Putting cell phones on hold
Cell phone users at Thomasville High School will get the silent treatment next semester. The school's revised policy allows cell phones on campus but prohibits their use during class or lunch.
First-time violators will have phones confiscated, and they won't be returned until a parent calls or comes to school. Second violations lead to a 10-day confiscation. Three-time losers won't get phones back until the end of the semester.
That's an improvement over last year's guidelines, which placed students in in-school suspension after a third violation. The goal should be ending the gabfest, not interfering with the learning process.
After school, the yakking can commence.
Setting the table for growth
A homegrown company is expanding its operations here. In a big way.
Replacements Ltd., which specializes in crystal, china, silver and collectibles, is planning to triple the square footage of its headquarters off Interstate 40/85.
The expanded headquarters will add more than 500,000 square feet at a cost of about $15 million.
The expansion won't bring new jobs but it does plant the company's local roots a lot deeper.
Replacements Ltd. is often overlooked as a local economic engine, but it is a major success story in niche marketing, with a well-earned national profile.
And it's ours.
The lottery's foul ball
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some scratch-offs and Powerball,
I don't care if I do lose it all ...
Baseball and gambling didn't work out well for Pete Rose, but the N.C. Education Lottery apparently can't resist a park full of potential players. It's using minor-league baseball venues, including Greensboro's NewBridge Bank Park, to pitch its promises of easy riches. Where better to find fans with dreams of hitting a home run, but more likely to strike out?
This is just more evidence that the lottery has failed to perform as promised and will employ more aggressive promotional ploys to sell tickets.
Advice to patrons: Buy a bag of peanuts instead, and enjoy the game on the field.
Chickens come home to roost
The Greensboro City Council will talk about the birds and the bees at its meeting Tuesday. It will consider making it easier for people who live on small lots to raise bees and poultry.
The issue came up a few months ago after the crowing of a Lindley Park couple's rooster caused a neighbor to complain to the city. The couple then discovered that, under city law, their lot size was too small to keep poultry, so they worked with city planning staff to revise the ordinance.
The proposed ordinance does try to accommodate the concerns of neighbors: It bans male chickens older than six months and also requires that poultry be kept in some type of fenced enclosure. However, it would reduce the setback from 50 feet to 25 feet on lots between 7,000 and 12,000 square feet for coops and other enclosures. (Enclosures still would have to be located at least 50 feet from an adjoining property owner's home.) It also would put tougher restrictions on the number of colonies and chicks for smaller lots.
It's going to be an uphill battle. The planning board rejected loosening the ordinance, saying doing so could cause runoff problems and also pose a health hazard.
Backyard poultry enthusiasts (and we hear there are quite a few in Greensboro) may want to make it to the meeting Tuesday to give their side of the story. A mention of how easily Raleigh seems to accommodate backyard birds - and how it is a drawing card to that city - might be in order. We've seen some people considering a move to North Carolina ask on the Internet which of our state's cities are the most friendly to backyard birds.
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