Boeing has blown off North Carolina, again. South Carolina still has a chance.

CEO Jim McNerney told Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call today that the company has narrowed its choices for a second 787 Dreamliner assembly plant to Charleston, S.C., and Everett, Wash. He expects to announce a decision in the next couple of weeks.

The N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston was cited as a competitor for the new plant in a report that Washington state officials used to lobby Boeing.

The Kinston park, about 90 miles southeast of Raleigh, also was in the running for a Boeing assembly plant earlier this decade, but lost to Washington.

It's not clear whether North Carolina was a legitimate contender this time, since state and local officials have kept quiet about any efforts to lure Boeing here, despite vocal lobbying in Washington state. But Gov. Bev Perdue and others repeatedly have said they want to expand this state's aerospace and aviation industries and attract new jobs.

Also today, Boeing reported a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss, one of the biggest in its history. The loss was partly because of delays in the 787 Dreamliner program.

We've got some very sad news to report.

A 6-year-old girl died today after she was struck by a vehicle. She had just gotten off a school bus shortly after 1:30 p.m.

The Green Elementary student was struck near the intersection of North Hills and Hillock drives in Raleigh by a vehicle driven by 83-year-old woman.

UPDATE

Click here for the online story. According to witnesses, the driver ignored the bus stop arm and flashing signals.

School officials are saying they'll have the bus routes for traditional-calendar schools online by tomorrow afternoon.

You should be able to find the bus routes by clicking here on Friday. School officials are cautioning that bus routes may go through many revisions between now and the end of September.

The routes are adjusted as Transportation responds to ongoing student registration, parent requests and ridership decisions. Click here to download the form for requesting a change to a bus stop.

Imagine being told you have to return to the academically struggling school you left and also having to change your year-round track.

As noted in today's article by Ray Martin, Joni Duell's two kids were sent back to Barwell Road Elementary School after having taking advantage of their options last year under No Child Left Behind to transfer to a more successful school.

It's a double whammy for Duell, whose children were on track 4 at East Garner Elementary. Instead of starting the new school year on July 27, they were given a track at Barwell that started July 7, forcing them to start classes three weeks earlier than planned.

The school board had a pretty busy day today.

The board elected Kevin Hill as the new chairman and agreed on a procedure for soliciting applicants to fill Rosa Gill's seat.

The board trimmed $3.3 million out of the budget after getting less than requested from commissioners.

CORRECTED LINK FOR BELL SCHEDULE STORY

It looks like parents aren't going to have quite as much flexibility as they would have hoped having their kids ride different buses in the afternoon.

Last month, the school board told staff to put in policy wording that officially says principals can allow students to ride on different buses. But at the urging of principals, board members asked staff to strip out the wording on Tuesday.

Here's the quick background:

Enloe High School's bell schedule will change again and it could impact other schools in the process.

While the details are still being finalized, Enloe is expected to add another 10 minutes to the school day for the 2009-10 school year. This comes on top of the 10 minutes that the school board had agreed to add to Enloe's day as part of the districtwide bell schedule changes for this fall.

The new Enloe change creates additional transportation challenges.

You can't say the school board isn't doing something to help parents with childcare for the upcoming school year.

As noted in today's article, the board told staff to make it easier for parents to request that their children be dropped off at different bus stops in the afternoon.

Currently, you're only supposed to be dropped off in the afternoon at the same stop where you were picked up in the morning. Exceptions are made for daycare centers and after-school centers that are along on your route.

The question of who has the longest bus rides was also on the minds of school board members on Tuesday.

As noted in today's article, staff stressed that voluntary magnet kids account for a majority of the longest bus rides in the district. But students who are bused for diversity also are in the group with the longest rides.

Bob Snidemiller, senior director for transportation, explained that the longest 5 percent of bus ride times have an average one-way ride of 64 minutes.

Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing company, is now at Duke.

The fleet consists of two Toyota Priuses and two Toyota Matrixes. They're parked at the West Campus Quad and in the surface lot near the Bryan center parking garage and cost $8 per hour or $66 a day. Fuel is included. Cars may be driven up to 180 miles per day (each additional mile is 45 cents).

To reserve a car, you must be 18 or older and use a debit or credit card to pay a $35 annual membership. Drivers 18-20 may drive only on campus.

UNC has had Zipcars since 2004, first for faculty and staff. Students began renting the cars in 2007.

Read more about the program here.