News-Record.com

"I'm not much into legacies," Mike Easley says in Mark Binker's report today. "I don't want to be the lottery governor."

Ha!

They might name North Carolina's numbers game Easley Money.

Hey, maybe that's better than what Republicans call the governor: Tax-Hike Mike.

Hooray for Houston. Opening the Astrodome to New Orleans' Superdome refugees is a class act.

Texas also is welcoming children from the evacuated areas into their public schools.

Will private schools do the same?

Should Greensboro offer the Coliseum as a shelter?

Maybe we're too far away, but millions of people have been displaced. They should be spread out over much of the country so that the burden of providing for them can be shared more equitably.

Oh, yeah: Where or if the Saints play football this season should be the last of anyone's concerns.

Please, don't send me any more of those email petitions to the White House demanding that President Bush cut the price of gasoline.

The president doesn't set the price of gasoline, and except for releasing some crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he doesn't have much influence over supply.

Besides, we've just had a natural disaster of almost incomprehensible dimensions. It has severely disrupted production and distribution of oil/gasoline and natural gas.

More importantly, it's taken a devastating toll in human terms.

Yes, I just paid $3.35 per gallon for gas this morning. Next week, I may ride the PART bus a couple of days. This is a hardship for all of us, and it will crimp our economy.

But I still paid a lot more for gas in Canada back in July ($1.10 Canadian per liter, or somewhere around $4 a gallon U.S.), and the Canadians seem to handle it OK. Our prices probably won't get that high and may very well recede within a few weeks.

In the meantime, we do have a supply problem. High prices actually will help that, particularly if they encourage foreign refiners to sell us gasoline. Slapping on price controls would be the worst response, guaranteed to exacerbate shortages.

But let's try not to burn what we have wastefully. Maybe you DON'T have to go to the beach or mountains this weekend.

And kill that stupid petition that's going around.

Refugees keep pouring out of evacuation areas to whatever shelters they can find.

Here's an article from Jackson, Miss.

Some 100 Red Cross shelters in the Jackson area are nearing their capacity. Officials wonder how long they can continue to take more people.

This exodus of people can't be contained in the Gulf region. North Carolina communities are going to have to step up and do their part -- not just by sending help down there, but by accepting people up here.

And once they get here, many might never go back.

I mean, to what?

Update, 5:45 p.m.:

The N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety tells me this afternoon that flights of medical evacuees will come in to Charlotte and Raleigh airports, probably about 100 people each. Don't know when.

Beyond that, initial inquiries have been made through the National Governors Association, but probably originating with FEMA, about the chance that North Carolina can accept as-yet-unknown numbers of other refugees. The state is willing to do whatever it can -- although keeping in mind that hurricane season isn't over and we have to keep an eye on our own coast.

Local authorities are being consulted.

"We have expectations that we will be asked with our resources to house some people in Greensboro." Mayor Keith Holliday told me minutes ago.

Local governments and private organizations "will open our hearts, minds and resources in any way possible," he added.

There are no specific requests at this point. But it sounds as if people who need a lot of help, and will need it for a long time,
definitely are coming. Let's get ready to welcome them.

1. Stop the hurricane.

Failing that ...

I'm no fan of ACC expansion, and the jump in gas prices just adds fuel to my ire.

How much sense does it make for North Carolina to take a road trip to Miami for a conference football game but not to Wake Forest?

How much more will it cost to transport a football team from Chapel Hill to Miami than it would from Chapel Hill to Winston-Salem? How much additional fuel will it consume?

Then there's the expense of lodging and feeding a football team in Miami -- unnecessary when taking a short trip down the road.

College athletic teams travel too much. They can find plenty of competition closer to home.

A conference that stretches from Miami to Boston is too spread out. A schedule that matches teams hundreds of miles apart but not traditional rivals in the same neighborhood is stupid.

Can't we just pretend this didn't happen? At least for a few weeks?

Randall Terry's immense fortune -- largely derived from the market -- could have been used to help save the market, David Perry of FurnitureToday writes in his online column.

