* As unemployment hovers at record highs and the recession lingers, state authorities say a growing number of companies are falling behind on paying unemployment insurance taxes.

State officials say about 6 percent of the businesses that contribute payroll taxes were delinquent at the end of June. The delinquent businesses owed a total of $13.5 million.

Gov. Beverly Perdue dropped by a Raleigh office of the Employment Security Commission Friday afternoon, the latest of her promised surprise visits to state agencies and facilities.

The parking lot at the office on Carl Sandburg Court was full and the line was lengthy at 2:30 p.m., when Perdue showed up, according to spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson. (Dome has repeatedly asked to accompany Perdue on a surprise visit but hasn't been permitted.)

Perdue talked to state workers about their role in helping the unemployed find jobs and to the unemployed North Carolinians waiting in line about their situation and about the service they were receiving.

Some job seekers in the waiting room asked to tell their stories to Perdue privately and she met with them in a nearby room. Some had just lost their jobs because of the recession, while others never had one, Pearson said.

"She found out a lot about what the center does," Pearson said. "She wants that first-hand knowledge."

Three major labor leaders are based in North Carolina.

Though the state has historically not been considered friendly to labor, it has produced three leaders of major national unions in recent years:

John Wilson: A former Raleigh teacher, Wilson worked his way up the ranks of the N.C. Association of Educators, serving as president and executive director. Now executive director of the National Education Association, he has ties to Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

Jack Cipriani: After moving to North Carolina in 1975, Cipriani was a shop steward at Miller Brewing and now serves as Eastern Region vice president of the Teamsters. Gov. Mike Easley appointed him to the state's Employment Security Commission.

Chris Chafe: The Carrboro resident began organizing textile mills, eventually heading UNITE HERE and advising John Edwards' presidential campaign. Earlier this year, he was appointed executive director of Change to Win, a coalition of labor unions.

The three may be as much a symptom as a cause of increased labor activity in North Carolina, since their experience in traditionally hostile territory dovetails nicely with an increased emphasis on offense by national unions.

The state Employment Security Commission edited Wikipedia entries on "Babylon 5," cookbook author Sandra Lee and the town of Wendell.

The most interesting change, however, was an October 2006 edit to the entry on UNC-Chapel Hill football coach Butch Davis, who was then under consideration for the job.

An ESC employee wrote that it was a "failed program." 

If Davis takes the job he will be rebuilding a program that has bottomed and is on life support. The aluminum glare from the stands from the lack of fan interest is indicative of UNC's support of football.

On another occasion, someone at the same computer undid vandalism to N.C. State coach Chuck Amato's entry. Another ESC computer, meantime, was used to vandalize Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul's entry.

The previously anonymous changes were revealed using Wikiscanner.