Raleigh mayoral candidate Billie Redmond unveiled a leadership team that includes plenty of colleagues from the real estate and development community, as well as Capitol Broadcasting CEO Jim Goodmon.

The list, provided to The News & Observer, reflects Redmond's long-standing ties to the Chamber of Commerce and various business and civic circles. Redmond is relying on these bases of support in her first run for elected office.

The Raleigh City Council will hold a public hearing Aug. 2 on two bond proposals planned for the Oct. 11 ballot: $16 million for affordable housing and $40 million for transportation projects.  The hearing starts at 7 p.m. in the municipal building city council chamber, 222 W. Hargett St.

Here's how the city would spend $40 million in transportation bonds: ... [MORE]

A multi-purpose center proposed on a trail next to Lake Johnson would provide a rest stop for hikers as well as classroom space for school groups to learn about the environment.

But a suitable location for the building remains unsettled.

Raleigh parks planners outlined a plan Tuesday to use the “Friends Property,” a 12-acre tract on the lake’s eastern side acquired by the city in 2002.

Hold on a minute, Councilman Thomas Crowder said.

If your home was damaged or destroyed in the April 16 storms and you still haven't applied for FEMA aid, you've got a little more time.

FEMA officials said Tuesday they are extending the deadline by 15 days.

Raleigh is expected to rank among the country's top 10 population gainers in the coming decade, according to data analysis firm ProximityOne.

The firm’s estimates are based on results from the 2010 U.S. Census, as well as historical birth, death, migration and economic data.

Raleigh’s population increased by 46.3 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 276,093 to 403,892. During the same time, the U.S. population increased by 9.7 percent to hit 308.7 million.

ProximityOne says the nation’s largest population-gaining states of the past decade will continue the trend in the second decade of the 21st century.  North Carolina is joined in this category by Texas, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Colorado.

Raleigh's citizen advisory councils voted to give unspent monies from their community awareness budgets to tornado relief efforts.

Each of the 18 CAC chairpersons are given $2,500 per year by the city to promote programs and activities throughout the year. Not all chairpersons know how much is left in their individual budgets, but Wade CAC chairman Bill Padgett said the number probably totals $20,000 to $40,000.

"I cannot think of a better use for our allocated CAC budgets than to serve the victims of this tragedy," Padgett told City Council members Wednesday.

Once known as paths through the woods, greenways are gaining popularity as hot spots for tourists and a form of travel for commuters eager to ditch their gas-guzzling cars.

It’s happening across the globe in Egypt, where a 4,000-mile greenway proposed along the Nile River is envisioned as an international eco-tourism hub.

And it’s happening (on a smaller scale) in Raleigh, home to a 68-mile trail network that connects parks, schools, hospitals and shopping centers.

The city will mark a milestone next year with the opening of the 28-mile Lower Neuse Greenway Trail, a $30 million project connecting Raleigh with Wake Forest, Knightdale and Clayton.

“Greenways can be transformative if we expand our notion of what they can be, and what they can do for us,” Chuck Flink told a packed lunchtime audience at the Raleigh Urban Design Center.

Before Flink rose to national prominence as founder of Greenways Inc., a company that has worked in 200 communities and 35 states, he worked as a young staffer in the city of Raleigh’s planning office.

Today, Flink travels the world preaching the benefits of greenways. Other communities are finding success, he told the gathering of 50 to 60 people.

Greenville, S.C., tore down a highway bridge and installed an urban greenway that became the centerpiece of a downtown renaissance. Restaurants, shops and new residential units totaled $200 million in private investment.

Greensboro used abandoned railroad lines to create a 4-mile biking and walking trail that loops around its downtown.

Flink paid homage to Bill Flournoy, the father of the North Carolina greenway movement. Flournoy devised Raleigh’s first greenway plan as a graduate student at N.C. State University in the 1970s.

Today, the goal is not just to add more miles of greenways, but to make sure they connect with sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian bridges to create an “ultimate grid," said Sig Hutchinson, a Raleigh greenway advocate who shared the stage with Flink.

Raleigh has sought ways to connect downtown with greenways in outlying parts of the city.

On Wednesday, Hutchinson unveiled what he called his previously “double-secret” vision to begin the effort. His proposal, relying partly on existing sidewalks and paths, would link downtown to the N.C. Museum of Art on a route that runs from the convention center past Central Prison, Pullen Park and Meredith College before crossing the Beltline.

Often, greenways are plagued by narrow sidewalks and poorly marked entrances, Hutchinson said: “These are things that just need a little bit of paint, a little bit of signage, a little bit of branding.”

Greenways generate their share of complaints. Problems generally center on "user conflicts," i.e. cyclists crashing into walkers on narrow stretches.

