The N&O reported today the death of Edwin Flythe, founder of Flythe Cyclery on Peace Street. The store is one of the last-standing piece of old-Raleigh retail, and its German facade has always added to the character of downtown. Flythe Cyclery is now its third generation and is one of the few bike stores around with friendly, humble help.

Flythe battled prostate cancer for many years, but finally succumbed last week. He was 94.

Charlie Goodnights will host Dave Attell on July 18 and 19 for 4 shows only. Tickets are on sale now.

From 10am to 2pm tomorrow, Triangle Mom2Mom will be sponsoring a party at Marbles Museum ($5 admission applies). There will be music by Trish Miller, Sandbox Band, Cotton the Clown, Food, and the site’s bloggers.

Saturday, May 1, marks the return of the Downtown Raleigh Home Tour. In its 4th year, the self-guided tour showcases the variety of housing options available in downtown, including historic properties, single-family homes, apartments, and condominiums. Information about projects both planned and under construction will also be available.

Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance by cash or check at the Raleigh Urban Design Center at 133 Fayetteville Street. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets also can be purchased the day of the event.

He’s free from The Wallflowers, and he’s coming to see us. On Friday, June 6, Jakob Dylan will play at the Lincoln Theatre.

During the past two summers, Dave Rose, Andy Martin, and the gang at Deep South Entertainment have put together bang-up series of free concerts in Moore Square known as Bud Light Downtown Live. This summer, seven concerts comprise the schedule:

• May 31 - The Wailers with Saunter, Pete and J, and Jive Mother Mary
• June 14 - Cravin Melon with Pete Francis (of Dispatch)
• June 28 - Carbon Leaf with Colourslide, Bill West & the Sunshine Kids
• July 12 - Alter Bridge with Tantric, The Ts, Kennebec, and Cori Yarckin
• July 26 - Old 97s
• August 9 - Brian Howe [of Bad Company (gen II)] with Jim Bianco
• August 23 - Puddle of Mudd with Eve 6, and Saving Abel

A rumor I’ve heard from a few reliable sources is that Yancy’s will move its live music operations to the former Hideaway BBQ location on Capital Blvd (map it). Word is that the loud, live music is a problem for people living in some of The Hudson’s condo units.

If this is true, it’s sad because the Yancy’s people put a lot of money and energy into sound dampening and audio-visual gearing for the Hudson site. We’ll see how this one turns out.

One of downtown’s projects we’ve all been anticipating for a while has a new name. The Sidetrack Brewpub, which has chronicled its creation on its website, got a cease-and-desist letter this week from a Chicago lawyer. Apparently someone has acquired a trademark on the word “Sidetrack”.

The new name will be The Boylan Bridge Brewpub, and the new website, under construction, will be boylanbridge.com.

Tomorrow marks the May edition of First Friday in downtown Raleigh. The event is really catching some momentum as more people realize how great it is to get out and poke around looking at art. To be honest, I want list all of the galleries’ showings here, but a full listing is already at downtownraleigh.com, so check theirs out and have a great First Friday!

Word is that Tyler’s Tap Room is coming to Shops at Seaboard Station, between Ace Hardware and Peach China. Tyler’s has locations in Carrboro (downtown) and Durham (American Tobacco Complex), and will soon open in Apex. The restaurant serves many draft beers and has a nice selection of food priced in the $8-$15 range.

Gavin DeGraw will perform at The Red Room Tapas Lounge on Wednesday, April 30 as part of the G105 Listener Lounge Series. This event will be held on West Johnson Street. Tickets are given to listeners exclusively through G105. For more information, visit www.g105.com

The much-anticipated opening of the new convention center is approaching (early September), and Billy Warden at the Raleigh Downtowner has done a good job of previewing the building (interactive .PDF file). The center will have a 150,000 square foot exhibit hall, 32,000 square foot ballroom, and 19 meeting rooms. The center’s website has a great animated tour of the facility.

The RBC Tower’s cap assembly will begin at 3 am this evening, and will extend into Saturday. The N&O’s Jack Hagel wrote a story this past week about the assembly process. (Warning: don’t write Hagel any emails that you don’t want published in the paper).

