A kindergarten student was left behind on a school bus Monday morning and wasn't found until after the bus was parked in a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school's lot.

The student attends Oaklawn Language Academy in north Charlotte.

Another CMS employee found the child on the bus in the transportation lot after the driver parked, and a supervisor drove the child back to Oaklawn. An assistant principal at the school then called the child's mother.

The bus driver, whose identity has not been released, is suspended with pay while the district investigates.

CMS transportation officials are also looking into ways to keep this from happening again, the school system said.-- Ely Portillo

Meck briefs

UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phillip Dubois has signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment, making the school one of 16 N.C. schools to agree to the pledge of action.

UNCC becomes one of 650 U.S. colleges and universities to pledge that they will neutralize their greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate research and educational efforts on climate change. Nearly 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend the school.

As a first step, Dubois has named a sustainability committee to monitor progress toward meeting its climate pledge. The university has also created a fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles, launched a shared parking permit program to encourage car pooling and expanded a campus recycling program that collects one-third of all waste. -- Bruce Henderson

Mecklenburg County officials say they will receive federal stimulus money to build a greenway in the University City area.

County leaders and UNCC officials say $1.25 million from the American Rescue and Recovery Act will be used to build the Toby Creek Greenway, a two-mile trail that will wind from University City Boulevard near W.T. Harris Boulevard through the UNC Charlotte campus to the Mallard Creek Greenway near North Tryon Street.

Construction is expected to begin this year and take about a year to complete.

When the trail is finished, students, faculty and staff at UNCC will be able to walk, jog or ride bicycles from the campus to shops and residential neighborhoods.

The Toby Creek Greenway will expand the Mallard Creek-Clark's Creek Greenway system to seven miles in north Charlotte.

Nearly all of the Toby Creek Greenway will be on UNCC property. -- Steve Lyttle

Davidson

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will speak at Davidson College on Monday as the college celebrates its new Vann Center for Ethics.

A leading athletics reformer, Goodell will offer brief remarks at 7 p.m. and then take questions in a discussion in Duke Family Performance Hall.

David Perry, director of the Vann Center for Ethics, will moderate the event.

The dedication ceremony will be at 4 p.m. Monday outside the Vann Center for Ethics, in Eumenean Hall.

Free tickets are required for Goodell's presentation. Tickets are limited to two per person and may be picked up at the Alvarez College Union Ticket Office between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. -- Staff reports

Regional briefs

Democrats in the N.C. Senate are wasting no time choosing a new majority leader.

A spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight said Thursday the Senate Democratic Caucus will meet Tuesday to elect a successor to Tony Rand.

Rand announced last week he is leaving the legislature by year's end to head the state parole commission.

The leading candidate to become Basnight's top lieutenant appears to be Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County. Basnight endorsed Nesbitt in a letter last week.

Rand said Thursday he will neither get involved in the election nor vote on his successor, even though he's still officially a senator.

The brunt of the majority leader's work begins when the legislature reconvenes in May. -- Associated Press

The health insurance plan for N.C. state employees is still paying out more claims than budgeted for the first three months of the fiscal year.

Lawmakers received State Health Plan data Thursday showing paid medical claims are 4 percent higher than expected through Sept. 30.

Plan leaders attribute higher payouts to patients going to the doctor before higher payment schedules took effect July 1. Chief financial officer Mona Moon said she's waiting for more figures to determine whether expense levels will come down. -- Associated Press

Spring Lake

Prosecutors in Harnett County plan to seek the death penalty against an N.C. woman accused of killing her 11-month-old daughter and hiding her body in an attic.

WRAL-TV reported that 27-year-old Johni Michelle Heuser of Lillington will face the death penalty if she is convicted in the 2007 death of Harmony Jade Creech. -- Associated Press

Wilmington

Gov. Bev Perdue has signed an executive order that keeps the North Carolina Film Council in business.

Perdue signed the order reauthorizing the council Thursday at EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington. This year, she signed a bill allowing production companies a 25 percent tax credit for film projects in North Carolina, up from 15 percent.

The order adds duties for council members, including assisting in developing a marketing strategy for the film office.

The governor appoints members of the film council, which is made up of film industry professionals, business leaders and citizens. The council advises and offers guidance in the interest of the state's film industry. -- Associated Press

South Carolina

You might say a yacht owned by a well-known S.C. attorney is, if not one in a million, surely one in 10,000.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Thursday that attorney Ron Motley has been sent a tax bill of more than $395,000 from Charleston County for personal property taxes on his 156-foot yacht, the Themis. The county auditor's office appraised the vessel at $15 million.

That tax bill is more than the combined taxes paid on the 10,500 least expensive boats in Charleston County.

The Themis has a master stateroom, four guest cabins and a six-person hot tub.

The Motley Rice firm is one of the nation's largest plaintiffs' litigation firms and has sued big tobacco. It also has sued on behalf of asbestos victims and the families of 9-11 victims. -- Associated Press

Police digest

Memo to would-be robbers: Don't try to hold up a guy who has a lot of tough friends.

That was the apparent mistake made overnight by two men in northeast Charlotte. Police say an attempted robbery didn't go well for the men, who became involved in a big brawl.

According to police, it happened shortly before 2 a.m. at a residence in the 7100 block of Albemarle Road.

Police say they were called to deal with a large fight.

When they arrived, they determined that the victim of the attempted robbery apparently called on friends to help him. The two sides got into a fight, and after police interviewed the victim and witnesses, they arrested two men on robbery charges.

No serious injuries were reported. -- Steve Lyttle

Police are looking for at least one man in connection with a bank robbery late Thursday morning in Charlotte's Hickory Grove community.

According to police reports, the BB&T bank branch on Hickory Grove Road at East W.T. Harris Boulevard was robbed around 11:30 a.m. Initial reports are that one gunman was involved.

No description of the man has been released, and it is unclear if the person who allegedly robbed the bank ran or drove from the scene. -- Steve Lyttle

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