It’s been nearly a week since the Triangle Business Journal reported that The Mint, a taxpayer subsidized eatery in downtown Raleigh, will close.  And we are still waiting for the two largest media outlets in the area – WRAL and the News & Observer – to say something about it.  Feels like a media blackout to me.

This is no ordinary restaurant failure.  It was one of the centerpieces of former Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker’s effort to “revitalize” Fayetteville Street.  Meeker and his allies in Raleigh city government gave The Mint every possible advantage – from a $1 million subsidy to reductions in rent.