This weekend, the Smithsonian Channel will rebroadcast their documentary examing the sit-ins at the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter in 1960.

The one-hour documentary, "Seizing Justice: The Greensboro 4," tells the story of the four college freshmen from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College -- Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, David Richmond and Ezell Blair, Jr. -- who led the nonviolent sit-in to make a statement that everyone should be served there. The sit-in wasn't the first of the Civil Rights Movement, but the simple actions of these four men sparked a series of events that would help put an end to the Jim Crow laws of the South.

The special airs on Saturday, February 4 at 9pm and Thursday, February 9 at 8pm. Smithsonian Channel is on Time Warner Cable digital channel 1264, DirecTV 565 and 1565, and AT&T U-Verse 118 and 1118.

If you don't have access to the Smithsonian channel, you can watch "Seizing Justice: The Greensboro 4" online at their website.

Honda Aircraft announced Monday that it plans to spend $20 million building a jet maintenance facility at its headquarters in Greensboro.

The company already operates a manufacturing facility at the Greensboro Triad Airport.

The Japanese automaker announced in 2007 that it would build a $100 million operation in Greensboro to produce its first jet plane. The same year the company said it would also build a $27 million facility in Burlington to produce the company’s first jet engine.

Those deals were expected to create 420 well-paying jobs -- 70 in Alamance County and 350 in Guilford County.

Honda was lured to North Carolina initially by state and local officials of more than $11 million if it met hiring and investment goals.

The company received a $1 million grant from the One North Carolina fund for this latest expansion.

James Madison University golfer Rich Leeper of Chapel Hill will be among the 152 entrants teeing off Thursday in the 51st North Carolina Amateur Championship in Greensboro.

Leeper was a four-time all-conference selection and team MVP at Carrboro High School. He'll be heading into his junior year at James Madison next season.

The N.C. Junior Amateur runs through Sunday at The Farm Course of the Greensboro Country Club. Leeper tees off at 12:54 p.m. Thursday for the opening round.

Greensboro favorite son Ryan Heisey, a 2010 graduate of UNCG, won the title a year ago at Wilson Country Club with an all-time tournament record score of 11-under-par 269. That included a last-round 64.

Heisey and 2010 runnerup Sherrill Britt of West End, a former Carolinas PGA professional, are expected back this year, as are 2009 winner Mark McMillen of Smithfield and 2008 winner Jack Fields of Southern Pines, who lettered in golf at Carolina.

A total of 472 golfers with handicap indexes of 5.4 or less submitted entries for this year's Amateur. Leeper, like most in the field, qualified at one of the six one-day tournaments held around the state in late May and early June. The field will be cut to the low 60 scorers and ties after 36 holes.

The N.C. Amateur's 72-hole, stroke play competition was last played on Greensboro CC's Farm Course in 1982. Originally designed by Ellis Maples, the course underwent a dramatic transformation when Scottish architect Donald Steel completed a $6 million reconstruction in 2010, notes the CGA. Steel built five entirely new holes and did significant work on the remaining 13, including changes in routing and elevation. The old greens were replaced and now sport A1/A4 bentgrass, while the fairways and tees are now composed of zoysia grass instead of the customary Bermuda grass.

Steel's work produced a couple of honors in 2010. The course was named Best New Course in the state by members of the North Carolina Golf Panel and was named "Renovation of the Year" by Golf Magazine.

 The par-72 layout will play at approximately 7,223 yards for the N.C. Amateur.

American Express plans to close a customer service center in Greensboro, cutting hundreds of jobs and dealing a blow to the Triad's economy.

The credit card company announced this morning that work handled from the Greensboro facility will be shifted to other locations in the U.S. The cost-cutting effort also will transfer some work from a service center in Madrid to sites in the U.K. and Australia.

In an e-mail to community leaders, American Express stated it has about 1,900 employees in Greensboro, the Greensboro News & Record reports. The company estimates that 400 employees will remain in North Carolina, working at home or virtually, after the service center closes. The other employees will be offered jobs at one of the company's other U.S. facilities.

GREENSBORO — N.C. State couldn't buy a free throw. Elon couldn't miss a 3-pointer.

That combination left the Wolfpack in a 10-point hole twice in the first half of Wednesday's game at the Greensboro Coliseum. Just when N.C. State's dress rehearsal for the ACC tournament was about to turn into a disaster, Tracy Smith and Scott Wood made sure the Wolfpack left the Coliseum with a 87-72 win.

Smith scored 15 points, all but four in the second half, and Wood found the range for 13 points, 11 in the second half, to put away the determined Phoenix (6-8).

GREENSBORO - The horde of cameramen surrounding Mike Krzyzewski as he walked onto the court would have seemed more appropriate for a visiting head of state than a basketball coach.

But Krzyzewski was about to surpass one of the most sacred numbers in a sport that’s approached with religious fervor in North Carolina. Everything else took a back seat Wednesday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The game was never in doubt because top-ranked Duke and Krzyzewski entered the game undefeated, while UNC Greensboro was winless in 11 games. So all eyes were on Krzyzewski as he won his 880th game to move past former North Carolina coach Dean Smith into second place on Division I career coaching victory list.

Winless Greensboro Grimsley turned over the ball six times — including twice on kickoffs — to set up Jordan for the Falcons’ second straight win, 18-13 Friday night over the visiting Whirlies. UNC signee T.J. Thorpe caught 11 passes for 141 yards, including TDs of 30 and 6 yards.
Sam Selig’s 8-yard pass to Josh Williams gave Jordan (3-1) a 12-0 lead going into halftime.
Grimsley (0-4) managed to claw back within a touchdown twice on touchdown passes from Jake Simpson to Treyvon Woods (11 yards) in the third quarter and Tuquis Turner (25 yards) in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons (3-1) closed the deal on Selig’s 6-yard pass to Thorpe early in the fourth quarter.
Grimsley never got closer to the end zone after that than the Jordan 43.

Will Almand of Cary tied for first place with Greensboro's Jordan Utley on Tuesday in leading the Triangle's contingent of qualifiers for the inaugural N.C. Amateur Match Play Championship, which will be played Aug. 4-8 at the Country Club of Salisbury.

Almand and Utley each shot a 4-under-par 68 in the sectional qualifying event conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association at the Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro. (Complete results below.)

American Express, which has determined that Greensboro is the best location for the financial services firm's new data center, will not pursue any local or state incentives as part of the project.

Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, said in an e-mail that he could provide no other details about the project other than that American Express' site analysis had concluded that Greensboro is the best location and that incentives weren't on the table.

American Express officials declined to comment, but late yesterday Gov. Beverly Perdue issued a statement praising the company's decision.

"I spoke recently to the American Express CEO, during the company’s final decision-making process, and emphasized North Carolina’s outstanding workforce and business-friendly environment," Perdue's statement said. "We clearly made a compelling case to land this important project, bolstering our already-strong reputation as an excellent location for data centers, which bring sustainable jobs and significant investment.

American Express has about 2,000 employees in the state and operates a service center in Greensboro.

Lauren Herring of Greenville found success, but it was a tough day for Triangle tennis players on Monday in California.

Herring, seeded ninth in the girls 18s singles, advanced to the round
of 32 at the 43rd annual Easter Bowl Spring Nationals tournament in
Rancho Mirage, Calif., defeating Kelly Chui of Milpitas, Calif., 6-1,
6-4, at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort, according to an event news
release.

Raleigh's Will Baird didn't fare as well as Herring on Monday.