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Mack bulldog's new home

For four decades, the Mack Trucks golden bulldog statue greeted employees and visitors to the company's Allentown, Pa., headquarters.

Now, he can make new friends in Greensboro.

As part of a corporate reorganization, Volvo Trucks North America is moving its Mack subsidiary, the statue and some 600 jobs here. Many of those will be filled by relocating Mack families.

A company official said he couldn't imagine Mack World Headquarters without the bulldog poised in front of it. However, that feeling wasn't shared by everyone in Allentown. The mayor and some residents lobbied unsuccessfully for it be placed in the city's transportation museum.

That would have been nice, but they can rest assured the golden bulldog and its masters will like calling North Carolina home.

Another dog tale

Fido may no longer be welcome while owners dine at outside restaurants in Wake County.

Food safety officials there say the practice is banned under admittedly confusing state rules, although outside doggie guests have been allowed for years. Irate proprietors warn they're barking up the wrong tree and a dogfight likely will follow.

Angry dog owners maintain that pets relaxing under an outdoor table don't pose an environmental or safety risk. Passersby, they add, can be a bigger annoyance.

Outside seems harmless enough, but allowing pets inside eating establishments where food is being prepared -- other than service dogs -- is another matter altogether. Never mind that it happens in big cities like Chicago.

Just like with children, good restaurant manners must prevail. A bratty kid or yapping dog can spoil a night out for everyone within earshot.

On the road again?

Looks like former Guilford County Schools Superintendent Terry Grier may be headed from San Diego to Houston.

After 18 difficult months of locking horns with a stubborn school board and militant teachers' unions in California, Grier has been tapped to lead the larger but equally troubled Houston Independent School District at a reported $400,000 annually.

However, under a quirk in Texas law, the deal can't be finalized for several weeks and there's a move afoot by some of his boosters in San Diego to keep him.

Grier has rarely lingered in one place. Since 1984, he's headed eight school districts in six states. Despite the chorus to "get Terry Grier outta here," his eight-year Guilford County sojourn was one of the longest.

Grier's critics have charged that too often "it's his way or the highway." Again, it looks like he's the one leaving town.

A dangerous occupation

A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists driving a taxi as the nation's riskiest job.

That was borne out last week with the senseless murder of United Yellow Taxi driver Joseph Adeyanju Adefolalu, 54, in an apparent attempted robbery on North Raleigh Street.

Police said he crashed his cab after being shot by an unknown assailant and was later pronounced dead at Moses Cone Hospital.

Earlier in the week, another cab driver was robbed in the 2100 block of Textile Drive.

Driving a taxi can mean long hours, low pay and dealing with uncooperative or dangerous riders.

But for many immigrants, it's a first step toward achieving the American dream.

Adefolalu, a native of Nigeria, drove part-time while pursuing a writing career. He also was an ordained deacon in his church, where he found time to volunteer.

While Plexiglas security shields isolating passengers help, drivers are exposed to a multitude of dangers, especially at night.

Perhaps the best deterrent is to vigorously pursue those who commit such a heinous crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.