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The gas chronicles: readers write about the challenge of rising prices, all this week

The skyrocketing price of gasoline is now the joker in the family budgeting deck.

Before the latest escalation to record levels, Rebekah O’Connell, a credit counselor with Triangle Family Services, said her clients had an easier time estimating their monthly fuel costs. Now, “people are just taking wild guesses,” O’Connell said.

With projections saying gas prices in the Triangle will hit $3.50 a gallon around May, drivers are wrestling with similar issues — how to cut fuel consumption while making room for this ballooning part of our budget.

When The News & Observer asked a handful of Triangle residents to keep travel diaries for about a week, many, such as Wake Forest caterer Nan Holton, volunteered to log their trips and jot down their daily driving reflections. We wanted to see whether they would discover any surprises in how they drove and whether they had any strategies to share for conserving gas.

In an Elon University poll earlier this month, about 31 percent of North Carolinians surveyed said the price of gas is the No. 1 transportation issue facing the state today.

The latest increases in gasoline prices are related to the economy’s slowdown, according to AAA Carolinas. Instead of being fueled by demand for gasoline, the recent price jumps are driven by unprecedented levels of investment in crude oil markets as a hedge against the falling dollar and as a safe haven from sliding prices in real estate, said David E. Parsons, AAA Carolinas president.

And as oil refineries retool to switch to cleaner-burning summer-blend gasoline and driving increases in the approaching warmer months, Parsons expects prices to continue to spiral up.

On the road a lot

With little control over global forces that can send prices soaring — from hurricanes to turmoil in the Middle East — people are looking for smaller but concrete ways they can cope.

But it isn’t easy.

Holton, a divorced mother of two, has had trouble cutting her driving. She can easily put 50 to 70 miles a day on her 2007 Subaru Forester, between shuttling her daughter to school, soccer and piano lessons and driving herself to catering jobs at Trinity Baptist Church in the North Hills area and elsewhere. Typically, Holton hauls enough food each week to serve more than 300 people — dinners of meatloaf, spaghetti or chicken pot pie.

“The driving to work — I don’t have a choice,” she said. “Too bad your income doesn’t go up at the same rate.”

About once a month, Holton also drives to New Bern to visit her 86-year-old mother in a nursing home and to cook meals for her 87-year-old father, who lives alone. She’s not about to stop making those 250-mile round trips anytime soon, either.

But Holton has tried to rein in her son’s spending. In August, she gave the 16-year-old a credit card to use only for fueling up his Honda Accord.

When she got the bill in February, it was $128. Holton pulled the credit card and decided instead to give him a cash allowance of about $50.

“If you need more gas, this is a good incentive to get a job,” she told him.

Down to $25 a week

Rebecca Paden, 27, has also started cutting back. Paden moved to Raleigh in July to look for a job with state government.

Read More:News & Observer

ARA) – Regular auto maintenance is imperative to ensure your car is functioning at its best. While oil changes and seasonal preparation are important, one of the most critical parts of your car to maintain is also something that is often overlooked – the tires.

“The truth is that your driving experience is only as good as the tires on your car. And because your tires are the only thing that come between you and the road, it is important to get the right tires so you get the safest driving experience,” says Rick Brennan, executive at Kumho Tire USA.

High performance tires are a great option to help ensure your safety on the road. Most new cars come equipped with performance tires to match today’s more sophisticated handling packages — heavy-duty suspension systems, anti-lock braking systems, increased load-bearing potential and more. High performance tires not only accommodate driving at higher speeds but also perform more safely, especially in the most challenging conditions: slick, rainy roads; tight cornering; and quick stops. So although they cost a bit more, the tradeoff in increased safety is worth the investment.

“Even if you drive a luxury vehicle, performance tires can be beneficial. A high performance tire can deliver 2 percent better braking in a 60-to-zero situation. It appears to be a small number, but that equals about 5 to 6 feet difference, which could be the difference between an accident or not,” comments Brennan.

