BLUE CROSS, GREENBACKS: Costs may go up for state workers and retirees on the State Health Plan because of poor fiscal management. But critics howled this week after a News & Observer investigation revealed that Blue Cross Blue Shield is paid more than $10 per claim, or 18 times the 57 cents the state spends to process Medicaid claims. Some are calling for an audit.

SLEEPY TIME: How's this for a wake-up call? "You're fired." A state worker who fell asleep on the job five times is fighting to get her job back, arguing it was due to sleep apnea, a medical condition that kept her awake at nights. Could she get any help from the State Employees Association of North Carolina? Dream on, it said.

I DO? NO YOU DON'T: More than 1,000 people attended a rally against gay marriage outside the legislative building in Raleigh. Sponsored by a Christian group from Winston-Salem, the rally was aimed to persuade lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot. Democratic leaders have already buried the bill, however.

IN OTHER NEWS: Talk-show host Jimmy Fallon sang about U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, but his lyrics could use a fact-check. ... Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry thinks the state should pull back on routine spending for state parks during the recession. ... Gov. Beverly Perdue is readying her first "State of the State" speech for next Monday. Hint: It's about state spending.

You might not want to turn to Jimmy Fallon for the news.

As noted previously, the late-night talk show host sang a "slow jam" about the federal stimulus package that highlighted U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx.

But a spokesman for Foxx said that the lyrics were a bit off.

At one point, Fallon said that Foxx wanted to "play with" the bill a little, while back-up singer Tariq Trotter noted, in a bizarrely sultry way, that she "added an amendment."

Not true, said spokesman Aaron Groen.

"The stimulus package was considered under a 'closed rule,' meaning that no one could offer amendments," he said in an e-mail to Dome. "But I guess 'closed rule' doesn’t make for as good of a slow jam."

Talk-show host Jimmy Fallon "slow-jammed" a mention of Rep. Virginia Foxx.

As part of a segment on his new show Monday, the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member sang an R&B-style number about the federal stimulus package with house band The Roots.

"It could have passed much sooner, but Congresswoman Virginia Foxx wanted to play with it a little," Fallon spoke-sang, putting particular emphasis on "Foxx."

Rapper Black Thought, a.k.a. Tariq Trotter, gave a bluesy elaboration from the band stage.

"She played with it. Touched on all of its fine details all night long, all night long," he sang. "She added an amendment."

Along with the rest of the House Republican caucus, Foxx voted against the $787 billion stimulus package in Congress last month.

Washington-based newspaper Politico wondered if Fallon knows who Foxx is, though Dome figures she was chosen because her name has a particular punch.

Hat Tip: Brent Woodcox