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* The District Attorney overseeing two investigations of state Sen. R.C. Soles has recused himself from the cases.

Rex Gore said Wednesday he still sees no conflict of interest but didn’t want the focus of the case to be on him.

"I don’t think the focus of any decision that is made in this case or any other case should be anything but the evidence and the laws applied to that evidence," he said. "I’m as confident in the attorney general’s office in making the right decision as I am in my office making the right decision."

Soles is under two investigations. In the first, a Columbus County man accused Soles of fondling him when the man was a teenager. The accuser then recanted his allegation. In the second case, Soles shot one of two would-be intruders.

Gore has long-standing ties to Soles including allegations in a 1983 corruption case in which Soles was accused of trying to buy votes for Gore against Mike Easley in the Democratic primary for District Attorney. The charge against Soles was thrown out and Gore was not accused of any wrong-doing. (WS-N)

* President Barack Obama plans to address a joint session of Congress next week in an effort to rally support for health-care legislation. At the same time, White House officials are looking for ways to simplify and scale back the major Democratic bills, lower the cost and drop contentious elements. (NYT)

* Joseph Abbitt walked free Wednesday after 14 years in prison when DNA testing proved that he was innocent of charges that he raped two Winston-Salem teenage sisters. District Attorney Tom Keith, troubled by an earlier case in which DNA exonerated a convicted man, offered the tests to people prosecuted by his office. (N&O)