Prime Only Closes Its Doors!

UPDATE: With further investigating (IE, simply calling the restaurant to have someone tell me "We're closed for good."), Prime Only is officially closed beyond re-opening.

Its a sad day for Glenwood South dining, that's for sure.

"The owner of the restaurant, located off of Glenwood Avenue, blamed tough economic times for the closure. " - WRAL.com

With that said, the speculation of financial issues proved to be true, unfortunately.

Now the harder part will be to find something adequate to fill the space. Its a GREAT location, but an insanely large space for a non-chain (or for a small chain) to fit into. Plus, with a supposed estimated $12,000 monthly price tag, it may make even more challenges to fill the space. A good idea would be to separate the restaurant area from The Rat Pack Lounge in the back to make two different tenants. We'll see.

VP Debate - Thursday Oct. 2nd

What is a "Watch Party"? Essentially, it is a place where voters, potential voters, and everyday people will come together to watch the debates in a public setting. Some watch parties are private events, however. The ones posted below are all public events.

This list will continuously be updated as new resources come in, so be sure to keep on checking back if you don't see your county listed yet.

The following watch parties are open to the public:

Wake County

Democratic:

Unofficial

Player’s Retreat Restaurant
8:45 PM - ???
105 Oberlin Rd.
Raleigh, NC 27605
Back of the bar
Player's Retreat Restaurant


Republican:

Official

Raleighwood Cinema Grill
8:45PM - 11:00PM
6609 Falls Of the Neuse Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
Tickets are on sale here
Wake GOP
Raleighwood Cinema Grill

Nonpartisan:

Unofficial

Cameron Bar and Grill
8:45 PM - ???
2018 Clark Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27605
919-755-2231
Cameron Bar and Grill
(Also, the added bonus to here is that you can come and visit me while I work! :P)

Durham County

Democratic:

Link to listed locations. Scroll down to the Oct. 2nd dates. Numerous unofficial watch parties are located there.

Republican:

No Location Set Yet

Forsyth County


Nonpartisan:

Unofficial

The Werehouse (AKA Krankies Coffee)
211 E. 3rd St.
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
9:00 PM – ???
Krankies Coffee

NCSU Homecoming Parade

Whether you're a NCSU student, an avid Wolfpack fan, or just someone who enjoys parades, then be sure to check out the upcoming NCSU Homecoming Parade. The parade is happening on Hillsborough St. this Friday, October 3rd, starting at 6 PM. The road will be closed around that time, so its also good to know about the time to avoid driving delays.

Of course, more information can be found here.

Red Bull Base Jumpers Almost Here!

So come Thursday Oct. 2nd, we should be able to watch the Red Bull Base Jumpers jumping off of the highest (and newest) skyscraper in downtown Raleigh, the RBC Plaza. The jumping is slated to start at 3:00 PM.

For more info, follow this link.

Maybe I'll see some of you guys there!

Capital City BikeFest!

Capital City BikeFest year 4 hit Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh on Friday, September 26th. If you missed the first day, Saturday the 27th, is its bigger follow-up day with accompanying fireworks later that evening.

The Saturday event is to be from 10:00 AM until 11:00 PM. If you still wish to attend Friday's event, is doesn't end until 11:00 PM, so you have some time!

NC Scoop Is Movin' On Up!

Well, in terms of development. We're striving for a bit of a more improved web-page, but for now, we'll just settle with a logo. And without further ado, I present to you for the first time NC Scoop's official first logo!



Thanks goes out to Digital Branding, LLC for putting together this little logo. We're sure to have a lot of fun in the future with this logo concept when it comes to special stories. You'll see!

Also, decided to change the layout of the page, so this should hopefully suffice until we come out with a real web page!

The Oxford - Taking Yancy's Space

The Oxford, which is in association with Mura and its neighbor Sono, is setting up to bring the newest dining experience to downtown Raleigh's core street: Fayetteville St.!

The British-pub inspired restaurant will be featuring traditional British delicacies at a fare that closely resembles that of which a dollar or two more than the Carolina Ale House, said General Manager James Park.

Be on the look-out for this potential new gem come the end of October!

Try Transit Week '08

Even though this is a non-video media post, I feel it is necessary since this sort of thing is what NC Scoop strongly supports!

In an attempt to draw in more appeal for public transportation, GoTriangle with the combined forces of Triangle Transit (TTA), Capital Area Transit (CAT), Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA), Cary Transit (C-Tran), Chapel Hill Transit, NCSU Wolfline, and UNC Chapel Hill, have created a week-long event known as Try Transit Week.

