It's a quiet week in local news given the holidays (the Fishwrap will resume next week, when there's more than filler to report on), but an oddly busy one in restaurant news.

First up, on the opening side: Revolution downtown began its soft opening in recent days, and is open for dinner nightly this week. They're accepting reservations starting next week; we'd suggest calling ahead for hours of operation before heading down.

Revolution -- the brainchild of Jim Anile, formerly the executive chef at Il Palio in Chapel Hill -- has opened on the first floor of the Greenfire-owned former Baldwin department store that now houses the Baldwin Lofts on its upper floors. First announced last summer, the project has apparently run into some of the, er, charms of dealing with older buildings and downtown infrastructure on its way to its debut.

On the closure side: Symposium Cafe at American Tobacco threw in the metaphorical towel this week, with the Herald-Sun reporting that the restaurant closed just before Christmas. The 'Pose has looked to be in tough straits for some time, and rumors had surfaced of the restaurant's likely closure in the days leading up to the event. 

We've talked here before about N.C.'s broken road funding mechanisms, particularly in light of the sudden appearance of urban loop funding for the bypass around everyone's favorite second-tier city, Fayetteville -- even as the East End Connector here in the Bull City awaits its own funding.

Now comes word that the head of Char-Meck's MPO -- the planning agency that helps guide transportation planning across governmental boundaries within a metro area -- has asked the Federal government to put the kibosh on more dollars for N.C. roads pending an investigation:

Read more over at WRAL -- and, hey, kudos for the TV guys for scooping the N&O on this one.

In this week's edition of "Shooting the Bull," Alan DeLisle from Durham's Office of Economic and Workforce Development joins Kevin and Barry to look back on six years of work in the Bull City as he prepares to depart for Louisville, Kentucky. Plus, bad news for potholes and worse news for the state's probation system.

Thanks as always to the folks at WXDU for the opportunity to host this weekly show. Incidentally, we'll be live at our usual time on Christmas Day, wrapping up the year that was and looking forward to aught-nine.

If you missed the Thursday night broadcast, you can download or listen to the show from the Internet Archive, or listen to it via this embedded player. You can also subscribe to the show in iTunes, via WXDU's hosted podcast.

The H-S reported recently on the infrastructure project wish-list that the City government has put forth for a likely forthcoming Federal economic stimulus plan, while the N&O's Jim Wise noted yesterday the presence of a number of county proposals.

We've had a chance to peruse the city's list, helpfully posted to Swivel by Andrew Dunn, a UNC student and editor of the Daily Tar Heel (who posts terrific and interesting mashups and analysis over at his web site.)

In summary, the project list includes:

• $103 million for a county building project, which we at BCR assume to be the new downtown courthouse;
• $32 million for urban neighborhood infrastructure investment and transit-oriented development;
• $32 million for transit projects, as we discussed here recently;
• $25 million for sidewalks, street paving and culverts;
• $20 million for school construction;
• $18 million for parks and recreation facilities;
• $17.5 million for water and water quality;
• $11 million for court and jail projects;
• $5.5 million for trails, greenways and pedestrian bridges;
• $3 million for city facilities;
• $2.5 million for the Parrish St. "Museum without Walls."

It works out to just under $270 million, or just over $1,000 in capital investment per resident of Durham Co.

One of the intriguing questions about these projects is the extent to which these represent new spending investment versus merely a shift in funding sources for existing efforts. The county courthouse stands at the top of that question-mark list; the County had intended to float municipal bonds for the project but the availability of those funds has been in doubt given the challenging credit markets. (A decision on final financing and go-forward for the facility was also delayed pending the seating of the new Board of County Commissioners.)

We here at BCR are glad to be back on a diurnal schedule after a nocturnal Monday, and we're back with two days of Fishwrap for your reading pleasure. It's thick, like the newspaper on Thanksgiving, but with less glossy coupons to slip out of your fingers and into your cereal bowl.

