* Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, a Cabarrus County Republican, lets out his inner Erin Brockovich in argument over Alcoa project on Yadkin River.

* NAACP praises Gov. Beverly Perdue for choosing first black district attorney in Eastern North Carolina; second currently serving in state.

* Liberal talk show host Keith Olbermann labels U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx "Worst Person in the World" for Matthew Shepard remarks.

* More signs of Senate '10: Americans United for Change criticizes Sen. Richard Burr in press release for voting against Obama's budget.

Robert Lee Guy, the former head of the state's troubled probation department, was handed one of the state's highest honors.

But there's no official record of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine being given to Guy, who came under fierce criticism for his management of the N.C. Division of Community Corrections, Sarah Ovaska reports.

The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is considered the highest civilian honor that a North Carolina governor can bestow. Then-Gov. Mike Easley signed it Jan. 9, the day before he left office.

Guy said he received the award at a Feb. 13 retirement party in Fayetteville for his 31 years of work with the probation system.

More after the jump.

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* Another way she differs from her predecessor: Gov. Beverly Perdue works to win over the Charlotte business crowd.

* The smoking ban is being held up temporarily while the state Senate works to make sure that movie stars could still light up on set.

* A spokesman for Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton says that — to the best of his knowledge — he's not related to the new Miss USA.

* Though Sen. Richard Burr is polling at low levels, consultants argue the die won't be cast until the political environment is clear.

It's the equinox of the fall Silly Season.

Your Dome correspondents have sifted through a number of ridiculous claims and counter-claims since this election began, but we haven't posted some because, well, we had slightly better things to do.

That said, we had a few quiet moments this morning and wanted to share them with you:

POTTYMOUTH PAT? The Perdue campaign would like you to hear the clip below of Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory — they say — swearing in a WPTF interview Wednesday. We honestly can't tell if he's saying what they say he said.

SATANIC CONTRIBUTION? The National Republican Senatorial Committee would like you to know that Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan received a donation for $666 around the time of the fundraiser hosted by the founder of the Godless Americans PAC.

LICENSE TO DRIVE? The campaign of Hagan would like you to know that Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "ElizaBus" touring the state right now has a Tennessee license plate, though we're here in North Carolina.

Should we have devoted the waning minutes of the campaign season to digging deeper into these stories or were we right to move on? Let us know in the comments.

Pat McCrory is doing well with Nascar.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee has picked up at least $70,000 from executives and owners of car-racing businesses and their wives.

Donors include such racing bigwigs as Brian France, chairman and CEO of Nascar; Hendrick Corp. Chairman Rick Hendrick and his wife; Gillett Evernham Motorsports owner Ray Evernham; and team owner Felix Sabates.

He's also received donations from Charles Ricks, Robert Rice and Scott Lampe, executives with Hendrick Motorsports; Greg Fornelli, president of Stock Car Steel; Nascar executives Paul Brooks and Rex Caton; and Marcus Smith, who sits on the board of directors of Speedway Motorsports.

McCrory had a major fundraiser including Nascar driver Brian Vickers and team owners Hendrick and Sabates in February, but he doesn't have the racing vote entirely locked up.

Democratic rival Beverly Perdue had a Nascar fundraiser of her own, headlined by Hendrick, Sabates and Fornelli, back in October.

It's not clear if the Nascar folks have changed lanes or not.

The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg endorsed Hampton Dellinger.

Dellinger and a Democratic rival for the lieutenant governor nomination, state Sen. Walter Dalton, met with the caucus membership Sunday night at the Little Rock AME Zion Church.

"The large crowd of caucus members and candidates present showed how important the group's endorsement is," Dellinger sad in a statement. 

Gubernatorial candidates Bob Orr and Beverly Perdue, U.S. Senate candidates Kay Hagan and Jim Neal, and Treasurer candidates Janet Cowell, Michael Weisel and David Young also attended. 

The caucus is one of four major black voters' groups in a major North Carolina city that routinely makes political endorsements. 

Beverly Perdue has received $47,500 from political action committees in the health-care industry.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, who worked as a hospital consultant, received money from 22 health-care PACS in the current election cycle, according to campaign finance reports.

The donors include pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca International, Roche Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly & Co.; Caremark, which handles drug management programs; and pharmacists, Kerr Drug and the PILL PAC, which represents pharmacists.

She also received money from industry groups: The Nurse Practitioners PAC, the N.C. Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the N.C. Assisted Living Association, the Association for Home & Hospice Care of N.C., the N.C. Hospital Association, and the N.C. Association of Long-Term Care Facilities.

In addition, she received money from specific medical groups: Anesthesiologists of the Triad, Western Radiologists and Surgeons in Asheville, Piedmont Triad Anesthesia, Asheville Anesthesia Associates, Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants in Charlotte, the Mountain Neurological Center in Asheville, Blue Ridge Bone & Joint and Western Carolina OB/GYN.

The money made up more than a fourth of Perdue's PAC contributions.