Gov. Beverly Perdue's speech was interupted this week, not by boos but by baaas.

The governor was outlining her energy ideas at a SAS solar farm in Cary on Thursday, when some sheep — kept on hand as grass trimmers — bleated.

That prompted Perdue to turn to John Sall, SAS' co-founder, and quip: "If we only had that ram, John, we could mate and have fun."

* Former N.C. Supreme Court Justice and gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr endorses Chad Adams in the race for chair of the N.C. Republican Party.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue tells SAS co-founder John Sall to "get a ram" after sheep at a solar farm interrupt her speech repeatedly.

* North Carolina is the only state in the union where you can't make a citizen's arrest: Although you can detain someone, you can't move them.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts thinks state Rep. Cary Allred's propensity to "pop off at every opportunity" has hurt him in his recent brouhaha. 

Gov. Beverly Perdue will announce an energy reform package.

She will announce a package to refocus state energy policymaking and make strategic investments in environmentally friendly industries at the SAS solar farm in Cary at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow. 

Perdue will be joined by Ivan Urlaub, executive director of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association; John Sall, co-founder of SAS; and other business and environmental leaders. 

Janet Cowell received $663,403 in contributions by the end of June.

The Democratic nominee for state treasurer received $248,162 in contributions during the second quarter of the year, according to her most recent campaign finance report.

Major donors included N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences executive director Elizabeth Bennett, investment manager Leah Bergman, financial consultant Eugene Cahalan, Crandall Bowles, SAS co-founder John Sall and real estate developer Smedes York.

She also received donations from political action committees for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, UNITE HERE, the AFL-CIO, EMILY's List and the Conservation Council of North Carolina.

She also spent $71,890, leaving her with $197,133 in cash on hand. 

Barack Obama is coming to John Edwards' backyard.

On June 14, the Illinois senator will host a big-ticket fundraiser in Chapel Hill, home of the former North Carolina senator.

The event is being hosted by Steve Lerner, an investor who previously supported Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's presidential bid.

Lerner was one of three principals in FGI Marketing Communications, which was bought by Capital Strategies in 1999.

Other hosts of the reception include CapStrat CEO Ken Eudy, jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis and SAS co-founder John Sall.

Tickets are $1,000 for the general reception, and $2,300 for the host reception.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstated Lerner's occupation.