* State Rep. Mary McAllister pays $16,294 fine for accepting prohibited contributions and paying herself for loans she never made to her campaign. (Fay-O)
* Campaign finance activist Joe Sinsheimer says the legislature's Joint Ethics Committee shouldn't have agreed to wait to act while prosecutors investigate Rep. Thomas Wright. (WS-N)
* John Edwards calls for limiting the role for private security contractors like Blackwater in Iraq, says their high pay "damages troop morale." (Boston Globe)
* Gov. Mike Easley sends letter to North Carolina's Congressional delegation, asking them to consider voting for a veto override on the SCHIP bill. (W-SJ)

