A portrait of the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, done by an African-American artist, will be unveiled Wednesday in Washington's Capitol Hill Club.

The unveiling of the painting by Rene Dickerson is expected to bring together Helms friends and admirers, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx, Patrick McHenry and Sue Myrick. Former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns will act as master of ceremonies. Dot Helms, the senator's widow, will be on hand.

The choice of artist could generate a buzz at the event, reports Rob Christensen.

Helms opposed every piece of civil rights legislation while serving in Congress and he was a major critic of the civil rights movement while he was a Raleigh television commentator.

Not only is Dickerson an African-American, but his work is not traditional portraituture. The California native cites as his inspiration such artists as Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.

Dickerson's work is featured in the private collections of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby and former Motown president Berry Gordy.

The portrait is being sponsored by the Jesse Helms Center in Monroe and by Brian Summers, a former Helms staffer, who has ties to Motown and Gordy.

The portrait will remain in the Capitol Hill Club, which has served as a social club for Republicans since 1951. It is located next door to the Republican National Committee and two blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry says a Democratic colleague is seeking retribution against a group of Catholic bishops.

McHenry, a Cherryville Republican who is Catholic, posted a comment on Twitter about U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a Democrat from California who suggested that the IRS investigate an organization of Catholic bishops over their political involvement in an amendment meant to prohibit government funds paying for abortions, The Hill reports.

Woolsey wrote in an op-ed piece in Politico that the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops was stepping over the line in pushing for an amendment to health care legislation and may need to have its tax-exempt status examined.

That led to this comment from McHenry on his Twitter feed.

The nerve of some citizens to petition their government. In Woolsey-land, free speech is cause for retribution.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry was running late at the airport.

And just like any Congressman on the go, McHenry decided to create his own parking space at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport to save time, the Gaston Gazette reports, including a full-size image of the offending Ford.

It probably wasn't the best thing for him that his SUV was sporting not only his Congressional license plate, but also a McHenry for Congress sticker, which would save any passerby with a camera phone the effort of looking up which member of Congress represents the 10th district.

On Monday, spokesman Brock McCleary e-mailed a Gazette reporter to say the 10^th District Republican was running late and couldn’t find a parking place ("He made a mistake in not leaving the vehicle in a proper parking spot … It has been moved.").

Granted, we’re not exactly dealing with Watergate here. The fact is, though, a car without government plates might not last an hour parked illegally at an airport. This thought probably occurred to at least some of the people who toted their luggage past a four-wheeled double standard.

Previously: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's VW "Thing" and its questionable parking spaces develops a paparazzi following.

Four U.S. House members from North Carolina signed a letter calling for the firing of an education official charged with advocating school safety.

The letter to President Barack Obama was signed by 53 Republicans who say that Kevin Jennings is unfit because he has been "promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools," according to a copy of the Oct. 15 letter published by The Hill.

Throughout his career, Mr. Jennings has made it his mission to establish special protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to the exclusion of all other students. The totality of Mr. Jennings’ career has been to advocate for public affirmation of homosexuality. There is more to safe and drug free schools than can be accomplished from the narrow view of Mr. Jennings who has, for more than 20 years, almost exclusively focused on promoting the homosexual agenda.

The signers from the state delegation are Sue Myrick (R-Charlotte), Walter Jones (R-Farmville), Patrick McHenry (R-Cherryville) and Virginia Foxx (R-Banner Elk).

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U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry has raised $340,000 in his bid for re-election.

McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, has $158,000 in his campaign account, according to federal election records. McHenry received $200,000 in political action committee contributions and $139,000 from individuals.

Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle has loaned himself $250,000 to challenge McHenry for the Republican nomination.

Notable contributors to McHenry include George Johnson of South Carolina, the CEO of Extended Stay America hotels ($2,400); Robert Gallagher of Charlotte, the CEO of Good Will Publishing ($2,400); the American Society of Anesthesiologists ($5,000) and a PricewaterhouseCoopers committee ($5,000).

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry will face two opponents from his own party.

McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, has upped his profile in recent months with attacks against ACORN and President Barack Obama's "czars." 

The district is as safe as it gets for Republicans and so McHenry's real challenge will come in the primary, reports The (Morganton) News Herald.

Vance Patterson, 59, an entrepreneur announced his candidacy last week. Patterson will also have to best Iredell County Commission Scott Keadle, a Salisbury dentist who is also running for the seat.

Hickory-based blogger Joe Womack noticed on his Facebook news feed that he wasn't seeing many messages from his Congressman, U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry.

The abrupt end followed some comments Womack made on McHenry's page about why the nation even needs health insurance companies, Womack writes on his "Pretty Penny" blog. Then Womack realized what had happened:

"I had been "de-friended," he wrote.

A message from McHenry's page explained that McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, keeps a page for friends and another "fan" page for everyone else.

If the online slight is still stinging next year, Womack could always de-friend McHenry on election day.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry has lately been known for his take-no-prisoners attacks on Democrats.

But the Cherryville Republican recent found some time for a little Wii bowling and boxing with reporter Patrick Gavin for a regular feature on Politico.

McHenry was, ahem, game, and did his best to ham it up.

"Most journalists are playing Wii right now because they don't have a job," McHenry quipped. (Ouch.)

"As a journalist you should be going left, but as a Republican I should be going to the right," McHenry said of bowling strategy. (Zing!)

Dome won't spoil the outcome of the match, but we will say it wasn't close.

THE ANTI-CZAR CZAR: Rep. Patrick McHenry helped Republicans rail against President Barack Obama's "czars," which he says are making huge decisions and should be confirmed by the Senate. Democrats were quick to mention that a few years ago, McHenry met with President George W. Bush's drug czar. It may be time to appoint a special czar to sort out this czar mess.

CHEF U: The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law has sued the state over its support for Johnson & Wales University, a private culinary and hospitality school in Charlotte. The center says the $10 million promised by then-House Speaker Jim Black amounted to little more than a patronage gift from Black, who went onto to federal prison fame. The school will argue that educating students is a public purpose. Dome expects testimony to focus on proper hollandaise preparation techniques. The case is a real potboiler.

BREAKER, BREAKER: A last-minute letter from Gov. Beverly Perdue sure got the attention of the N.C. Building Code Council, which voted to keep a special circuit breaker in the building codes.

IN OTHER NEWS: The real "Norma Rae" has died. Former Treasurer Richard Moore has taken a gig at a San Diego investment firm. An appeals court ruled that former Gov. Mike Easley was wrong to borrow highway money to shore up the state's finances.