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DOT says it has awarded a $604,000 contract to build the 1.3-mile Edwards Mill Road Greenway in West Raleigh, from the Reedy Creek Road Greenway to Trinity Road.

State Contracting of Wake Forest won the contract, to start work as soon as Feb. 28 with completion in mid-October.

The new trail on the east side of Edwards Mill Road will extend Raleigh's greenway network, adding a connection to the Loblolly Trail through Schenk Forest. It also will give pedestrians and cyclists a new route to the RBC Center.  The city of Raleigh will contribute $28,000 to the project and take over maintenance of the greenway after it is built.

New to the concert calendar, California gurl Katy Perry, who is hitting the road this summer on a 41-city U.S. tour. And she'll get to Raleigh early on -- date number five happens June 14 at the RBC Center. Ticket details are still to come. Tickets go on sale at noon on Saturday, Jan. 29.

RALEIGH — The Washington Capitals spoiled the Carolina Hurricanes home opener in a 3-0 shutout at the RBC Center Wednesday.

Caps' center Niklas Backstrom scored on a rebound from the left wing after star center Alex Ovechkin set up winger Mike Knuble on the right wing. Knuble's shot deflected out to Backstrom, who scored at 12:23 in the period to give his team a 2-0 lead.

The Capitals added an empty-netter late, as Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth picked up his first career shutout.

The Capitals scored their first goal at 10:47 in the first period,  drawing boos from a home crowd that wanted the goal disallowed for contact on Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward.

A shot from the point from Caps defenseman John Erskine was deflected by Ward. But Caps forward David Steckel fell on top of Ward as he passed to Matt Hendricks, who scored on the open net.

That score holds after the Capitals weathered the storm in the second period, including one good power play from the Hurricanes, which ended on a blind pass from Sergei Samsonov to a Eric Staal.

Staal one-timed the pass from the right circle, but Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth gloved the shot, one of several chances he denied on the fast-paced penalty kill, including rookie Jeff Skinner's wrap-around attempt, which took the officials minutes of film review to decide the puck never crossed the line.

In the starting lineup around center Eric Staal are forwards Jussi Jokinen and Chad LaRose and defensemen Jamie McBain and Joni Pitkanen. Goalie Cam Ward is in the crease for the Canes.

Five minutes into the game, Skinner had a scoring chance on a rebound he nearly put in.

About a minute later Washington Capitals' winger Eric Fehr had an even better chance in front of the net, but he hit the right post.

The Canes had a short-handed chance late in the first period, but a rushing Patrick Dwyer couldn't get Jay Harrison's pass on his tape.

Lady Gaga blew into town Sunday night, with a monstrous extravaganza calculated to shock and awe. Click through to see how it went, with a review and photo gallery.

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This is the day 18,000 pilgrims are flocking to the RBC Center to hear inspiration from Lou Holtz, Colin Powell and Zig Ziglar about how they can be more productive at the office.

For the rest of us, productivity will go in the other direction.

The Road Worrier warned you that police and emergency management officials expect Raleigh's worst traffic jam today since October 2007 -- which is the last time RBC hosted this "Get Motivated!" tent revival -- when thousands of commuters were hours late getting to work and to school. They recommended alternate routes.  Did their advice help you?

If you're stuck in this mud this morning, what did that do for YOUR productivity?  How did today's traffic jam (warning: it will be bad this afternoon, too) affect your work, your school, your boss, your customers, your karma?

Let me hear from you, and don't forget your daytime phone number

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Warning for commuters: Next Wednesday morning more than 18,000 people will converge on the RBC Center for a day of inspiration from a group of speakers (Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, Steve Forbes, ... hey, do you have to be Republican to get hired as a motivational speaker?) at a business seminar called "Get Motivated!"

The last time this daylong workday event came to the RBC (in October 2007), it recalled the traffic jam in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the 1951 version with Michael Rennie, not the Keanu Reeves remake in 2008). 

Traffic was congealed for two hours on Interstate 40, Wade Avenue and surrounding West Raleigh streets. The backups were felt on the I-440 Beltline, Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge, Trinity and Edwards Mill roads. Hundreds of ticketholders arrived late at the RBC.  Thousands of commuters arrived late to work.  Some people got mad.

So if you plan to Get Motivated on Wednesday, you'd better get there early.

But if you just want to get to work, get as far away as you can from RBC and West Raleigh. And you should leave home early, too. ... [MORE]

Neither hurricanes nor scorching heat shall stay the Trans-Siberian Orchestra from announcing its appointed rounds. Yes, dates are out for this year's model of the annual holiday extravaganza, which is again coming to the Triangle. TSO will play Raleigh's RBC Center on Dec. 5, according to the band's tour schedule, which lists Oct. 1 as the on-sale date for tickets.

Pop singer Michael Buble played Raleigh Friday night as part of his ongoing plot for world domination. Click on through to see how it went, and be sure to check the photo gallery of shots from the show.

Michael Buble plays huge arenas rather than nightclubs these days, but he still remembers the pre-pop-star days when he was on the way up. One show in particular, from a number of years back. The house was packed and full of love...except for one table.

"There was this one table of four guys who would boo every time I finished a song," Buble said in a recent phone interview. "And onstage, I'm half completely insecure and half completely invincible. So these four guys keep booing and I finally say, 'You guys are rude. I'll be down to talk after the show.' I was really upset, completely ready to go scrap with these guys. So I walked over and basically said, 'You guys are [expletives].' 'Why?' 'You were booing every song!' 'We weren't booing,' they said. 'Your drummer, Lou Hoover, is one of our best friends. We were screaming "LOOOOOU!"' So here I was worried and angry and fretting, and it turns out they're friends with Lou. Who's a really hip guy, I don't know if Lou was completely there that night. He'd, um, had a few beers..."

For more, including particulars on Buble's Raleigh show, see the interview in Friday's paper.

The Eagles played Raleigh's RBC Center Thursday night, and N&O staff photographer Robert Willett was there with his trusty camera. Check out this photo gallery of shots from the show.