Terry, part owner of the International Home Furnishings Market and the High Point Enterprise, died last year. He left behind the Randall Terry Charitable Foundation, which makes its most substantial contributions to the veterinary school at N.C. State University and Woodberry Forest School. Little goes to anything in High Point, where Terry lived most of his life and made his money.

My column last week about Terry produced lots of responses, mostly positive and some negative ...

My column today:

Hurricane Katrina has taught us many lessons about our country. ...

An e-mail advisory to News & Record staffers yesterday noted that our style is to call people displaced by Hurricane Katrina evacuees rather than refugees.

Apparently, there's been a nationwide debate about the correct terminology.

Jesse Jackson says, "It is racist to call American citizens refugees."

I can't figure that one out.

President Bush adds, "The people we are talking about are not refugees, they are Americans."

Say what?

OK, the United Nations defines a refugee as someone who flees across an international border to escape violence or persecution.

But the U.N., naturally, is concerned with events of international significance.

Webster's New World College Dictionary says a refugee is "a person who flees from home or country to seek refuge elsewhere, as in a time of war or of political or religious persecution."

"As in a time of war or of political or religious persecution" does not limit the definition to those circumstances.

Wars and other events produce refugees who never cross an international border, so it's wrong to suggest Americans can't be refugees within their own country.

Race has absolutely nothing to do with any definition of the word, so Jackson is all wet on this one.

An evacuee, meanwhile, is "a person evacuated from an area of danger," according to Webster's. That clearly fits the people who have been removed from devastated areas.

The word "refugee" adds an important dimension, however. That is the element of seeking refuge, a place of safety. Therefore, I see nothing wrong with using the word to describe the people who no longer have homes in Gulf Coast communities.

I took the bus to work today for the first time in several months.

Business is definitely picking up.

My schedule:

Leave the house at 6:30, walking half a block up the street to the corner. Catch High Point's Hi tran bus at 6:38. Cost: $1. Arrive at High Point's downtown terminal at 6:45. Ridership: Just a handful.

Take the PART bus leaving at 7 a.m. Cost: $2. Ridership: About 10 people, or twice as many as the last time I rode.

After a stop at Oak Hollow Mall to pick up two more riders, arrive at PART hub near N.C. 68 and I-40 at 7:20. Transfer to PART express bus to Greensboro. This bus, coming from Greensboro to the hub, was nearly full.

Bus leaves at 7:30. No additional cost, with transfer. Ridership: About 15, at least twice as many as last time I rode.

After dropping off one passenger at Four Seasons Mall and several others at the corner of South Elm and Washington, arrive at Greensboro depot at 7:55. From there, five-minute walk to work.

Total time from leaving home: An hour and 30 minutes. That compares to 30 minutes if I drive myself. Extra time is spent reading.

Total bus fare one-way: $3. That compares to burning close to a gallon of gas if I drive myself.

Impression: The buses are clean and comfortable. Drivers are friendly and helpful. Riders are mostly pleasant; regulars know each other.

Observation: Compared to a year ago, there are more riders who appear to be professionals who might have the option of driving their own cars but are choosing to take the bus.

Conclusion: Less convenient, but a viable option.

I support giving Hurricane Katrina victims $2,000 debit cards, and I wouldn't place too many restrictions on how they spend the money.

Federal officials say the benefit will empower people who have lost everything. They should be able to decide for themselves what necessities they want to purchase rather than depend on someone else to give them everything.

I think they also need some cash to go out to a movie, eat lunch at a restaurant of their choice or buy a beer if they want. In other words, to do some normal things at least once in a while.

Sure, they shouldn't buy lottery tickets, or drugs or overdo it with any vice.

A pack of cigarettes? Fine with me. There are worse things than smoking at times like this.

As much as possible, these unfortunate people should be allowed to live like human beings even while they rely on charity for the coming months.

Virginia Foxx has a lot of guts.

Either that, or she's callous and heartless, like North Carolina Democrats say.

Foxx, the first-term Republican congresswoman from North Carolina's 5th District, was one of only 11 House members to vote against the $52 billion Hurricane Katrina relief package Thursday.

Her spokeswoman said Foxx wanted more accountability to ensure the money will be spent effectively.

Is anyone else concerned about that?

