* U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will speak at the Campbell University commencement. He is an alumnus of the college.

* Liberal blogger Rob Schofield notes a mixed message from the North Carolina chamber about whether workers should have sick days.

* Legislators send a bill to limit local governments that want to provide Internet access to residents to committee to be studied.

* U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx sends a letter to the mother of Matthew Shepard apologizing for her comments about his death, hate crimes bill passes. 

The Tar Heels are being praised on the floor of the U.S. House.

North Carolina's Congressional delegation unanimously cosponsored a resolution honoring the men's basketball team of UNC-Chapel Hill, which won the NCAA championship.

U.S. Rep. David Price, an alumnus and a professor at rival Duke University, saluted President Obama's "bipartisanship" in picking UNC on his bracket while employing a former Duke basketball player.

Another alum, Rep. Brad Miller, took a gibe at Price, noting that he has taught "at a nearby institution of lesser reputation."

"I wanted to make sure there was somebody here with absolutely unmixed loyalties who could speak in favor of this resolution," he said.

He praised the school's academic standards for athletes, noting the graduation rate for the basketball team is high.

Congress considered the resolution for 24 minutes.

More after the jump.

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One afternoon in February, Miranda Langston was checking her Facebook page.

She saw that another friend of hers had joined a group supporting gay rights.

Langston, a junior at Campbell University, decided that there weren't enough Facebook groups representing her point of view.

So she started "I support NC Senate Bill 272" to promote legislation that would call for a referendum on adding a same-sex marriage ban to the state constitution.

Langston e-mailed a few of her friends and encouraged them to invite their friends. Before long, the group had about 700 members.

That's about a tenth of the number who joined a group in opposition to the same bill, a difference that Langston attributes to political correctness.

"A lot of people are scared to say they oppose same-sex marriage because they have gay friends or gay family members," she said. "It's not popular to go against the norm." 

Langston has faced some criticism since starting the group.

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U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge wouldn't mind getting on the court.

The Lillington Democrat played forward on Campbell University's basketball team, so Dome wondered if he would be willing to face off against President Barack Obama.

"If I get an invitation," he said.

Etheridge said he still shoots hoops at the gym regularly, but he hasn't played a pickup game since he was undercut and hit his head during a bipartisan intermural game in Washington.

He said his years playing have been good preparation.

"The thing about basketball is that it is an individual sport and it is also a team sport," he said. "I think it is a great sport that has a lot of similarities to politics. Sometimes you have to take the lead, but in the end you've got to depend on the team."

Bob Orr spent $225,600 in 2007.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's biggest expense was a $5,000-per-month contract with Raleigh fundraising consultant E. Whitney Jones and related expenses. In all, he paid her $59,769, according to campaign finance reports.

He also spent $10,652 on cell phones, landlines and Internet access.

Rent was another major expense. For much of the year, Orr rented a suite in the office building at 225 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh. The building is owned by Variety Realty LLC, which is registered to conservative philanthropist Art Pope. 

But Orr and other tenants had to leave after Campbell University announced plans to move its law school to the building in early October. He moved to the upper floor of the Stratas & Weathers building near Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood.

His monthly rent went from $382.71 to $2,000. 

Campaign manager Dave Woolf said that rent went up because the office nearly quadrupled in size to around 2,100 square feet and now has six employees plus interns. He said the old office was temporary.

"It was virtually empty and we were just given some space to park in there," he said.

Kenneth Starr had a bit of an identity crisis Wednesday.

After talking about the nobility of the legal profession, the former special prosecutor in the Whitewater investigation was asked about his connection to movie star Wesley Snipes, who is currently on trial for tax fraud, conspiracy and willful failure to file tax returns.

"I heard something that you were offering opinions about whether or not we should have to pay taxes and whether or not Wesley Snipes is in the wrong," the student asked.

In the trial, Snipes' defense attorneys said his former financial adviser, one Kenneth I. Starr of New York, never told him that it's illegal not to pay taxes.

Trouble is, that's not the same Kenneth Starr who spoke at Campbell.

"Gosh, I must be talking in my sleep," Starr told the student. "I don't think I've commented on Mr. Snipes' case, at least to my memory."

If he did, Starr said, it would have been "imprudent."

Kenneth Starr told a roomful of future lawyers to defend immigrants.

Speaking at the law school at Campbell University yesterday, the former special prosecutor who investigated President Clinton argued that Jesus was an immigrant.

"You know our Lord was a refugee," he said. "The family fled to Egypt because of the horrible atrocities and gross violations of human rights."

In a two-hour speech peppered with references to his Christian faith, the attorney and law professor said government officials set the immigration bar too high.

After the speech, he was asked about his recent work defending the Blackwater private security firm in a case related to the death of four contractors in Fallujah in 2004.

He said he decided to take on Blackwater as a client because "they came to the firm."

Kenneth Starr will speak to Campbell University law students.

The former special prosecutor whose investigations led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment will give a lecture to first-year students as part of the Professionalism Lecture Series.

The topic is "The Nobility of the Legal Profession."

Starr currently works as a professor at Pepperdine University's law school, where he teaches constitutional issues and civil procedures. He is a graduate of Duke University's law school.

He also works as an attorney for the Kirkland & Ellis law firm.

The lecture will be held in the Ron Maddox School of Pharmacy Building at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. 

The gubernatorial candidate who's taught the most talks the least about it.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue cites her four years of teaching at the K-12 level and Salisbury attorney Bill Graham has noted his community college teaching in the mid '90s.

But though he doesn't mention it often, former Supreme Court justice Bob Orr has more experience.

From 1989 to 2006, he said he has taught at least one course at an area law school.

He's taught legal research and writing at UNC-Chapel Hill for two years; appellate advocacy, state constitutional law and summer school at N.C. Central; and research and appellate advocacy at Campbell University.

He's also taught a state constitutional law seminar at UNC for the past three years.

Campbell University is moving its law school to downtown Raleigh.

The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law will move to 225 Hillsborough St., a building owned by a company held by former state legislator Art Pope, according to a letter from Jimmy Barnes of NAI Carolantic Realty to tenants.

Campbell President Jerry M. Wallace visited the building this afternoon, along with other school officials and a photographer, tenants said.

Current tenants include the N.C. Sheriff's Association, the N.C. Technology Association, the Bob Orr gubernatorial campaign and several nonprofits that Pope helps fund: the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, the Civitas Institute and Americans for Prosperity's state chapter.

According to the letter, the sale is expected to be final by early March, and renovations will begin next summer.