Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty deflected any questions about a possible presidential bid in 2012, during a stop in Raleigh Monday morning.

The GOP governor, who has been prominently mentioned as a potential GOP presidential hopeful, was the keynote speaker at the Emerging Issues forum at the Raleigh Convention Center, Rob Christensen reports. He noted that he had started a federal political action committee that will allow him to travel around the country to help Republican candidates this fall. But beyond that, Pawlenty said he said he has made no decision.

"I haven't decided what to do after 2010," Pawlenty said. "I haven't ruled anything in or out. I just don't know what I am going to do."

Pawlenty gave a non partisan speech in Raleigh where he talked about the speed of change and the need for institutions such as colleges and universities to adopt to the digital age. He said the secondary and elementary schools were set up in a "1940's industrial model in an IPOD age." Pawlenty, a 49-year old attorney, said government rarely was the cause of change, but sometimes could be the impediment.

Republicans have made the first of what likely will be many calls for Democrats to cough up tainted cash.

Will Breazeale, a Republican candidate for the 7th congressional district seat held by U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre (right), a Democrat, has said McIntyre should give back $13,000 from donors connected to the scandals surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley, the Wilmington Star-News reports.

Breazeale said McIntyre should return money from Wilmington financier Lanny Wilson and his wife, Linda, as well as Wilmington developer Nick Garrett.

Wilson was a fundraiser for and contributor to Easley and Gov. Bev Perdue, and he featured prominently in last month's indictment of former Easley aide Ruffin Poole. He resigned from the state board of transportation after the indictment, but he has not been charged with any crimes. 

Garrett remodeled Easley's home in Southport, was involved in a controversial deal over managing the state marina there and helped organize a push for Easley's administration to speed up permits for developers. He was at the federal courthouse in Raleigh when a grand jury investigating Easley was asking questions about the marina deal.

Gov. Bev Perdue is rounding up advice on picking a new chief of staff from, among others: Norris Tolson, CEO of the NC Biotechnology Center who often serves as Perdue's Mr. Fixit; Ken Eudy, CEO of Capital Strategies public relations and lobbying firm and Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, a Progress Energy executive and chair of the state community colleges board.

Chief of Staff Zach Ambrose announced last month he was leaving after one year of Perdue's administration, though he served the same role when she was lieutenant governor. Perdue's poll numbers remain lackluster and her administration has endured grousing, inside and out, about how well the machinery has operated. Her communications director left in December, and she brought in a new senior adviser, Pearse Edwards, last fall to try and help the governor's office operate more smoothly.

 Now to the speculation! Among those mentioned in state government circles as potential chiefs of staff are: Tolson; Leslie Coman, executive vice president at CapStrat; former House Majority Leader Phil Baddour and Secretary of Administration Britt Cobb.

Bruce Clark, who ran the campaign that put Anthony Foxx in Charlotte's mayor's office, is hoping to do the same for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kenneth Lewis.

Clark had taken a job in Washington when Lewis called last month, the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Morrill reports.

"I've had the luxury of working for two candidates that I believed in,” said Clark, who grew up outside Chicago. "“I just said to myself, 'This is the guy who’s got to be our next senator.'"

Lewis faces former state Sen. Cal Cunningham and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall in the May 4 Democratic primary. But the Chapel Hill attorney led his better-known rivals in fundraising, according to new reports.

And in a primary where it takes 40 percent of the vote plus one to win, Lewis is relying on a solid base. That's because African American voters make up as much as 41 percent of the state's Democratic electorate. Last fall, in a city where about 35 percent of registered voters are black, Foxx relied on a strong African American vote to beat Republican John Lassiter.

ELEPHANTS, NOT SHARKS: But North Carolina Republicans smell blood in the water and are eager to launch their campaigns. (Charlotte O)

HITTIN' THE BOTTLES: The state's plastic bottle ban is harder to abide by for rural communities. (W-S Journal)

AND THERE’S NO VIDEOTAPE: South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford is being a regular mom, though one with a new book. (The State)

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge returned last weekend from a trip to Afghanistan to meet with troops and commanders.

