Leoneda Inge

It’s Tax Day and many people are hoping for tax refunds.  But will they save it or spend it?   The waiting room was full on Friday at the taxpayer assistance center at Northgate Mall in Durham. Tradell Adkins was there.

“Every year I try to say I’ll get it done around January, February, at the latest March.  But it always ends up being in April," says Adkins.

Leaders in Science and Math have created a scorecard to gauge how North Carolina moves forward in connecting a STEM education to new economy jobs.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  Sam Houston is president and CEO of the North Carolina Science, Math and Technology Education Center.  He says the scorecard measures the state against itself and how to better link education to the jobs of the future.

There is some positive news on the jobs front across North Carolina.  The latest unemployment numbers show a drop in the jobless rate in every corner of the state from Asheville to Wilmington. 

Several metropolitan areas with unemployment rates in the double digits saw their numbers drop by nearly a full point in February.  Those communities include Greenville, Rocky Mount and Greensboro-High Point.  A lot of the movement reflects normal seasonal patterns. 

It’s a booming year for the Durham food scene. In February, four of its restaurants became James Beard semi-finalists, and today Southern Living magazine declared Durham the “Tastiest Town in the South.”

Governor Pat McCrory and Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker will make an announcement Monday that will "reform and revise" the whole Commerce Department.  McCrory spoke Friday at an Executive Networking Conference in Pinehurst.  He told the minority business leaders and contractors that the state needs to treat businesses as customers, not adversaries.

There are so many Catholics in North Carolina these days, it’s hard to keep count.  Those who are keeping count say numbers have jumped 300 percent in a generation. The Diocese of Raleigh is growing so fast it plans to break ground on a 2,000-seat cathedral next year.  For now, if you plan on attending mass this Easter Sunday, you better get up early or you’ll likely be having service at an overflow site at the Clarion Hotel.  Or, you’ll just have to stand.

Collegiate entrepreneurs from schools like Pitt, Florida State, Clemson and NC State gathered in Raleigh Wednesday for a different kind of ‘March Madness.’  These business-minded students were not on a basketball court.  Instead, they were bouncing around a working prototype in hopes of winning a big check and a foot in the start-up world. 

The cold, damp weather so far this spring is causing problems for North Carolina farmers trying to get crops into the ground.  Farmers say they can deal with the rain because of the most recent drought, but the cold is a problem.

Roy Thagard is a Field Crop Agent at the Greene County Cooperative Extension Office.  He says farmers haven’t been able to get the soil weeded and prepared for planting corn and tobacco.  Thagard says the soil needs to be 55 to 60 degrees for plants to germinate or sprout.

A group of women looking for work participated in a special graduation ceremony this week in the Triangle.  They are clients in ‘Dress for Success.’ The non-profit provides women with interview suits and career-building tools to get them back into the world of work.  Businesses like Chinese computer maker Lenovo is a ‘Dress for Success’ partner.  They hosted this year’s ceremony.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has made an about face and is abandoning its controversial decision to add a bold pink stripe across the top of new driver licenses for young immigrants.  A news release issued Thursday afternoon by the state DOT confirms that the Division of Motor Vehicles will begin issuing driver licenses on Monday, March 25, 2013 for immigrants qualifying under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  But the attached ‘final’ image of the driver license no longer has the pink stripe or the words ‘No Lawful Status’ printed in large type.