Triangle.com weekend photo recap: North Hills had its weekly Midtown Music Concert Series Thursday night with the band Sleeping Booty. We have 64 photos online now.

Friday night is the First Friday Gallery Walk in Raleigh. Photos from the event will be on triangle.com later tonight. Also, triangle.com photographers will be at the 2011 Strawberry Festival Saturday in Durham. Event is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old North Durham Park. Check the website later Saturday for photos.

We will also have graduation photos this weekend at newsobserver.com. Here's a rundown that I stole from a story that editor Richard Stradling is writing as we speak for Saturday's paper. (Thank you, Richard)

Peace College: 10 a.m. Saturday, College Green; speaker, Deborah Ross, state representative from Raleigh.

Shaw University: 11 a.m. Saturday, Dorton Arena; speaker, Bob Etheridge, former congressman from Lillington. 

These photos will go online Saturday afternoon.

UNC-Chapel Hill: Sunday at 9:30 a.m., Kenan Stadium; speaker, Edward O. Wilson Jr., biologist, writer and Harvard University professor, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.

Meredith College: Sunday at 10 a.m., McIver Amphitheater; speaker, Sally Brice-O’Hara, U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral.

We'll post these photos Sunday afternoon.

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.

Crash counts usually shrink dramatically at intersections where stop signs and stop lights are replaced with roundabouts.

But Raleigh police are seeing lots of crashes at the city's newest and most unusual roundabout -- the twin-ring spiral that opened eight months ago on Hillsborough Street at Pullen Road, next to the NCSU Bell Tower (see today's Road Worrier, with reader comments).

City officials will wait for a full safety study after the Bell Tower roundabout has been in use for a full year. A comparison count of crashes before and after is not available, but traffic engineers are concerned about what they've seen so far -- more than 40 crashes, without serious injuries. ... [MORE]

After a tornado-prompted day off, Saint Augustine's College in Raleigh will reopen for classes Tuesday.

“Although there was severe damage, we worked very hard to get the campus back to a place where it is safe for our students, faculty and staff,” said Saint Augustine’s College President Dianne Boardley Suber in a news release. “We understand the importance of upholding the integrity of our academic program and carrying out our obligation to complete the semester. Although the work will continue on campus — to include working with Progress Energy to restore power to all of the campus — we felt the need to get our students back in the classroom.”

It was a rough weekend on campus, and the college's counseling center will continue working with students, Suber said.

“The effect of the damage will be felt on campus for years to come. We look forward to establishing an organized method to provide our partners and friends an opportunity to assist in the rebuilding of Saint Augustine’s College’s campus,” Suber said.

A big chunk of Earth Day events are on tap for the weekend. NCSU is having its Earth Day celebration today (Friday), and Raleigh has a Shred & Recycle It! event along with the Planet Earth Celebration downtown on Saturday.

Garner has two events: the Spring Eggstravaganza and the Technology Spring Clean on Saturday. The N.C. Department of Transportation's Spring Litter Sweep kicks off on Saturday as well.

See a full list of upcoming Earth Day events here.

In a 36-14 vote, the Senate gave preliminary approval today to a bill that would kill red-light cameras in the last remaining North Carolina cities that use them: Wilmington, Knightdale, Cary and Raleigh. [4/8/11 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

The bill sponsor, Republican Sen. Don East of Pilot Mountain, is a former Winston-Salem police officer who argues that drivers should be able to cross-examine the officer to gives them a traffic ticket.

“You ought to be able to say, ‘Officer, are you right sure that light was red?’” East said during floor debate. His Senate Bill 187 will move to the House if it passes a final Senate vote next week.

Sen. Josh Stein, a Raleigh Democrat, argued that local officials should be allowed to decide whether to use the cameras. He cited crash statistics that credit red-light cameras with reducing right-angle collisions, caused when a driver runs a red light, at two busy corners in downtown Raleigh. ... [MORE]

Riverside junior Michael Hocker II carded a 78 Monday at tricky Treyburn Country Club to tie for sixth in the fifth annual N.C. High School Invitational golf tournament.
Hocker, who plays out of nearby Croasdaile Country Club, carded 38 on the front and 40 after the turn at Treyburn.
Stephen Lavenets Jr. of Northern High School, who was junior co-medalist in last year’s Herald-Sun Golf Classic, tied for 14th with an 81.
Led by NCHSAA 2010 4-A medalist Grayson Murray, Raleigh Leesville Road won the team championship with a total of 313. That was 12 strokes better than runnerup Gastonia Forestview (325). Raleigh Broughton (334) was third, followed by Christ School of Arden (337) and Westchester Academy of High Point (337) to round out the top five.
Trinity School of Durham (354) was 10th.
Murray shot 37-36—73 to win medalist honors Monday.
Burlington freshman William Register, junior Jonathan Diianni of High Point and sophomore Zach Seabolt of Raleigh all tied for second with 77s.

The sound of the first footsteps on the course will be heard about 6 a.m. Saturday on a big day of running in the Triangle.

The early start on an April morning comes because the runners have a long way to go in the Umstead 100-Mile Endurance Run at Umstead Park. The field is full, but you can always cheer on the competitors.

Below is a look at some of the area's other runing events this weekend and next. Find more events in a variety of sports in the Play! Recreational Sports Calendar.

Google fiber is not coming to the Triangle, at least not first.

Raleigh city councilman Bonner Gaylord, who offered naming rights of his twins to Google, will not have to rename his boys Sergey and Larry after the founders of Google. Born last fall, Demetri and Mont will retain their names for now. Gaylord, who seems dedicated to bringing technology to our city, tweeted his disappointment.

Google has selected Kansas City from about 1,100 communities for its 1Gbps fiber service. Hopefully, Google can find success and spread its services rapidly to compete with other high speed ISPs.

Communities fawned over Google as it dangled the promise of a new high-speed network. It was brand genius from Google.

Here are some examples of the Google-mania that ensued:

-Deluth, MN: Mayor does an icy polar bear plunge into Lake Superior and declared every male born in the town would be named Google Fiber in a mock press conference.

Raleigh proves once again it's among America's best — this time Forbes has listed the city third among the least toxic.