U.S. Sen. Richard Burr reiterated his opposition to closing Guantanamo Bay.

The Winston-Salem Republican, who visited the U.S.-run prison in Cuba earlier this year, told Dome yesterday that he thinks it should remain open.

"Just yesterday, the Director of the FBI said that bringing detainees to the United States would pose a number of risks, even if placed in maximum security prisons," he said in a statement. "His assessment reinforces the fact that we must find a practical alternative before we close the facility or release any detainees."

He said that bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States "could compromise our national security for years to come."

President Obama has ordered the prison closed by the end of the year, but Congressional Democrats have cut $80 million in funding set aside to close the prison.

After the jump, the complete statement.

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The FBI issued a subpoena to the state Highway Patrol today, ordering the agency to produce all records related to private air travel of the Easley family.

The request is made as part of a grand jury investigation, according to the documents. The grand jury meets next week, according to the subpoena, Andy Curliss reports.

Besides seeking information about the private travels of former Gov. Mike Easley, his wife Mary Easley and his son Michael Easley Jr., the subpoena requests documents relating to:

* Payments made in exchange for the air travel.
* Communications with the Easley family regarding the private travel.
* Communications regarding public inquiries surrounding the air travel.
* The state Highway Patrol's records retention policy.
* The retention or destruction of records related to travel by the Easley family.

The News & Observer published a story on Saturday detailing private flights that the former governor took based on records Easley had kept secret while in office. Some flights were free, according to aircraft owners and pilots who flew him. Some were not reported on campaign disclosure reports, though the records show that they were campaign flights.

The records are held by the state Highway Patrol, which has a special unit to protect the governor. Easley and administration officials had said the records' release while he was in office would compromise his security.

In addition, the N&O showed in its report that there are gaps in the records and that other flights likely took place for which no records have been made available. Nothing has been provided for the entire year of 2005, for example. Patrol officials say they have scoured the unit's files and cannot locate any records other than those already provided.

Update: A second subpoena was served Friday at the patrol's headquarters and to Capt. Alan Melvin, who headed the unit for several years. Melvin was placed on administration duty as of 1 p.m. today, a patrol spokesman said. That means he will work only on administrative tasks. 

A former FBI agent is joining Les Merritt's staff.

Frank Perry, once the top agent for the FBI's Raleigh office, will head the inevstigative division of the state auditor's office starting Sept. 1.

For the past year, he has been education director for the State Ethics Commission, where he helped teach thousands of elected officials and state workers about new ethics laws.

As an FBI agent for 22 years, he was involved in the public corruption investigations of former state Agriculture Commission Meg Scott Phipps and former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance. He retired in 2004.

In a statement, Merritt said that Perry will help take the investigations division "into new directions."

Perry will earn $94,164 a year in the position. 

Investigators may have uncovered local corruption around video poker.

A man who allegedly helped run a gambling ring tried to bribe Rutherford County Sheriff Jack Conner, who was working undercover with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

James Otis Henderson, 42, told Conner that he was already paying bribes to two other sheriffs, according to court papers. He said one was paid $100 per machine a month and the other wanted a flat monthly rate, records show.

He offered Conner $10,000 up front and $1,000 a month, in exchange for letting the company know about impending federal search warrants and keeping out competitors, prosecutors say.

Video poker became illegal in North Carolina on July 1.