It was a week for follow-ups.

The most-read posts on Under the Dome from last Sunday to noon Friday included several updates on news items from the recent past.

1. The Eason Ultimatum? The N.C. Department of Agriculture says it never threatened the job of a staffer who refused to lower the flag, though an e-mail said he might be fired. Is that a penultimatum?

2. Billions and Billions. The N.C. Senate signs off on a $21.4 billion budget that includes more than $850 million in capital construction projects. We'd settle for a rounding error.

3. Roman Holiday. N.C. Commerce secretary Jim Fain billed the state only $1,218 for his part of a state trip to Italy in April. Heck, some people spend almost that much to see the Russian ballet.

4. You Never Call Anymore. Nearly five million North Carolina phone numbers have been placed on the federal "Do Not Call" registry since it started. Now, can we do something about our e-mail spam?

5. About Schmidt. Gov. Mike Easley's office is looking into the rehiring of a Department of Transportation employee who was fired after a racial confrontation. We have nothing funny to say about that.

In the future, everyone is famous on 15 blogs.

After retiring early rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, L.F. Eason III was the topic of the day in the blogosphere yesterday.

In its usual over-the-top style, D.C.-based political blog Wonkette called him a "brave American hero," while sister blog Gawker nominated him for "a hundred Nobel Peace Prizes" and asks, "Is anyone hiring experts in weights and measures?"

Idiosyncratic conservative Andrew Sullivan called his story a "profile in decency."

Durham author Haven Kimmel saluted him, noting "the list of people who stood up to (Helms), even in death, can add one more name, and I thank this man and I hold him and his family in the Light, for discerning what is true and acting on it to his own peril."

On the other side, a number of conservatives lambasted Eason's "sanctimonious arrogance" and said he "spit on (Helms') grave."

Former N&O columnist Dan Gearino slipped the shoe on the other foot, pondering liberals would be celebrating if a conservative made a similarly defiant gesture toward, say, Barack Obama.

In a snarky vein, Selma conservative Troy LaPlante wrote: "Good riddance. One less state employee on the payroll." And S.H. Long at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical went a step further: "Even in death Helms rids state of Commie b------s."

The state Department of Agriculture says it never issued an ultimatum.

Spokesman Brian Long says they never threatened the job of former Standards Lab head L.F. Eason III over his refusal to lower the flag to honor former Sen. Jesse Helms. Instead, he said that it was Eason's idea to retire.

"It's true he could have faced some disciplinary action, but what that would have been I guess we’ll never know," Long said.

In an interview, Eason said he was given the ultimatum over the phone.

"I was not given a choice," he said. "I was told if I lowered the flags completely or raised them up, I would be fired."

An e-mail from Eason's superior, Steve Benjamin, on Monday includes mention of firing but does not specifically threaten it:

"To be brief, the choices were lower the flags (which was done) or face disciplinanry (sic) action (possibly being fired as this was an order from the Governor and Commissioner). You asked if retirement was an option since you would rather do that than work for a department honoring Helms by lowering the flags. You weren't forced to retire, but (in my mind) you choose (sic) this as the most palatable option given your strong personal feelings on this."

Eason said he is not seeking his job back, and the Agriculture spokesman said they are not looking to allow him to return either.

"At this point, we are honoring his decision to retire," Long said.