EDITORIAL: Editorial Shorts

See ya, Durham. We've got you beat, too, Baton Rouge. Once again, the city of Winston-Salem has successfully challenged a U.S. Census estimate of its population. Of course, this is about much more than bragging rights; it's about getting our fair share of federal dollars for programs. We applaud Winston-Salem's effort, waged in large part by the city's seemingly mild-mannered planning director, Paul Norby.

The Twin City has leapfrogged past Durham again and taken its rightful place as North Carolina's fourth largest city, behind Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro. Winston-Salem is also the nation's 84th largest city.

It's not easy challenging a government bureaucracy as large as the Census Bureau. But Winston-Salem officials have done it successfully twice. The census estimated the city's population at 215,348 as of July 1, 2007. City officials appealed the figure, and the bureau adjusted the number to 223,532.

But the Census Bureau's 2008 estimate was for about 6,000 fewer people. Mayor Allen Joines and City Manager Lee Garrity again turned to Norby. "Our planning department has very good data that clearly shows the city's population," Garrity told the Journal's John Hinton.

Indeed. The Census Bureau said this week that Winston-Salem had an estimated population of 227,834 people in 2008.

The revised estimate is important because the federal government bases community development block grants and other allocations on population. "Over a 10-year period, it (the revised estimate) could means millions of dollars," Joines said.

The new figure is still 528 fewer than the state demographer's estimate, Norby said. Joines said the city is satisfied with the new estimate and is focused on making sure the city gets an accurate count in the 2010 Census.

Maybe the Census Bureau will get the count right the first time for a change.

Pace's downfall

You can't blame the employees of Pace Airlines, once the largest tenant at Smith Reynolds Airport, for wanting to believe in William Rodgers Sr., the man who bought their company last June.

He talked about free health insurance for all employees of the charter airline and repair service. He also talked of job creation, plant expansion, honor and mutual respect, Richard Craver reported in a two-part series this week in the Journal.

"We all loved this company through all its problems," Scott Michael, who worked at Pace, said. "So when this guy tells you he's going to straighten the company, that he recognizes you've been mistreated, ears perked up for some people. Some of us, though, thought he had a Jesus complex."

Any hope can seem worth clinging to in these economic times. Jobs are few and far between.

But Rodgers turned out to be the antithesis of a savior for the company. Just a few months after he bought it, he's facing at least one felony charge of willful failure to pay group health-insurance premiums. He's also being investigated for nonpayment of wages.

The Forsyth County Airport Commission is forcing the company, which is way behind in lease payments, to vacate.

Stuart Carnie, an executive with Pace, and Rodgers insist that Pace will fly again. This time, employees aren't buying it. But they face a long, hard fight to recoup their pay and benefits, with no guarantee of success.

Eye of the beholder

Now that police have removed two works that were part of a public-art series and returned them to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, we could be in for a lively discussion about public art. One lesson seems clear: An artist should know his or her audience.

The pieces that were removed were a life-size sculpture of a woman atop a billboard at the corner of Eighth and Trade streets and a lifelike form in a bag that was placed in a tree at Reynolda House.

Some people probably loved these works by respected artist Mark Jenkins. Other didn't. In both instances, citizens who thought they were looking at human bodies called police.

Thought-provoking art has its place. Public disruption does not. Jenkins has plenty of other strong works that would not have led passersby to call 911.

The rest of SECCA's exhibits in this series haven't elicited that response.

We need more public art, but we've got enough crime scenes.