KEYNOTERS ANONYMOUS: The state Democratic Party holds its annual fundraiser, gabfest and politicking party, the Vance-Aycock dinner this weekend in Asheville. After a nail-biting delay, organizers finally announced the keynote speaker, Jean Carnahan, who served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri for two years. After last year's dinner, which featured an appearance by then-candidate Barack Obama, this year's event promises to be a veritable "Who's That?" of Democratic politics.

AROUND THE WORLD: State Sen. Steve Goss, a Boone Democrat, had to correct his campaign finance reports this week to reflect that he did not incur $19,000 worth of mileage reimbursements in a four-month period. That amount of driving would have taken the senator around the world nearly twice. Hope he gets good gas mileage.

BRING IT ON: The State Board of Elections announced plans to hold a hearing into the campaign finance irregularities of former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. Gov. Beverly Perdue was quick to issue a statement welcoming the hearings. The statement seemed designed to accomplish two goals: 1) re-inforce Perdue's pledge to keep government clean. 2) Remind voters that she is not Easley.

IN OTHER NEWS: Treasurer Janet Cowell updates her office's ethics policy. New laws take effect, including one that legalizes affairs for couples who are all-but divorced. The Wake County Democratic chairman cautions would-be seekers of a state House seat that keeping the job is going to require some serious fundraising.

A law that takes effect Thursday clarifies that a person can't sue for an affair that starts when the marriage is all but over.

The state's alienation of affection and criminal conversation laws allow a jilted person to sue his or her spouse's lover for interfering with the marriage. The law can make for an awkward situation when couples separate, as they are required to do before they divorce because the couple is still married and the prohibition against affairs is still in play.

But the new law states that if a couple is separated and on its way to divorce, extra-marital relationships that begin after the separation are off limits for lawsuits.

Dome wonders if Thursday will be a big date night.

Update: Post clarifies who sues whom in these lawsuits. 

Spouses could not file alienation of affection lawsuits after they separated from their spouse under a bill that cleared a Senate committee Tuesday.

North Carolina is one of only seven states that still has such a law allowing a husband or wife to sue their spouse's lover effectively for causing the marriage to break up, according to legislative staff. The bill would permit lawsuits only over extramarital affairs that occur while the couple are still married and living together.

Advocates argued that bitter spouses were filing lawsuits after separation as a means of harrassment and leverage in settling a divorce. Tami Fitzgerald, of the Christian Action League, said the bill removes an incentive for separated couples to focus on whether they want to reconcile their marriage.

"It doesn't give the couple time for talking, for counsel," Fitzgerald said, "for putting their marriage back together."

The bill also prohibits lawsuits against a spouse's employer for somehow making an affair possible, such as with a co-worker.

The House gave final approval Thursday to a bill adjusting the state law allowing lawsuits over adultery Thursday, voting that the suits cannot be based on any dalliances a spouse has after separating.

North Carolina is one of the few states that still allows a man or woman to sue his or her spouse's lover for "alienation of affection." The jilted person can sue his or her spouse for "criminal conversation."

Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat, criticized the law during the debate:

"A lot of these cases are like grade school cases," Ross said, then adding in a high-pitched tone, "'You like her better than you like me!'"

The House voted in favor of a bill that tweaks the state's laws that allow lawsuits over adultery.

In North Carolina, a man or woman can sue his or her spouse's lover for "alienation of affection." The jilted person can sue his or her spouse for "criminal conversation."

The bill states that the ability to sue doesn't apply if a couple has separated but not yet divorced. The bill sets a three years limit, beginning at the last act, for filing such lawsuits and it prohibits suits filed against businesses.

Rep. Johnathan Rhyne, Jr., a Lincolnton Republican, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that the law applied until a couple had obtained a legal separation agreement. Without the amendment, couples would have no incentive to try to save their marriages, he said.

"In North Carolina we have a one-year period of separation before you can get a divorce," Rhyne said. "Marriages are considered precious things and we've given a cooling off period."

Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, the bill's sponsor and a Hamlet Democrat, said the amendment ignores the reality, that many people don't get separation agreements until their lawyers have investigated the spouse's finances.

Rep. Mark Hilton, a Conover Republican, said the bill weakened marriage.

"What we're going to be doing if this bill passes is saying it's open season," Hilton said.