Etheridge, whose district includes part of Fort Bragg, told reporters Friday that commanders remain "guardedly optimistic" about the military’s work in Afghanistan, Barb Barrett reports.

Etheridge said President Barack Obama’s 18-month time frame for the country has helped Afghans "step up to the plate" to defend their country from insurgency.

Members of the 82nd Airborne are working to train local troops, a task complicated by the high illiteracy rate among Afghans, Etheridge said.

"I think that’ll continue to be a challenge, that illiteracy rate," said Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat. "We have to remember there was a time when Afghanistan was a prosperous country. Not wealthy, but prosperous."

He also warned that the United States needs to continue its military work with Pakistan, where three Fort Bragg soldiers were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb.

"The real challenge all of us face is that Pakistan is a country with nuclear weapons," Etheridge said. "And it’s in the best interest of all of us that those nuclear weapons not get into the wrong hands."

Etheridge traveled to Afghanistan on a bipartisan congressional trip with four other House members.

North Carolina voters see Gov. Bev Perdue more favorably than a month ago, according to a poll by the Civitas Institute.

The poll of 600 likely voters taken Jan. 19-21 found that 38 percent had a favorable opinion of Perdue while 43 percent saw her unfavorably. In Civitas' December poll, only 32 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Perdue, a Democrat, while 38 percent had an unfavorable opinion. The January poll was conducted by Tel Opinion Research of Arlington, Va., and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Perdue's approval ratings have taken a steady and prolonged dip since she took office. You can track that trend and discover others on Dome's new Polling Central feature, which includes interactive graphs that track polling on key races and political figures.

U.S. Rep. David Price this week introduced legislation that would allow the United States to investigate and prosecute serious crimes conducted overseas by private contractors working for the State Department and other non-military government agencies.

The legislation expands on the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), which provides similar criminal jurisdiction over members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense employees and contractors, Barb Barrett reports. Such jurisdiction doesn’t exist for private contractors working for non-military agencies.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat became concerned about the gap in part after the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007 by Blackwater guards working for the Department of State. Charges against five Blackwater guards were dropped in December. Blackwater, now known as Xe, is based in Moyock. Price’s bill, known as the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (CEJA), would:

— Direct the Justice Department to create new investigative units to investigate, arrest and prosecute contractors and employees who commit serious crimes.

— Allow the Attorney General to authorize federal agents to arrest alleged offenders outside of the United States, if there is probable cause that an employee or contractor has committed a crime.

— Require the Attorney General to report annually to Congress the number of offenses received, investigated and prosecuted under the statute; the number, location, and deployments of the newly created investigative units; and any changes needed in the law to make it more effective.

A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It's not just conservatives who think the proposed history curriculum is a bad idea.

A story on Fox News this week unleashed a flood of criticism on the state Department of Public instruction, but Holly Brewer, an associate professor in N.C. State University's history department, said critics cross the political spectrum.

The proposal to limit the 11th grade American history course to the last 132 years would shortchange students, she said.

"We will become a national laughingstock if this goes through," Brewer said.

She has been writing the state Department of Public Instruction in protest, she's circulating a statewide petition, and a friend started a Facebook page, "History did not begin in 1877!"

"There is no discussion of slavery anywhere in the curriculum proposed," she said.  "Teaching about slavery is very much a liberal issue."

The history proposal would push pre-Reconstruction history to the middle and elementary grades, which Brewer said is inadequate. 

"They have to deal with issues in high school when they can talk about things in a complex manner," she said.

The State Board of Education is revising curriculum in all subject areas. Curriculum writers are accepting comments on the history proposal. 

Superior Court Judge Ripley Rand told The News & Observer that he will review the communication to see if it contradicts statements made in Rand's court by Alvin Keller, secretary for the Department of Correction, Mandy Locke reports.

The correspondence and testimony related to the release of inmates sentenced in the 1970s whose terms have been shortened by recent court rulings.

In December, Rand ruled that two of these inmates, Faye Brown and Alford Jones, should be released from prison. Attorney General Roy Cooper has appealed Rand's decision to the state Supreme Court. On Feb. 16, justices begin to review whether Rand made the right decision in December.

Keller explained that he was planning for a "worst-case scenario" but all along had been pursuing a legal strategy to keep the inmates behind bars.

