The 18th century watering hole partly responsible for Raleigh's selection as state capital may return to life, at least in name.

The New Raleigh web site reports that what used to be the Fayetteville Street Tavern, just south of the capitol, is being renovated with plans to reopen as Isaac Hunter's Oak City Tavern. The pub already has a web site.

In 1787, state leaders partial to the tavern's refreshments decided that the capital had to be established within a ten mile radius. Opposition prevented any action being taken until 1792, when a commission was named to pick the exact site for the new statehouse within the land around the tavern, according to the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

The name has been resuscitated over the years, including at a Cameron Village restaurant that opened in 1998 and currently one of the foremost political blogs in the state, run by WUNC radio's Laura Leslie.

Dome's Rob Christensen and WUNC's Laura Leslie have been nominated as the best political reporters in the state on The Fix.

Chris Cillizza asked readers of his Washington Post blog, The Fix, to nominate the top political reporters by state. And Christensen and Leslie made the cut.

Dome readers, of course, know Christensen as the veteran political reporter, columnist and historian, who literally wrote the book on North Carolina politics in the 20th century. Dome knows him as the human encyclopedia who often saves us from having to look it up.

Our distinguished colleague, Leslie is the barkeep over at Isaac Hunter's Tavern. Congratulations to both.

* Mark Binker culls the best quotes from a legislative debate over officially designating the state's potato festival.

* WUNC's Laura Leslie recalls a time when Sen. Vern Malone rescued another legislator from an interview.

* Paul Woolverton writes that the odds are stacked against a new video poker bill, with legislative leaders in both chambers against it.

* An Asheville Citizen-Times columnist and liberal blogger AshVegas spar over the definition of pork in Rep. Heath Shuler's earmarks.

* Duke law professor Christopher Schroeder is the leading candidate to head a U.S. Justice Department office on legal policy.

* WUNC's Laura Leslie highlights an interesting floor speech during the sex ed debate from Rep. Arthur Williams, whose wife is a nurse.

* Asheville Citizen-Times' Jordan Schrader highlights a few other moments from the "For Mature Audiences" discussion on the House floor.

* A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr re-opens a fight with liberal talk show host Rachel Maddow over the banking and veterans stories.

Reaction from the capitol press corps on the State of the State:

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker said the speech was notable for what didn't happen. "You didn't hear a lot of push-back afterward," he writes, noting that Republican and Democratic legislators seemed reconciled to the deep budget cuts promised.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie said the speech was "math-lite" for its failure to mention taxes or dwindling revenue and made little news in part because Perdue's been so accessible that everyone knew what she was going to say. 

* Independent Weekly reporter Bob Geary said that liberal groups hoping to hear that the state can't "cut, cut, cut its way" out of a $3 to $4 billion shortfall heard nothing, but Perdue didn't make any "no new taxes" promises either.

* WUNC reporter Laura Leslie defends N&O ombudsman taking job at state agency, arguing that he's an "excellent communicator" in a tough industry.

* Schools Superintendent June Atkinson tells Fayetteville Observer she has no plans to sue the state over her job description.

* Conservative activist Francis De Luca argues that Rev. William Barber of the state chapter of the NAACP should have to register as a lobbyist.

* The president of the state Bankers Association is pushing to rename Raleigh-Durham International Airport after the Wright Brothers.

* Cigar-smoking restaurateur says he has no regrets about opening two smoke-free places in Fayetteville, though one customer wanted to fight.

* WUNC reporter Laura Leslie notes that Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton's daughter, Elizabeth, has been a registered lobbyist for eight years.

* Republican consultant Carter Wrenn gives some more advice to Senate Republicans about how to hold the governor's feet to the fire on probation problems.

* Liberal commentator Chris Fitzsimon notices a "puzzling" entry on a list of politicians who should be considered for the U.S. Supreme Court: Mike Easley.

Another state political blogger has joined the scene.

Longtime political reporter Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer is writing a blog called The People's Business about the legislature and other issues.

So far, posts have highlighted a bill that would ban texting while driving, noted new electronic archives of House audio and dashed hopes about a Interstate 295 loop around Fayetteville.

Woolverton joins the growing ranks of reporter-bloggers in the capital press corps, including Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record, Jordan Schrader of the Asheville Citizen-Times, Barry Smith of the Burlington Times-News, Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer and Laura Leslie of WUNC radio.

Not to mention, yours truly, the Legion of Dome. 

* Burlington Times-News reporter Barry Smith notes that Republican leaders want better testing, merit pay for teachers, more voc ed and an end to the charter school cap.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie writes about a proposal to give parents the choice of letting their children learn abstinence-only or comprehensive sex ed.

* Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader notes a good line from schools Superintendent June Atkinson at the same press conference.

* Conservative Civitas think tank introduces a new legislative tracking feature— "Bad Bill of the Week" — and highlights Sen. Julia Boseman's private dick/peeping tom bill.

* BlueNC regular Crowbar317 says the bill appears to be designed to remove protection from libel cases for anonymous bloggers and commenters.

* Greensboro News-Record columnist Doug Clark says it would be hard for bloggers to enforce its provisions on anonymous commenters on their own sites.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie wonders if Sen. Steve Goss is "carrying water" for other legislators, such as Sens. Julia Boseman or R.C. Soles, who have been targeted by blogs.

* Conservative Watauga Watch blog (sarcastically) takes aim at Goss for tackling "paramount public policy concern" of blogging during rough economic time.

* Conservative blogger Jeff Taylor argues that the bill is so broadly written that it could "criminalize virtually all text message traffic;" says N.C. blogs are tame.