Normally, Congress would spend months putting together a $50 billiion appropriations bill. This one came together in -- what? -- a day or so?

The Associated Press reported yesterday about poor management of billions of dollars intended for 9/11 recovery. Does anyone doubt similar waste will occur this time?

Sure, it's critical to rush lots of help to the Gulf Coast.

Sure, it's politically foolish to vote no on any aid package right now. If you do, you look callous and heartless.

But isn't it still important to make sure that all this money gets the job done and doesn't end up in the wrong pockets?

I have one gripe with Foxx, though: She should have put a statement on her Web site today explaining her vote in more detail than the brief statement given by her spokeswoman.

More reason why money has to be spent wisely:

Michael Grunwald writes in the Washington Post that Louisiana has received more U.S. Army Corps of Engineers money during the Bush administration than any other state -- but much of the $1.9 billion over five years was spent on questionable projects, sometimes at the direction of the state's congressional delegation.

Sorry, I just didn't feel obligated to root for the Saints yesterday.

Sometimes, it's hard to feel hopeful about the prospects for peace in the world.

Today's example one.

Today's example two.

In both Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine, progress toward peace and reconciliation always seems to spur a backlash.

Militaristic Protestants in Belfast violently protest anything that appears to make concessions to Catholics.

And in Gaza, Palestinians respond to Israel's withdrawal with renewed hostility. Is that going to to encourage the Israelis to give up more territory on the West Bank, especially if Gaza becomes -- literally -- a launching pad for attacks against Israel?

When's it going to end?

Nido Qubein thinks big and does big.

Today, the first-year president of High Point University gathered community leaders in the auditorium of the Hayworth Fine Arts Center and laid out a plan to spend $60 million in a little more than two years.

Here's where it's going:

My column today:

Michael D. Brown was the wrong man in the wrong place at definitely the wrong time.

How the heck did that happen?

All too easily, for reasons that are sometimes necessary and sometimes -- as in Brown’s case -- disastrous. ...

Our editorial Sept. 7 urged young people in certain age groups to receive the meningitis vaccine but noted that supplies of Menactra are scarce.

I wanted to update some information.

The editorial stated that the manufacturer of Menactra, Sanofi Pasteur, planned to produce 5 million doses this year but would not substantially increase that output until a new plant comes on line in 2008. Spokesman John Abrams contacted me yesterday to report that production will increase to 6 million doses next year and 7 million in 2007.

I hope that leads to more young people receiving this protection against a potentially deadly disease.

The first in an occasional series of comments about the actual contents of the lottery bill passed by our state legislature last month:

What kind of games will our lottery include?

"Games may include instant lotteries, online games, games played on computer terminals or other devices, and other games traditional to a lottery or that have been conducted by any other state government-operated lottery."

Online games? Watch out if your teenage kid gets hold of your credit card.

Computer terminals or other devices? That would have allowed video poker games, EXCEPT that a separate provision in the budget bill specifically prohibits video gaming machines.

But that issue apparently has not been put to rest yet, according to an article in Sunday's Charlotte Observer.

Some states, including West Virginia, make more money from video poker than from traditional lottery tickets. It stands to reason that, sooner or later, North Carolina will incorporate video gaming into its lottery.

You can read the entire lottery bill here.

We have an editorial on the lottery nuts and bolts in the works.

Most of the attention at High Point University yesterday focused on the $60 million development plan, as it should have. It's amazing.

Take a look here.

But President Nido Qubein covered many other subjects during a presentation to community leaders.

He strongly emphasized security ...

The second in a series of commentaries about what's really in the lottery bill:

Let's talk advertising.

The state can advertise the lottery ... as long as the ads aren't intended to entice people to play.

I'm not kidding. The law says, "No advertising may have the primary purpose of inducing persons to participate in the lottery."

Well, I certainly look forward to the first billboard that proclaims:

"North Carolina's Easley Money Lottery! Megabucks for schools! Huge prizes! (But we're not trying to get you to buy tickets) Available everywhere!"

Then there are the cartoon characters ...

Is it safe to say John Edwards won't invite George Will to speak at his poverty center?

In his column today, Will states three rules for avoiding poverty:

"Graduate from high school, don't have a baby until you are married, don't marry while you are a teenager."

