ROCKY MOUNT - Dan Gerlach, a top economic adviser to Gov. Mike Easley, today was named president of the Golden LEAF Foundation.

At a meeting in Rocky Mount, the foundation’s board approved hiring Gerlach, with a goal of having him take over Oct. 1, Jonathan Cox reports.

"He's the kind of person that's very energetic and very well-attuned to getting things done," said Tommy Bunn, Golden LEAF's chairman.

Foundation officials said they were attracted to Gerlach because he has experience in rural areas, understands the legislature and economic development.

Gerlach interviewed for the job today in a closed session. He was one of five final candidates, after Golden LEAF received about 300 applicants.

The Rocky Mount-based foundation, created in 1999, administers installments from the national legal settlement that states reached with the major tobacco companies. The money, ultimately totaling more than $2 billion, is designated to help tobacco-dependent and economically distressed communities.

The board began looking for a new president earlier this year when Valeria Lee announced she was stepping down.

Senate leader Marc Basnight said in June that Easley asked him to encourage Golden LEAF board members to consider Gerlach for the post.

Gov. Mike Easley will endorse Beverly Perdue tomorrow.

Easley's office sent an email to supporters today inviting them to attend an 11 a.m. event at the N.C. Democratic Party's Raleigh headquarters to congratulate Perdue on her Democratic gubernatorial primary win.

The release notes that North Carolina has elected just two Republican governors in the past century and touts Perdue's executive experience as lieutenant governor.

"We have witnessed a vibrant primary between two strong, ambitious candidates with proven track records of service to the state," said party chairman Jerry Meek in a statement. "After a hard-fought primary, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue is strong, and Democrats are coming together to offer her steadfast, enthusiastic support."

Not to be outdone, Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory will hold a press conference at the state Capitol a few blocks east at noon.

A blogger for the John Locke Foundation, Jeff Taylor, thinks Gov. Mike Easley's panel on e-mail and public records should include a blogger.

In a post on The Meck Deck, Taylor writes that bloggers are very familiar with electronic records.

Email is their reporter’s notebook. It conveys and confirms important info, especially from government officials who are otherwise impossible to reach or impossibly vague when they are. Bloggers also understand the importance of mail attachments — be it a photo, a PDF, or a Power Point.

Taylor suggested an "independent, honest guy" like Ed Cone of Greensboro for the position. Previously, Easley placed a top advisor in charge of the committee and appointed UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor Ferrel Guillory to serve on the panel.

Let them in, Rev. William Barber II, head of the state NAACP, said Monday at a news conference in support of giving illegal immigrants access to higher education.

Barber, along with representatives from the Hispanic business Adelante, likened the plight of immigrants to that of Mary and Joseph, who were turned away from an inn on Christmas Eve.

Barber cited examples throughout history of poor treatment of immigrants and praised Martin Lancaster, the outgoing president of the state's community college system and Gov. Mike Easley for supporting a policy that allows illegal immigrants to attend college.

The issue has been a lightning rod in politics, with each of the major candidates for governor speaking out against a policy of forcing community colleges to admit illegal immigrants.

"We must open the inn," Barber said. "Instead of tearing people apart, we must bring people together and open up the inn."