The event runs 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and admission is free (donations requested).

The controversial proposed school reassignment plan (.pdf) is intended to keep students closer to home and minimize long-distance student commutes. The plan looks logical for nearly every school in the system, however it certainly breaks down for Joyner. Under the proposed plan Daniels would be fed by Root, Stough, York, and Jeffrey’s Grove. Martin would be fed by Lacy and Olds. I don’t have access to the number of seats in those eight schools, but it seems strange that Daniels would be fed by four schools and Martin would be fed by only two. Perhaps Martin is smaller than Daniels, but from what I have heard they are roughly equivalent in size.

If the plan aims to keep students in the same part of the county as their residents, then sending people in the Five Points area to the shadows of Triangle Town Center, just inside of I-540, seems completely counterproductive. If the plan moves forward, the property values of houses along Anderson Drive will plummet while houses along Ridge Road in Raleigh will skyrocket. This is why there ought to be a very strong showing at this meeting tonight. There is much on the line for people who live in the Northeast quadrant inside of I-440.

There will also be meetings at Sanderson (Wed, 9/14), East Wake (Thu, 9/15), and Millbrook (Mon, 9/19). For more information see the WCPSS website.

The movie showing is showing at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary (map it) on Thursday, January 13, at 7pm. Tickets are $8 in advance and $9 at the door.

Even better, though, is the addition of all of these dates to the existing Google Calendars that gogoraleigh sponsors. If you subscribe to these, then all of the dates have been automatically added to your calendars.

For more information see the Calendars tab at gogoraleigh.

Bring pre-approved credit card offers, old bills, out-of-date account statements, and other documents that include personal information to shred. It is not necessary to remove staples.

This is a free event sponsored by the Better Business Bureau and the National Foundation of Credit Counseling. It is also listed on the North Carolina Department of Justice’s website.

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ReuseConex is attracting nationwide attention from government leaders, reuse-related product and service providers, non-profit organizations, artists, designers and architects. The reuse movement promotes a cleaner environment and a greener economy through reuse of items for the same or repurposed function.

The event includes a re-fashion show; re-art exhibit and sale featuring work from reclaimed material artists; keynote speakers such as Garth Johnson, author of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse; and a film screening.

Tickets are available for full-conference, one day or expo only on the ReuseConex website, or at http://ReuseConex.org/register. All conference meals, sessions and expo hall entrance and activities are included in the full conference ticket rate.

The trip will feature Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, one of the best-known and loved houses in the world, as few get to see it; a full guided tour with photography privileges, finished off with a sunset wine and cheese reception. How cool is that?

Tickets are still available and include flight, hotel, admissions, and transportation (including wifi on the tour bus). Details and signup is here.

Awards are offered in 11 different award categories, including new residential, commercial, or institutional construction, plus historic preservation, sustainable design, and tree and landscape conservation. The award for “Maintained Outstanding Appearance” honors appearance contributions by projects 5 years old or older. The “Individual” award is presented to a citizen who has consistently worked to preserve or improve city appearance.

The deadline for entries for the 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards is Friday, July 9. Nominations for the can be made online at or by completing a printed form available at City government offices. In addition to project information, six or more digital photos of each nominated project or individual, submitted on CD or flash drive, are also required.

An independent jury will meet in July to review the nominations. Award winners will be selected based on specific criteria, including exhibition of a new standard of excellence, awareness of land stewardship, innovation, conservation of natural and/ or historic resources, and exceeding applicable ordinances. The Raleigh City Council will confirm the jury’s selections in August. Awards will be presented in October.

“The gardens on this year’s tour are absolutely gorgeous,” said Tobi Bowen, The Raleigh Big Garden Tour chair. “Because this event is being held on Father’s Day Weekend, it offers a change of pace for those who prefer ‘the green’ they view this weekend not to have a little flag sticking out.”

To purchase tickets for The Raleigh Big Garden Tour or for more information, please visit www.raleighbiggardentour.com.

Group sales are not available online. Instead, contact the box office at 919-821-3111.

The bus will be tucked beneath the Renaissance hotel, on the rear, lower level of North Hills.

Note: The RV is actually in the JCPenny parking lot, abutting Lassiter Mill Road

Tickets for the June 19 tour are $6, but Mod Squad members get in free.

The SunSense schools program is part of a partnership between Progress Energy Carolinas and the Carolina Hurricanes Kids ’N Community Foundation. It provides a hands-on educational program for middle school and high school students that encourages them to develop innovative energy solutions. Daniels Middle School is one of five winning schools across the Carolinas that received PV arrays and educational materials to help teachers integrate renewable energy learning opportunities into the classroom.

The tour features kitchens on the following streets (.pdf map)

• Lake Boone Trail
• Rolston Drive
• Rand Drive
• Churchill Road
• Graham Street
• Vance Street
• Oxford Road
• Chesterfield Road

Show times are: Friday and Saturday from 10am – 4pm. Tickets are $25 per person and are available only at the Will Call house at 3026 Churchill Road (map it).

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, “Visual Acoustics” celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world’s greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away recently, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California’s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images. Have a night out with an exceptional architectural movie!

Rescheduled from December (tickets purchased online last year will be honored). 

• Our own air-conditioned, restroom-equipped, internet-equipped luxury tour bus.
• Sodas, water, and both healthy and junky snacks provided on board the bus.
• Super green – think of all the carbon we’ll save versus driving down individually.
• Each person gets "storage credits" representing a total of six cubic feet of storage space under the bus.  You can trade, buy, or sell credits to others.  So, in theory, with enough credits, you could bring a couch home!  Plus, all you can carry in your lap.  Delivery is also available through DWR and Ikea.
• Lunch is on your own at the IKEA restaurant.  Be sure to try the Swedish meatballs!
• Parking is $4 per car, paid separately to FastPark on exit. Dropoffs and pickups are ok, no charge.

Tickets are limited, and are $49.95 before May 1, $58.00 on and after that.

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The sale is taking place at Sutton Square Shopping Center (on the corner of Falls of Neuse and Spring Forest Roads). Look for the National Art Interior+Design banner. Sale hours are Wednesday – Friday 10 am to 7 pm and Saturday 10 – 6 pm through mid-June or until everything is gone.

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In order to fertilize, one needs to evenly put the adequate amounts of fertilizer down. The rules of thumb around here are 75 lbs of limestone per 1000 feet (to bring pH around these pines and azaleas up), 1 lb of nitrogen per 1000 feet, and 6lbs of tall fescue see per 1000 feet (if seeding, but remember that seed placed in the spring never has the chance to grow downward, and will therefore have to be watered all summer).

In order to fertilize correctly, measure the square footage of the lawn. Then look at the fertilizer offered in the store. There are three numbers XX-YY-ZZ, and the first (XX) is the nitrogen. Divide 100 by this amount, and multiply that resulting number by the number of thousands of the lawn’s square feet. This will result in the correct number of pounds of fertilizer to use.

For example:

• 18-24-6 fertilizer is available, and the lawn is 12K square feet.
• 100/18=5.5 lbs per 1,000 sq ft x 12 = 67 lbs of this fertilizer is appropriate for a 12K foot lawn.

Fertilizers with pre-emergent weed killer are most useful for this application during the year, unless one is also seeding (the pre-emergent will kill the budding grass plants).

Hint: Remember that not many pre-emergents will kill the Chickweed that appears for the month of March. Don’t worry about it, as it will die off as April rolls around.

Finally, this is the time to start thinking about getting the lawnmower’s annual service. Spark plugs should be replaced and blades should be sharpened so as to create a clean cut that minimizes grass plant damage. Injured lawns require more water, so it helps to have a well-running mower.

By following these recommendations that were originally set forth by turf grass researchers in Wake County, one should be able to sustain a beautiful, year-round Tall Fescue lawn that only needs minor supplemental watering during a two week period in September, and most importantly, none during the summer’s hottest months.

Frank Harmon

Sponsored by the College of Design and the Triangle section of the American Institute of Architects/North Carolina, the annual lecture is endowed by the estate of the renowned architect Harwell Hamilton Harris, FAIA (1903-1990) who served on the faculty of NC State’s College of Design from 1962 to 1973.

Frank Harmon is a fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and a Professor in Practice at the College of Design. He is the founder and principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning, LEED AP, green architecture firm established in 1985. He was also a close friend of Harris for many years, and he credits Harris with steering his design sensibilities towards modern, innovative and regionally appropriate design.

In 2005, when Harmon’s firm was named Top Firm of the Year by Residential Architect magazine, he told writer Vernon Mays, “[Harwell Harris] taught me that every client and every situation is different and new. And it is the architect’s job to understand the needs of every situation and every client. He loved to say that the house is a portrait of the client.”
Harris also taught Harmon to infuse warmth and familiarity into modern architecture by embracing what Harris called the “sticks and stones” of the place: the landscape, materials, climate and culture specific to the region in which a building will be built.

“What people thought was cold and threatening modernism, he made warm and approachable,” Harmon says.

Harmon’s lecture will focus on “why Harwell Hamilton Harris is important today,” he said. “His work embraces the whole of the environment – from the living room to the city – and all the particulars that go into making a building. He was also the first architect to write about the importance of regionalism in modern architecture.”

Harmon will discuss specific Harris projects – including his personal home and office on Cox Avenue in downtown Raleigh and St. Giles Presbyterian Church in North Raleigh – that strongly influenced Harmon’s own work.

Originally from California, Harwell Hamilton Harris was a sculptor who changed careers after he visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House in Los Angeles. He worked with Richard Neutra from 1928 until 1932 then merged the ideals of modern and California regionalist architecture into his residential work of the ‘30s and ‘40s. He served as Dean for the University of Texas School of Architecture from 1952-1955 and practiced in Dallas until 1962 when he moved to Raleigh to teach at NC State. He retired from teaching in 1973 but continued to practice until shortly before his death. He was a professor emeritus at the university when he died at the age of 87.

The Harwell Hamilton Harris lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Coliseum parking deck. Limited parking may also be found in the Riddick or Peele parking lots after 5 pm. Parking along campus streets is not permitted unless otherwise noted. For more information on the lecture call 919.515.8350.