Why put off shopping for new tires when they are such a crucial part of your safety while driving? Here are the basics to get you started:

Load Index
Your current tire will have a size stamped on the sidewall. It will look something like: 215/55R16 93V. The “93″ is referred to as your load index followed by a single letter (V) identifying the tire’s speed rating. The load index is the indication of weight the tire can carry safely. It is dangerous to have a load index less than the number that is specified. If you have an improper load index, you could have a blowout.

Speed Rating
A common trade off for a higher speed rating is a less comfortable ride. For instance an “S” speed-rated tire will give a more comfortable ride compared to “H” speed-rated tire, but the “H” will function better at higher speeds. The ride comfort characteristics can be attributed to the tire’s overall stiffness. A tire capable of running at high speeds requires a more stiff construction in order to provide the necessary high speed stability and durability. A dealer will not sell you a lower speed rated tire than what is outlined in your vehicle’s manual. It is a liability and not considered safe.

High Performance Tires
In order to maximize tire handling, the high performance tread widths are wider than a typical tire. This allows maximum contact area with the road surface. The tread pattern incorporates larger tread blocks for increased stiffness that performs well on dry and wet surfaces. The stiffer construction helps when traveling at high speeds and enhances your handling abilities. High performance tires are made with different compounds that help them perform better on the road. High performance tires typically have a speed rating of “H” or higher.

One high performance tire perfect for luxury touring or sports sedans is the Kumho ECSTA LX Platinum. The tire features an asymmetrical tread design, three dimensional waffle sipes, a jointless nylon cap ply, and a 60,000-mile limited tread wear warranty. With exceptional mileage, outstanding ride comfort, low noise levels, exceptional snow traction and outstanding dry and wet handling, this tire was made to keep you safe on the road. For more information on tires visit   http://www.EcstaPerformance.com    .

Courtesy of ARAcontent

TORNADO*FLASHFLOODS*WINTERSTORM* HURRICANE*FIRE*HAZARDOUS*

RALEIGH - Is it really necessary to put over 31 garbage cans on one city block in downtown Raleigh? Evidently the state government thinks so.

Visitors to the Bicentennial Mall in downtown Raleigh have recently noticed a slew of new garbage cans lining both sides of the walkway. The one block long walkway connects the NC Museum of History and the NC Natural Science Museum between the NC Legislature Building and the old NC Capitol Building.

Although there didn’t seem to be much of a trash problem before, the state government obviously thought there was enough of a garbage issue to place at least 31 garbage cans on both sides of the street.

The shiny black Rubbermaid plastic cans are only ten feet apart or less in some cases, leaving some visitors to wonder if they went overboard.

“Was someone related to the garbage can vendor?” joked one NC resident who was visiting the NC Natural Science Museum when asked what they thought about the new garbage cans.

“They really stand out and I think they look worse than the garbage,” said another visitor.

“The new garbage cans look like they were picked up at Wal-Mart and it doesn’t really match the rest of the mall,” they added. “At least the old ones blended in a lot better.”

They pointed out an older metal garbage bin that is gray in color moved off to one side.

According to stickers placed on both sides of the cans that almost seem like advertisements, the cans are “Property of the Facility Management Division.”

“Questions? Need A Pick-up? Visit WWW.NCFacilityManagement.net or call Work Control at 919-733-3853,” says the sign on the cans.

Looking down the Bicentennial Mall at the distant horizon, one is impressed by the marble slabs of the NC Legislature Building and the American and North Carolina flags.

Then looking downwards, the long line of black plastic garbage cans with big white stickers that say “TRASH ONLY” seems to serve a reminder that the beautiful Bicentennial Mall that is part of the Main Street of North Carolina doesn’t appear quite as grand as it used to be.

Inquiries through a telephone call and e-mail to the NC Facility Management office about the garbage cans were not immediately returned.

