Carrboro’s first hotel and parking deck will soon be under construction downtown.

The first phase of the 300 East Main development includes a 142-room Hampton Inn & Suites with 18,100 square feet of retail/restaurant space on the ground floor facing East Main Street. A 500-space parking deck will sit behind the hotel and provide free, public parking.

Construction of this phase will take about 14 months, the developers announced today in a news release. The first work, already begun, will demolish existing buildings at 304 and 404 E. Main St. and two empty houses on Padgett Lane and Boyd Street.

Developers will hold a groundbreaking ceremony later this month after demolition is complete, according to the news release.

Not that it’s unusual to encounter Bob Dylan songs, but I still felt like the man’s songs were following me around on Friday night. Driving from Raleigh to Chapel Hill, I heard Peter Paul & Mary’s version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” on WKIX-AM. After that signal faded out, I switched over to WXYC on the FM band just in time to hear Van Morrison’s rendition of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” Then I walked into Cat’s Cradle, where Old 97’s were playing, and they served up “Champaign, Illinois” – a rewrite of Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”

While it’s hard to argue with those other two covers, I think I dug the 97’s remake the most. There might not be a more purely likable act on the bar-band circuit nowadays, and they’ve gotten nothing but better since their mid-’90s breakthrough period.

Speaking of the mid-’90s, frontman Rhett Miller does not appear to have aged 15 minutes in the 17 years since the 97’s debuted with 1995’s “Wreck Your Life” (an album represented Friday night by a rollicking run-through of “Doreen”). Miller’s stage persona is the lovable loser who wishes he were cooler, but he’ll settle for knowing where you’ve been. And even if you’re not telling, well, he’ll still leave the back door open for ya.

The rest of the 97’s were all beyond solid, too, still rocking at the feverish pace of a runaway train (no, that name has never been an accident). They were great, and it was a surprisingly full house given that the 97’s are touring on an album that’s six months old. All in all, a real good night…

Here is a look at today's local headlines:

300 EAST MAIN ON THE MOVE: Developers say construction could begin on the Cat's Cradle/ArtsCenter shopping center makeover this summer. First up: a hotel and parking deck. Read Tammy Grubb's story here.

ON THE PORCH: The Bynum General Store celebrates 75 years as the Chatham County community's hub (and most recently, launching pad for Grammy-nominated singer Tift Merritt). Read how residents rallied after the post office closed in Dave Hart's story. 

DID POLICY LEAD TO TROUBLE?: Greenbridge needed to sell a certain number of units to get the bank loan the developers now can't pay back. Partner Tim Toben says the bank counted the units priced to meet the town's affordable housing mandate. So did the town indirectly contribute to the developers' financial collapse? Read Katelyn Ferral's story and tell us what you think at editor@nando.com.  

Sam Taylor says the Heels kept him connected in Basra. Susie Wilde says Chapel Hill writer Luli Gray never liked Aesop's "Ant and Grasshopper" (so she rewrote it). Monks are building a mandala, and former CHHS runner Kent Pecora is tearing up the track in the NCAA.

Lots going on. We still want to hear from you about UNC's proposed arts center at the old museum, OWASA's plans to tap Jordan Lake water in future droughts and whatever else is on your mind. Send us a letter at editor@nando.com.

Thanks for reading,

Mark 

If you're not otherwise occupied Friday night, you really should head for Cat's Cradle and night two of Big Star's "Third/Sister Lovers" live performances. Thursday's opening-night show was truly spectacular, a wonderful night of music and warm communal vibes. Chris Stamey showed his usual attention to detail in overseeing the proceedings, which saw scores of great singers and players coming and going to bring the cult-classic album to life.

Highlights included a seasonally appropriate "Jesus Christ," sung by R.E.M.'s Mike Mills; Stu McLamb from The Love Language on "Stroke It Noel"; Brett Harris singing a lovely and moving encore version of the Chris Bell classic "You and Your Sister"; and most of all "For You," sung by Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and with a string part so beautiful it induced chills.

Go. Seriously.

