* Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law a bill that toughens penalties increasing the penalty for those who strike and kill someone when they run through a school bus stop arm. (GN&R)

* Perdue's lukewarm reception on the Greenville stop of her statewide tax tour was repeated in Wilmington. (WS-N)

* While friends lobby for a pardon, imprisoned former N.C. House Speaker Jim Black may hold his own key to early release — by cooperating with prosecutors who put him behind bars. (N&O)

* A historical marker was unveiled on Monday as a lasting monument to the more than 7,600 people sterilized by the state in a misguided 20th-century effort to reduce defects in the gene pool. (N&O)