* The State Bureau of Investigation is probing whether officials at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles accepted improper gifts and meals from employees of Verizon Business, which holds a lucrative no-bid contract to provide computers to state inspection stations.

Investigators also are seeking to determine whether the state paid Verizon for hundreds of computers that were never delivered, at a cost of more than $1,700 each. (N&O)

* When Beverly Perdue was sworn in as North Carolina's first female governor in January, many women cheered her historic achievement.

And though many of those same women give Perdue high marks for her first months in office, there has been some grumbling among Democratic women that Perdue has not done more to bring other women along with her.

Perdue has appointed fewer women to Cabinet posts than any North Carolina governor in a generation and has fewer females among her top policy advisers than her recent male predecessors in the Executive Mansion. (N&O)

* At first, some Latino advocates celebrated news that North Carolina community colleges would open their doors to illegal immigrants.

Last week, they lamented that the opening was no more than a crack. The Sept. 18 decision from the State Board of Community Colleges allows undocumented students to enroll in degree programs at all of the state's 58 campuses, but it won't take effect until at least next fall because of a slow-moving administrative rules review process. And if enough people object, the rule could face a vote by the General Assembly, which has the power to kill it.

If the rule is approved, undocumented students will get last priority for classes at a time when surging enrollments have filled classrooms to capacity. And out-of-state tuition of $7,700 per year will be out of reach for many of the children of low-wage workers. (N&O)

Gov. Mike Easley inducted close associates on his last day.

The two-term Democrat awarded 15 of his staffers and Cabinet members the Order of the Long Leaf Pine on his last day in office, Jan. 9, 2009.

The list includes longtime aide Franklin Freeman, chief legal counsel Reuben Young, spokeswoman Sherri Johnson, state health director Leah Devlin and senior assistant Susan Rabon.

He also gave an award to troubled parole chief Robert Lee Guy, although it was not included in state records.

As noted previously, Easley gave the award to more than 4,000 people over eight years, a rate of more than one a day.

A list of last-day awards after the jump.

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The N.C. Veterans Council has set its sights higher.

Despite the proliferation of bills giving new perks to active-duty and retired members of the military, the coalition of state veterans groups is pushing for three more substantial bills:

* Studying traumatic brain injury. The state Institute of Medicine would study mental health services for injured veterans.

* Extending tax exemptions on military pensions. Veterans with pensions that began before 1989 do not pay state income tax. This bill would extend that benefit to all vets.

* Creating a Cabinet veterans position. The state Division of Veterans Affairs would be elevated to a Cabinet-level position appointed by the governor.

Bruce Edwards, a retired Army colonel who heads the state Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the tax exemption may be the toughest sell, but he argued it would attract a lot of retirees to the state.

He said the other perks — which include free tours of state museums and free parking — are nice, but they're not the main mission right now.

"It's all good," he said. "But those are the three big ones."

State Rep. Verla Insko wants the person who runs the state Department of Health and Human Services to make more money.

The Chapel Hill Democrat has introduced a bill that would make the DHHS secretary's salary at least 15 percent higher than the highest paid doctor in the department, Lynn Bonner reports.

As a member of the governor's cabinet, the DHHS secretary's salary is set in the state budget. DHHS head Lanier Cansler makes $120,363 a year.

The job exemplifies one of those situations where the head of an agency has a number of subordinates who earn much more.

Dr. Michael Lancaster, an administrator who works in Raleigh, is the department's higest paid doctor. He makes $268,591 a year.

If Insko's bill passed, the secretary's salary would more than double, to $308,879.

More after the jump.

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The stimulus package is being repackaged.

The money coming to North Carolina from the federal stimulus package passed by Congress is being rebranded.

At the Monday morning Cabinet meeting, Gov. Beverly Perdue said the North Carolina effort has been renamed to the more positive sounding "economic recovery" program, Rob Christensen reports.

Dempsey Benton took some kidding at the Cabinet meeting for being the state's new "stimulus czar." But maybe he now should be called the "economic recovery czar."

Dome will continue to refer to it as the "stimulus package" for the same reason we call the governor "Beverly" instead of "Bev." 

Gov. Beverly Perdue told her Cabinet Monday morning to be aggressive in searching for federal money for the state.

She urged them to become familiar with all the federal rules, to get to know leading federal officials, Rob Christensen reports.

She said she was reaching out to neighboring governors Tim Kaine of Virginia and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, in searching for federal money for joint projects that would benefit North Carolina.

"It's important to be as aggressive as we can be," Perdue said.

And where possible and legal, Perdue said, make sure that contracts from the stimulus package go to Tar Heel companies.

"Make sure North Carolina people get the work," Perdue said.

Acting on a campaign promise to make state government more transparent, Perdue opened up her Cabinet meeting to the news media for the first time on Monday.

"This is what happens when you open the doors to sunshine," Perdue told her Cabinet when noting the presence of a reporter.

A bill filed Wednesday would take away some of Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry's authority.

The legislation would move the state's responsibility for enforcing workplace safety from the N.C. Department of Labor, overseen by Berry, to the N.C. Department of Commerce, which is run by a member of the governor's Cabinet.

Sen. Doug Berger, a Youngsville Democrat, said he sponsored the bill out of frustration with what he called Berry's "laissez-faire," "see-no-evil" and partisan approach to the office.

Specifically, he said he was upset she did not take stronger action to regulate the poultry industry after a Charlotte Observer series last year revealed problems with worker conditions.

He argued that voters would hold Gov. Beverly Perdue more accountable for problems with workplace safety enforcement than Berry, even though she faced a statewide election last November, because voters and the media paid little attention to the race.

"There's no question that most people in the state feel they can ride an elevator safely," he said, referring to photos of Berry on state elevator licenses. "She's done a good job on that, and that's why she was re-elected."

Even if a more active labor commissioner were elected later, Berger said he would support leaving the authority under the governor permanently.

Update: Berger and Berry have some history together. She defeated him in the 2000 labor commissioner race by two-tenths of one percent.

Some of Gov. Beverly Perdue's smaller donations are also interesting.

As previously noted, Perdue raised $17.8 million through the end of 2008 for her successful campaign for governor, including a number of political action committees and big donors.

But some of the smaller donors from her final campaign finance report are also worth noting: 

* Former Supreme Court Justice Burley Mitchell gave $2,000.

* Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and his wife Jane gave $2,000. 

* Former Sen. Lauch Faircloth gave $2,000.

* Perdue's recently appointed general counsel, Eddie Speas, gave $1,750.

* Administration Secretary Britt Cobb gave $1,000 on Oct. 28. He is the only member of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet to remain under Perdue.

* Former Orange County commissioner Moses Carey gave $300. Perdue appointed him chairman of the Employment Security Commission.

* Perdue's deputy campaign manager, David Kochman, and communications staffer Kennetha Smith each gave $250.

* The head of Perdue's gubernatorial endowment effort, Tom Lambeth, gave $200.

* Former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan gave $200.

* Noted Washington, D.C., political consultant Donna Brazile gave $100.

Dee Freeman will speak at an upcoming seminar.

The recently appointed secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be part of a panel at the N.C. City and County Management Seminar in Research Triangle Park.

Sponsored by the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, the three-day seminar focuses on management tips for local government administrators and managers.

Freeman's session has the wonk-heavy title of "Memorable Moments in Local Management" and is related more directly to his previous post as executive director of the Triangle J Council of Governments than his new job in Gov. Beverly Perdue's Cabinet.

It will be held at noon on Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel.

The other members of the panel are former Harnett County manager Neil Emory and former Chapel Hill town manager Cal Horton.