There's was a noticeable verbal play at work when State Board of Elections member Bill Peaslee began his questioning of former N.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Falmlen.

Peaslee, at right, is a former high ranking official within the N.C. Republican Party. And Peaslee repeatedly referred to Falmlen's party as the "Democrat Party," as in:

"Did the Democrat Party at any point arrange for travel for Gov. [Mike] Easley?" Peaslee asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. No sir," Falmlen answered.

Dropping the "ic" from "Democrat," of course is often meant as a little tweak. It serves as a reminder that the Board of Elections is a partisan body with three Democrats and two Republicans.

And to be fair, Bob Cordle, a Democrat pictured at right, has earned some attention this week for the tone of his questions. Columnist and Dome's distinguished colleague Rob Christensen noted that Cordle's questions have coddled witnesses all week.

Board Chairman Larry Leake, whom some Republicans had criticized for holding a fundraiser in 2000 for Easley, continued his persistent and professional questioning. The same could not be said for Bob Cordle, whose unfettered flattery of all Democratic witnesses, including Easley, is cringe-inducing.

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The State Board of Elections will convene hearings into the campaign finance activities of former Gov. Mike Easley.

The stakes for Easley will be high. Over the last decade, the board has established itself as a first step in corruption investigations. The board's hearings helped lead to the downfall of an Agriculture Commissioner, House member and House Speaker.

1998: Hog farmers and Republican House leaders

2002: Meg Scott Phipps

2006: Jim Black

2007: Mary McAllister

2007: Thomas Wright

2009: Mike Easley

Look for plenty of coverage, analysis, pictures and video next week here at Dome, at newsobserver.com and on the new Investigations blog, which launches Sunday. This weekend watch for stories in The News & Observer.

Republicans continue to line up to challenge 8th District Democratic Congressman Larry Kissell.

The latest to join the field is Hal Jordan, a Charlotte IBM executive, who received a lot of attention three years ago when he came within 30 votes of knocking off scandal-plagued Democratic House Speaker Jim Black.

Jordan joins three other Republicans who have already announced their intentions to challenge Kissell: Lou Huddleston, a retired Army colonel from Fayetteville; Tim D'Annunzio, the owner of Sky Venture Skydiving Center in Hoke County, who has loaned his campaign $300,000, and Darrell Day of Hamlet. 

There are several reasons why there is so much interest in the race, Rob Christensen reports. The 8th District is considered one of the few competitive House districts in the state.  Congressmen are considered the most vulnerable the first time they seek re-election. Kissell knocked off Republican Robin Hayes in 2008. 

And the polls suggest that 2010 could be a Republican-leaning year.

The State Board of Elections played a key role in the downfall of former House Speaker Jim Black.

After the board got access to the Black campaign committee checks, the board exposed a scheme in which Black's fellow optometrists wrote campaign checks that left blank the date and who would receive them.

Black in turn would hand them to political allies, particularly Rep. Michael Decker, a Forsyth County Republican, who became a key figure in keeping Black in power.

The board turned up enough to convince Decker to plead guilty to accepting the campaign money as part of a $50,000 bribe. The hearings also put investigators onto the activities of a group of chiropractors.

Payments from three chiropractors to Black, which were made to ensure favorable legislation, led to a five-year federal prison term for Black.

Former Gov. Mike Easley's hearing is to be held in the same hotel where the board held Black's hearings.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstakenly said the board was acting on stories published in the N&O. Dome regrets the error. 

The hearing into possible violations of campaign laws by former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign and the state Democratic Party will be held in a familiar location: Raleigh's downtown Clarion hotel.

That's where board members met several years ago to hear testimony about the campaign of then-House Speaker Jim Black, reports Andy Curliss.

The location is largely to accommodate the media and what is expected to be larger public interest. Elections officials have a small hearing room at the board's regular offices, but had been looking for an alternate spot.

The hearings will open at 11 a.m. on Oct. 26 and continue as needed.

Former Gov. Mike Easley will be the subject of public hearings later this month as part of an ongoing state elections board investigation into questionable activity by the Easley campaign and the state Democratic Party, according to the board's chairman, Larry Leake.

The hearings will begin Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. and could last a week, J. Andrew Curliss reports.

Leake said the hearings will deal with evidence of alleged campaign law violations — and that no one should assume there was any wrongdoing by Easley, the state party or his campaign just because hearings will be held.

"The purpose of the hearings is to find the truth as to what did occur," Leake said.

A spokesman for Easley had said previously that Easley, a Democrat who left office in January after serving eight years, did not think any hearings were necessary.

The hearings will give Easley a chance to publicly appear under oath and answer questions surrounding his campaign. Easley has communicated only through lawyers, spokesmen or written statements since reports in The News & Observer this spring detailed the use of cars and secret flights provided for Easley but for which he did not pay.

