Latest news with #JanetCowell
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell's cat woke her up at 3 a.m. Then, she called 911.
Leo, her orange tabby cat, woke Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell up a little after 3 a.m. Before she returned to bed, she heard a noise outside her Boylan Heights home. 'I looked out the window and saw a large pickup truck idling in front of my house,' Cowell wrote in a recent campaign newsletter. 'Its headlights were on. A man in the truck was having a conversation on speaker phone. I realized this is probably why the cat stirred. 'I observed and listened but could not make out the conversation. I turned on floodlights, which had no impact. I kept watching.' This was on June 16, just days after a man shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, killing two people, and had a reported 'hit list' of 45 officials. It was also before a man was charged with the attempted kidnapping of the Memphis mayor from his home. This week, a man was charged with threatening to kill 41 North Carolina lawmakers over a shrimping bill. 'If he was going to commit a crime, would he keep his headlights on and talk via speaker phone?' Cowell continued in her newsletter. 'That said, he has been out there for about 10 minutes, and it is 3 a.m. I called 911. I told them the situation, that I'm the mayor and — given everything going on — could someone drive by and check out the situation. ' Before a police officer could arrive, the truck left and Cowell called police back letting them know. An officer would still ride through the neighborhood. 'It all hit home,' Cowell said Wednesday in a brief phone interview with The News & Observer. 'And, so then, two nights later [after the Minnesota shootings] to have a car in front of your house at the same time of the night was just disturbing.' Conflicted about calling the police, Cowell told The N&O that the police have repeatedly said to call 911 if something doesn't feel right. 'I've never called 911 before, so it's not something I would do lightly,' she said. 'But I just thought if you have any question at all, why not just call? This is not a high-risk situation, right? Somebody is going to pick up. Hopefully someone can drive by.' City leaders have talked 'behind the scenes' about safety and making sure protocols are followed at the downtown municipal building, she said. 'We will be getting home alarm systems for any city councilors that don't currently have them and would like them,' Cowell said. 'It's a pretty low-cost way to get a two-way voice activated system for folks that are out in the public and making decisions that sometimes cause ire among your constituents.' Cowell wanted to share her story to empathize with the fear and anxiety many are feeling. 'With the rise of charged rhetoric, deportations, changes/uncertainty in federal policies, and tensions emanating from Middle East conflicts in particular, people are on edge.,' she wrote. 'Take time to take care of yourself, care for your neighbors and be patient and kind in your interactions with others,' she continued. 'Know that I and the city council, city manager and police chief understand heightened tensions and want everyone in Raleigh to feel and stay safe.' She acknowledged different groups 'feel acutely vulnerable right now' referencing conflicts in the Middle East and increased federal deportations. '[B]oth Jewish and Muslim residents feel at risk,' she wrote. 'RPD works directly with houses of worship and faith leaders where there are credible or direct threats, as in the case of recent bomb threats to Raleigh synagogues.' And it's Hispanic community members who are 'most directly impacted' by changes to visas, residency and deportations. Raleigh police will always follow the law, she said, but have 'no direct jurisdiction' over immigration enforcement. 'I've reached out in recent months to various Raleigh communities who might feel vulnerable,' Cowell said. 'While I can't remove existential threats, I and other city councilors can at least listen, establish relationships, and connect residents with city services and staff where appropriate.'
