Arrow (8pm, CW) - Laurel is targeted by the violent Chinese Triad and by ruthless mercenary China White, while Oliver is asked to take over his family's company.

World Without End (8pm, Reelz) - A miniseries based on the best selling fantasy novel by Ken Follett.

The Neighbors (8:30pm, ABC) - Marty and Debbie help Larry and Jackie's kids, Reggie Jackson and Dick Butkus, get ready for their first day of school with humans. But when an anti-bullying tactic goes awry, the Bird-Kersees grow frustrated with their neighbors' parenting advice.

Nova: Forensics on Trial (9pm, UNC-TV) - An examination of modern forensic science, which is a far cry from what's presented on crime dramas. (We're looking at you, "CSI.") Few established scientific standards, no central oversight and poor regulation of examiner shave led to many wrongful convictions.

Suburgatory (9:30pm, ABC) - In the Season 2 premiere, Tessa (Jane Levy, right) comes back to the suburbs after spending the summer with her grandmother in New York City, where she discovered her mother's musical talents.

American Horror Story: Asylum (10pm, FX) - In the second season premiere, the evils of Briarcliff Manor, a notorious insane asylum, are exposed. This is a totally separate story with different characters than we got in Season 1. Jessica Lange returns this season but doesn't play the same character.  

Nashville (10pm, ABC) - Teddy's run for office requires a background check, which exposes shocking family secrets. Meanwhile, Coleman discovers that Lamar is ready to battle him, and Juliette makes a keen observation about Deacon.

Chicago Fire (10pm, NBC) - Severide is still consumed with guilt over Andy Darden's death, and his remorse is only intensified when he learns that Darden's widow also blames him for the tragedy.

Nashville
Wednesdays at 10 on ABC

There have already been several pretty good dramas debuting this fall -- "Last Resort," "Vegas" and "Elementary" are a few.

None of them come close to ABC's "Nashville." "Nashville" is simply great. 

The series, debuting tonight at 10, stars Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights," "American Horror Story") as cash-strapped Rayna Jaymes, a fading country star fighting to revitalize her waning career. The current center of the Nashville universe happens to be young Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere from "Heroes"), a hateful, manipulative little schemer who out-draws and out-sells Rayna to the point that Rayna's own record company is ready to toss her away.

It gets nasty, folks.

Arrow (8pm, CW) - A new drama about a billionaire playboy, Oliver Queen, who becomes a vigilante after being shipwrecked for five years on a remote island. In tonight's pilot, Oliver is rescued and creates the persona of Arrow, an expert archer determined to fight evil in his beloved city. Adrienne reviews.

Nature: Siberian Tiger Quest (8pm, UNC-TV) - In the Season 31 premiere, biolgist Chris Morgan travels to the forests of eastern Russia to meet wildlife filmmaker Sooyong Park, who recorded endangered Siberian tigers in their natural habitat.

Nova: Secrets of the Viking Sword (9pm, UNC-TV) - In the Season 40 premiere, the secrets behind the design and construction of the Vikings' Ulfberht sword, which was made between A.D. 800-1000.

Modern Family (9pm, ABC) - Two new episodes tonight. In the first, Lily's first day at kindergarten is marred by a scuffle with a little boy, which results in a confrontation for Mitchell and Cameron with the boy's lesbian parents. In the second episode, Phil goes in for a vasectomy, and Jay and Gloria debate the merits of learning their baby's gender. Why two episodes tonight? To give the best possible lead-in for ABC's new drama, "Nashville." Which you should totally watch.

Nashville (10pm, ABC) - In this excellent new ABC drama, country music legend Rayna (Connie Britton, right) fights to stay in the spotlight while a younger singer tries to usurp her power. In tonight's premiere episode, Rayna's record label asks her to open for the rising star, Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere, right). Full review.

Chicago Fire (10pm, NBC) - From "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, a new drama following the firefighters, paramedics and rescue squad of Chicago Firehouse 51. Tonight, a fire claims the life of a team member, and firefighters point fingers at one another. Adrienne reviews.

