At last week's annual Raleigh Hall of Fame dinner, Mayor Charles Meeker addressed the audience of several hundred people at the Convention Center in his usual soft voice. That prompted WRAL's David Crabtree, who followed Meeker to the microphone, to suggest a new occupation for the retiring five-term mayor. "I've always thought you could work for the Golf Channel," Crabtree said, referring to the hushed tones often used by golf announcers.

Meeker visited The N&O today. He said he wasn't sure how he would use his time in upcoming months, other than practicing law. But he said he would not be joining the Golf Channel. "I don't watch much television," Meeker said with a smile. "And I don't play golf." 

--John Drescher

Mayor Charles Meeker opened yesterday's City Council meeting by discussing the Wake County Board of Commissioner's recent rejection of stricter development rules in the Little River Watershed. "It's not a situation where all is lost," Meeker told the council.

But he also said that it is not at all clear that adopting the minimum requirements in Little River will be adequate. Meeker proposed a 3-step plan to try to persuade county commissioners to reconsider their recent decision, which was unanimous.

Basically, the plan involves reminding Wake County folks of the years of cooperation between Raleigh and the county to get the Little River project this far; a discussion between City Manager Russell Allen and his county counterpart, David Cooke; and a meeting between the county commissioners and Meeker, Councilor James West and the mayors of Wake Forest and Garner.

What's striking about these steps is how easily they could have been taken before the county commissioners voted on the tougher restrictions.

All told, last week was a bad week for Raleigh's interests in the surrounding watersheds. In addition to the Little River vote, the state Environmental Management Commission last week issued the city a notice of violation for failing to adopt tougher rules in the Richland Creek Watershed in North Raleigh. (Scroll down to the 5th action item on the EMC's agenda.) The city now has 120 days to get in compliance. Getting in compliance means adopting stricter development rules that will impact 4,994 property owners located in Northeast Raleigh, including neighborhoods like Wakefield and Falls River. The rules would make it harder for those owners to add a deck or build an addition.

Raleigh has been trying to convince the state for four years that the tougher restrictions are not necessary, but their long struggle appears over. The new rules are designed to protect a possible source of drinking water on the Neuse River at the old Burlington Mills textile plant off Capital Boulevard. Nobody is using the water now, though Franklin County has expressed interest in tapping it.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said today he's worried about the Wake County Board of Commissioners decision to not adopt stricter development restrictions along the Little River. The commissioners unanimously voted down those restrictions during their meeting Monday.

"That’s a matter of real concern in terms of the permitting of the next water resource for Raleigh," Meeker said. "I’m hopeful they will study that issue further."

Meeker said he'd spoken to one commissioner about this issue. But, given that the vote was unanimous, it seems unlikely that the commissioners will change their minds anytime soon. The lopsided nature of yesterday's vote raises questions about whether Raleigh did enough to make its case for the tougher restrictions. No Raleigh City Council members spoke in favor of the proposal at yesterday's meeting, instead a consultant and Public Utilities Director Dale Crisp spoke. The city really can't afford to not gain approval to build the Little River Reservoir, and Raleigh officials clearly feel the new restrictions give them a much stronger case with regulators.

Does this show a lack of involvement or leadership on the part of Raleigh officials? Or were these restrictions bound to be voted down by a county board that is clearly worried about unnecessarily stepping on residents property rights?

The State Soda Shop has been serving the likes of lawyers, judges, police officers, sheriff deputies, probation officers, recently-released jail inmates as well as the other downtown Raleigh denizens for decades.

But it's time on Salisbury Street could be drawing to a close as the county moves to tear down the Lawyers Building at 320 S. Salisbury Street, sandwiched between the Wake County jail and county parking lot. The teardown, expected late this summer, is the first stage of the $214 million plan to build another courthouse on the corner of Salisbury and Martin streets by 2013.

Treva Long has worked at the shop off and on for 18 years and took over when longtime owner Jack Raynor stepped down a year and a half ago. Jack tells us that he thinks the State Soda Shop has been open longer than any other downtown business -- it first showed up on the city records in the late 1920s when it was a concession stand for the State Theater next door. Treva initially tossed out a closing date of late June, but said today it looks like she might be able to stay open a bit longer.

Good news for WakePol, for nothing beats the newspaper deadline blues and a bad case of writer's block like a coffee milkshake from State Soda Shop. Other favorites, for those who haven't had the pleasure, are Treva's chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches, all at prices well below $5. Treva tells us Mayor Charles Meeker is a fan of the chicken salad on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato finished off with a chocolate milkshake. The mayor being a man of habit, Treva starts making it as soon as he walks in the door.

It's open daily from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stop by before it's too late. Stay tuned, we'll let you know if Treva settles on a closing date.

Want to share your State Soda Shop memories and tell us your favorite eats there? Drop me a line at sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com.