• City Manager Tom Bonfield is quoted in yesterday's Herald-Sun about the need for a "defensive budget" for FY2010 -- with a projected up-to-$40 million deficit due to hiring, pay equity/adjustment and rising benefits costs (up to $26m) and rising debt and operating expenses ($6-14m). (H-S)
• Scarborough & Hargett, the African-American funeral home and community institution, is on the move again thanks to the forthcoming downtown courthouse, with the H-S noting that it's 24,000 sq. ft. facility will include a banquet and meeting facility capable of hosting up to 1,000 people. (H-S)
• City Councilman Howard Clement's outreach for dialogue between the owners of South Durham's new Adam & Eve store and some local residents angry at the store's arrival at Fayetteville & NC 54 has fallen short, with the store's owner declining to a meeting. (Thinking, perhaps, why bother? The store's already approved and City officials don't have a leg to stand on regarding its right to operate, according to published reports.) (H-S)
• Italian agrochemical firm Sipcam Agro is moving its US headquarters from Georgia to Durham adding up to 30, mostly local hires, by the end of '09. (N&O)
• The Bull City's Hampton Dellinger lost his bid to become Lt. Gov. in the Democratic primary, but is now angling for one of the three US prosecutor slots in the state. (N&O)
• NCCU has a temporary solution to its parking woes, a plan to lease 350 parking spaces from local churches and work with DATA to provide bus service between campus and the off-site lots. (H-S)

Speaking of store openings, the new Harris Teeter under construction in North Durham across from the Matthews, N.C.-based grocer's old Willowdaile location has been coming along nicely in recent weeks. Driving by on Sunday, we noted that not only has construction wrapped up, but the store's interior is filled with shopping carts and with empty shelves and refrigerated cases.

Which means that a grand opening can't be too far away -- and indeed, Wednesday, January 7 is the date for the H-Teet's grand opening, with a ribbon cutting set for 8:00 a.m., according to company representatives.

According to Harris Teeter spokesperson Catherine Reuhl:

The store replaces a much-smaller footprint Harris Teeter in the Willowdaile strip center. That store closes on January 6 to make way for the new outlet; all staff in the existing store have been offered positions at the new store or another Durham area HT, Reuhl notes.

This marks the chain's second opening in the Bull City this year, after the NC 54/NC 751 store opened back in the summer.

Apparently in 2008, the holiday season is also the season for store openings, with two such items to report.

First, a BCR reader reports that Dunkin' Donuts has in fact opened at the new Harris Teeter-helmed shopping center at NC 54 and NC 751, providing the Bull City's second outlet for the coffee and baked goods chain. Debates over local versus national coffee aside, it gives a second option for those somehow hooked on the Massachusetts-based chain's java. (Liquid crack, we tell ya....)

Second, an opening that is strictly local: salad-maker Green Tango today opened their second Durham outlet in the Pavilion at Lakeview shopping center just off Duke's West Campus. As we noted here a few weeks ago, Green Tango's tenure at Northgate Mall ended with their lease this fall, making the Lakeview location the salad shop's second (Shannon Rd. being the first.) Online/text-message ordering aren't available yet for the second shop, though look for those to be added shortly.

One of the downsides of working in IT? The occasional all-night data center maintenance blues. Haven't yet stumbled out of the bowels of a building nestled deeply on my employer's campus; more updates, including the Fishwrap and this week's episode of Shooting the Bull, later today after some zzzzzs's.

The opinion page in Sunday's Herald-Sun offered a useful point-counterpoint on the billboards ordinance debate, which as we've discussed here would allow relocation and beyond-repair upgrades to existing structures will allowing a chunk of the signage to convert to digital billboards.

On the "for" side stands Paul Hickman of Fairway Outdoor Advertising:

The Fairway proposal will permit the relocation of billboards only in non-residential areas along specific parts of U.S. 70, I-85, 15-501 and the Durham Freeway where billboards currently are located.

On the opposition side, arguments from John Schelp and Larry Holt:

See the arguments on both sides in the H-S -- it's worth a read.

This July, even as the N&O and Herald-Sun were announcing their latest rounds of layoffs in the wake of a tough print ad climate, we wondered whether changes at the Indy -- the departure of Mosi Secret, and a beyond-the-Triangle focus -- portended cutbacks at that paper, too.

At the time, Indy editor Lisa Sorg noted, the paper was expanding--

Sorg dismissed any speculation that the publication's newsroom was suffering in any way from the national print advertising malaise, saying the Indy was doing "remarkably well" in the business and advertising category, with web site advertising "well above" where it was last year.

The editor noted that despite Secret's departure -- to Pro Publica, an independent non-profit news organization focused on investigative journalism -- the Indy would not only be refilling his newsroom seat but expanding to a fourth full-time writer, with Vernal Coleman joining the publication later this year from Virginia's Port Folio Weekly.

Which made it the more difficult to read Sorg's column in this week Indy, announcing the layoff of two staff members, who've turned out to include editorial newcomer Coleman as well as promotional coordinator Marny Rhodes.