Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight's "Lone Cedar" restaurant sells a t-shirt commemorating the rapid rebuilding of the Nags Head eatery with a racy touch.

The long-sleeve shirt in black-with-white-letters or the better-selling white-with-black-letters declares: "Fastest erection on the beach."

The restaurant burned in early May 2007. State investigators declared it arson but have made no arrests, and they have said Basnight and his family are not suspects. Four months later, the Lone Cedar was rebuilt and open for business. The restaurant's gift shop began selling the shirt soon after. (Dome is embarrassed to just now learn of it.)

Basnight said through a spokesman that his adult daughters, Vicki and Caroline, created the shirt and began selling it.  They manage the restaurant.

"They didn't ask him," said Schorr Johnson, Basnight's spokesman. "He has never approved of it, and he doesn't like it."

Marc Basnight is about to be back in business.

Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe is scheduled to reopen within weeks after burning to the ground in May, reports The Virginian-Pilot.

The paper notes that the restaurant owned by Basnight, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, has gone back up in record time. Basnight told the paper his family decided to spend more money to get the restaurant back in operation quicker.

Meanwhile, still no word on the cause of the fire.

Sandy Tillett Basnight, 59, wife of Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo, died Sunday night after a long illness.

Basnight took a leave of absence from the Senate last week to be with his wife while she was being treated in Chapel Hill, Lynn Bonner reports.

Though married to one of the most powerful politicians in the state, Sandy Basnight maintained a low profile. She ran the Lone Cedar Cafe, their restaurant on the Outer Banks.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by two daughters, Vicki and Caroline.

Services will be held on Wednesday, June 13 in Wanchese, N.C. Further details are pending.

Donations may be made in Sandy Basnight's name to Bethany United Methodist Church, 101 Old Wharf Road, Wanchese, NC, 27981.

Notes and cards to Senator Basnight and his family may be sent to 2007 Legislative Building, Raleigh, N.C., 27601.

Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight said he'll reopen his restaurant around Labor Day.

Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe burned to the ground on April 30, but rebuilding has already begun at the site along the Nag's Head-Manteo causeway, Andy Curliss reports.

The new restaurant will be two stories, instead of one, and 15,000 square feet, instead of just 9,000. It will also have a sprinkler system.

Construction costs have been estimated at $1.2 million, according to a story in the Virginian Pilot.

Basnight told Dome he's optimistic that the work will be finished this summer.

"We hope to be open Sept. 1," he said.