North Carolina's senior Democrat in Congress has expanded his reach on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, was added to the spending panel that oversees environmental and National Parks issues, Barb Barrett. Price was named this week to the Subcommittee on Interior, the Environment and Related Agencies for the upcoming Congress.

The subcommittee's jurisdiction includes the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA’s largest research facility is in Research Triangle Park. The National Institute of Environment Health Sciences also is located in RTP.

Price will continue his role as chairman of the subcommittee on Homeland Security. That post gives him jurisdiction for the nation’s spending on airport security, border security, federal emergency response and other homeland security issues.

He also will keep his post on the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies.

Residents with concealed weapons permits can now carry their guns into Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Smoky Mountains National Park.

The U.S. Department of Interior issued new rules today allowing guns into national parks and wildlife refuges if residents also have concealed weapons permits in the state where the parks are located.
Previous regulations prevented firearms in national parks, even when a carrier held a concealed weapon permit, Barb Barrett reports.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican and a hunter, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushing for change. He had co-sponsored legislation that would have allowed guns in parks.

"This is just to allow law-abiding citizens to continue to carry their weapon while they're in the national park, when the state allows them to carry anyway," said Burr spokesman Chris Walker.

The new rules do not allow target practice or the carrying of weapons into federal buildings.

It’s Holiday Decor day at the White House, in which First Lady Laura Bush leads a tour for the media.

The theme focuses on the national parks, and there’s a bit of North Carolina in there, including a giant Hatteras Lighthouse in the East Wing, Barb Barrett reports.

There's also a nice spread in the State Room—no word on how much of that food is Carolina-grown, but the White House will go through 700 pounds of crab and 1,000 pounds of shrimp this season.

(Photo by Chuck Kennedy of McClatchy Newspapers)

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is the GOP's new go-to-guy in the Senate on national parks.

Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, is the new ranking member on a Senate subcommittee on national parks.

"The national park system plays an important role in North Carolina life, both as an economic resource and a recreational resource," Burr said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to be an advocate for North Carolina's parks."