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Former Greensboro Mayor Jim Melvin was on hand to fete the Charlotte City Council as they rolled through NewBridge Park (the Grasshoppers Stadium) yesterday, reports staff writer Ryan Seals. You may remember the Queen City honorables are rolling through on their annual retreat.

"We are green with envy - you all have an awful lot to be proud of," Melvin told the Charlotte City Council. "You are truly one of the great economic cities in the world. We are all here turning all kinds of different colors with envy."

Sheesh. Melvin isn't that effusive when he talks about Greensboro sometimes. And it goes on.

"It's like the tortoise and the hare," he told the visiting council members. "And you all are right here in the middle of the tortoise."

After the visit, Melvin told Seals, "It was a compliment for them to come see us...We are flattered, you have to give Charlotte credit because they have emerged as one of the great financial centers of the world. We just don't have that."

Is that like it's an honor just to be nominated?

Enough with all that Charlotte excitement.

Next week we go back into good the ol' gub'ment halls for another commissioners meeting and another round of bond stuff. Download agenda here. The board will see resolutions to draw orders for each of the bonds that Guilford commissioners agreed to put on the May 6 primary ballot as referenda.

The vote is a "takin' care of business" type of thing that makes the public hearing possible and enables the county finance people to get the info on how the bonds would work if passed.

I chatted with Guilford County Commissioners Chairman Kirk Perkins last night, and he said he wouldn't be surprised to see some commissioners take that perfunctory vote as a chance to stump on the bonds. Which wouldn't have much to do with Thursday's vote at all.

So when do you get to speak out? Well, you can now here at the 'Scoop, or in public hearings for the bonds, which may be held Feb. 21. Or just wait and vote for them in May.

Commissioners will also decide whether to loan some old documents from the Register of Deeds related to Greensboro's bicentennial. And there's a closed session scheduled for some type of business relocation or expansion.

I'm back from a two-week absense (I missed you, too, my pretties). Before I left (on Jan. 18 to be exact), I filed a public records request at City Hall asking for this information. I explained in the request that I would be away and that a response should be forwarded to my editor, Eddie Wooten.

I returned today to learn that no one even contacted Eddie to acknowledge the request, much less complied with it.

So am I cranky because I'm back at work after a long vacation? Or am I cranky because my public records request was acknowledged by the sound of crickets chirping, as if to say, "Margaret, we don't consider your request valid and therefore won't dignify it with a response?"

Tough call. Could go either way.

The third in a series of meetings sponsored by the News & Record to discuss leadership and the community is set for 4-6 p.m. March 12 at UNCG's Elliot University Center.

While previous sessions focused on issues like job loss and community mistrust, the coming symposium is geared toward the future.

The March discussion, according to a release from the N&R, will ask:

-How well does Guilford County prepare high school graduates for college? For employment?
-How can our colleges, universities and business community work together to improve student readiness?
-How can we guarantee students are developing the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to contribute to our county's economic vitality?

The symposium is open to the public and will include the following panelists:

-Dr. Margaret Arbuckle, president, Guilford Educational Alliance
-Jerry Camp, business owner and board chairman, High Point Chamber of Commerce
-Alan Duncan, chairman, Guilford County Board of Education
-Dr. Joe Graves, dean of University Studies, A&T
-Megan Michaux Metzger, small business owner
-Jasmine Renee Mitchell, Morehead Scholar, UNC-Chapel Hill
-Dr. Noah Rogers, principal, Smith High School
-Dr. Kathryn Baker Smith, vice president, GTCC
-Dr. Rosemary Wander, associate provost, UNCG
-Malishai Woodbury, teacher, Dudley High School

I'm at a council meeting now, so I don't have time to comment, but here's a response from the city, which I received just a while ago:

********************************

February 5, 2008

VIA E-MAIL
Ms. Margaret Banks
News & Record
200 East Market Street
Greensboro, North Carolina 27401

Dear Ms. Banks:

This letter is in response to your e-mail requesting the following:

"Copies of the CAD report Scott Sanders generated to create the 19 names of the officers listed in the black book; the names of the 19 black officers who were working the day and time the alleged sexual assault occurred; the two-page memo Tom Fox and Scott Sanders wrote summarizing the rationale behind the black book; and any and all tape recordings of Scott Sanders discussions with the prostitute who alleges she was sexually assaulted by the black officers."

We have been informed that "the two tapes you requested, including multiple other tapes are part of a criminal investigation in the custody of the SBI (IA has copies of the tapes as part of its investigation." All the documents you requested, with the exception of the aforesaid two-page memo, constitute records of criminal investigations pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes section 132-1.4 and are not public records as defined by G.S. 132-1.

We have researched and are not aware of the existence of the alleged two-page memo summarizing the rationale behind the black book. Consequently, there is no public record in response to your request.

Sincerely,

Becky Jo Peterson-Buie
Chief Deputy General Counsel
Cc: Elaine Tricoli

What: Guilford County commissioners meeting

When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Old County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St., Greensboro

Click here for full agenda and live video of the meeting.

What's going on? Bond orders for all the bonds included on May 6 referenda are up for a vote. The order handles the business of how the bond money would come to the county if voters approve referenda for any of the packages that include $412 million for school construction, $45 million for Eastern Guilford High School, a $115 million jail, $79.5 million for GTCC or $20 million for parks and recreation.

Want to be heard? Speakers can address the board on non-agenda items regarding county business for three minutes at the start of the meeting. A signup sheet will be available near the lectern.

What's next? If commissioners approve the bond orders, a public hearing on all the bond referenda would be scheduled for Feb. 21.

On TV: Cable channel 13 in Greensboro and other areas of Guilford County outside High Point; cable channel 8 in High Point.

A gang summit for the faith-based community is planned for Feb. 13 at Evangel Fellowship Church of God in Christ on 2207 East Cone Boulevard. The meeting is open to the public. View release here.

“Last month’s faith community meeting was quite successful, and many concerned residents agreed to continue with our efforts,” Greensboro District 2 Councilwoman Goldie Wells said in a release announcing the meeting.

No kidding. The first meeting drew 150 people to the church.

On Tuesday, I posted a response from City Hall about an information request I made. In that response, Chief Deputy City Attorney Becky Jo Peterson-Buie said (as you can read for yourself on the link) that she is "not aware of the existence of the alleged two-page memo summarizing the rationale behind the black book."

This morning, Ben Holder over at the Troublemaker has posted a two-page memo summarizing the rationale behind the black book.

I have many questions about this, and intend to spend the day trying to get answers.

UPDATE (5:14 p.m.): Pat Boswell just called to say the memo was NOT in Hinson's file, only that it appeared to be about Hinson when it was originally reviewed.

Just got a call from Pat Boswell, the city's director of communications. She said folks over at City Hall have just discovered the memo published on the Troublemaker's site and on the front page of the Rhino Times today. It's the memo Chief Deputy City Attorney Becky Jo Peterson-Buie said she wasn't "aware of the existence of."

Her explanation: The memo's cover sheet refers to information about the investigation Lt. James Hinson, so it was filed with documents involving Hinson. It wasn't until city officials saw the Rhino that they realize what memo the N&R had requested, according to Boswell.

Boswell said City Manager Mitchell Johnson plans to ask the City Council to release the information at Feb. 19 meeting. Boswell said Johnson is "pleased" now that he knows what memo everyone is talking about. He was afraid there was something out there the city didn't know existed.

"He's pretty pleased," Boswell said.

More to come, I promise. Got more questions than time.

Yvonne Johnson scheduled her first town meeting for 6:30-9 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Fellowship Hall of West Market Street United Methodist Church, 302 West Market St.

During her campaign and on election night Johnson said that the meeting would allow residents to speak directly about the Greensboro police controversy that led to the resignation of former chief David Wray.

And there might be a few new things to talk about since a memo was discovered Thursday that supposedly describes the existence of the "black book," a lineup that included pictures of 19 African-American police officers.

"I believe it is the responsibility of an elected official to be aware of what the citizens think, want, and what they are pleased with and what they are not pleased with. Having an opportunity to listen to our citizens is one way to address and strengthen what we are doing well, and it provides an opportunity to focus and correct what we are not doing well," Johnson said in the release.

I'm working on a preview story about a community meeting with Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson, and moderator Marsh Prause expects there to be a lot of talk about the memo and city administrators' accountability to the Greensboro City Council.

"I expect the situation with the police department to eat up a good 40 percent or 50 percent of the time," said Prause, a Greensboro attorney and executive board member of the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress.

Johnson, for her part, just came back from Washington D.C. this morning to hear news about the memo. She told us that she hopes people come out with plenty of comments and questions.

And to answer an earlier commenter's question: Prause told me that the questions will be submitted in written form by the audience, and he'll then choose the ones to ask. It sounds like he plans to ask the tough ones, but he asked that nobody pose any offensive or obscene queries.

What would you ask Johnson?

We know that the Internet is truly a fine repository of extremely useful information.

So if you happen to run across a site that shows Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow listed as the local commander of the militia, he's got one very colorful thing to say:

"I don't know ... about that," Yow said Friday afternoon.

We don't either, to be honest, other than what we saw online. And you know you can't believe everything you see online.

Last week, several people (including some City Council members) have asked for my take on this thing with the memo. That's getting into dangerous territory. But I'm compelled to say a few things just to clear the air, and because I believe people are missing the larger point.

First off, I am not easily manipulated. I say that not to be arrogant, but to dispel any misconception that my thick Wilkes County accent indicates some kind of wide-eyed, Gomer-esqe gullability. I've been a reporter for almost 16 years. I know when I'm being played. If I felt as though someone on either side of this debacle were lying to me or manipulating me, then I would communicate that to readers of the News & Record.

Second: Representatives of public bodies, including those at Greensboro City Hall, sometimes look for an "out" when it comes to fulfilling public records requests. Imagine, if you will, how simple it would have been for someone at City Hall to call and say, "Margaret, we don't know what memo you're talking about. Could you be more specific?" No one did. I have no way of knowing if someone thought there was something to hide. But I do know that some government officials see public records requests as adversarial, and they're not going to do anything to make getting those documents easier. That's not unique to Greensboro city government. Citizens across the country have this problem when they make public records requests.

I'll give you an example. Last week, I needed to get some public information (age, salary, title, job status, etc) about a city employee. I called the city's communications department and gave my request verbally. I'm not going to use the employee's actual name, but here's essentially what happened: I asked for information on Margaret Moffett (my maiden name serves this purpose well). The communications employee evidently thought I said Mossett, even though I spelled the name. A day later, I got an e-mail that says, "We don't have a Margaret Mossett on the city payroll (or words to that effect)." Now, it would have been logical for someone at City Hall to say, "Hmmm. I wonder if she meant 'Moffett,' because we do have a 'Margaret Moffett' on the payroll." But instead, the person answered me literally: We can't give you that information because it doesn't exist. That's what the public faces every single day.

I don't know the reasoning behind the inability to produce the memo. It is, however, indicative of a culture of evasion at City Hall (though I should add that Mitchell Johnson is among the most accessible to me and does return my calls).

I find lack of cooperation by the people's representatives as chilling as lying and manipulation.

I just made a new public records request to City Hall today. Here is the text of my e-mail, which I sent to Chief Deputy City Attorney Becky Jo Peterson-Buie and members of the communications staff (and cc'd to Mitchell Johnson) a few minutes ago:

****************************
I'd like to request the following information:

A memo or document, dated Jan. 10, 2006, written to Tom Fox by Scott Sanders. The subject matter of the memo/document has been described to me thusly: Summary of investigation of Shawn Coward alleging a sexual assault by an unknown Greensboro police officer (or words to that effect).

However, I have not seen the wording and therefore cannot describe it in exact detail. Therefore, I would request any and all memos dated Jan. 10, 2006, that pertain to Shawn Coward, generated by any employee of the City of Greensboro.

As always, the News & Record is willing to pay a reasonable fee for copies of these documents.

Thanks for your swift attention to this request.

Margaret Banks
373-7031
margaret.banks@news-record.com

Don't forget: There's a town meeting from 6:30 to 9 p.m. tonight in the fellowship hall of West Market Street United Methodist Church (corner of Commerce and Friendly) tonight.

You can park in the parking lot of the church's Early Childhood Center at the corner of Eugene and Friendly.

It's sponsored by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress.

This Scoop comes to us from N&R reporter Morgan Josey Glover:

Jim Melvin, president of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, took the opportunity at the end of an annual meeting on Monday to direct leaders' attention away from an ongoing Greensboro police scandal to what he considers more important matters.

"We've got to quit nitpicking about memos and all that kind of crap," Melvin told a group of more than 100 people attending the meeting, to applause. "If we don't, ladies and gentlemen, we're not going to get anywhere."

Melvin was referring to the leaking to the media of a key police memo that caused a stink on the Greensboro City Council last week. Melvin said local business, community and education leaders need to focus on addressing other challenges, such as the city's stagnant tax base, the search for a new Guilford County Schools superintendent and the planning of the Wyndham Championship. Melvin said the August golf tournament was at "a pinnacle point of whether it goes forward or backward."

"Let's not be pulled down by the naysayers," he said. "The best thing we can do with the naysayers is give them positive-sayers."

E.H. Hennis has filed to run at-large for county commissioner. If the name sounds familiar but you just can't place it, this summary from a 2007 story by Nate DeGraff might refresh your memory:

His name is E.H. Hennis , he is a former Klansman, and he has been doing stuff like this for years. Now, he is perhaps best-known for his televised rants against county officials who he says caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to his property more than eight years ago.

"That's the only joy I have," the 84-year-old said of his meeting speeches. He later added: "I'm angry. But I do have fun."

County officials are not amused, and they would very much like for Hennis to go away. Recently, county commissioners discussed moving the time when people address the board to before the meeting, when the speakers would not be televised. The proposal was aimed at Hennis, who, Barnes said, "likes to see himself on TV."

But commissioners quickly rejected that idea and left the speaking time unchanged.

Most of Hennis' tirades refer to a bitter land-use battle he fought with the county in the late 1990s after a judge ordered him to clear more than 20 abandoned mobile homes from his property. The county had ruled that his land wasn't zoned for them.

When Hennis refused, Barnes arrested him. Then, with a judge's permission, the county spent the next several days hauling dozens of truckloads of junk from his yard, a process that Hennis says damaged more than $300,000 worth of his property. He wants the county to pay up.

No way, county officials say. Instead, they want Hennis to pay about $60,000 in cleanup costs and civil fines. Hennis won't pay, and the county won't enforce the judgments.

"Nobody wants to put a senior citizen in the street, is what it comes down to," Barnes said.

Instead, the county has tried to reach out to Hennis, recently offering to talk over the dispute as long as he gets an attorney to negotiate for him. Hennis says he won't hire an attorney unless the county pays for it.

The standoff continues.

[snip]

In 1998, shortly after the mobile homes were removed, he warned leaders at a meeting that "your body parts will be picked up and put in body bags" and held up what appeared to be a pipe bomb. It was fake, but onlookers were terrified, and Hennis was arrested, jailed and eventually convicted of creating a hoax.

For a time, he was banned from commissioners meetings.

Yesterday, I made a more detailed request for a document about the "black book."

Within hours, I received a call from Police Chief Tim Bellamy. He explained that the memo does exist, but that it isn't public record because it's part of an ongoing investigation. In fact, the chief said, there are two memos written by Scott Sanders dated Jan. 10, 2006. The second was written to (now assistant chief) Gary Hastings.

That one isn't public, either, Bellamy said.

Is it possible the recent Friendly Avenue rezoning did not pass on the first reading and therefore should not have had a second reading on Feb. 5, when it passed? In other words, is there an argument to be made that it should have died when the council originally voted it down on Jan. 15?

Previous coverage here.

Background on the procedural issue here.

Check out this city statute:

3.23(b) "The Mayor shall be considered and given the same status as a member of the Council for the purpose of determining a quorum of the City Council and for the purpose of voting. A majority of the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members by ordering them to be taken into custody. The affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Council shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance. All other matters voted upon shall be by majority vote of the Council members present but no ordinance shall be adopted on the same day it is introduced unless six affirmative votes are received in favor of it. Nevertheless, with respect to any ordinance amending the budget to appropriate funds from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the General Fund, the affirmative vote of seven members of the council shall be necessary to adopt any such amendment, except in case of an emergency. For the purpose of this section, an emergency is an unforeseen occurrence or condition calling for immediate action to avert imminent danger to life, health, or property and to secure the public safety. No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving the consideration of his own official conduct or involving his financial interest."

Any of you wonks want to weigh in on this?

Several public hearings, five on the bond referenda, are on next week's Guilford County Commissioners agenda.

Each side will get 20 minutes to argue their point, and three minutes apiece for rebuttal. With breaks, that ends up being roughly an hour for each public hearing.

As Chairman Kirk Perkins went over the main points of the agenda in a Tuesday briefing, he mentioned that the Feb. 21 meeting could go until midnight. He said that as he also looked for other items to table until a March meeting, to streamline the upcoming agenda.

Anyhow, it's not like the public hearings next week will mean much for the fate of the bonds. The referenda are on the May 6 ballot, when people can really decide if they want the big packages or not.

I don't have an e-version of the agenda yet, but you can expect it here once I do.

From the city of Greensboro:

The City of Greensboro Water Resources Department recently mailed more than 7,200 bills with a bill date of February 11 for billing cycles 15 and 16. Due to a calculation error in the computer program, charges for sewer, stormwater and household hazardous waste were not included on some of the bills.

All residents in cycles 15 and 16 who received a City water bill with a billing date of February 11 should disregard it. The Water Resources Department will revise these bills and mail them during the week of February 18. The revised bills will include a due date extension. If you normally pay your bill by automatic bank draft, the draft will occur on the new due date, using the corrected amount. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this error. If you have questions, please contact Jeff Kimel at 373-2639.

As we mentioned in the newspaper column this week, Republican Congressman Howard Coble of Greensboro spent some time at the Grammy Awards this past weekend.

He brought back some snapshots and Scoop thought we'd share:

First up, here's Coble sitting with fellow North Carolinian Earl Scruggs, who was getting a lifetime achievement Grammy from The Recording Academy.

In this next picture, Coble is reading from a just-passed congressional resolution honoring The Recording Academy on its 50th Anniversary. Joining Rep. Coble were Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Michael McCaul (R-TX).

What - no poses with Kellie Pickler?

UPDATE (11:25 a.m.): Hey, I was right. It's in The Rhino!

I made a request for another memo earlier this week. Police Chief Tim Bellamy told me that it exists, but isn't considered a public record because it's part of an ongoing police investigation.

Lo and behold ... it's on Ben Holder's site this morning. It's Thursday, right? Hmmm. I wonder if I'll see it in The Rhino in the next hour or so.

As we reported, there were errors on a substantial number of water bills. We posted a blog entry about it here at Scoop. The first (and so far only) person to comment was Jeff Kimel, the billing manager for the Water Resources Department.

His comment reflect, I think, exactly how a public servant should take responsibility for his actions:

"I'm Jeff Kimel and I am the Manager for billing for Water Resources. I want to offer my sincere apology for the billing error in cycles 15 and 16. For this, I take sole responsibility as Manager of the Division. The error that occurred was something we had not seen before and steps are now being taken to ensure it does not happen again. This is especially important as we begin phasing in all of our quarterly accounts to monthly billing. My plans are to have everyone within the city limits on montly billing by the end of the calendar year. This will start with our southern residents (cycles 21-28) within the next couple of months.

"I want to thank the News and Record and other media outlets for getting our billing error information out in a timely matter.

jeff"

UPDATE (4:19 p.m.): The council voted 7-2 (Rakestraw and Wade against) to direct the city manager to address the following issues: Issues in the fire department, Parks and Recreation Department and the communications department; reorganize the manager's office; have clear, consistent communication with the council; work on his delegation skills. Mike Barber made the motion; T. Dianne Bellamy-Small gave the second.

Before that, however, Robbie Perkins moved that Johnson be retained; Goldie Wells was the second. Then Mary Rakestraw moved that the manager be removed; Wade provided the second.

Barber's motion, however, was the last one given, and the one the council had to vote on.

Then the council returned to closed session to discuss personnel issues and some legal cases. To be continued.

UPDATE (4:12 p.m.): They just got back in. Jim Collins, who runs Channel 13 for the city, just popped in to say that they're having trouble with the streaming video online video because "the site is overloaded." Hope you can watch, but I'll update as necessary.

UPDATE (2:22 p.m.): A couple of people worth noting out here waiting with the media types: former Mayor Keith Holliday; Locke Clifford, attorney for David Wray; Cyndy Hayworth, who ran for the District 3 seat on the City Council now occupied by Zack Matheny; and Richard O'Brien, who heads the local firefighters union..

Well, it's not really live blogging. The council immediately went into a closed session to discuss Mitch Johnson's future.

I expect them to sit back there for a long time. I'll update when I can, though.

Ben Brown, who was recently hired as deputy county manager for Guilford County, was at one point on the selection committee for the opening. Just not during the time he was hired.

In spring 2007, Guilford County Manager David McNeill assembled a team to help search for a deputy county manager. The group included county administrators such as Merle Green, director of public health, and Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen. That team also included Ben Brown, who was then a city administrator for Greensboro.

Then budget season came and derailed that hiring process. McNeill told the approximately 50 applicants that they could reapply in the fall. On the second go, Brown also applied and was hired from a field of 90 people.

Some might wonder if there was something fishy there. McNeill said the process that ended up in Brown's hire was above board.

"One could perhaps try to view it any way they want to," McNeill said, "and I can assure you that this panel looked at everything with the highest integrity in mind."

Brown, a long-time government administrator, was not on the second panel to recommend the deputy county manager choice. So it's not like Brown hired himself.

McNeill said that he made the call on Brown's hire.

Brown said that he chose to apply on a whim.

"It was a neat challenge at the time," Brown, a retired lieutenant colonel for the U.S. Army, said about applying for the position. "Being an old soldier, I've done a lot of different jobs and have been told to do a lot of different things."

Read it here.

I'm working on a preview for the Thursday meeting that will outline a bit about each bond deal. If you go or watch at home, then you'll have some detail on what each bond package would do.

Nothing about the upcoming public hearing should alter the fate of the bonds, but it is an official chance for the public to speak out ahead of the May 6 referenda.

Anyone planning to come out for the public hearing? Any pet bond projects in mind? Which ones do you think will pass, and why?

At the City Council meeting ...

The last council had this habit of meeting in small groups. Two or three members would get together with various department heads and talk about issues. Sounds great, except the council was able to circumvent open meeting laws that way. Those small groups weren't obligated to invite the public, so they didn't. Consequently, a lot of the people's business was discussed in private.

The new council hasn't done that since members were installed in December.

On Tuesday night, several council members - T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, Mayor Yvonne Johnson, Robbie Perkins and Goldie Wells - voted to return to the small group model. Perkins said it was helpful to hear from department heads and receive more detailed information about how the city is being run.

The vote failed. Here are the council members who opposed returning to small groups: Trudy Wade, Mike Barber, Sandra Anderson Groat, Zack Matheny and Mary Rakestraw.

Instead, the board will probably add another briefing session.

Click here to see the map the council approved last night. Starting June 30, some people will be in a new City Council district.

One item of note: Fisher Park moved from District 2 (Goldie Wells) to District 3 (Zack Matheny).

Voters: You can speak out Thursday night about items on the May 6 bond referendum. Guilford County commissioners will hold hearings on each proposal. Commissioners still need to approve final totals and could do that tonight. They could reduce the amounts but can’t add to them. But until it’s time to vote, this is your chance to be heard.

The details:

What: Guilford County commissioners meeting
When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Old Guilford County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St., Greensboro
On TV: Time Warner cable channel 13; cable channel 8 in High Point
On the Internet: www.co.guilford.nc.us/commissioners/granicus
The hearings: Proponents will speak first and will be allowed 20 minutes. Opponents then will speak, getting 20 minutes. Each side will be allowed three minutes in rebuttal.

Read on to learn more about each item:

The council approved new voting districts last night. Here's the new map.

And here's what former District 5 representative Sandy Carmany thinks about getting moved to District 4. I'll give you a clue: She ain't happy.

An alert reader sent me a heads up on this Associated Press story, which reviews the book "On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail."

Of note was the article's summary of Greensboro's own most famous civil rights site:

NORTH CAROLINA: The Woolworth's where the famed Greensboro sit-in took place no longer exists, but the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University campus has a statue of the four student protesters. Four seats from the original Woolworth's can be seen at the Greensboro Historical Museum. Part of the Woolworth's counter is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington.

In the AP story there's no mention of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, the project creating a visitors' space where the sit-ins actually happened. One might think that the building had been demolished or turned into a law firm or something.

Repoted delays in opening the center probably don't help matters, as far as getting into travel guides and such.

Still, is it fair to say the Woolworth's "no longer exists?" Is there anyone out there who has read the book who might share what else it says about our fair city?

Update: Linda Evans, at the Greensboro Historical Museum, passes on the following about a travel guide that doesn't leave Greensboro out:

Doesn’t change the problems with their entry, but thought you might be interested in learning about an alternative, A Traveler’s Guide to the Civil Rights Movement (2004) by Jim Carrier, which recognizes Greensboro and the Woolworth site in pages 83-86. Carrier gave a book talk at the Historical Museum in February 2004, and I think we’re still carrying copies of the book in our Museum Shop.

From Decision 2008:

Guilford County released figures this past week on what could happen to the property tax rate if all or some of the bonds passed in the May 6 primary. Check out the county release here.

Keep in mind that those figures consider the property tax rate impact in a world that asks only taxpayers to foot the bill for the bonds. Which could happen. Property taxes pay for more than half of the county's annual budget. Speaking of revenue, your May 6 ballot will include another decision on adding a quarter-cent sales tax that county officials estimate would generate more than $15 million in its first year.

The sales tax can't be designated for a use until (and if) it passes, but the tax could help pay for a good number of projects.