* Mark Binker culls the best quotes from a legislative debate over officially designating the state's potato festival.

* WUNC's Laura Leslie recalls a time when Sen. Vern Malone rescued another legislator from an interview.

* Paul Woolverton writes that the odds are stacked against a new video poker bill, with legislative leaders in both chambers against it.

* An Asheville Citizen-Times columnist and liberal blogger AshVegas spar over the definition of pork in Rep. Heath Shuler's earmarks.

VACATION LOCATION: Less than a month into her term as governor, Gov. Beverly Perdue went on a weeklong vacation with her husband at an "undisclosed location" out of state. It's not all fun though. Instead of, say, a John Grisham page-turner, she's apparently reading state budget books on the beach. A Time to .. Cut Spending?

FILING FILL: The bills keep coming. Legislation introduced at the General Assembly this week would outlaw a hallucinogenic herb, make high schoolers take art, let the governor appoint the schools superintendent, deny bail to illegal immigrants, and end a subsidy for out-of-state athletes. More than 335 bills have been filed so far.

THROWING LONG: U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Democrat from Waynesville, did some pretty public trash talking about the stimulus bill, criticizing Democratic leaders for not getting more GOP buy-in. They hit back with criticism of his record on the Washington Redskins. But Shuler, who is mulling a run for Senate in 2010, may be thinking of other opponents.

IN OTHER NEWS: A Fayetteville Observer reporter joins the growing ranks of blogger-reporters. No bathrobes spotted in the press room at the legislature, yet. ... President Obama chatted about the Duke-Carolina game at a White House roundtable, but he studiously avoided taking sides. There's your bipartisanship. ... The legislature is considering a resolution to honor former lobbyist Roger Bone. It's one bill he wouldn't have had to lobby on.

Another state political blogger has joined the scene.

Longtime political reporter Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer is writing a blog called The People's Business about the legislature and other issues.

So far, posts have highlighted a bill that would ban texting while driving, noted new electronic archives of House audio and dashed hopes about a Interstate 295 loop around Fayetteville.

Woolverton joins the growing ranks of reporter-bloggers in the capital press corps, including Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record, Jordan Schrader of the Asheville Citizen-Times, