By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram NEW YORK – The Thursday night bowling league never looked so good! My regular red carpet crusader, and Couples Therapy housemate, Chef Chris Nirschel and I teamed up once again, this time it was to bowl with FX Network’s A-Team at Lucky Strike Lanes…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Similar to the Friday After Five free concerts that drew large crowds years ago, a new outdoor concert series has been announced in downtown Raleigh with a lineup of a wide range of bands. The new free summer concert series is called Oak City…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Amendment One. Whether it wins or loses, the effort to defeat it could be a crucial factor in a successful outcome for the Obama campaign in North Carolina this fall. Prospects for the effort to defeat the proposed marriage amendment to the…
By The Raleigh Telegram WASHINGTON DC – The Space Shuttle Discovery has made its final flight as it recently flew over Washington DC before its installation as an exhibit in the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. The final flight took place on Tuesday, April 17th when the Space shuttle Discovery,…
By Marian Wang, ProPublica, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram WASHINGTON DC – The Department of Education has been transferring large batches of federal student loans to new loan-servicing companies leaving in the lurch some borrowers who are suddenly encountering problems with their loans, such as payments that are mysteriously adjusted…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – A couple of thousand people attended the Toast to the Triangle event recently held in Raleigh at the NC State University McKimmon Center. The annual event that benefits the Tammy Lynn Center, which helps children and adults with special needs. The event held in…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – “You ain’t never going to understand until you’ve been through it.” Politicians from the president on down will hear this plaintive statement when they campaign in North Carolina this year. It will happen when they talk about jobs and their plans for…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – One year after a devastating tornadoes and the storm that spawned it swept through downtown Raleigh, there are many parts of the city that are just now getting back to normal. The deadly tornadoes came through in the middle of the night on Saturday,…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – In a major event in the museum’s history, the giant new wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will be opening this weekend with a 24 hour extravaganza that features astronauts, Governor Beverly Perdue, Jane Goodall, and a giant globe. Joined to…
By DG Martin, The Raleigh Telegram MADISON COUNTY – Laurel Shelton is the central feature of a new and powerful anti-war novel set in the mountains of Madison County, North Carolina. If I made that statement to anyone familiar with North Carolina’s Civil War history, I would be quickly corrected.…
By Suzanne Presto, Voice Of America, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram WASHINGTON DC – It was a little more than a year ago that the space shuttle Discovery lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final mission. The 28-year-old orbiter will take off from the southern state of…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Although it’s seemingly not very well known, a new “984″ area code will be used soon in the Triangle area as an overlay area code that will be used in addition to current “919″ numbers. The old “919″ area code has been running out…
By The NCDCR, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram FOUR OAKS – In July the staff of Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site will know if those are just stains on the floor, or the blood of a fallen Civil War soldier. A forensic team recently visited to examine the floors and…
By Voice Of America, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram NASHVILLE – American bluegrass musician Earl Scruggs, whose unique banjo-playing style helped shape modern country music, has died. The 88-year-old Scruggs died Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee — known as the country music capital of the world. His son, Gary, said he…
By R.Gregg, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Spy novelist Andrew Britton, who died of a heart condition in 2008 at the age of 27, will be releasing a new novel posthumously, according to his family. Britton had already released four best selling books that follow the exploits of Central Intelligence…
By Captain Bob Townsend, Special To The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Have you ever had a problem on your boat that was the result of leaving it unattended for a few weeks or more? There are a few things that could go wrong, given the proper circumstances. It is fairly…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – A whimsical and fantastic mural featuring a dragon and other flying creatures can now be seen rising above downtown Raleigh on a building several stories high on Hargett Street. The mural is appropriately titled “The Fantastic Sky Race” and is the brainchild of artists…
By The Raleigh Telegram DURHAM – The Durham Performing Arts Center recently announced their 2012-2013 Broadway musical schedule and to bring some “star-power” to the stage for the announcement, they brought in the massive puppet from the “Warhorse” play. The puppet, which from a distance looks like a real horse,…
By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram NEW YORK CITY – Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. held a private screening of a new show on the Public Broadcasting System that wowed audiences at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall on Monday night in New York City. Called “Finding Your Roots,” the new…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – It was a great run. You know what I am talking about. Since the news about the end of the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s print edition, writes Scott Hollifield, editor of the McDowell News, “Writers and commentators have waxed nostalgically on the demise of…