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Allen Rogers, an aide to House Speaker Joe Hackney, is working his last official day today, ending 41 years of state government service.

Rogers, 65, handles board and commission appointments for Hackney and is sort of retiring for the second time. He retired from the General Assembly Personnel Office, which he helped create, in 2003 and agreed to take the board and commission post under then-House Speaker Jim Black. The job was supposed to be part time.

"That lasted about two weeks," Rogers said, before he became full time. He remained in the post when Hackney took over as speaker in 2007.

In six years, Rogers has not taken any vacation time: "I really need a break," he said.

But he'll take on another task of some sort, he said. Work is his hobby.

Hackney and his staff will miss their soft spoken go-to guy, not to mention his always available dish of bite-sized candy bars.

THE ANTI-CZAR CZAR: Rep. Patrick McHenry helped Republicans rail against President Barack Obama's "czars," which he says are making huge decisions and should be confirmed by the Senate. Democrats were quick to mention that a few years ago, McHenry met with President George W. Bush's drug czar. It may be time to appoint a special czar to sort out this czar mess.

CHEF U: The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law has sued the state over its support for Johnson & Wales University, a private culinary and hospitality school in Charlotte. The center says the $10 million promised by then-House Speaker Jim Black amounted to little more than a patronage gift from Black, who went onto to federal prison fame. The school will argue that educating students is a public purpose. Dome expects testimony to focus on proper hollandaise preparation techniques. The case is a real potboiler.

BREAKER, BREAKER: A last-minute letter from Gov. Beverly Perdue sure got the attention of the N.C. Building Code Council, which voted to keep a special circuit breaker in the building codes.

IN OTHER NEWS: The real "Norma Rae" has died. Former Treasurer Richard Moore has taken a gig at a San Diego investment firm. An appeals court ruled that former Gov. Mike Easley was wrong to borrow highway money to shore up the state's finances.

* The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law filed a lawsuit Wednesday to force Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte to give back the money the state has given to the culinary and hospitality school.

The institute, a conservative-leaning legal think tank, said the $10 million promised to the school by then-House Speaker Jim Black and other legislative leaders in 2004 doesn't qualify as an economic incentive. The school was not required to create jobs or invest in the state, the steps that state officials typically include to justify the public purpose for a corporate handout.

"This is simply a gift from Jim Black to the school," said Bob Orr, the institute's executive director. "Unfortunately it is one the taxpayers are footing the bill for."

Former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, an attorney for the university, said he expects the courts will not agree with the institute. The courts have yet to agree with suits the institute has filed over incentives to companies such as Dell and Google.

"This went through the legislative process and enjoyed bipartisan support," Wicker said. "Educating our kids is always a public purpose." (N&O)

* As more college students seek financial aid in the troubled economy, the U.S. House of Representatives today is set to overhaul the nation's student loan system.

For students, little in the application process would change beyond a shorter and more simplified form. But more money could be coming their way, and Congress would rework the bureaucracy to potentially save $87 billion in the next decade. (N&O)

* A state task force will try to prevent ex-convicts from going back to prison.

Gov. Beverly Perdue announced 34 members of the StreetSafe Task Force, which will try to find ways to curb recidivism. Every year, 28,000 people are released from prison into a world where their pasts make it difficult to find a decent job and a place to live. Perdue said keeping people from going back to prison is one of the best ways to keep state residents safe.

"This is all about being tougher on crime," Perdue said. "We help people stay out of prison by giving them a life and a job and a capacity to succeed in the community and that's what we want so dare not anybody tell me, 'Oh Bev, you're going soft.' Because I tell you what, if 'soft' means keeping people from being repeat offenders, then I think North Carolina should adopt that motto." (N&O)

N.C. Appeals Court Judge Ann Marie Calabria says she will not seek re-election, and Wake District Court Judge Jane Gray plans to run for her seat.

Calabria, who has an appeals court judge since 2002, put out a statement on her Web site saying she wants to spend more time with her family and also to seek other professional opportunities, Rob Christensen reports. Before joining the appeals court, she served six years as a Wake District Court Judge.

Gray announced this morning that she plans in 2010 to run for Calabria's seat. She was appointed to the Wake District Court bench by Gov. Mike Easley in 2002 and has won election twice. Prior to that she served as legal counsel to House Speaker Jim Black and worked for 19 years in the attorney general office handling civil and criminal appeals.

In 2001, she became the first government attorney to head the Wake County Bar Association.

"This is an enormous responsibility and honor, which requires a certain breadth and depth of experience," Gray said in a statement. "I believe my career has prepared me for a seat on the Court of Appeals."