Axios
17-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
To speed up Capital Blvd. expansion, the Triangle could add tolls
The Raleigh City Council appears ready to support using toll lanes to speed up the expansion of Capital Boulevard into a six-lane highway between Raleigh and Wake Forest. Why it matters: The section of Capital Boulevard, also known as U.S. 1, is among the region's most congested roadways, with an increasing number of commuters from fast-growing Wake Forest and Franklin County using it to get to and from Raleigh for work and shopping. But the long-planned widening of the roadway has been stalled several times, and it faces further delays due to competition from other projects and rising costs, according to the state Department of Transportation. Driving the news: The ultimate decision will be in the hands of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) — the regional planning organization for Chatham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston and Wake counties — which plans to vote on the matter in May. The Raleigh City Council, which was given a presentation this week on the potential of toll roads, indicated it would write a letter in support of the move. "The sense is, pragmatically, that this project will never get built unless there is some sort of toll," Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said at Raleigh's Tuesday council meeting, "and if there is a toll it would be best to do the whole road and not just express lanes." Zoom in: The N.C. Turnpike Authority has studied a 10-mile section of Capital Boulevard, stretching from Interstate 540 to Purnell Road at the Wake-Franklin county line. Currently, the project is not expected to begin until 2031 — though that timeline could be delayed. If it's transformed into a toll road, construction could begin as early as 2027. It is anticipated to be a six-year construction project, and only local governments can request a toll road. The N.C. Turnpike Authority has presented four options to CAMPO: Toll the entire 10-mile section, which would raise around $800 million and begin construction in spring 2027. Toll the entire section but add it to the Triangle Expressway system, raising $1.4 billion and beginning construction in spring 2027. Toll one express lane, which would raise $100 million and begin construction in fall 2030. Toll one express lane but add it to the Triangle Expressway system, raising $600 million and beginning construction in fall 2027. Options 1, 2 and 4 would require some legislative action from the N.C. General Assembly. What they're saying: Raleigh City Council Member Megan Patton said many residents in north Raleigh are worried they will lose crossing access to Capital Boulevard and be forced to use the toll road. She said many of her constituents would prefer that this project not happen at all. "I think everyone would probably agree, if we can get something not tolled, we would take it," Chris Lukasina, executive director of CAMPO, responded. "The real issue came in that this is the fifth delay [for this project already]. .... Do we want to wait two more years for what is likely another delay to the project?"
Axios
27-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell laid out priorities for the next 2 years
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell says building more housing and hiring additional police officers and firefighters top her priority list for her first term. State of play: Cowell, a veteran of both local and state politics, said in her first state of the city address Wednesday that growth is the "defining issue in our city." Driving the news: Cowell has been in office for a little more than 100 days, a period marked by several key decisions like taking initial steps to moving Red Hat Amphitheater and launching a pilot program to address homelessness. She's also used the time to build relationships with City Council members and staff, and to lead strategy workshops for the rest of her term. Zoom in: Cowell laid out four areas that she will prioritize: housing, public safety, transportation and quality of life. Housing continues to be a paramount issue, with Cowell saying there is a 37,000-unit housing shortage in the city today. "One of the things we all agreed on at our workshop is that we need mixed-income, mixed-use housing ... so that we can continue to make progress to house people in the city," she said. In her first 100 days, the council has approved a potential 3,000 new units across 13 projects — five of which had elements of affordable housing, she said. "We are definitely working on trying to increase the housing supply." Public safety: Cowell is hopeful that after the next police academy class graduates this summer, the Raleigh Police Department will have no remaining vacancies. But she said over the next two years she wants to increase pay for public safety workers in the city to increase retention and grow the number of police officers and firefighters to keep up with the population growth — something outgoing Police Chief Estella Patterson has called for. Transportation: Despite some uncertainty in Washington over federal dollars, Raleigh will continue to prioritize its transit projects, like the Bus Rapid Transit project and S-Line rail expansion, Cowell said. "We are going to be lobbying the federal government to try and keep our money," she said. "I am working with the other mayors of Wake County to write letters to the whole delegation. In fact, the mayor of Holly Springs is up in D.C. right now delivering those letters." Raleigh is still trying to re-work its bidding process on the New Bern Avenue section of the Bus Rapid Transit line after failing to receive a suitable construction bid. Quality of life: Cowell, the former CEO of the Dix Park Conservancy, said she is committed to increasing the number of parks and green spaces that make the city more resilient to extreme weather.
