Just before midnight Wednesday, the House adjourned. Republican leaders saved a number of controversial measures for the end with a measure to reject Sharia law as the grand finale of the night. The lawmakers spent about 10 hours on the floor. Most bills were approved, such as an ALEC-drawn measure to exempt food companies from liability lawsuits, nga bill asserting religious freedom and another to require health insurers to cover autism. Two bills were shot down: a bill to create a new kind of corporations and a bill to grant local law enforcement officers whistleblower protections. (See a more detailed roundup in the morning.

The House returns at 11:30 a.m. to consider the final measures in crossover week and thankfully, it won't be too long of a day, leaders said. But it does start early with appropriatiosn and finance committee meetings.

Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday tried to fight legislation backed by Gov. Pat McCrory to curb civil service protections for state employees -- a day after they missed the bill on the calendar and inadvertently voted to give it preliminary approval.

House Bill 834 received a 110-5 vote Tuesday. But Democrats mounted an effort to amend the measure Wednesday, trying to limit the number of political appointments the governor's office can make for state positions and add protections for workers who are cut under a reorganization plan.

All three failed. But the final vote to approve the bill was much closer at 74-40. A Democratic lawmaker said caucus members didn't realize what the bill did when they voted for it a day earlier.

A bill allowing private employers to refuse to cover contraception in their health insurance plans and to place new restrictions on abortions cleared a House committee Wednesday morning and is headed for a vote of the full chamber.

The legislation would also prohibit coverage for abortions in the new state health insurance exchange that is part of the federal Affordable Care Act, and through the plans cities and counties offer their workers. It also says any health-care provider can refuse to participate in abortions; current law protects doctors and nurses.

The bill is off to a rocky start, as Republicans in a House judiciary committee were not unified in supporting it. Rep. Bob Steinburg, a freshman Republican from Edenton who described himself as a hardcore abortion opponent, said he would only support the bill if the prohibition on contraception coverage was removed.

A state Senate panel approved a bill Wednesday that would allow Boards of Commissioners in nine counties, including Wake, to take away from their local school boards their authority to build and own schools.

Senate Bill 236 would allow boards of commissioners in those counties to take over all facets of school construction, including the locating, constructing, owning, maintaining, renovating and building of schools. These responsibilities have traditionally been held by school systems.

In the counties that take advantage of the legislation, the bill would leave school boards only the ability to advise commissioners on school construction.

A state auditor's investigation into a Durham Technical Community College employee working a private business on the state's dime led to the employee's firing, a report released Wednesday revealed.

The investigation began with a call to the auditor's fraud hotline describing an assistant registrar at the college's Center of the Global Learner who ran a bird supply store and sold Amway products during business hours.

Democratic State Rep. Marcus Brandon made his intentions to seek Congressman Mel Watt's 12th District seat official, according to Federal Election Commission documents made public this week.

Watt is President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Federal Housing Finance Administration. If confirmed, a Democratic frenzy is expected in the race to replace him.

A campaign treasurer for Brandon, a High Point political consultant, filed papers May 1, the day the president announced Watt's appointment, to create the Marcus Brandon for Congress political committee, the first step needed to raise money for a potential bid.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: As the final two days of the self-imposed crossover deadline begin, it's crunch time. You can tell from the lobbyists working the halls, either trying to get a bill to move or asking committee chairman to "pray on it" for a little while longer. And the controversial bills are coming the surface. A House committee will consider a bill to extend "protections of conscience" to more medical professionals and cover more things, such as providing contraception. In the same committee, another measure dubbed the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" is sure to recall attempts earlier this session to declare the state's ability to establish an official religion.

The full House - which convenes near 2 p.m. -- will also consider a bill to soften rules on where local governments must post public notices. A controversial amendment would tell newspapers how much they could charge for such advertisements. The Senate this afternoon will consider measures to amend environmental regulations and repeal local smoking bans. Gov. Pat McCrory is spending another day in New Orleans at a Republican Governor's Association event.

WOS ROADSHOW CONTINUES: A week after a major gaffe by Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos, her statewide tour to tout Medicaid reforms continues. She visits Durham on Wednesday where she will encounter members of the Medical Professionals for Expanded Health Access who expect to question her about the state's decision to reject a Medicaid expansion. Wos blamed Democratic Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin for the decision -- even though it was ultimately made by her boss, Gov. Pat McCrory. The event starts at 4 p.m.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo -- a roundup of North Carolina political news and notes. Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com.***

Attorney General Roy Cooper issued a statement Tuesday hailing the passage in the House of a bill that would allow prosecutors to use investigative grand juries.

“This is an important step in our fight against public corruption,” Cooper said in a statement his office released. “Investigative grand juries are a critical tool that can help uncover the truth and assure that wrongdoing by public officials will be prosecuted.”