The field is changing, Flink said. Instead of 8-feet-wide trails, the new standard is 12-feet to allow more room for high-speed lanes that let cyclists safely pass.

As gas prices hover near $4 a gallon, more people will choose to walk or bike - making street safety even more important, Mayor Charles Meeker and other advocates have said.

A 2009 community survey found that 2.5 percent of Raleigh commuters (about 10,000 people) walk to work - a 25 percent increase from 2000 figures.

Raleigh is devising its first-ever pedestrian plan - a blueprint for improving sidewalks, crosswalks, crossing signals and trails. This fall marks the first time that money for sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways have been included in a city transportation bond referendum. The proposed $37 million bond is bound for the Oct. 11 ballot.

Have an idea for a technology solution that could help government, business, neighborhood, non-profit, and/or academic communities in Raleigh?

Bring it to this weekend's CityCamp Raleigh assembly and you could win $5,000.

Organizers describe CityCamp Raleigh as three days of open sourced talks, workshops and hands-on problem solving to re-imagine how the Web, applications, technology and participation will shape the future of Raleigh.

Organizers have released the full list of bands for Friday's "Rise Up Raleigh" concert to benefit victims of the April 16 tornadoes.

Prepare for a lively scene outside the Raleigh Amphitheater, where the city has invited jugglers, mimes and local street performers to entertain concert-goers making their way into the venue (A deadline to sign up to perform has passed).

Admission is free, but concertgoers are asked to give money at the door ($20 is the suggested donation) for Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Centro International de Raleigh, Helping Hands Mission and Salvation Army of Wake County.

The music, which runs from 5 to 11 p.m., encompasses “a little bit of everything” – folk, hip hop, rock – said Dave Rose, co-owner of Deep South Entertainment, a Raleigh firm that booked the acts. Here's a guide, courtesy of a recent announcement put out by the city of Raleigh:

- Marshetta Parker: Originally from Michigan, this contemporary gospel singer moved to the Triangle and joined the ministry of worship and praise. A hit single is "My Everything."

- Red Sonja Band: Fronted by twins Annette and Runnette Ethridge, the band recently finished among the top three in the local Fox affiliate's X-Factor competition. That meant an all-expenses paid trip to Dallas to perform for Simon Cowell in a bid to make the new X-Factor show airing on Fox in September.

- Alissa Morena: A singer/songwriter from Nashville, Morena's single "Far from Here" from her debut album is the theme for the Lifetime series "Army Wives."

- Aunt Martha: The three guys in this Wilmont, NH, folk rock group were picked to perform at this year's Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee.

- Desafiados Musical: Seven members from Siler City make classic Latin country music.

-Motor Skills: Raleigh's own electronic beat rock act earned comparisons to Radiohead and Interpol in a recent "must-watch" list in Independent Weekly.

- Young Cardinals: Singer James Forgey fronts a group with similarities to Kings of Leon, Black Keys and The Verve. As an actor, Forgey appeared in the 2008 film "The 27 Club," which won Best Film at the Milan International Film Festival. Look for Forgey to perform "I Might Get Home," an acoustic song about the tornadoes hitting his hometown.

- Kooley High: Six former NC State students comprise a hip-hop group lauded by Rolling Stone for "grand, thumping tracks from sliced-up soul and shards of R&B."

- The Small Ponds: Caitlin Cary (formerly of Tres Chicas and Whiskeytown) and Matt Douglas (formerly of The Proclivities) front this Raleigh folk act.

- Marcy Playground: You may remember the mega-hit "Sex & Candy," which spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1997. The band has since recorded four albums and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. One of the band's first shows outside New York was in 1996 at The Brewery in Raleigh, and the members still call it their second home.

- The Love Language: The N&O's own David Menconi says singer-songwriter Stuart McLamb's songs combine the emotional directness of Big Star with the immediacy of Guided by Voices.

- The Connells: These Raleigh rockers get the prime slot from 10:10 to 11 p.m. Formed in 1984 by brothers Mike and David Connell and vocalist Doug MacMillan, the band has eight full-length albums, including the college radio favorite "Boylan Heights." The band performed hit song "Maybe" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

The generosity of the bands and corporate sponsors ensure that all proceeds will go to local charities helping tornado victims, city officials have said. To find out more about the festivities, visit riseupraleigh.com.

A benefit concert for tornado victims at the Raleigh Amphitheater may expand to include performances at City Plaza, Mayor Charles Meeker said Tuesday.

The 5,600-capacity amphitheater might not be big enough to accommodate the expected crowd, Meeker said. So City Plaza, a pedestrian-friendly area a few blocks away on Fayetteville Street, would make sense as a secondary location.