SOURCE:Raleigh Chronicle

RALEIGH - The rapid pace of Raleigh’s growth is forcing officials to rewrite the city’s core planning document for the first time in nearly two decades.Today, the city begins a 15-month public process to update its comprehensive plan, which is Raleigh’s long-term vision for how it should grow.

The comprehensive plan — a document about the size of two phone books — is perhaps the most important city document residents have never heard of. It helps determine where roads, parks and greenways go, as well as how crowded certain areas of the city should become.

“This is the primary tool we’ll use to control the growth,” said Mitchell Silver, Raleigh’s planning director. “How big does Raleigh want to be?”

Raleigh’s population has increased more than 70 percent to about 368,000 since the latest comprehensive plan update in 1989. Over the next two decades, the city could grow by another 70 percent if the 20,000 acres of remaining undeveloped land is built out according to current plans.

How this growth occurs or doesn’t occur will affect everything from the environment and transportation to affordable housing and water resources. Although the comprehensive plan does not supersede existing zoning rules, state statutes require that all rezoning cases take it into consideration.

“It’s a blueprint of where you want to be,” Silver said.

The update will provide the city an opportunity to incorporate more state-of-the-art planning tools. One option is to create economic development zones, or places where the city would consider investing public money to spur development.

Where and when to make such public investments became an issue this year after developer John Kane asked the City Council to provide assistance for his North Hills East project.

Another hot-button issue that the updated plan will have to deal with is infill development. Over the next 20 years, older areas of the city will experience some redevelopment as property owners tear down existing houses and put up larger buildings.

“The biggest issue is how we’ll approach density and infill,” said Brad Mullins, chairman of the Raleigh Planning Commission.

The Planning Department will hold three citywide workshops next month at which residents will be asked to say what they want the updated plan to include. Silver said that those priorities will help guide public funding. For instance, the 1989 plan made greenways a priority and set the stage for the current greenway system.

Read More: News & Observer

Several blocks near downtown Raleigh were closed this morning after construction crews struck a gas line.The line, maintained by PSNC Energy, ruptured on the 100 block of Seawell Avenue.

Officials continue to check nearby homes for gas, said Barry Spain, a Raleigh battalion chief.

Clarice Dunn of 810 E. Jones St. was scratching off lottery tickets when she smelled gas at about 11:30 a.m.

She said she was getting ready to get on the phone when a firefighter knocked at her door, saying “You have to leave.”

She went to her neighbor’s house to get him out, and they waited down the block until the police lines were brought down at around 12:15.

No injuries were reported, Spain said. The streets surrounding the accident have reopened for traffic.

SOURCE: News & Observer

Candidates agree on need to expand

GARNER - The political landscape of this Wake County town is carved through by a section of road that doesn’t yet exist.

The completion of Timber Drive from N.C. 50 in Garner to White Oak Road is a source of hope to local leaders that belies its 1.5-mile length. Not only would it eliminate the circuitous detour local residents have to take to get to Garner’s largest shopping center, White Oak Crossing. They anticipate it will provide an open avenue for Raleigh shoppers to come spend money and possibly open east Garner to the kind of new development locals have long had to leave town to find.

Completing the road is on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s list of planned projects and on the agenda of everybody whose name is on the Nov. 6 ballot in Garner.

“Timber Drive, While We’re Alive,” was the slogan Arthur L. “Buck” Kennedy tossed out Thursday night at a forum for the three incumbents running to keep their seats on Garner’s board of aldermen. Kennedy, who has served four years on the board, is running alongside Phillip D. Matthews, who has two terms behind him, and Jackie Johns Sr., who has put in 24 years. Kenneth R. Marshburn hopes to upset one of the three in the nonpartisan contest.

Garner Mayor Ronald S. “Ronnie” Williams is unopposed and will get a second term.

