As Wake County Manager David Cook and Triangle Transit chief David King shuttle around Wake to present their big-picture transit plan to elected bodies (they call it the "David and David tour"), the pair will be hard-pressed to find a more eager audience than the Raleigh City Council.

No surprise there. As the county's largest and most urbanized city, Raleigh has the greatest need for more bus service and, eventually, the introduction of local and regional passenger rail. Even John Odom, the council's lone declared Republican, supports putting money toward an expanded public transit system.

Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane loaned her campaign $235,000 over the four months leading up to her decisive victory in the October city election, according to new filings made available by the Wake County Board of Elections.

Seven years ago, at the urging of neighbors fed up with loud parties and messy yards in Raleigh's college neighborhoods, the city devised a system to hold landlords responsible for the behavior of their tenants.

After a state law gutted Raleigh's ability to maintain the program, the city has tried to make changes to protect its ability to punish repeat offenders.

Improving the public transit system in Raleigh is about more than helping people get around without cars. It's also an essential way to guide development toward dense, walkable, urban-friendly communities that will define successful cities for the next generation.

So says former Portland mayor Earl Blumenauer, who spoke in downtown Thursday night as part of the 21st Century City lecture series sponsored by the city and WakeUP Wake County, an advocate for responsible growth.

Quail Ridge Books & Music hosts an author by the name of Daniel Handler this week, here to talk about his new book, 'Why We Broke Up.'

The name may not ring many bells at first - until research reveals that he also writes under the name of Lemony Snicket, scribe of the popular Series of Unfortunate Events novels.

A transitional housing complex for clients battling drug addiction and mental illness won support Tuesday from a City Council committee.

Up to 32 tenants would live in eight, four-bedroom apartments while they receive treatment, counseling and job training, says SouthLight, the Wake County nonprofit pursuing the project.

My recent stories on calls to relocate the Light + Time Tower from its perch on Capital Boulevard have generated several responses from readers -- mostly those opposed to uprooting the piece.

I got an email this week from someone very familiar with the tower and its storied history. Elaine Lorber was director of the city's Arts Commission in the 1980s when deliberations over the project took place.

Imagine long, glass-encased bus stations in the median of New Bern Avenue, with special bays for buses to stop while passengers board and disembark.

That's one of the possibilities in a long-term plan to remodel New Bern Avenue, an aging corridor that the city has targeted for revitalization.

Get ready for more changes on Hillsborough Street, this time on a stretch between Morgan Street and Oberlin Road just west of downtown Raleigh.

This section will receive a road diet, which is planning-speak for measures intended to reduce speed and improve safety conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.

Want to hit the ice at the Raleigh Winterfest outdoor skating rink, but without shelling out for the $8 admission? Here's your chance.