triangle Town Center Mall and Cary Towne Center Mall. Operating hours for most of them are from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. For a full list, visit here.
Durham – A total of seven locations here, at the county board of elections at 706 W. Corporation St., West Union at Duke University, North Regional Library, the Parrish Center at N.C. Central University, East Regional Library, Forest View Elementary and Southwest Elementary. For more information, visit here.
Orange – The board of elections office will not hold one-stop voting here, but it will be available at the Orange County Public Library, Carrboro Town Hall, the Morehead Planetarium, Northern Human Service Center and the Robert & Pearl Seymour Center. The latter two centers will be open from noon-7 p.m. all days except the last, when they will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The others will be open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. all days except the last, when they will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information, visit here.

Absentee Ballots by Mail

Any registered North Carolina voter can request an absentee ballot from his or her respective county board of elections prior to the last Tuesday before the election. A handwritten request from the voter or near relative (spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild) must include the following:

Name of voter
Residential Address of voter
Mailing Address of voter (if different from residential address)
Date of Birth of voter
Signature of voter or near relative (indicate relationship with voter)

If the voter is qualified, an application and ballots will be mailed to the voter after the receipt of the written request. The voted ballot must be received in the County Board of Elections office by 5 p.m. on the day before the election in order to be counted.

Be sure to affix proper postage when you return your absentee balloting materials to your county board of elections. Please check with your postmaster to determine the proper postage amount. Some counties use ballot return envelopes that do not qualify for standard letter rates (11 ½” X 6 1/8” maximum). The postage on these envelopes costs at least $0.83. Again, check with the post office before mailing your absentee ballot.

We hope these have addressed your questions about the upcoming election. Now, go out and participate, and as the old joke says, vote early and vote often.

Triangle Receives Still More Honors

A new month brings with it new honors for the Triangle. We always say there is something great about living here, but in case you think we are biased, then check out other people’s comments in favor of the region and see if they do not convince you as well. Now, onto the achievements.

Business Week: Downtown Durham A Top Up-And-Coming Neighborhood

Business Week, the longtime financial weekly magazine, recently announced that downtown Durham made the list of its top 15 Up-And-Coming Neighborhoods in the United States. In citing the area, the publication said that it is one of several urban neighborhoods that artists have discovered and where homeowners could see returns in coming decades.

More specifically, Business Week noted that “The 12-by-14-block area, which was abandoned decades ago by tobacco companies and residents moving to the suburbs, has blossomed during the past decade and is now a vibrant place with outdoor concerts, bars, and about 40 restaurants. Some artists got in early and now own or rent downtown, which is no longer cheap. Developers, however, are setting aside space for artists in new downtown developments. And many artists are finding deals on the outskirts, within a 25-minute walk of downtown.” Congratulations on this honor, Bull City!

Duke Raleigh Hospital Named Among Best Places to Work in Healthcare

Duke Raleigh Hospital is ranked among the “100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare, a leading publication of healthcare news. Modern Healthcare announced the listing on Monday to recognize outstanding employers in the healthcare industry on a national level.

Modern Healthcare partnered with Best Companies Group, a PA-based firm to collect information from both the employer and employees of each organization. Employers completed a survey detailing company policies, practices, benefits and demographics. Randomly selected employees were additionally asked an in-depth set of questions in eight areas: leadership and planning, culture and communications, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits and overall satisfaction.

Duke Raleigh Hospital is a 186-bed acute-care facility on Wake Forest Road in North Raleigh with services including a cancer center, orthopaedic center, diabetes center, wound healing center, 24-hour emergency department, intensive and critical care, cardiovascular center, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, wellness services and community education.

Chapel Hill Police Department Honored for Anti-Drinking Efforts

The Chapel Hill Police Department and a local grass-roots coalition have won national recognition for their efforts to prevent underage drinking at the recent annual conference of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. The police department was named 2008 Law Enforcement Partner of the Year for its work with the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Arrests related to underage drinking in Chapel Hill fell in the fiscal year ending June 30. For example, arrests for use of false identification – typically an offense by underage college students – plummeted by nearly 60 percent, from 40 to 17. We extend our congratulation to the department for its worthy accomplishment.

That is all the space we have for now on our latest achievements. Rest assured, however, there will more coming on the way, and we will let you know them as soon as they happen, because the Triangle just keeps on getting better.

Green Tip of the Week - 10/3

Save Your Cell Phone Battery – Save Energy

Stop charging overnight! The longer a battery is charging, the longer it's exposed to heat, which can wear it down. Most cell phone batteries fully charge in under two hours, so as soon as all bars have been restored, unplug your phone. And while you're at it, unplug the charger, which constantly drains power even when it's not juicing up your phone.

For more information click here