The woman who chaired Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell's two congressional campaigns has turned against him.

Dannie Montgomery, a teacher from Anson County who served as first vice chair of the N.C. Democratic Party, said in a news release that Kissell "has turned his back on the grassroots supporters who propelled him to office," Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.

She said Kissell has alienated some African American leaders in the 8th District, which could dampen black turnout. She said she has encouraged Charlotte lawyer Chris Kouri to challenge Kissell. Kouri ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002 against Republican Robin Hayes.

Montgomery's defection is the latest sign of liberal disaffection with Kissell. His vote against a Democratic health care bill last fall angered many on the left. But how much harm it caused him is questionable.

A poll last month by Raleigh's Public Policy Polling found that just 29 percent of his constituents knew how he voted on health care.

"That finding is a good reminder that the average voter does not follow politics very closely," poll director Tom Jensen said at the time. "Kissell ... may find himself in better shape once more voters in his district become aware of how he voted on health care. His approval with those who know he voted against it is 52 percent compared to 44 percent with those who think he supported the bill. In a district where a majority are opposed to the Democratic health care plan he cast the right vote for his political future."

Meanwhile a Democrat from Fayetteville plans to challenge Kissell. Writer Nancy Shakir said she's disappointed in his votes.

Through a spokeswoman, Kissell declined comment.

A former staffer for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr now is the top spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Doug Heye was the communications director for Burr’s Senate campaign, then took the same position in his Senate office — a job he held for two years, Barb Barrett reports. Heye left Burr’s office to run the Senate campaign for RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was then lieutenant governor of Maryland.

Heye graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1994.

GOVERNOR ONLINE: According to depositions taken in a public records lawsuit, Gov. Mike Easley kept a secret e-mail account for state business and his press secretary said he wanted public information officers to delete e-mails to the governor's office to avoid having them become public. Given the federal investigation still swirling around the Democrat, whether his administration followed the public records law may be a small concern for the former governor.

BIG BUCKS BURR: In one night, Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr raised more money than any of the Democrats who want to win his seat have been able to raise in months. Burr is by far the overwhelming money leader as the Senate race begins this year.

SHE LIKES HIM/NOT: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx wailed on President Barack Obama in a post to her Twitter account. She concluded her criticism by reporting that she also got the president's autograph.

IN OTHER NEWS: Democrats, by a slim margin, tend to be rooting for the New Orleans Saints in Sunday's Super Bowl. The state Democratic Party has picked up a lot of travel expenses for Gov. Bev Perdue and her husband.

HISTORY LESSONS: When Fox News ran a story Wednesday about a North Carolina proposal that would focus high-school U.S. history classes on the last 132 years, phones in Raleigh started ringing and e-mail accounts brimmed.

Angry voices asked: Will schools forget about the Founding Fathers? Is the Boston Tea Party getting dumped? Will the Revolutionary War be muzzled?

Under the proposal for teaching social studies, which would have to be approved by the State Board of Education, American history would be spread across several grades. Students would start learning American history in elementary school, as they do now, and continue through middle school and high school. The big junior-year survey would cover the years after Reconstruction. (N&O)

OVER BUDGET: In the midst of a fiscal crisis, North Carolina has overshot its budget for in-home help to poor and disabled people by as much as $10 million a month, even though as many as 40 percent of recipients may not qualify. (N&O)

U.S. Rep. David Price next week will introduce legislation requiring corporations to use the same "Stand By Your Ad" language in advertising now required of political candidates.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, helped write the law that requires candidates to say, in person, "I'm Jane Doe and I approved this ad," at the beginning or end of all television advertising.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that companies can get involved in political campaigns without financial limits, Price wants to hold them to the same restrictions, Barb Barrett reports. He would have the company’s top official make the statement.

According to Price’s office, the new bill, called "Stand By Every Ad," would build upon existing law by forcing corporations, labor unions and associations to abide by the same standards as candidates and political parties.

Price would expand the requirement to all Internet advertising and pre-recorded robocalls as well for candidates, organizations and companies. Paid online ads have become an increasingly popular – and cheap – way for candidates to spread their message.