Reign supreme
 High Point Christian Academy’s Lady Cougars finish
the season atop the the N&R girls’ basketball rankings SPORTS, B1

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

greensboro.com

City earns accolades for hosting sports events
RICHARD CRAVER

Staﬀ Reporter

As the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments areset for tipoﬀ this week, Greensboro has gained its own national
sports ranking.
Sports Business Journal has
selected Greensboro as the nation’s No. 2 city for attracting andhosting sporting events that’s not
the home of a major professionalteam in the top-ﬁve leagues —Major League Baseball, Major
League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Football League and National HockeyLeague.
Fort Worth, Texas, was aheadof Greensboro, with Birmingham,Ala., Louisville, Ky., and Palm
Beach County, Fla., rounding out
the rest of the top ﬁve.
Part of the criteria was cities
having their own convention
space, sports venues and dedi-

cated sports commission/Convention and Visitors Bureau staﬀ
as standalone markets.
“This recognition underscores
our city’s unparalleled dedication
to hosting world-class events andshowcases our ability to thrive inthe sports industry,” said Henri
Fourrier, president and chief executive of Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The ranking was part of thepublication’s second annual BestSports Business Cities, which isfocused on the cities “that havebeen the most successful at attracting and hosting sporting
events.” In the overall ranking,Orlando, Fla., is tops, followedby Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta
and Indianapolis in the top ﬁve.
“The comprehensive methodology involved weighing eachcity’s contributions, from newvenue constructions to the diverse array of hosted events,”

said Abe Madkour, publisher andexecutive editor at SBJ. “The result of this year’s list is not justa ranking, but a testament to thededication, competition and dynamism within the sports traveland tourism sector. This list is areﬂection of the cities that havetruly embraced and excelled in thepeople-based industry of hosting
remarkable sporting events.”
Please see SPORTS, Page A4Cone, A&T
confirm$32M project‘Significant economic
and medical milestone’for east Greensboro
RICHARD CRAVER

Staff Reporter

Cone Health and the N.C.
A&T Real Estate Foundation confirmed Monday theirpartnership on a $32 million
mixed-use development in east
Greensboro branded as The Resurgent.
The development, which
will begin its first phase in late
April, is being focused on revitalizing the area around East
Market Street near Benbow
Road, across from N.C A&T
and close to U.S. 29. It features
a 54,000-square-foot building.
The ownership stake will be
60% the N.C. A&T foundationand 40% Cone.
The groups said the project“marks a significant economic
and medical milestone for theregion.”
Please see CONE, Page A4

Nonprofitannounces
data breachWOODY MARSHALL, NEWS & RECORD

Margaret Gertrude Beal holds letters from Karen Smith, her childhood pen pal from New Zealand, at her home in Greensboro
on Feb. 29. The two, who lost touch for decades, met face-to-face for the first time when Gertrude visited New Zealand inJanuary.

Pen pals finally meet
— 58 years later

KarenSmith(left) andGertrude
Beal
becamepen pals in
the 1960s
whenstudents
from anAmericanFriends
school inGreensboro
werematchedwith penpals froma Friends
schoolin NewZealand.

‘We found so much in common as old ladies
that it really had a touch of the divine about it’
NANCY MCLAUGHLIN

Staﬀ Reporter

GREENSBORO — In 1966,
they were on opposite sides ofthe globe but would soon sharea curiosity through pen and paper about men landing on themoon, the movie “To Sir, withLove,” music from the Monkees
and the Beatles, and everything
Twiggy, that cultural icon.
It would take 58 years forthe two pen pals connected byFriends (Quaker) schools inGreensboro and New Zealand

to meet. It would take Margaret Gertrude Beal joining a tour
to New Zealand to ﬁnally embrace Karen Smith, the bearerof secrets and laugh-out-loudthoughts.
The two were pen pals becauseof one of Gertrude’s teachers,
who had a connection to Karen’s Quaker boarding school in
Wanganui, and thought it would
be a great idea for the students
to write to each other. And KarenNEWS, A7

$3.00

•

RICHARD CRAVER

Staﬀ Reporter

The Center for Creative
Leadership said Monday that adata breach in August may havecaused the release of personal
information, including Social
Security numbers, medical andbank account numbers, that may
aﬀect employees, customers,
grant participants and contractors.
The Greensboro nonproﬁtgroup is the latest in a series ofTriad companies to have experienced a data breach.

COURTESY OFMARGARETGERTRUDE
BEAL

Please see PEN PALS, Page A4

Trump’s lawyers say he can’t post abond covering his $454 million fraud
judgment while he appeals.

Center for Creative
Leadership says it
was targeted in August

Please see CCL, Page A4

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/newsandrecord/Newsandrecord• Volume 134, Issue 79 • A Lee Enterprises Newspaper • Copyright 2024 Follow us online:/greensboronewsandrecord