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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.

The state Senate, with 26-22 vote, gave final approval to a bill that would give select local jurisdictions the option of foregoing publication of legal notices in newspapers in favor of posting them on their own government websites.

The bill would affect Mecklenburg and Guilford counties, most of Wake, and other counties and towns. The bill now goes to the House.

Government legal ads are an important source of income for newspapers, especially small, free community papers. Newspapers print zoning notices, new ordinances, lists of delinquent taxpayers, and post them on their websites.

Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat, said the bill creates a confusing patchwork, where residents won't know where to look for government notices. More people read newspaper websites than government sites, he said.

"People are going to be less informed, and I think we're all going to be diminished because of it," said Nesbitt, the Senate minority leader.

Sen. Jim Davis, a Macon County Republican, said government payments shouldn't be part of the business model for newspapers. Local governments should have options for where to place their ads, he said.

"They know what's best for them," Davis said. "We don't in Raleigh."

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby is looking further into the case of a wealthy Democratic campaign donor who helped pay the salary of a staff member of former Gov. Bev Perdue's 2008 campaign in violation of state election laws.

An SBI investigator went before the Wake County grand jury to provide a sketch of a case against Charles Michael Fulenwider, a Morganton resident who provided $32,000 to Tryon Capital Ventures in Chapel Hill, to help pay the salary of Julie Sitton, a fundraiser for Perdue's campaign who was paid off the books, investigators contend.

The grand jury issued a presentment, stating that there was probable cause to believe Fulenwider broke campaign laws. The presentment is a procedure used occasionally to give prosecutors an idea whether they have a case strong enough for a possible indictment. 

Fulenwider, according to Willoughby, has been cooperative with investigators and prosecutors during a longrunning investigation into Perdue's campaign activities. Sitton and Peter Reichard, Perdue's former campaign finance chief and an executive with Tryon Capital Ventures, have already pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the case.

McCRORY TO ANNOUNCE COMMERCE SHUFFLE: From AP -- Gov. Pat McCrory is using the backdrop of a textile manufacturer for a big announcement about how North Carolina government is seeking to increase business in the state. McCrory is speaking Monday at Copland Fabrics in Burlington about what his office called a major commerce and economic development policy announcement. The Republican governor has been telling audiences his administration is assembling a state Commerce Department reorganization proposal.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House and Senate convene at 7 p.m. But expect a crowd earlier in the day at the Wake County legislative delegation meeting. Hundreds attended the prior delegation meeting to voice concerns and support for a number of major changes local lawmakers are looking to make. Monday's meeting is at 4-6 p.m. in room 643 of the legislative office building. Also, expect a state audit on the town of Princeville, where state officials seized financial control in July 2012. (More on that story here.)

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The state Senate voted to revoke Raleigh’s lease on the Dorothea Dix property Tuesday by a 29-21 vote, with Wake County’s Republicans voting with Democrats against the measure.

The bill now moves to the House, where several Republicans have sponsored an identical bill.

Sen. Neal Hunt, a Raleigh Republican, voted against the bill, as did the two other Wake County senators, Republican Chad Barefoot and Democrat Dan Blue. "It really was a difficult decision but I have been a proponent of the 300-acre Dix park for years," Hunt said. "I just think for wake county it's such a valuable resource, despite that it's way below market value, I still decided to vote" against the measure. Full story.

UPDATED: BLOOMBERG TO TARGET N.C. IN GUN DEBATE: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing to launch a major TV ad campaign aimed at U.S. senators in swing states -- including Democrat Kay Hagan. From the NYT: "Determined to persuade Congress to act in response to that shooting, Mr. Bloomberg on Monday will begin bankrolling a $12 million national advertising campaign that focuses on senators who he believes might be persuaded to support a pending package of federal regulations to curb gun violence. The ads, in 13 states, will blanket those senators’ districts during an Easter Congressional recess that is to be followed by debate over the legislation."

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The Dix lease to the city of Raleigh hits the chopping block. The Senate convenes at 7 p.m. but won't consider the bill until Tuesday. The House convenes at 4 p.m. but no votes are expected. The Wake County delegation at 4 p.m. in room 643 of the legislative office building. (More on the meeting below.) Gov. Pat McCrory lists no public events on his schedule today.

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UPDATED: WHAT THE BUDGET SAYS ABOUT McCRORY: Columnist Rob Christensen -- "It suggested that McCrory is a pragmatic, moderate conservative – not a tea party Republican. The budget colored him an incrementalist with a modest vision of what government can or should accomplish. A governor’s first budget is particularly important because the governor is at the height of his or her power to push an agenda through the legislature. McCrory will never has as much leverage as he has today. So what did he do with his leverage?

"McCrory’s budget offered no sweeping vision of what he wants his governorship to be about. ... This may be sound management, but it is not the stuff of which legacies are made."

REPUBLICANS STACK THE DECK: The UNC Board of Governors elections in the House on Wednesday opened a chasm between Republicans and Democrats. The GOP elected mostly its own kin to the board, sweeping out all incumbents. Democrats voiceferously objected. But House GOP leader Edgar Starnes' response crystalized the debate: "I would just remind you of one thing. The Republicans won the election. We are in control. We intend to elect Republicans and appoint Republicans and we make no apology for it."

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It's new Republican Gov. Pat McCrory's turn to use a Wake County school as a platform for an education announcement.

McCrory, state Department of Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan and state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos will be at Apex Middle School at 10:30 a.m. to unveil the Safer Schools Initiative.

The initiative is being launched in response to the December school massacre in Connecticut. This effort is expected to involve a mix of public safety and mental health efforts.

McCrory's Democratic predecessors, Bev Perdue and Mike Easley, also would hold events at schools in Wake because Raleigh is the state capitol. -- T. Keung Hui

BIG JOBS DEAL PUTS McCRORY IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Charlotte law firm Moore & Van Allen, where Gov. Pat McCrory was employed until just days before taking office, helped the New York-based insurance company negotiate with state and local governments to receive more than $94 million in taxpayer-funded incentives in return for the promise to add more than 2,600 jobs in the next three years. The connection raises questions in the minds of Democrats about McCrory’s role in the deal and again shines light on his employment at the law firm, which also runs a lobbying practice in Raleigh. Republicans used similar concerns to reject a major economic development project under Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, citing how the company hired a Raleigh law firm that employed her son.

TODAY IN POLITICS: McCrory will tout the MetLife deal at another event in Charlotte Friday. The U.S. Labor Department reports the national unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, a four year low. The full N.C. Mining and Energy Commission meets Friday as the debate about what to do with fracking waste remains unresolved and lawmakers are getting involved.

Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. Much more on the MetLife deal and the political implications below. Send news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com. Have a good weekend and Go Heels!

THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL STORY IN N.C.: The legal fight about the new political boundaries drawn by Republicans in the redistricting process is headed to court this week. A three-judge panelwill hear the arguments Monday and Tuesday after Democrats and groups fighting the maps filed suit contending they were unlawful. The new boundaries seal Republican power in the state legislature for the next decade and Democrats need a judicial reversal to regain strength.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House will focus on education this week, with local school superintendents from across the state invited to meet with lawmakers. House Speaker Thom Tillis will hold a 3 p.m. press conference to discuss "education week." The House and Senate convene Monday evening for skeleton sessions. No votes are expected.

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