* Members of the Institute for Emerging Issues tax reform panel say the Senate's plan, while different, is headed in the right direction.

* The Dome wraps up all those annoying North Carolina earmark requests posts into one big package and a couple of sidebars.

* Former News & Observer business reporter Jim Barnett has started a blog exploring nonprofit newspapers' business model.

* The state meat industry is fighting a bill from the Humane Society of the United States that it says is a step toward ending meat eating.