Who has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine?

Retired Raleigh businessman Tom Walter would like to know, but so far no one in state government can help him.

Walter received the state award in 1991 from Gov. Jim Martin. A few years ago, he wondered who else had received it, but Gov. Mike Easley's office told him they had no idea.

"They said maybe it's in a warehouse in a building somewhere, but we don't know," he said.

The award was created in 1965 to honor special achievements by North Carolinians. Past recipients include Maya Angelou, Billy Graham and Michael Jordan. And one rough estimate is that 7,000 people have received the award.

Walter's unofficial registry includes fewer than a hundred names he gleaned from talking to friends and searching obituaries. He's looking for people who have received the order or can help in his search for information.

He can be reached at walterfinancial@yahoo.com, or you can post a note below.

Update: You can nominate yourself or a friend for the Order with this form.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, who sank her own three-point shot at the buzzer with an assist from President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday, will hit the dais as a starter at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Thursday night along with retired NBA megastar Michael Jordan.

The chamber is honoring Jordan with the Citizen of the Carolinas award, while Perdue, a Democrat, will be reassuring the Chamber of her support for the banking city after beating their mayor, Republican Pat McCrory, in a one-on-one game.

Jordan is 6 feet, 6 inches tall, while Perdue stands at somewhere around 5'4".  It was unclear what arrangements will be made for the podium.

"Michael Jordan and Bev Perdue will be representing the Tar Heel State's two favorite sports," said Perdue spokesman David Kochman, "basketball and politics, and most voters would agree on which one is more of a contact sport."

North Carolina and Indiana's primaries are today. How do they compare? 

North Carolina has 8.9 million residents; Indiana, 6.3 million.

North Carolina is 21.7 percent black; Indiana, 8.9 percent.

North Carolina is 48,711 square miles; Indiana, 35,867.

Bush won both states in the 2004 election.

The last time Democratic presidential candidate to win Indiana was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The last Democrat to win North Carolina was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

North Carolina has 115 delegates up for grabs and Indiana has 72.

North Carolina race fans go to Lowe's Motor Speedway. Indiana's fans go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

North Carolina's biggest industry is banking, with the headquarters of Bank of America, Wachovia and BB&T headquartered there. Indiana's industry is health care products and drugs, with the headquarters of Eli Lilly and Co., Anthem and Guidant.

Both states have a rich basketball tradition. Indiana has Larry Bird, Notre Dame, Butler and Purdue. North Carolina has Michael Jordan, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and N.C. State.

Famous Hoosiers include David Letterman, John Mellencamp and Steve McQueen. Famous Tar Heels include Billy Graham, Andy Griffith and Thomas Wolfe.

Pat McCrory has added refereeing to his political resume. 

At a campaign event in Lincolnton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate cited his time on the basketball court as evidence of his leadership, according to the Lincoln Tribune.

"Do you know why I called traveling on Michael Jordan?" McCrory asked. "Because he traveled and I had the courage to call traveling on Michael Jordan. It’s going to take some tough leadership...and I’ve got a record of that tough leadership."

In a Sept. 9, 2007, article in the Charlotte Observer about his mayoral race, McCrory gave a little more detail to the anecdote.

In response to a question about something voters would be surprised to learn, he answered: "When officiating an ACC All-Star basketball game in 1984, I called traveling on Michael Jordan. (He of course says I missed the call!)"

Ed Williams says Richard Moore's retort at Thursday's debate was off.

The Charlotte Observer writer notes that 40 percent of the people living in North Carolina were born somewhere else, according to a 2006 Census report.

So when Moore said he was "from North Carolina—and not from Virginia" at the debate, he was going down the wrong road, Williams argues.

"The kind of nativism suggested by Moore's retort is waning," he writes. "Nowadays it's risky for a candidate to even suggest that newcomers are somehow second-class citizens."

A few non-natives who did well here: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (Virginia), former Gov. Jim Martin (Georgia) and basketball player Michael Jordan (Brooklyn).

Not to mention Dome (Seattle).