The state NAACP says a casket with an anti-Barack Obama sticker was found at an early voting place in Craven County.

In a statement, NAACP head Rev. William J. Barber said that casket was in place "for at least several hours, if not days" at a fire station.

"There is no telling how many voters it rightened away," he said. "It appeared to be an obvious threat to Sen. Obama — a warning to him to stay away from North Carolina."

A bumper sticker on the casket showed a picture of Obama next to the phrase "O' No!"

Barber called on state and national political leaders to condemn the threat as an "attempt at voter intimidation using images of death" and is asking state and federal law enforcement officials to investigate.

Update: "All decent, law-abiding citizens of North Carolina are outraged by this incident," said N.C. Republican Party spokesman Brent Woodcox.  

Pat McCrory is heading into his opponent's backyard.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee will be going tomorrow to New Bern, the home base of Democratic rival Beverly Perdue.

Tomorrow he'll tour BSH Home Appliance Corp., then speak to the Craven County Republican Women's Club at the Chelsea Restaurant. Afterward, he'll attend the grand opening of the Craven County Republican headquarters.

The visit is part of a statewide jobs listening tour.

As a second-term state representative, Beverly Perdue sponsored 10 successful bills.

During the 1989-90 session, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate sponsored bills that added a local government employee to the State Personnel Commission, created a central clearinghouse for information on preserving state historic properties and established an advisory committee on home and community care.

She also sponsored a successful bill declaring that drug- and alcohol-addicted children are not considered "children with special needs," but the state should secure an "appropriate education" for them.

She was not as successful in 11 bills that would have directed funds.

Bills to support education foundations, fire departments, human services and economic development projects, and the arts in Pamlico, Craven and Lenoir counties were all reported unfavorably by committees.

In all, she sponsored 35 bills that session, including several attempts to promote tourism in the state by creating a tourism study commission and research project.

Beverly Perdue's freshman initiatives focused on health care.

As a first-term representative in the state legislature, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate obtained funding for senior citizens' nutrition and education programs, a semiautomated defibrillator for Pamlico County’s rescue squad and Craven County’s board on aging.

In all, she sponsored 33 bills in the 1987-88 session of the state House of Representatives, of which 26 were adopted.

She secured more than $3,000 for three education initiatives, a Lenoir County’s Boys and Girls Club, a drug and alcohol abuse education program and a service pairing children of single-parent families with adult mentors.

Perdue also helped decorate Craven County ambulances. She co-sponsored a successful bill to add the word “Craven” to the side of county ambulances.

North Carolina spent $1.5 million defending its military bases.

Starting in 2003, the legislature began appropriating money to lobby the federal Base Realignment and Closure commission that was looking at closing and streamlining military bases.

In the 2003-04 budget, the legislature set aside $2 million. It set aside the same amount in the 2004-05 budget, and another $1 million in 2005-06. All of the money came from the state's emergency and contingency fund and was approved by the Council of State.

In the end, however, only $1,535,800 was spent from 2003 to 2006.

Much of the money went to outside sources: $200,000 for the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice for lobbying, $120,000 to International Capital Partners to develop a strategy and $170,000 to hire Leigh Harvey McNairy as a consultant.

In addition, $150,000 each to Craven, Onslow and Wayne counties for local efforts.

Beverly Perdue will announce in October.

It's been an open secret that the two-term lieutenant governor intends to run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but the question has been when.

A (non-)campaign spokesman told Dome earlier that she would announce "this fall."

But Perdue told a Democratic awards dinner in Craven County that she was considering an announcement as early as a month from now.

"It sounded to me like it would be the beginning of October," said Emily Scoppe, president of the Craven County Democratic Women, who was at the dinner.

That would put Perdue's campaign kick-off within days of the Sept. 27 return of ballots from the N.C. Association of Educators on its endorsement in the governor's race.