Martha Quillin, one of our reporters, is going to cover the opening of the new Contemporary Art Museum, a much-celebrated addition to the downtown arts scene. Here are some photos John Rottet took the other day. If you want to read more about it, here's a story that staff writer Stacy Chandler wrote.  Staff photojournalist Robert Willett will shooting the opening. I expect we'll have a short story and photos online by mid-afternoon.

Over at Bicentennial Mall, state workers will be holding a rally around noon to urge lawmakers to hold the line on budget cuts affecting public services.  Reporter Matt Garfield will be covering, with Willett taking pics. Yep, Robert will be busy Saturday. Look for story and photos online sometime tomorrow afternoon, too.  Here's something that reporter Craig Jarvis wrote about the rally on our Under the Dome blog.

In Fuquay-Varina, we will be photographing Teen Day Fuquay at the FV Community Center. Hundreds of teens will be learning about the dangers of drinking and driving (and texting while driving) using simulators and "drunk goggles."

And it's pretty likely our sports writers will be updating the Russell Wilson story. Here is Luke DeCock's take that just went online.

We will also be updating the NFL draft. Cowboys just picked linebacker Bruce Carter from UNC. (I just added an 8:10 p.m. update for the heck of it). 

UPDATE:  Chuck Liddy, another of our stellar photojournalists, took some aerial shots today of some areas hit by the tornados that ripped through here Saturday, March 16. There are two aerial galleries, one a First Look with 65 pics, the other with eight pics. There's a third gallery with 43 images by photojournalist Shawn Rocco documenting the experience of a family whose home was damaged by the storm.

The new Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh, which opens Saturday,  April 30, will feature works by artists Dan Steinhilber and Naoko Ito, both of whom use recycled and reclaimed materials in their art.

Read more about the new museum here.

The backers of a long-delayed Contemporary Art Museum expect to begin construction early next year in downtown Raleigh's warehouse district.

The 20,000 square-foot facility will include three galleries and classrooms in a renovated warehouse at 409 W. Martin St.

The nonprofit group behind the museum bought the old warehouse in 1997 but ran into problems with fundraising and other obstacles.

The Contemporary Art Foundation, in an e-mail this afternoon, wrote that construction will start in the first quarter and the museum will open in 2011. The museum will generate $2 million or more from historic tax credit programs to help pay for renovations.

"Although faced with a difficult economy, CAM has been able to 'swim against the tide' in the current recession and secure the final capital funds needed to start construction," the group wrote.

The project could bring life to the warehouse district, where development has been slow to materialize. It also joins other major projects underway or planned in downtown Raleigh, including the $100 million Green Square Project, a 12-story office tower being built by the State Employees Credit Union and a $210 million Wake County Justice Center.