Hot-button issues inspired Dome readers to hit their mouse buttons.

In 2007, the most-viewed posts on the Under the Dome blog touched on the most contentious issues of the day: illegal immigration, homosexuality, the Duke lacrosse case and state political corruption.

Another drew a national audience because of its ties to national news.

Counting down the Top Five Most Viewed of 2007:

5. Wright's reimbursements: State Rep. Thomas Wright was paid eight times for travel when he was already in Raleigh, an investigation reveals.

4. Toasted Nifong: A downtown Raleigh bar offers "Toasted Nifong w/ a side order of National News" on its menu, lampooning the Duke lacrosse prosecutor.

3. The Orange County factor: An anti-John Edwards piece on "The O'Reilly Factor" misrepresented Orange County residents interviewed.

2. Neal: Being gay 'no big deal': Jim Neal, candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, reveals on local blog that he is gay.

1. Lancaster defends illegal immigrant policy: Martin Lancaster, president of the state community College System, defends the rights of illegal immigrants to study.

The No. 1 post is tops in another area. Thanks in part to a link on a local Web site opposed to illegal immigration, it generated 219 comments—the most of any Dome post this year.

Attorney General Roy Cooper says the state needs tools to investigate former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.

State and local authorities have long relied on help from federal prosecutors, who can convene investigative grand juries and charge people with lying to investigators. Under state law, those grand juries can only investigate drug conspiracy cases.

The feds have helped in the public corruption cases of former House Speaker Jim Black and Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps. But the U.S. Department of Justice will not help in the Nifong case.

"We can't expect federal authorities to help us every time we ask," Cooper said. "(But) the refusal of federal authorities to get involved makes it difficult to conduct (an) additional investigation." (AP) 

Four of the lawyers who cleared former Duke University lacrosse players of bogus rape charges will speak about the case at a seminar sponsored by the state Academy of Trial Lawyers.

The session is set for Nov. 30 and is aimed at lawyers, according to a news release from the organization.

The lawyers on the panel each bolstered their already-formidable reputations in their defense of the lacrosse players. The speakers will be Joseph B. Cheshire V, Brad Bannon, Wade Smith and Jim Cooney.

More after the jump

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The Eight Ball lost a round over Mike Nifong's replacement.

In August, the plastic toy prognosticator agreed with gossipy e-mail newsletter N.C. Spin that Gov. Mike Easley would replace the Durham District Attorney with Superior Court Judge Ron Stephens.

On Thursday, Easley named Assistant District Attorney David Saacks to the post.

The current standings: Eight Ball 5-for8; N.C. Spin 1-for-3; TechJournal South, N.C. Policy Watch, Speaker Joe Hackney and The Whiteville News Reporter 1-for-1; Kieran Shanahan 0-for-1.

It will be an academic conference held at the scene of the crime.

Duke University's law school hold a conference later this month with a very Mike Nifongish flavor: "The Court of Public Opinion: The Practice and Ethics of Trying Cases in the Media," Rob Christensen reports.

Nifong, of course, was the former Durham district attorney, who had a lot of very unflattering things to say about four Duke lacrosse players acused — wrongly as it turns out — of rape.

The panelists will include Judge Reggie Walton, who presided over the Scooter Libby trial, and Harold Haddon, who defneded Kobe Bryant against charges of sexual assault. Duke President Richard Brodhead will participate.

The conference will be held Sept. 28-29 at the Duke Law School. It is sponsored by grant form the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Mike Nifong has mailed his license in.

The former Durham district attorney had said that he thought the State Bar treated him fairly and would not appeal the verdict towards the end of his hearing in June.

But he attached a note decrying "the fundamental unfairness" of his treatment when he sent in his law license.

A disciplinary panel found Nifong guilty of 11 out of 20 violations of ethics rules for his handling of the Duke lacrosse case.

In a letter dated Aug. 7, Nifong wrote that he was upset that the Lane Williamson, head of the disciplinary panel, amended the order to include the 11th count after a Duke law professor pointed out it was missing.

"Mr. Williamson's e-mail assertion that the addition of a new conclusion of law based on the request of a Duke University law professor is merely a 'clerical correction' is preposterous beyond belief, and is further evidence of the fundamental unfairness with which this entire procedure has been conducted," he wrote. (N&O)

The Eight Ball is ready for a rematch.

The Mattel-brand plastic toy has faced off with the gossipy e-mail newsletter N.C. Spin before, with mixed results. (One for Eight Ball in round one, a tie in round two.)

This week, N.C. Spin predicted that a former Durham district attorney will replace Jim Hardin, who has been temporarily filling in for Mike Nifong, who was ousted over the Duke lacrosse case.

Word in Durham is that Resident Superior Court Judge Ron Stephens may be the next District Attorney.

Actually, there was a lot more related speculation, but the Magic Eight Ball does not respond well to multi-part questions, so we're leaving it at that. Its response: "Without a doubt."

We'll check back when Easley names a replacement.

Jim Black

But the disagraced former House speaker was still one of the most influential lawmakers this session.

As Black's case worked its way through state and federal courts, a number of bills designed to counter some of the corruption related to him went through the legislature.

The bills will:

Negate language that Black inserted into the 2005 budget that had prevented insurance companies from charging chiropractic patients co-payments that are higher than what they charge for visits to primary care doctors.

Take away pension benefits from elected officials convicted of public corruption or election law felonies.

Require elected officials and candidates to disclose contributors to legal defense funds.

Open to the public hearings into ethics complaints lodged against lawmakers and state government workers.

After the jump, Mike Nifong's bills.

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Mike Nifong is making a clean break.

He apologized to the three former Duke University lacrosse players he had charged with rape during a hearing today on criminal contempt charges, Anne Blythe reports.

"The last 16 months have proven to be a difficult and painful journey," he said, reading a prepared statement. "It is my hope that all of us can learn from the mistakes of this case." 

He also sported a new look. The formerly clean-shaven district attorney has grown a goatee.

He's not the first politician to forgo the razor after getting the boot. After losing the 2000 election, former Vice President Al Gore famously grew a beard.

In some ways, it symbolizes a post-political life, especially since few people with facial hair get elected anymore — either here or across the pond.