By R. Gregg, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – With an amazing combination of fireworks, giant video screens, dancing robots, a hot air balloon, contortionists, flying acrobats, a one legged dancer, glowing hearts, magical LED suits, and moving tributes to Michael Jackson’s career, the touring version of the new “Michael Jackson,…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Afghanistan is not Vietnam. True enough. But does that obvious truth mean that there are no lessons from our experience in Vietnam? Are there no haunting legacies that affect today’s leaders? Does the Vietnam War have an impact on Americans as they…
By The Raleigh Telegram GREENVILLE – Recovered artifacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the sunken ship of famous pirate Blackbeard’s sunken ship, will be on display and open to the public next month. Items that will be part of the open house will include a 12 foot anchor and a…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – The Triangle area is a hot bed of beer activity with several breweries opening up in recent years. Film maker and producer Matthew Corey takes us on a tour of several of these beer breweries around the area and talks with the brewmasters who…
By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram HOLLYWOOD – With the Oscars on Sunday, there was plenty of excitement with celebrities picking out just the right outfit for the carpet and feverishly working on their big speech just in case they win the big award. Most of us regular people can be pretty sure we’ll…
By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram HOLLYWOOD – Last week at a charity event, I had a chance to meet a true gentleman and an outstanding actor, Christopher Plummer. This past Sunday at the Oscar Awards ceremony, I was so pleased to see that Plummer finally won an award from…
By The Raleigh Telegram DURHAM – Cousin It, Lurch, Uncle Fester, Gomez, Thing, Morticia, Puggsley, Grandma, and of course Wednesday from “The Addams Family” are back, but instead of their own TV show or movie, they’re on stage in a new musical comedy. The hilarious show is playing at the…
By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram NEW YORK – While having friendly chit-chat with Kristen Chenoweth in the Mercedes Benz VIP lounge at Lincoln Center just before the Neem Khan runway show, in walked a very unexpected guest, nice guy Matt Damon along with his wife and 2 friends. …
From NC Department of Cultural Resources, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram NEW BERN – For nearly six hours on March 14, 1862, 11,000 Union forces and 4,500 inexperienced and ill-equipped Confederate troops battled for control of New Bern — a battle that drew the line in North Carolina and changed…
By Diana Holoman, Special To The Raleigh Telegram I spend a lot of time doting over my family. It is no secret that I am completely biased and think they are completely amazing. With that being said, I am getting married in less than a month and that is a…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – The publication of a new book by retired UNC-Chapel Hill Professor Alan Feduccia could make our state a battleground in an argument among evolutionary scientists. This fight between evolutionists could make creationists as happy as Democrats watching the Republican presidential candidates tear…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – A Raleigh startup is launching a new website to help combat dropout rates and help to pay for students’ educational efforts. The new website is called StockofU.com and is being launched by local entrepreneurs Ty McDuffie and Ken McGuire in Raleigh. The website’s concept…
By Voice of America, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram THE MOON – A U.S. lunar probe has sent back its first images of the far side of the moon, showing a massive crater that is billions of years old. Scientists say the pictures from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory,…
By The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – Scientists at NASA and NOAA say that this year, activity on the surface of the sun is the strongest in six years, with more radiation reaching the earth than usual. The sun’s activity fluctuates in cycles and 2012 will see more than an average…
By Kathy Newbern and J.S. Fletcher, Special To The Raleigh Telegram LAKE TOXAWAY, NC — Pulling up alongside The Greystone Inn’s long red awning that leads to reception, we’re eager to explore all this property has to offer. It’s been on our wish list several years. Greystone Inn, a AAA…
By Tom Murro, The Raleigh Telegram NEW YORK - JayZ recently opened up his new 4040 Club on 25th and Broadway in New York City and reportedly spent $10 million in renovations to the joint and decided to show it off. C.C. Sabathia, Ashanti, Questlove, Boxer Eric Kelly, Chef Nirschel, Russell Simmons,…
By Brent Lancaster, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – On Christmas Day in 1944, North Carolina native George Preddy was in the skies over Belgium, chasing German planes in his P-51 Mustang, when his luck ran out. He lost his life when an American anti-aircraft team on the ground missed the…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – It’s too bad that sports reporters and historians at Atlantic Coast Conference headquarters are not reading the book “ACC Basketball.” This UNC Press book by Sam Walker was published last year and chronicles the game during the conference’s first 20 years. On…
By Doug Bernard, Voice Of America, Reprinted By The Raleigh Telegram WASHINGTON DC – Perhaps they should have expected this. Years ago, the founders of Google adopted as their semi-official motto the phrase “Don’t Be Evil.” And that, for Google’s critics, has been the gift that keeps on giving. Every…
By D.G. Martin, The Raleigh Telegram RALEIGH – It is the kind of surprise for which every ambitious politician must be prepared: the unexpected decision by an incumbent elected official to retire. It is, my friend Jay Rivers told me, the kind of window of opportunity that opens ever so…