There has been a lot of talk recently about “No-Hand King”. What’s a no-hand king? Well, if you’ve been downtown recently and seen Rodney Hines riding his bike around downtown doing no-hands wheelies, then you’ve seen the almighty No-Hand King. The guy rules and he does all of this to draw attention for the troops. His goals include setting a Guinness World Record for the longest no-hand wheelie, and to ride across America with no-hands. Check out his video on YouTube.

One of the big ideas at Monday’s meeting was to have a statue honoring the No-Hand King. A move I wholeheartedly second!

Get ready for a delicious, guided, walking food tasting tour, sprinkled with historical tidbits of downtown Raleigh. The Triangle Food Tour affords the chance to explore and discover a culinary perspective of downtown Raleigh that even an insider might not know. The tour will be stopping numerous times for sample tastings.  For example,

• A landmark barbecue restaurant where the people are as unique as the barbecue, or
• A boutique grocery that thinks it’s a gourmet restaurant, or
• An Asian restaurant that will have you dreaming of dumplings, or
• An international chocolate shop that goes beyond Belgium.  And many more…

The tour takes pace Thursdays- 9:00 am (don’t be late) and is $38 per person (includes all tastings). Wear comfortable shoes because the tour is usually about 3 hours, and continues rain or shine.

Tickets must be purchased in advance at www.trianglefoodtour.com or by phone at (919) 319-5674. The tour meets at the Capital City Grocery Porch, 10 minutes before departure.

The City Council heard discussion last night surrounding a yet-to-be-named project headed by Gordon Smith (of Exploris fame). The property bounded by Hargett, East, Martin, and Bloodworth Streets once contained 15 small houses. Those have been cleared to make way for a 4-story mixed-use building. The complex will feature street level retail on all four facades, 220-230 units of market-rate rental units across 3 floors, and an internal parking structure. map it

Two representatives from the neighboring area spoke in favor of the project, which was originally proposed to by much larger. While complementing the developer’s willingness to engage neighborhood opinion, they outlined two distressing aspects. Neighbors want a small community grocery store to be included in the project. The developer has pledged to his best to address this concern.

The second issue regards the “market-rate rental” space that will occupy the residential areas of the complex. Lonnette Williams (Central CAC Chair) cited an 85% renter-occupancy rate in the immediate area, but seemed comforted by the long-term plan to convert the project to condominiums.

At this point the project, publicly known as Z-19-08, has minimal information online. WRAL covered this story the day of the CAC meeting. According to reports, the history of the neighbors’ opinions has been an enigma. The CAC meeting was apparently full of much dissent, yet the final vote was and emphatically FOR the rezoning that will allow the project’s construction. Keep checking here as more info comes about.

As of today, the 101 Lounge and Cafe website states that they "will be open Friday and Saturday evening." As they complete their menu, they will post it as well as defined hours of operation.

101 is located on the corner of Davie and Blount streets on the first and second floor of Palladium Plaza, the condo extension of Progress Energy Plaza II. They will have outdoor and corner curbside seating as well as a second floor lounge. The architectural design is by Vernacular Studio. outdoor and corner curbside seating, and a second floor lounge.

map it

The Downtown Appetite for Art will be hosting a rare Arrogance reunion show on July 26 (29) . The event benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County, and will include an art auction, a silent auction, and libations and hors d’oeuvres provided by various downtown restaurants.

The event takes place at Marbles Museum (formerly Exploris) from 7-11pm. Tickets are $50 in advance, $100 at the door. The event sold out in each of the last two years, so get tickets today.

A VIP lounge with exclusive wines and food will be available for an additional $50 to the first 150 guests and sponsors.

Make your party in the City of Oaks a smash hit with the new Raleigh Piñata! Patterned after Raleigh’s beloved Clarion Hotel, the Raleigh Piñata is perfect for birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, and corporate events. It’s so much fun for the whole family, even grandma will enjoy taking a swing! Order today.

While supplies last or until banned by the Raleigh City Council.