HB908 would allow it in cases of public corruption and complex financial crimes. A three-judge panel would have to grant permission.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens Tuesday afternoon issued a temporary restraining order preventing the City of Asheville's water system from being transferred to a regional water system.

The City of Asheville had sued the state, after the Republican-led legislature had passed a bill transferring the city's water system. GOP Gov. Pat McCrory said he would let the bill become law without signing it.

The judge said he would hold a hearing on the preliminary injunction within 10 days. The transfer of the water system was to have taken place Wednesday.

Sen. Kay Hagan sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asking for a report on the steps he has taken to implement new laws to prevent combat sexual assault in the military.

Hagan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she received assurances from Hagel during his confirmation process that he would take steps to reduce the incidents of assault.

“We must take swift and meaningful action to address the military sexual assault crisis, and the National Defense Authorization Act directives passed by Congress last year are a good start,” Hagan said.

“Sexual assault cannot be accepted as part of the military culture, we owe it to our servicemen and women to ensure they don't have to worry about their personal safety,” she said

The provisions passed by the Senate in the defense bill include establishing a special victim supports unit, enhanced training and education for sexual assault prevention and two independent panels to review the systems used to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate sexual assaults.

A hearing on a broad voucher bill was pushed to after crossover, but a bill offering vouchers for disabled students to attend private schools continued its march to the House floor.

A bill offering vouchers of up to $6,000 a year to pay private school tuition for special education students who leave public schools cleared the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. The bill would replace a relatively new law that offers tax credits to parents for the same purpose.

Low-income parents are excluded from the tax credit's advantages.

"We want to give everybody the opportunity to have a high quality education," said Rep. Marcus Brandon, a High Point Democrat and a bill sponsor.

The bill's opponents said that the money won't come close to helping needy families, just those who can afford to supplement the voucher with their own money.

"We need to be pouring more money into the public system to help all children," said Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat.

The bill, HB 519, was unanimously approved by a voice vote of committee members after changes were once again made to accommodate issues raised by the Insurance Department and the industry.

"We have addressed several of the concerns," said Rep. Paul Tine, a Democrat from Kitty Hawk and one of the primary sponsors of the bill. "I won't say that everything has been addressed."

A Senate committee on Tuesday morning approved a bill that would repeal environmental protections at Jordan Lake that were enacted in 2009.

SB515, by Sen. Rick Gunn, a Republican from Burlington, and Sen. Trudy Wade, a Republican from Greensboro, would require the state to study what the best approach is to improve water quality. Results of that study would be presented to the legislature for consideration next year.

The North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club said the protections in place now are the result of years of studies, negotiations and discussions.

The bill also directs the state to focus on treating and improving water quality in the lake rather than on restricting activities upsteam. Gunn said indications are that the current rules have done nothing to improve the lake, which is a source of drinking water for close to half a million people in the Triangle.

Gov. Pat McCrory is attending a Republican Governor's Association meeting in New Orleans on Tuesday, his office announced after first saying he had no public schedule.

McCrory is attending the RGA's Corporate Policy Summit. His office noticed the event at 10:30 a.m. and did not release any other details. The night before it released a schedule without public events -- and said it wouldn't issue a daily calendar anymore. McCrory was critical of his predecessor for taking an unannounced trip to Pennsylvania later discovered by The News & Observer.

UPDATE: Kim Genardo, a McCrory spokeswoman, said the governor would fly to New Orleans this afternoon and speak at two workshops on workforce development and technology in education. It's unclear when he would return. Genardo said McCrory's schedule is in flux because of the General Assembly's work this week.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The action starts early Tuesday and will likely stretch past 10 p.m. again. The House and Senate plan to convene a skeletal session just before 10 a.m. to read in committee reports, then recess until 2 p.m. House Speaker Thom Tillis said the session will go until 5:15 p.m. or so before a dinner recess for committee meetings. The chamber will reconvene at 7 p.m. and go late. The Senate isn't expected to stay as long but its calendar is getting crowded. Gov. Pat McCrory lists no public events.

McCRORY'S OFFICE WON'T RELEASE DAILY SCHEDULE ANYMORE: The governor's Communications Director Kim Genardo is changing the office's policy of releasing a daily calendar. Genardo said if there is no event scheduled, she won't send out a notice stating as much, meaning some days will have no notice to the governor's schedule. McCrory pledged to release a daily schedule during the gubernatorial campaign as he bashed his predecessor, Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, for taking a "secret" trip to Pennsylvania to study fracking rigs. Republicans jumped on McCrory's Democratic opponent for not pledging to do the same. “Everyone knew where I was as mayor,” McCrory said a year ago. “My records were open."

***A busy week means lots of news below in the Dome Morning Memo. Send more news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com. ****