In this Monday thru Friday region-wide event, the various public transit companies will be doing special days, events, and appreciation nods on each of the days (including free ice cream and free bus fares!). They have similar, but different schedules, which you can read in more specifics at: GoTriangle's Try Transit Week '08

Try Transit Week is from September 22nd to September 26th, so mark your calendars!!

Raleigh Wide Open 3 - Day 2

And here's day 2!

Raleigh Wide Open 3 - Day 1

Raleigh Wide Open is the annual celebration of Fayetteville St.'s reopening as a pedestrian-friendly, drive-able main street to downtown Raleigh.

Fayetteville St. is full of exciting dining options, ranging from every day prices to fine-dining organic dining. It is also home to the central spot of business in the downtown region.

This video showcases some of the great events that the city of Raleigh threw for Raleigh Wide Open on its opening day, Friday September 5th, 2008.

Water Main Break - Wilmington St. 7-23-08

Early morning on July 23rd, 2008, a water main broke off of Wilmington St. by the RBC Plaza, flooding the street and causing a road closure until the mid-afternoon. Also to be flooded was the basement parking deck of the Hudson Condominiums located right next door to the RBC Plaza, also causing the entire condo building to lose electricity for more than 24 hours.

The new, 12-inch water main hadn’t been mapped yet, so finding the cut-off point took many hours, causing over 200,000 gallons of water to flood the area.

Although officials said that it wasn’t due to construction on the RBC Plaza that caused the water main break, Highwoods Properties Inc. – developer for the high-rise – took some incentive and offered hotel lodging at the downtown Sheraton and rental car usage to the Hudson Condominiums’ residents.

Within 48-hours of the initial burst, everything – including the situation within the condo building – returned back to normal.

Starbucks - Fayetteville St.

NOTE: This is an experimental video used to test out a potential new reporter, Rachael Floyd. The below story, however, is not experimental. Enjoy! :)

Downtown Raleigh finally got a bit of a commercial chain face-lift. On July 31st, 2008 the brand-new Raleigh Marriott City Center opened its doors, as did the Starbucks Coffee Shop that sits at the bottom corner space of the hotel closest to the BB&T building.

The coffee-shop has everything that most Starbucks have to offer, except for fresh salads and deli-style sandwiches that some Starbucks offer. Lindley Thornburg of Heather Freeman Media & Public Relations had stated at one point that they anticipate to acquire those kinds of lunch options. I’d imagine that with further expansion of downtown Raleigh, they’ll soon have a wider food variety.

Urbanites who live within the vicinity of the Starbucks will be glad to know that they’re hours are from 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM Monday thru Friday, and 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday. Although not as late of hours as the Starbucks off of Peace and Glenwood, it still allows for downtown citizens to get their mid-evening coffee rush. As with a possible expanding menu, I also expect their hours to change in the near-future especially since the Raleigh Convention Center opened up.

Along with the Starbucks, the Raleigh Marriott City Center opened up a new downtown eatery: Posta Tuscan Grille! This 13,000 sq. ft., 192-seat fine dining restaurant brings another taste from around the world to Fayetteville St.

Executive Chef Giani Betti, born, raised, and studied culinary in Italy opened up Posta Tuscan Grille with brother Marco Betti. Having an authentic Italian definitely brings a bright shimmer of hope to my palette. In their own words below, an excerpt of what to expect when dining at Posta Tuscan Grille:

“The finest in Italian cooking, from classic favorites to authentic Tuscan fare. Posta Tuscan Grille will feature seasonal, fresh ingredient-driven fare and outstanding meats with menu highlights including La Coppa dei Betti: Betti family fennel-flavored air- dried cured Tuscan salami; Ravioli al ragù Toscano: Ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese served with Tuscan meat sauce; Filetto di branzino al forno con verdure di stagione: Oven baked filet of sea bass, served with fresh seasonal vegetables and Lombatina di Vitella all griglia con verdure di stagione: Grilled veal chop seasoned with salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and served with sautéed seasonal vegetables.”

They’re open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so you have many different food options for whatever time of day you’re craving some fine Italian cuisine!

Breakfast

M-F: 6:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Saturday and Sunday: 7:00 AM – 11:00

Lunch

Everyday: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Dinner

Everyday: 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM