RALEIGH — The Raleigh Times is usually pretty quiet on Sunday nights. But on this Sunday, the downtown bar was silent, except for the sound of two televisions.

A bartender, 20 patrons and a manager were transfixed as President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed.

Andrea Ventura and her dog Basil were at the door. The bartender, Jay Winfrey, motioned for them to come in.

"Maybe now we can stop focusing on the bad things of the past and begin focusing on the future," Ventura said.

When Obama finished his speech, applause broke out, and patrons went quietly back to their beverages. The music stayed off.

"It's been a quarter of my life that this guy had been at large," Winfrey said. "I was 30 when 9/11 happened, and I'm 40 now. That is a long time for someone like that to be on the loose."