* Bills would set up state and local funding options for rail and transit improvements, including a half-cent sales tax.

* Gary Robertson and Mike Baker of the capital press corps were awarded the 2008 North Carolina AP Staffers of the Year for election coverage.

* A tiny mouse named "Scoop" shuts down political reporting for an hour as reporters scramble to humanely remove him from the legislature.

* President Obama tells Camp Lejeune Marines that he wants to make sure they have 12-month deployments to Afghanistan, not 15-month ones.

Richard Moore is not going gentle into that good political night.

Despite losing the Democratic gubernatorial primary and facing the end of two terms as state treasurer, Moore has taken a number of bold steps lately:

LENDING PAY DAY: During an appearance on CNBC in September, Moore offered to lend money to the Federal Reserve from the state's pension fund to help banks.

WATCH OVER WACHOVIA: In November, Moore backed a shareholder lawsuit protesting Wachovia's agreement to be bought by Wells Fargo and said he'd vote against it.

FREDDIE MAC LAWSUIT: Moore butted heads with Attorney General Roy Cooper over which agency should lead a lawsuit against mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

The Associated Press' Mike Baker writes today that the Moore-Cooper quarrel could "foreshadow a coming Democratic primary" to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

After a painful defeat to Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue in May, some speculated that Moore might leave politics behind, but it was not his first setback.

Moore came back from an unsuccessful Congressional race in 1994 to run again.