The candidates largely agree on the challenges Garner’s government must meet — all involve growth. Leaders want to improve local schools, encourage economic development and attract more retail stores and restaurants. Longer-term goals include revitalizing downtown Garner and building a bigger town hall to accommodate burgeoning staff.

“I’ve been around so long I come with the building,” Johns joked at the forum before an audience of just two dozen people.

Johns has been around long enough to remember when Garner was little more than a series of neighborhoods and small businesses connected to two-lane U.S. 70, the highway that took drivers from Raleigh to the beach.

For the foreseeable future, Garner can grow at a rate of about 4 percent a year, the limit set in its contract with the city of Raleigh, which provides drinking water for Garner and treats its sewage. That’s something else the town is working on: developing its own reliable water source.

Until then, it is limited in the kinds of industry it can recruit; big water users are out of the question. So town leaders were thrilled recently to announce that Butterball, the big turkey processor, planned to move the most environmentally friendly part of its business — the executive headquarters — from Mount Olive to Garner. The move will bring 70 jobs to town.

Brock Cabinets also has announced it will move to Garner.

While it still sells itself to industry on its proximity to interstates, RDU and the big-city amenities available 20 minutes away in Raleigh, Garner seems to want to remake itself so that residents have fewer reasons to wander beyond its borders.

Marshburn, the challenger in the aldermen’s race, is proud to have worked with Garner’s parks and recreation department on planning White Deer Nature Park, expected to open in a couple of years across from Lake Benson Park.

Marshburn, a retired federal probation officer, said he welcomes growth as long as it doesn’t happen too fast.

“What we don’t want in Garner is a growth rate that far exceeds our ability to manage it well,” he said.

Matthews, retired from the military, touts his work to help develop local ordinances requiring owners to maintain their properties, which he says have protected property values for all Garner residents.

Kennedy, a civil engineer, is most proud of helping the board to locate and hire a new town manager, whose professional skills he says are needed for a town with Garner’s aspirations.

Read More:News & Observer

POPULATION: About 25,000

HISTORY: Settled about 1800, incorporated as Garner Station, a railway stop, in 1883, but the charter was repealed in 1891. Reincorporated in 1905 as the Town of Garner.

Stories vary as to how Garner got its name. One is that Thomas Bingham, its first postmaster who sorted mail in his general mercantile, took the name from the noun form of the word “garner,” meaning granary, or store. Or it may have come from the name of a family that lived in the area and later moved to Texas. Or possibly from an early settler named H.C. Garner, whose history is a bit vague, if he existed at all.

MAJOR ISSUE: Growth. Garner has added 7,000 residents in the past 10 years. Growth is limited to 4 percent a year because of limits on the amount of water and sewage treatment capacity Garner can purchase from Raleigh.

SOURCE: News & Observer

Candidates face a balancing act

FUQUAY-VARINA - Small Town. Big Plans.

That’s the slogan for South Lakes, a 1,000-home subdivision being built with plans for offices, shops, school, day care and church.

And it fits Fuquay-Varina, the town that South Lakes residents will call home one day.

What might be the biggest challenge ahead for the men who win seats on the town’s Board of Commissioners is balancing its fast growth with its small-town vibe.

“They say Fuquay is the next Cary. I hope not,” said Donna Friery, who owns two consignment shops on Broad Street. “In one sense, I hope so. And in one sense, I hope not.”

Fuquay-Varina is growing about 5.6 percent a year, almost twice Wake County’s growth rate.

At the same time, officials have cultivated Fuquay-Varina’s small-town image with revitalized downtown strips along Main and Broad streets.

The nature of the community is revealed in other ways.

Melvin’s, a hamburger place on Main, stays open late after Friday-night high school football games so the home team, cheerleaders and their friends can watch the highlights on television. A small Hudson Belk department store remains open. So does a local supermarket.

Booming growth can bring problems — crowded roads and demands on infrastructure. Yet, while downtown business owners needled Mayor John Byrne one day about speeding cars downtown or congested roads on the fringe, the growth hasn’t translated into any massive call for political change.

