State News
Email
Print
State and Local Briefs: N.C. 4th laziest state in nation, U.S. study says
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 29, 2010
Updated: 07/29/2010 12:20 am
N.C. 4th laziest state in nation, U.S. study says
North Carolina is the fourth-laziest state in the country, according to a businessweek.com study based on data from a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The study compared the amount of leisure time people spent on such activities as watching TV or sleeping to the amount of time spent doing active things such as exercising or playing sports. Data was collected from 2004 to 2008.
North Carolina residents spent 2 hours and 55 minutes on average watching TV -- the same amount of time on average that they spent working -- according to the study. Residents also spent 24 minutes on average relaxing and thinking and 8 hours and 34 minutes sleeping, the study said.
Only Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas ranked higher for laziness.
Although obesity rates were not factored into the data, the study also cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stating that North Carolina's obesity rate was the tenth-highest in the nation, tied with Michigan, and that one-fourth of survey respondents had not exercised in the past month. -- Sarah Morayati
Targacept expands to take over second floor of building at park
The growth spurt of Targacept Inc. now includes requiring more space at its headquarters building of One Technology Place in Piedmont Triad Research Park.
The company, which has about 130 employees, is taking over the second floor of the building. It expects to be the sole tenant in the building by year's end, said Alan Musso, its senior vice president of finance and administration.
Wake Forest University Health Sciences is vacating the floor and moving those operations to the nearby Wachovia Center, taking an 18,313 square foot space there.
Targacept's expansion is fueled in large part by research breakthroughs of the past year. In June, it began a global Phase 3 clinical program for developing its TC-5214 compound, its most promising research, in partnership with AstraZeneca PLC. The compound targets major, or chronic, depressive disorder as an add-on option to existing drugs.
In December, Targacept signed a potential $1.24 billion licensing agreement with AstraZeneca. -- Richard Craver
Art-o-mat vending machine now in Smithsonian American Art Museum
An Art-o-mat vending machine is now in the Smithsonian.
On July 23, a vending machine was placed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the first museum in the Washington area to be host to one of the machines, according to Art-o-mat founder Clark Whittington.
Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette-vending machines that have been converted to dispense small pieces of artwork. There are 90 machines in use around the world. Art-o-mat originated in Winston-Salem in 1997. -- Tim Clodfelter
Obama nominates judge to replace Wagoner as U.S. attorney in N.C.
RALEIGH -- President Obama has nominated a judge and son of a former state senator to serve as U.S. attorney for the middle district of North Carolina.
The White House said in a news release yesterday that Ripley Rand was nominated to replace Anna Mills Wagoner. Rand was one of several people recommended for the post by U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan.
Rand has served as a superior-court judge since 2002. Before that, he was an assistant district attorney in Wake County from 1997 to 2002 and in Cumberland County in 1997.
He graduated from the UNC Chapel Hill Law School in 1995, Rand was a research assistant to former N.C. Chief Justice Burley Mitchell.
He is the son of former Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, who resigned Dec. 31 to lead the state parole commission. -- AP
About 400 Fort Bragg soldiers parachute at Chaplain Corps party
FORT BRAGG -- A North Carolina Army base celebrated the Army Chaplain Corps' 235th birthday with a commemorative parachute-jump yesterday.
About 400 Fort Bragg soldiers, including chaplains from many of the airborne units based at the post, took part in the celebratory exercise.
The Army's website says it has more than 2,700 chaplains representing more than 130 different religious organizations. More than 700 are mobilized or deployed. -- AP
Email
Print