He adds: "Among people who obey those rules, poverty is minimal."

Edwards, Hillary Clinton's likely 2008 running mate, is using his poverty center at UNC-Chapel Hill as a political base, pursuing his divisive "Two Americas" theme.

He wouldn't find any political advantage in Will's simple prescription.

Bill Clinton pronounced it dead.

George W. Bush may bring it back in his speech tonight.

Will wonders never cease?

Maybe Bush didn't know which way the wind was blowing when Katrina was loading up to bash Florida and the Gulf Coast three weeks ago.

But he can feel it now.

In the wake of a horrendous hurricane, Americans are demanding more from their federal government.

If the Bush administration holds back, Republicans are toast in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

If he doesn't bring back big government, the next President Clinton will.

As always in this country, we'll overreact. The federal government will give itself greater powers to take over functions once left to state and local governments. It will further inflate the Department of Homeland Security and its various agencies, especially FEMA, probably making it more cumbersome and even less efficient. And, it will spend, spend, spend. Bush will promise massive federal aid to rebuild New Orleans on a grand scale -- when common sense dictates that the new N.O. should be much smaller than the old.

The big question: Will Bush announce a rollback in tax cuts?

Politically, that might be possible.

But remember, people and businesses struggling to get back on their feet along the Gulf Coast will be subject to the same taxes as everyone else, except for whatever special breaks can be worked out.

Still, you can't pay for Big Government on credit forever. And Bush is approaching his limit.

If he's going to be a Big Spender -- and he is -- sooner or later, he's going to become a Big Taxer, too.

This is the third in a series of commentaries about what's really in the lottery bill.

We can all feel good that the lottery is going to produce lots more money for schools.

Right?

Well, then, I wonder why this provision contained in the original version of the lottery bill...

"The net revenues generated by the lottery shall not supplant revenues already expended or projected to be expended for those public purposes, and lottery net revenues shall supplement rather than be used as substitute funds for the total amount of money allocated for those public purposes"

... was deleted from the final version.

It means there's nothing in the bill to stop the legislature from removing a tax dollar from school funding for every lottery dollar it puts in.

Could the lottery actually produce no net gain for schools?

Keep a lookout.

Right after President Bush's speech last night, ABC's Ted Koppel went to correspondent Dean Reynolds with a group of New Orleans evacuees in Houston.

Reynolds failed in a blatant attempt to stir up some Bush-bashing.

He asked one leading question after another -- Didn't you think the federal response was too slow? Can you believe the president's promises? -- and was obviously frustrated that his subjects -- all black -- didn't take the bait.

One woman faulted state and local authorities for leaving all those buses empty instead of using them to move people out of the city.

Another woman admitted she had a chance to get out before the hurricane hit but passed it up.

Others said they liked the plans Bush announced for increasing homeownership.

All said they want to return to New Orleans.

Altogether, they seemed more interested in looking ahead than casting blame.

Reynolds couldn't do a thing with them.

Better to interview Jesse Jackson or Nancy Pelosi.

Roosevelt launched the New Deal and, with war clouds approaching, began to build the country's depleted military.

Johnson tried to create a Great Society and wage a War on Poverty while plunging the country deeper into the Vietnam morass.

Bush commits massive but so far unspecified federal resources for Gulf Coast rebuilding as 140,000 U.S. troops remain in a bloody and expensive conflict in Iraq.

Roosevelt and Johnson, more than any two presidents of the 20th century, expanded the scope of the federal government. Bush is on that path as well.

Does he have any choice? Isn't this what we want?

But what about paying for it all?

The lottery bill provides $1 million a year to the Department of Health and Human Services "for gambling addiction education and treatment programs."

This says the state is going to operate an activity that it KNOWS will cause some of its residents to engage in activity so detrimental that they need treatment. But don't worry. It will pay for the treatment.

The bill also says no more than 1 percent of revenues can be spent on advertising the lottery.

Let's say revenues add up to $1 billion.

One percent is $10 million.

So, for every dollar the state spends to treat people for gambling addictions, it will spend $10 to entice them to play.

The highlight (by far) of last night's UNC-Wisconsin football game in Kenan Stadium was the halftime presentation of championship rings to the men's basketball team.

The ceremony was introduced by a video displayed on the giant screen at the fieldhouse end of the field.

Even the hundreds of Wisconsin fans occupying the first 20 or so rows of section 102 right in front of me applauded. That was very generous of them considering the Badger basketball team was beaten by the Heels on their route to the title. I guess the Wisconsin folks are more into football, and they figured they were going to win this one.

This football schedule promises a few more losses for the Heels, but nothing can take away the memories of a great basketball season.

Our editorial board is interviewing High Point Mayor Becky Smothers today.

Her opponent, former state Rep. Steve Wood, was invited to participate. He declined.

I don't get that election strategy.

Some charities solicit gifts of automobiles. Do they always know what they're getting?

A few years ago, I had an '87 Buick Century that ran great but was pretty banged up, thanks to my boys. They called it the Terrormobile.

Joe Abernethy, then director of Habitat for Humanity in High Point, spotted it and asked, "What happened to your car?"

"My boys drive it," I explained. "They've been a little hard on it. I think I'm going to get rid of it."

"Why don't you give it to Habitat? One of our families needs a car."

That sounded like a great idea, so I turned over the title, got the wreck off my hands and thought maybe I'd done someone a favor at the same time.

A few weeks later, I saw Joe again.

"How'd the car work out for that family?" I asked.

Joe looked a little sheepish.

"They didn't want it," he said.

"They didn't want it? Why not?"

"They said the good Lord had given them a new house and they'd rather wait for Him to give them a new car, too."

I thought space travel was cool back in the '60s when the whole school would gather in the auditorium to watch the latest launch -- on one little black-and-white TV.

The space shuttle program in the '80s was exciting.

NASA's new plan for returning to the moon by 2018?

I can't get stirred up.

Is it necessary? Worthwhile? Affordable? Practical?

What am I missing?

Maybe the state of North Carolina doesn't have a legal lottery monopoly after all.

Its effort to shut down a lottery-of-sorts was emphatically denied by the N.C. Court of Appeals Sept. 6.

The case involved a company called Treasured Arts Inc., which sold prepaid long-distance calling cards, two minutes for a dollar.

The card included a scratch-off game offering cash prizes of up to $50,000 as well as the chance to win a car.

This quickly caught the eye of state officials, who sought to rub it out ...

My column today:

Forgive me if this comes across as too emotional. It’s been a trying day.

I'm writing Monday afternoon, a few hours after my wife and I left our older son, Andrew, at the airport.

He won't be home again until December 2007. Until then, he'll work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania. ...

Today's editorial endorses High Point Mayor Becky Smothers' call to increase city support for the furniture market.

Details haven't been worked out, but Smothers and other city leaders are saying the time for complacency is over.

Adding emphasis to that theme are the results of a survey of 581 industry representatives by Furniture/Today, the High Point-based trade publication.

It found that 28 percent of retailers responding were so impressed with the Las Vegas market in July that they are thinking of no longer attending the High Point market.

What's wrong with High Point? The survey revealed a familiar litany: Retailers want lower hotel rates, more convenient parking, more affordable restaurants and increased entertainment opportunities.

High Point must answer these demands.

Read respondents' comments as reported by Furniture/Today (registration required).

The city of High Point can't save its market by itself. The state is increasing its financial support. Greensboro and Winston-Salem should provide assistance. Guilford County government should help to a greater extent. The major showrooms also should do much, much more. And hotel operators have got to stop jacking up room rates to absurd levels during market.

High Point can compete only if it provides a better market experience for retailers -- the people who come to buy furniture. It has to be convenient and affordable for them to attend. The atmosphere must be inviting and fun. The climate must be conducive to conducting business.

What's at stake? Only a $1 billion annual economic impact for the Triad.

A column by Allen J. Zerkin on our Second Opinion page today (not posted on our site but available at the LA Times) suggests that the United States should make a deal with al-Qaida.

I hope no one takes that idea seriously.

Zerkin, a research fellow at New York University, thinks it's possible to reach an understanding with the organization that knocked down the World Trade Center towers, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people.

His strategy involves giving in to al-Qaida's demands, then hoping al-Qaida will spare us further attacks. ...

"Ultimately my Vermont roots have always told me to go with my conscience," Sen. Patrick Leahy said in announcing his support for John Roberts, the nominee for chief justice.

Roberts won a 13-5 recommendation from the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

Leahy, the panel's ranking Democrat, was joined by Wisconsin senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, also Democrats.

While Leahy's statement indicates he tortured himself to reach his decision, it also shows he couldn't find any substantive cause to vote against Roberts, whom he called a man of integrity.

He gave in to his conscience.

Which, of course, raises questions about the committee's other Democrats: Charles Schumer, Ted Kennedy, Dianne Feinstein, Joe Biden and Dick Durbin. They either aren't as conscientious as Leahy, or they place a higher priority on political ideology.

It surprises me, but I gained some respect for Patrick Leahy today.

Now Cindy Sheehan is going after Democrats.

I can't blame them for keeping their distance.

Sheehan should organize a protest against the real enemy -- the terrorists who are committing murder and mayhem in an attempt to stop Iraqis from building a free country.

The evacuation of the Texas Gulf coast has turned into a debacle.

It's probably President Bush's fault.

What could move people out faster? Fewer cars.

Many people seem to be driving all their family cars. While it's understandable they don't want to leave cars behind and risk losing them, and also want to bring as much stuff with them as they can, there's not enough fuel or highway space for so many vehicles.

So, should authorities permit no more than one car for every three or four people? What's the best way to balance the right of people to remove their property against the need to streamline evacuations?

An interesting perspective by Richard Wagner in Carolina Journal.

Andrew arrived Thursday and finally posted an entry on his blog.

He's in Morogoro, a town about 100 miles inland from Dar es Salaam.

It's in a mountainous region with a fairly temperate climate.

I found a Web site with some photos of Morogoro.

Of course, we're eagerly waiting for more details,

I don't know how the "Intelligent Design" trial will turn out.

If the issue were creationism vs. evolution, the outcome would be clear. Creationism, as presented in the Bible, can't be included in public school science instruction. It's religion, not science.

But, despite what some critics say, Intelligent Design is not creationism in disguise -- although creationists may promote it as a means of undermining evolution.

It holds "that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection," according to the Intelligent Design network.

I don't want to debate the details. But, to me, there's an obvious irony in this sometimes-emotional debate.

It's that most Americans who adhere to the major faith traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam essentially believe in some form of intelligent design. Even if they accept evolution as fact, they don't necessarily see that as presenting a conflict with their belief in God. Why couldn't God "design" an evolutionary process?

Of course, that idea is classified under the category of religion and, as such, must be barred from the realm of public education -- even if most of us might believe it's true.

So, what do we do? What we've been doing: Teach kids one version of truth in school and another at home and in church, synagogue or mosque.

High Point furniture markets have been held every April and October for the past half-century.

Now, market officials are thinking about changing the dates to March and September.

The market authority sent surveys to manufacturers and retailers last week asking their preference, the N&R's Sue Schultz reported Saturday.

The authority also should touch base with folks in Greensboro about possible conflicts.

I'm talking about basketball.

Basketball is big business for the Greensboro Coliseum in March. The facility hosts the ACC women's tournament every year and occasionally lands the men's event, as well as NCAA tournament games.

Furniture market overlapping with March basketball tournaments would create a greater demand for lodging than the Triad could meet.

What if ACC fans couldn't find a place to stay because all the hotel rooms already were taken by furniture market visitors?

That couldn't be good for Greensboro's chances of landing these big basketball events.

Of course, High Point has to do whatever strengthens its position in its market competition with Las Vegas. But it also should make sure it avoids a March conflict with Greensboro's important basketball business.

In today's letters, Al Campbell comes out against sidewalks on North Main Street in High Point.

I respect Al, a former city councilman and candidate for mayor.

But, Al, how can you be against sidewalks on North Main Street?

He's arguing that sidewalks aren't needed because people don't walk from place to place on North Main. Well, of course they don't if there are no sidewalks. There's no room to walk.

High Point has a severe deficiency of sidewalks. It's most glaring along main thoroughfares.

People do walk along these streets, often at great risk to their safety.

One of the worst places is East Kivett Drive, which not only lacks sidewalks but has virtually no shoulder for much of its length out toward business I-85. Not long ago I saw a blind man tapping his cane along the edge of the pavement, with heavy traffic practically brushing by him. Kivett is undergoing widening work now, and I certainly hope sidewalks will be part of the improvement plan. A lot of people get around on their feet in that part of town.

More people might walk if they feel they can do so safely, even on North Main.

Our streets are made for automobiles, but let's leave a little space for people who walk, jog or ride bicycles.

Al, get out of the car and see what it's like out there.

My column today:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

-- From "Julius Caesar"
by William Shakespeare

An ill tide is flowing against the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival in High Point this season. Performances of "Julius Caesar" and "As You Like It" have drawn an average of fewer than 300 people compared to about 400 last year.

When I saw Managing Director Pedro Silva in the High Point Theatre lobby before Saturday night's show, he almost looked like a man bound in shallows and miseries. ...

Last night's bloggers' forum for at-large City Council candidates (read Allen's post) wasn't the only political event in town.

The Stockhausen Community Advisory Panel held a forum for District 1 and 2 candidates at Wiley Elementary. All seven candidates and approximately 60 citizens attended the well-organized and informative event.

The CAP "provides constructive input for a broad range of matters that address vital community concerns in areas of health and safety, the local quality of life, communications, education and relationship building," according to lead facilitator Earl Gill. It holds monthly meetings.

The top concern indicated by questions from the audience: drugs and crime in the community.

That was followed by business development, jobs and quality of life issues.

District 1 incumbent Dianne Bellamy-Small rattled off specific things she's doing to address all those concerns. Challenger Luther Falls stressed his business experience and connections and how he can put those credentials to use in improving the community. Challenger Charles Coffey spoke most passionately of the three, pointing to crime as the one problem that undermines efforts to improve life in District 1.

The District 2 seat is open, and candidates Goldie Wells and Ed Whitfield really stood out as most knowledgeable and qualified. Both have been very involved in citywide and community issues. Wells is also very personable and engaging, but Whitfield is a creative thinker who takes an interesting approach to problems. Toni Henderson has been a fighter against drug dealers in her neighborhood, but after an interview with her and watching last night's forum, I'm still waiting for her to address any other issues in detail. Lewis Byers talked about the need to provide more opportunities for young people but otherwise didn't speak much last night.

I congratulate the CAP folks for organizing an excellent forum.

Linking previous posts about the Shakespeare Festival and furniture market dates:

I wrote about a possible conflict with college basketball in Greensboro if the market shifts its schedule to March and September rather than April and October.

A September market also would conflict with the Shakespeare Festival's Main Stage season, which runs the entire month and plays in High Point Theatre. The theater is located inside the International Home Furnishings Center.

But, wait a minute. Maybe this is an opportunity. Why not incorporate the Shakespeare Festival into the market for one week during September?

Suppose the festival belongs exclusively to the market for that week. The IHFC or its tenants -- the manufacturers who lease showroom space -- underwrite the festival's costs for a week. About $50,000 would cover it. In turn, they provide free tickets to their customers, the retailers shopping the showrooms.

The market needs to increase entertainment opportunities for visitors. The Shakespeare Festival needs to fill the theater. An arrangement would be good for everyone.

And wouldn't it be great for the High Point market's image to associate showrooms and Shakespeare? Let Vegas keep its strippers and Wayne Newton.

It's important to avoid the market-basketball conflict in March. But a September mixture of market and the bard could be terrific.

In fact, why not explore the possibility even if the market dates don't change? Move the Shakespeare Festival season to October and reserve a week for the furniture folks.

Exactly one year ago, the chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, I. Beverly Lake Jr., laid down the law to the state's District Court judges.

"The statutes on how DWI is proved when there is a per se charge are fairly clear," he wrote. "The state is entitled to a fair trial in which it has to prove only those elements established by statute or common law beyond a reasonable doubt."

Lake was referring to the law that says a person commits the offense of DWI if he drives:

"1) while under the influence of an impairing substance; or

"2) after having consumed sufficient alcohol that he has, at any relevant time after the driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more."

Extensive investigations by the Charlotte Observer during the summer of 2004 found that part 2 of the law was being routinely ignored by many judges across the state.

(Guilford County was one jurisdiction where judges were not soft on DWI suspects.)

The lenient judges were buying defense attorneys' excuses for their clients along the lines of, "He might have registered .08 but there was no evidence he was really impaired."

Nonsense. The law specifically cited a .08 measurement as conclusive evidence of impairment.

Lake's memo, and lots of public scrutiny on this subject, have produced a dramatic change, the Observer reported Tuesday. DWI conviction rates have risen sharply in the past year.

That means safer streets and highways for all of us.

Our air is getting cleaner?

Impossible!

George W. Bush is president. He's trying to poison our environment.

He rejected the Kyoto Treaty.

He favors global warming.

He wants to create more killer hurricanes.

This just doesn't make sense.

Except it's true. The air is getting measurably cleaner, thanks to state and federal government initiatives, more efficient motor vehicles and, to some extent, decline of heavy industry.

Sure, we've got to keep working at it. But it's been evident for some time that we're making progress.

You can check on Triad air quality daily at this Web site. Most days, the outlook is good.

Here's a chart showing our numbers this year.

What a strange and terrible story.

A Gastonia woman has been charged with attempted murder. Police say she confessed to trying to kill her terminally ill son with an overdose of medication.

Then she took an overdose herself but, in a change of heart, called 911. She and the 5-year-old boy, Robert, are recovering.

But Robert has Batten's disease, an incurable and fatal genetic disorder that causes loss of muscle coordination, seizures and progressive mental deterioration.

A parent could experience extreme emotional distress trying to care for a child afflicted with this awful condition.

If this case goes to trial, what a dilemma. Should the boy's mother be sent to prison? I can't see how that would serve the cause of justice.

Was this attempted murder or mercy?

Mercy for the child, or the mother?

I don't expect candidates to be happy if they don't get the newspaper's endorsement. I've heard plenty of complaints over the years from disappointed politicians.

But today was a first.

I just got off the phone with Toni Henderson, who's running for a Greensboro City Council seat in District 2.

Today, we endorsed Ed Whitfield, with acknowledgment to Goldie Wells as a very good candidate.

It would be an understatement to say Ms. Henderson did not take this well.

She spent about 10 minutes screaming at me over the phone.

Her primary objections: The newspaper's four-person editorial board has no right to use its power to tell people how to vote, we didn't know her well enough to make a judgment, we had no right to put her down.

Here's what the editorial said about her and the other candidate, Lewis Byers:

"Candidate Toni Henderson has battled drug-dealers in her neighborhood and calls for aggressive law enforcement in the district. Lewis Byers wants to see more opportunities offered for young people. The two are sincere but can't match the experience or ideas offered by Whitfield and Wells."

Good thing we didn't write anything bad.

John Roberts was confirmed as chief justice today by a vote of 78-22 in the Senate.

All 55 Republicans voted in favor of President Bush's nominee, of course.

Democrats were divided right down the middle, 22-22.

Independent James Jeffords of Vermont voted to confirm.

The 22 Democrats who voted no come from only 15 states:

California -- Boxer and Feinstein
Delaware -- Biden
Hawaii -- Akaka and Inouye
Illinois -- Durbin and Obama
Indiana -- Bayh
Iowa -- Harkin
Maryland -- Mikulski and Sarbanes
Massachusetts -- Kennedy and Kerry
Michigan -- Stabenow
Minnesota -- Dayton
Nevada -- Reid
New Jersey -- Corzine and Lautenberg
New York -- Clinton and Schumer
Rhode Island -- Reed
Washington -- Cantwell

That means all the senators from 35 states voted to confirm Roberts.

The credibility of the 22 Democrats who opposed Roberts is shaky. Their view couldn't even prevail within their own party. They were shut out in 70 percent of the country on this one. And yet, they're already making noise about mounting a filibuster to block Bush's still-to-be-named next nominee.

Hint to Democrat obstructionists: You'll need more than 22 votes.