THE WHOLE TRUTH: McQueen Campbell is one of 30 witnesses who have been subpoened in the State Board of Elections inquiry into the campaign finance of former Gov. Mike Easley. Campbell had a close relationship with Easley and will figure prominently in the hearings this week. (N&O)

ADD IT UP: In five years, administrative costs at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics grew 46 percent. The school has added 70 students during that period, and 24 teachers. But it has added only two administrators. Much of the increased administrative expense is in pay raises. (N&O)

WRIGHT APPEAL: Former state Rep. Thomas Wright's appeal of his fraud convictions is scheduled to be heard by the N.C. Court of Appeals next month. The former lawmaker is a prisoner in Pamlico County north of New Bern. (Wilmington Star-News)

Kay Hagan got a few pet projects in the 2004 budget.

As a Senate Appropriations co-chair for the second year in 2004, the Greensboro Democrat got a few more provisions than in her first go-round to help our her home district.

Here's a quick look:

Millennium Campus: Hagan secured $4 million to convert buildings at a former school for deaf children for a research campus run by N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro. (Section 32.1)

Design Center: The N.C. School of the Arts got $2 million to start the Center for Design Innovation in a Greensboro research park. (Section 32.1)

Tuition Promise: Hagan's provision to give free tuition at state universities to graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics added $780,000 to the budget.

Rape Kits: After getting the reduction of a backlog of untested rape kits labeled a "priority" in 2003, Hagan got $250,000 set aside to test them. (Section 15.2)

Previously: Hagan's pet projects from 2003. 

Being a budget writer has its perks.

As a first-time Senate Appropriations co-chair, Sen. Kay Hagan got a few provisions in the 2003 budget to help out her home district and other pet projects.

Here's a quick look:

Millennium Campus: Hagan canceled the proposed sale of a former school for deaf children, then gave the land to N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro for a research campus (Section 6.20).

Tuition Promise: Hagan promoted a provision that gave free tuition to state universities to all graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics (Section 9.4).

Furniture Market: At Hagan's request, the budget included $900,000 for a free shuttle service for the twice-yearly High Point Furniture Market (Section 29.17).

Civil Rights Museum: Hagan sought $1 million for a long-planned International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, but it was cut by the House.

Hagan also added a provision calling testing the backlog of rape kits a "priority" for the N.C. Department of Justice (Section 14.7) and funding five pilot programs to teach financial literacy to high school students (Section 7.35).

She also limited a Republican proposal to require reports on spending by nonprofits that receive state money to those with grants of more than $300,000 (Section 6.21).

Hannah Gage, a retired broadcast executive from Wilmington, was elected this morning as the first woman to lead the UNC Board of Governors.

Gage, 55, was unanimously chosen as the board's chairwoman. Raleigh government relations consultant Peter D. Hans was elected vice chairman, and Roper mayor Estelle “Bunny” Sanders was re-elected board secretary, Eric Ferreri reports.

The founder and former owner of Cape Fear Broadcasting Co., Gage was first elected to the Board of Governors in 2001. She has led several committees of the UNC system's governing board and co-chaired task forces on tuition policy and teacher recruitment. She is a Fayetteville native and a 1975 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.

The 32-member governing board makes policy and sets tuition for the 17-campus system, which includes 16 public universities and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.

Everyone has their own definition of a "do-nothing legislature."

On The Progressive Pulse, liberal blogger Andrea Verykoukis notes her frustration about several bills that didn't make it through the legislature.

Those include suspending executions for two years, creating anti-bullying policies in schools, penalizing people who fail to report lost or stolen guns and requiring permission for minors on social networking sites like MySpace.

On the other hand, Verykoukis says she's glad the legislature did nothing on extending the boundaries for billboard owners to cut trees, cutting tuition breaks for graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Math and holding a referendum to ban gay marriage.

It seems the only worse thing than legislators doing nothing is doing something you don't like.