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.

N.C. State honored Russell Wilson and Nate Irving, the stars of last year's nine-win team, one more time.

Wilson was named the team's most valuable player, most valuable offensive bad and earned the captain's award during the team's annual awards dinner on Tuesday.

Nate Irving did all the drills, jumps and sprints the NFL scouts wanted him to on Wednesday at N.C. State's pro day.

The star linebacker did so with a smile on his face. And why not?

After a one-car accident in June 2009 almost cost Irving his life, his perspective of football has changed.

Senior linebackers Nate Irving of N.C. State and Mark Herzlich of Boston College, who bounced back from life-threatening situations to lead their respective teams’ defenses, will receive the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award, the conference announced today.

The award has been given annually since 1972 in memory of the late Wake Forest and Chicago Bears running back whose fight with a cancer inspired the entire football community.

After starring on the football field this year, N.C. State University linebacker Nate Irving stars in a stark traffic safety video about the dangers of driving drowsy.

Irving missed the 2009 season after a pre-dawn crash on Interstate 40 in Johnston County. He had fallen asleep at the wheel.

He woke up at WakeMed with cracked ribs, a collapsed lung, a separated shoulder and a broken leg.

“I had been up all night,” Irving says in the video, produced by the state Department of Transportation. “I was tired. But I still thought I could drive. I was wrong.

“I could have lost everything. I could have died, or killed someone else. ... [MORE]

N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving's eight tackles for a loss Saturday against Wake Forest weren't just a school record.

The Wolfpack football program received confirmation from the NCAA's statistics staff that the standout performance in N.C. State's 38-3 win over the Demon Deacons also set an Football Bowl Subdivision single-game record for tackles for a loss.

Irving ended the game with 13 tackles.

RALEIGH - Just when N.C. State’s hopes for a dramatic win seemed squashed, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder unexpectedly brushed up against running back Ty Jones in the backfield.

It appeared that Ponder had a chance to throw for the winning touchdown on a tackle eligible play Thursday night. Instead, the contact in the backfield dislodged the ball.

N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving recovered the fumble at the Wolfpack 9-yard line with 48.3 seconds remaining. And N.C. State finished off its biggest win in years, a 28-24 decision over Florida State at Carter-Finley Stadium that put the Wolfpack squarely in the race for the ACC Atlantic Division championship.

Quarterback Russell Wilson remains a bit off target, linebacker Nate Irving didn't scrimmage and the defense held firm in N.C. State's first preseason scrimmage Monday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Coach Tom O'Brien shared only limited statistics from the scrimmage. He revealed that the offense completed eight of 20 passes for 116 yards and rushed 55 times for 92 yards.

O'Brien said Wilson, who spent the spring and summer playing baseball, is still "a little bit off," but the coach didn't sound concerned.

Nate Irving said he doesn’t remember anything about the crash that ended his junior football season.

Irving stood in front of a throng of reporters at N.C. State’s Murphy Center office complex Thursday to announce that he won’t play football this season because of injuries suffered in a June 28 car crash.

After meeting with a doctor Thursday, N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving announced that he will be out for the season because of injuries suffered in a car crash on June 28.

Irving, who was scheduled to be a junior this season, led the team with four interceptions last season and made 84 tackles despite missing three games because of injury.