This week: A preview

ABSENTEE BALLOTS GET ON THEIR WAY

Election Day is seven weeks away, but the machinery gets rolling today as election boards across North Carolina begin sending out absentee ballots. The non-absent who want to vote early will get their chance starting Oct. 16. For more on early voting, see Page 3B.

VOTES COMING UP ON RALEIGH PROPOSALS

Two historic areas in Raleigh are the subjects of votes this week.

Today, residents of the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood across from Fletcher Park near downtown will be watching how Wake County commissioners vote on the George's Mews apartment proposal. Many residents oppose an effort to convert the 26-unit complex into low-income housing, including eight units for people with physical and mental disabilities. The $2.14 million project is to be funded by the city, Wake County and state agencies.

On Tuesday, the Raleigh City Council will consider the Wake schools' plan to make a parking lot out of the front lawn of 79-year-old Broughton High School. This is an appeal of the Planning Commission's 6-3 rejection of the school's plan last week.

SAFETY CENTER TO BEAR BAKER'S NAME

Wake County officials will memorialize former longtime Sheriff John H. Baker Jr. today when they officially rename the Wake Public Safety Center he was instrumental in getting built downtown. The hulking former NFL defensive lineman served as sheriff for 24 years until 2002, one of the longest-serving sheriffs in Wake County history and the first elected black sheriff in North Carolina since Reconstruction. Baker was 72 when he died in his sleep in November. See story on Page 4B.

ECU VS. N.C. STATE

The first test of resistance Saturday won't be how N.C. State holds visiting ECU. It will be how well Wolfpack fans hold their tickets. If they let them go, Carter-Finley Stadium may be a purple palace by the noon kickoff. ESPN will carry the game.

THIS WEEK IN THE ARTS

HOT TICKETS: On Thursday, the Chapel Hill band Ben Folds Five plays together for the first time since disbanding in 2000. The show is at UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall.

In Chapel Hill, the Ackland Art Museum showcases art that emerged in prosperous, post-World War II America with the Sunday opening of Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art. The exhibit runs through Jan. 4.

On Friday and Saturday, there will be a benefit concert at Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Performers include veterans of Cream, Traffic, Styx and Grand Funk Railroad.

ARTY WEEKEND: The CenterFest arts festival celebrates its 35th year in downtown Durham on Saturday and Sunday. More than 110 juried visual artists will showcase their work, and more than 30 performing arts groups will fill three stages.

AT THE WATER COOLER

Too bad Gustav used the G in this year's tropical storm names. Next year, use it for Hurricane Gouge.