Most Triangle voters are still willing to pay a half-penny sales tax for better bus and rail transit service – but support for the transit tax in Wake County has weakened – according the third yearly poll commissioned by a pro-transit business lobby.

The yes vote was 57 percent for Wake, Durham and Orange counties combined. That’s down from 58 percent in 2010 but still higher than the 53 percent yes vote in 2009.

It probably didn’t hurt, from the standpoint of transit boosters, that gas prices were soaring above $3.50 a gallon as Ohio-based Fallon Research quizzed 904 registered voters between March 6 and March 9.

When the specter of even higher pump prices was raised, 23 percent of poll respondents said $4 gas would make them more likely to favor a transit tax. And 31 percent said the same for – eek! – $5 gas.

The poll was commissioned by the Regional Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit Triangle business group, which lobbies for transit and other transportation improvements. ... [MORE]

Corporate financial executives remain largely pessimistic about the nation's economic health, according to a quarterly survey out this morning.

About a third of Certified Public Accountant executives do not expect their businesses to return to pre-recession levels until after 2012. Only 4 percent expect conditions will rebound that much this year, reports the survey of 998 corporate CPAs by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Thirty-eight percent were pessimistic about the economy, down slightly from 40 percent in October. A quarter were optimistic.

There were a few positive signs. CPAs' optimism about their own companies continues to improve, with 48 percent expecting their organizations to expand, up from 45 percent in the previous quarter.

North Carolina has opened the preseason at No. 20 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, which was released this morning.

The Tar Heels are one of four ACC teams ranked in the top 25, three of which are from the Coastal Division. Virginia Tech (No. 7) and Georgia Tech (No. 15) also are ranked in the Coastal.
Florida State (No. 19) is the only team ranked from the Atlantic Division. Defending national champion Florida is No. 1, followed by Texas, Oklahoma, Southern California and Alabama.
The top three schools all return 2008 Heisman finalists at quarterback (Tim Tebow of Florida, Colt McCoy of Texas and 2008 winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma).

Here’s the entire poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and total points.