Nova scienceNow (10pm, UNC-TV) - Season 6 has David Pogue examining the evolutionary roots of those traits that separate humans from other species, and also investigating what may have happened to Neanderthals.

Paranormal Witness (10pm, Syfy) - In North Carolina, a man claims to have seen an apparition of a red-haired girl running across his backyard. Also, a creature with 14-inch feet is tracked to a cabin in the woods of Ohio.

Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties announced today that it has been selected to build a new $48.4 million headquarters in Nashville for LifePoint Hospitals.

The project calls for a seven-story, 203,000-square-foot building and structured parking in the Brentwood area of Nashville.

LifePoint will occupy the entire building.

Highwoods will also build 25,000 square feet of retail adjacent to the building that will be available for lease.
 

Universal Leaf North America is laying off 300 seasonal employees at its tobacco processing facility in Nashville, 45 miles northeast of Raleigh.

The company filed a notice today with the N.C. Department of Commerce under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The company said in the letter that the layoffs are in response to reduced customer demand.

All the employees are to be let go on Sept. 6.

Universal Leaf is part of Richmond-based Universal Corporation, a major buyer and processor of leaf tobacco.

The company operates in more than 30 countries and employs more than 24,000 permanent and seasonal workers.

There’s a good reason they call Jennifer Pierce the shoe lady.

Her organization Share Our Shoes has raised 365,000 pairs of shoes for earthquake victims in Haiti, 27,000 pairs for flood victims in Nashville, and hundreds pairs of shoes daily for people who need them in the Triangle.

Pierce does all this through an organization that started two years ago with fliers on neighbors’ mailboxes. She was simply looking for shoes for the family of her daughter, Catelynn’s friend.

Catelynn’s friend couldn’t comeout and play because she had no suitable shoes, Pierce said. And then when Pierce visited the home, she found the make-do work boots of the girl’s father too small and the mother’s shoes duct taped together.
With that plea to neighbors, Pierce was flooded with shoes, and a mission because a calling. Today, she has a 6,500 square foot building on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, a shoe warehouse and show room.

And now, Share Our Shoes has a presence in eastern Wake County. There are two drop-off locations in Knightdale: Progressive International Electronics at 1106 Great Falls Court, Suite G and Cathy Lee’s Daycare, 529 Bethlehem Road.
And Wendell Middle School is scheduled to become a drop-off point once school starts back.

“From Knightdale to Raleigh,from Florida to Haiti,” it’s just everybody working together,” said Pierce.

Pierce got some help expanding her 27 shoe drop-off locations with a one-woman SOS promoter Katrina Hearn.

Hearn, a saleswoman for The Cotton Exchange of Wendell, learned of Pierce’s organization at a flood victim’s benefit at the Longbranch in Raleigh.

“I carry those (SOS drop-off)boxes around in my car everywhere I go,” she said. “When I see I client, I ask them if they’d like to be a drop-off location.”

“It’s been real exciting,”said Hearn. She hopes to get the schools on board in the fall. “As fast as kids out grow their shoes, the schools would be a great spot for dropping off the shoes kids out grow.”

Hearn says almost everyone has shoes in their closet they no longer wear that other people could use.

“It’s a simple thing to do,”said Hearn. “I think she’s doing a wonderful thing. When she told me the story of a little boy coming to her house in little girls’ shoes, it just broke my heart.”

If you want to donate, visit one of the locations above or drop off shoes at Share Our Shoes warehouse, 1107 Capital Boulevard located on the Wake Avenue ramp. For more information, see shareourshoes.org.
 

It's January, it's cold and it's still a great time for a run in the Triangle.

Speedy
Lance Harden of Apex and more than 500 other runners and walkers
ignored  subfreezing temperatures and turned out for the third annual
Run for Young 5K in downtown Raleigh on Saturday.

Harden, 22, a former Davidson College standout, won the overall title and set a course record of 15 minutes, 51 seconds.