Here are a couple of late additions to the upcoming show schedule, both worth making time for. First, the great singer/songwriter Gillian Welch plays at Cat's Cradle next Tuesday (yes, six days from now). Tickets go on sale at noon Thursday.

Then on Wednesday, April 28, St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark, of Sufjan Stevens and Polyphonic Spree fame) plays UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall with local favorites The Love Language opening. UNC began giving out free tickets to students this week, but public tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday.

And in other show-schedule news, Concord's Avett Brothers STILL don't have a Triangle performance booked -- but they're playing Merlefest on May 2. It's being billed as their "only spring/summer North Carolina appearance in 2010." Which means they won't be here until fall at the earliest. Great...

Skip Matheny must never sleep. He leads the excellent pop-rock band Roman Candle (who played a terrific show at Cat's Cradle Wednesday night); he has two young children with a third on the way this fall; and because he apparently doesn't have enough to do, he has also launched a songwriter-to-songwriter interview series called "Drinks With..." Check that link and you'll see interviews with eight acts, including Brendan Benson and Alejandro Escovedo. Matheny also more than 30 other interviews completed, to be published down the road.

In an area known for great poster art, Casey Burns has created some of the most iconic rock-gig artworks in recent memory -- many of them during the decade he spent as in-house artist for Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. He moved up to Portland, Ore., in 2006, where he remains a noted visual artist. And he'll be back this weekend for a two-day exhibit of his silkscreened prints. Titled "Territorial Posturing," it opens at 6 p.m. Friday at Hi Gallery, 113 High St. in Carrboro. There's also an afternoon showing Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.

It's a good thing the Dirty Dozen Brass Band spends so much time on the road. The band's hometown of New Orleans has been intermittently uninhabitable since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in 2005, although the recovery still goes on.

"We're still working on it, trying to get it together," saxophonist Roger Lewis said in a recent phone chat. "We have some neighborhoods that are still not completely back, a lot of abandoned houses. Some neighborhoods are up and running, but then there will be five or six abandoned houses right around the corner. Some neighborhoods still don't have anyone living there, period, especially the Lower Ninth. I had nine feet of water in my house, and I'd just finished renovating it. So I had to put it back together, and we raised it up off the foundation. It was two feet off the ground before, a shotgun shack that we'd added two rooms on the back to make an L-shap. It's up to six feet off the ground now. I hope that's high enough."

For more, including details on the group's Sunday show in Carrboro, see the interview in Friday's paper.

Sometimes, people, you disappoint me. Like Saturday night at Cat's Cradle, a show that had all the elements of what should have been a packed house: The super-fine Minus 5, a band featuring big-name rock stars; ample preview coverage; and it was Saturday night, what else were you going to do?

Well, I guess the rain and the televised Penn State/Iowa game kept everybody away, because maybe 100 people turned out. And to the immense credit of Scott McCaughey and company, those who were there got a heck of a show. They offered up plenty of Minus 5 and Baseball Project songs, plus a handful of Dream Syndicate classics. I always forget how much I like Steve Wynn's old band; I walked in as they were whompin' the bejezus out of "Tell Me When It's Over," and it was a great moment.

I only wish you'd been there to hear it.

I've had a soft spot for Scott McCaughey ever since the night he got me out of a traffic ticket. It was 1997, the opening night of South By Southwest, and I'd just rolled into town. Jacked-up from a late flight and interminable lines for my rental car and badge, I was cruising downtown Austin in an inattentive stupor, looking for a parking place. I turned the wrong way down a one-way street, and one of Austin's finest instantly appeared in my rear-view mirror, lights blazing.

The constable walked up to the car and I was talking a blue streak -- very sorry... from out of town, just got here... won't happen again... -- before realizing that he wasn't listening to me. Instead, he was listening to what I had in the tape deck, the then-new album from McCaughey's band Minus 5. So I shut up and listened, too. About 30 seconds later, the cop nodded toward the music and said, "Not bad," then let me off with a stern warning.

Who knows what good things McCaughey can do for you? Check Friday's paper for an interview about the many hats he wears, some of which will be on display Saturday at Cat's Cradle.