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Piedmont Triad International Airport Will Change Name; Focus On Location
Piedmont Triad International Airport will get a new name. Airport officials say the rebranding to Central North Carolina International Airport may help with economic development efforts.
The Airport Authority voted for the renaming after months of discussion. It's part of a plan to retool not only its marketing approach, but its physical infrastructure as well.
The new name focuses on location - Central North Carolina. Authority members say they're primed to compete in a global marketplace, citing thousands of acres of land at their disposal, and the surrounding highway system.
The airport has been working to be more competitive. They've added a taxiway bridge and new restaurants in the terminals.
Greensboro OK's Parking Garage Funding
The Greensboro City Council approved the funding of two new parking garages at a marathon meeting Tuesday, despite some major protest from the public.
The garages are tied to other downtown developments. But they'll be built with tens of millions of dollars in bond money that the city will have to pay back.
Council also voted last night to claim space for one garage near Cone Denim Entertainment Center through eminent domain.
While both sides say compromise is possible, the venue's owners have threatened a lawsuit.
Environmentalists Settle Complaint Of Lax Pollution Fighting
North Carolina's environmental agency is revising internal policies after complaints the agency under former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory repeatedly failed to investigate when industrial-scale hog farms violated anti-pollution rules.
The Waterkeeper Alliance and other groups said Tuesday they're settling their complaint with the state Department of Environmental Quality.
The groups launched an administrative process a year ago to force DEQ to live up to its obligations and investigate complaints that swine growers violated pollution rules governing the spraying of hog waste on their fields. Since then, McCrory's agency heads were replaced by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Chinese Tire Maker Picks North Carolina Site For Major Plant
A Chinese tire maker is moving more aggressively into the U.S. market with plans for a North Carolina factory that will ultimately employ 800 people and produce six million tires a year.
A state committee on Tuesday approved tax breaks to coax Triangle Tire to rural Edgecombe County, about 65 miles east of Raleigh. It will be the first U.S. plant for Weihai, China-based maker of tires for passenger vehicles, trucks, buses and heavy equipment.
Triangle Tire could receive up to $152 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and other incentives if it meets hiring targets.
Last 2 Teenagers Sentenced For Beating Homeless Man
The last two of five teenagers charged in the January beating of a homeless man in Winston-Salem have been sentenced.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports the boys were sentenced Tuesday to 14 days in a juvenile detention center and a year's probation. Each was charged with assault inflicting serious bodily injury, felony conspiracy to commit assault and common-law robbery in the beating of Bill Bloxham, who was hospitalized for 12 weeks.
The now-15-year-old entered an Alford plea, acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convict, without admitting guilt. The now-16-year-old pleaded guilty.
The 60-year-old Bloxham was found dead of what prosecutors said were natural causes on Oct. 31.