The U.S. House of Representatives has set aside 30 minutes tonight for speeches in memory of former U.S. Rep. Bill Hefner, who died Sept. 2.

The special order speeches are scheduled from 7:30 to 8 p.m. tonight, after the last vote, and will be broadcast on C-SPAN, Barb Barrett reports. They are being organized by U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Biscoe Democrat, who also will be speaking.

Confirmed to speak tonight are U.S. Reps. Chet Edwards of Texas, along with Bob Etheridge, David Price and Brad Miller, all of North Carolina. Other members may speak as well.

BOWLED OVER: UNC system President Erskine Bowles says the system's top board members first supported, then flip-flopped on a deal to pay a healthy severance to outgoing N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger. Bowles made that revelation in a visit to The News & Observer’s editorial board. Bowles also said former Gov. Mike Easley wasn’t bothered by the newspaper "picking on" him, but had a real problem with the paper picking on his wife. What really got Dome’s attention was that apparently, the most powerful man in state higher education, eats Chick-Fil-A twice a day. No word on whether he prefers Barbecue or Polynesian sauce.

IN A PERFECT WORLD: The state School Board did some dreaming at its retreat this week. Dome expects an army of four-foot high protesters, armed with spitballs, to protest the board's pipe dream of lengthening the school year.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: Gov. Beverly Perdue is headed to China and Japan to drum up business for the state. Let’s all give a collective cross of the fingers that a mis-translated malaprop won’t accidentally lead to an international incident. Sure would love to see some video of the governor performing at a Karaoke bar, though.

IN OTHER NEWS: Bill Hefner, the one-time dean of the state’s Congressional delegation, died this week. U.S. Sens. John McCain and Mitch McConnell joined Sen. Richard Burr for a health care forum at an invitation-only event. District Attorney Rex Gore has recused himself from deciding whether to prosecute state Sen. R.C. Soles in an incident in which Soles shot a would-be intruder.

Bill Hefner, a Concord Democrat who served 12 terms in Congress and became the dean of the state's delegation, died Wednesday after suffering a brain aneurism. He was 79.

Hefner decided to run for office after one day in 1974, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports. He was sitting behind the mike of his gospel music radio station in Kannapolis and interviewed incumbent 8th District congressman, Republican Earl Ruth.

That night, according to friend Elvin Jackson, he went home and talked to his wife. "Shoot," he said, "if that's what it takes, I can do that."

And Hefner did. The Concord Democrat beat Ruth that year and went on to serve 24 years before stepping down in 1999. He retired to his native Alabama, where he died.

Hefner became one of North Carolina's most powerful lawmakers. For more than a decade he chaired the Appropriations Military Construction Subcommittee, one of a handful of subcommittee chairmen known as "Cardinals" for their power over the federal purse.

Hefner promised to "help restore Christian morality in the federal government," a message that resonated with his district's mostly blue-collar voters in the first election after Watergate.

"He grew up and lived with mill town folks," recalled former Gov. Jim Hunt. "He shared their values, he cared about their problems, he was one of them…It was amazing to watch him at a political rally talk to his constituents and then sing to them."

Hefner's folksy style and Washington muscle helped him get elected 12 times and buck at least two Republican tides.