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Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times writes that green reforms can translate to a stronger economy.

He cites a city report that shows a big reason for the change is increasing use of public transport, particularly light rail. That takes lots of public money. And will take a cultural sea change. People with cars overwhelmingly choose not to ride the bus in these parts.

If not for immigrants, the birth rate in Guilford County would be slipping, according to a new report.

Almost 40 percent of new babies' moms in 2002 were not in the county legally, it estimates. The majority of those are Latino.

Just 25 years ago, there were zero births from Hispanic mothers in the state. Now 67 percent of immigrant births are from Latino mothers.

What will be the economic impact of the changes?

Read the Center for Immigration Studies report to check out information on the rest of the United States and check the paper tomorrow.

I was wondering just how many ticket brokers I could find who are listing tickets for sale for concerts in North Carolina at greater than the $3.00 markup allowed by state law, and I figured you'd like to know what I found. It's quite interesting.

Internet ticket sales is big business for big shows in North Carolina.

I did Google searches for the Rolling Stones and U2 concerts in Charlotte this fall, and another for the Bruce Springsteen show in Greensboro coming up later this month. You can see my search for Springsteen tickets here, the Rolling Stones here and U2 here.

Opening only the first 10 brokers in each search that offered tickets, I found some amazingly high prices for those shows, especially the Stones and U2.

I also counted 21 separate Web brokers listed among the total of 30 links that I clicked.

The first surprise is that brokers are already selling tickets to Springsteen in Greensboro even though the show is not even sold out yet.

Second, that prices for the best seats at The Rolling Stones and U2 are off the charts. Around $1,000 for U2 seats and close to $2,000 for the Stones.

What's not so clear is who is going to enforce the state law, which clearly bars the selling of tickets to events in North Carolina that are priced more than $3.00 above face value.

The NC Attorney General's Office is already having conversations with representatives of Encore Tickets. They are among the companies that entered into a consent agreement in 2002 over charges that they were scalping tickets to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Raleigh. They agreed to abide by NC law, according to that agreement. But they're now among the companies selling Rolling Stones and U2 tickets at big markups over face value.

If you're dying to go to these shows, and you have the money, more power to you. If you want to find out what happens next, stay tuned here and to our print edition.

The economic development group picked the same people to head its board in 2005-6 as last year. Watts Carr, a retired textile executive, is chairman. Lyons Gray, a former member of the N.C. House of Representatives is vice-chairman. Judy Mendenhall, president of the International Home Furnishings Market Authority, is secretary.

For more info go to the PTP web site.

If you talk to Joel Leonard of MPACT Learning Center, you'll understand why he calls himself a maintenance evangelist. The man has a one track maintenance mind. I've bumped into him at ball games, in bars, on the street. The shortage of maintenance workers is the only thing he talks about. You'd think the ceiling was going to cave in and the floor collapse in every building given his statistics.

Now you have a chance to hear for yourself that maintenance does not mean janitor. It means good money -- sometimes more than $50K per year. MPACT is hosting a public workshop on July 20 from 5-7 p.m.

If you want a job, bring a resume AND email one to joel@mpactlearning.com.

Companies interested in hiring maintenance workers should call Leonard at 379-1444.

Looks like we all waste more time at work than our bosses think.

Thanks to Joel Leonard for passing on the info.

That is what local boosters would like everyone to think. Chamber heads, entrepreneurs and politicians wrote a hagiography last night of the industry at the first Bio Night dinner.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue gave a speech designed to boost the region's self-esteem...our universities are "unparalleled"...Piedmont Triad research Park is, you got it..."unparalleled."

And then Gayle Anderson, president of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, capped off the evening by gloating that we have 500 more biotech jobs than Charlotte. 500! Who cares if they have thousands more high paying financial services jobs.

Financing for biotech companies exists now. It didn't five years ago.
And the region does have some stars, like testing company Lab Corp.

But let's get real.

My beach reading this month drew me toward a Tom Clancy novel, The Bear and the Dragon, one of those impossibly sweeping books that cuts between the president, a spy, a Russian cop and some Chinese honchos.

Thinking this would be another potboiler with only the slightest connection to reality, I settled in. But to my surprise, this five-year-old book had plenty to say about some of the trade issues that affect us here in the Piedmont Triad. Sort of.

It imagines a diabolical mission behind China's growing influence on international trade. And it depicts those Chinese honchos scheming over trade policy.

It seems that under this scenario, China is determined to make excellent products and sell them cheaply to the United States and other nations to build up its coffers with strong dollars. And essentially, that's what they're doing in reality.

But according to the dialog in the book, the honchos plan to use the riches drawn from international trade to build up an army and thousands of tanks. The goal? Only world domination.

So the next time you read about problems with Chinese furniture or apparel imports, keep in mind that some with big imaginations see a bleaker purpose behind those shipments.

Say hello to "Greensbooming."

The Gate City may still rank last on Forbes magazine list of best cities for singles...but numbers don't tell the full story says reporter Lacey Rose. The intrepid reporter braved the elements at Heaven on Elm Street, sipped joe at the Green Bean and took in a baseball game at the new Hoppers stadium.

Verdict: it's now a "regional hub for singles nightlife" thanks to "the host of new venues in which to bump, grind, drink and flirt."

Get the whole down and dirty.

Downtown Greensboro has a revamped Internet site up that provides a clean looking update of all the things going on around downtown. The site has easy navigation of events, current businesses and, even better, businesses soon to open.

And if you want to know where some of these places are but are awful at reading maps, check out the interactive map.