Byrne is heading into his fourth two-year term — he’s running unopposed.

Three candidates — incumbent Jeff Wells and opponents Charlie Adcock and Jimmy Johnson — are on the ballot for three seats on the Board of Commissioners, although Jim Abernethy is mounting a serious write-in campaign.

Incumbent Bob Barker is not seeking re-election. Another incumbent, James Campbell, filed for re-election but died in August. His name will not appear on the ballot.

In May, voters overwhelmingly approved $19 million in bonds to pay for the extension of Judd Parkway, which will serve as a mini-Beltline around town; water and sewer extensions to fuel growth primarily in the southeast and northwest; parks; and more work downtown.

“That’s a vote of confidence to your town board, town staff that you’re trying to do things about things that your community thinks is important,” Byrne said of the bond vote.

The candidates for commissioner are running for different reasons but don’t offer significantly different views. Like Byrne, they say growth is inevitable. The best way to handle it is to plan for it. Nobody proposes slowing it down.

Wells, who has served six years years as a commissioner, said he’d like to see the bond projects, especially Judd Parkway, completed. He wants the town to get the “biggest bang we can out of these dollars.”

Wells also is looking forward to working with the newly established economic development commission, a public-private partnership that aims to steer more business to town. “It’s amazing the growth that we’re having and the growth that we’re expecting,” he said. “It can be good for us … providing opportunity for our people to have work close by.”

Adcock, chairman of the town’s planning and zoning board, said Fuquay-Varina needs to be diligent about planning to handle the pressures of new development, and must do a better job luring businesses, he said. People have more of a stake in their town when they live and work there, he said.

“We’re becoming more of a bedroom community,” said Adcock, noting that new businesses help the town’s tax base and identity.

Johnson spent his career in municipal government, retiring as Raleigh’s assistant director for solid-waste services in 2005. He lost a seat on the town board two years ago by a couple of dozen votes.

The numbers might not make Fuquay-Varina a small town for much longer, but little things, like making sure a person answers the phone at town hall, can help keep that small-town feel, he said.

Read More: News & Observer

Raleigh, N.C. — The Oaks at Fallon Park, the only ENERGY STAR qualified new home neighborhood inside the beltline, celebrated the grand opening of its onsite sales center on Saturday, September 29.

About The Oaks at Fallon Park
The Oaks at Fallon Park, developed by Grubb Ventures, a leading infill development company in the Triangle, will feature 3,000-3,800 square foot ENERGY STARÒ qualified custom built homes starting in the $700s. A few of the unique features these homes will offer include alley fed rear-load garages, gourmet kitchens with high-end appliances, pre-wire for sound and security systems, and private terraces. The Oaks at Fallon Park will also currently be the only neighborhood inside the beltline with a pool and clubhouse,

Read More:CarolinaNewsWire

Raleigh will close some downtown streets starting tonight for the third annual Ray Price Capital City Bike Fest. More than 100,000 people are expected for the “motorcycle lifestyle” event, which runs Friday and Saturday and features live music, food, gear manufacturers and custom bike builders.WHEN: The bike fest runs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. It’s billed as a family-friendly event with a children’s fun zone where parents can drop off their children.

TRAFFIC: Besides the street closings (see map), congestion is expected from as many as 500 motorcycles that are expected to leave the Ray Price Harley-Davidson dealership on South Saunders Street at 5:53 p.m. Friday and drive to Fayetteville Street, continue along Martin Street and end at Moore Square in an official, police-escorted kick-off parade.

Also, a police-escorted charity ride will leave the dealership about 1 p.m. Friday and travel to the N.C. Army National Guard Aviation Flight Facility and Armory near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville. Riders will return to the dealership at 3:30 p.m.

INFORMATION: www.rayprice.com.

STREET CLOSINGS

SOURCE: News & Observer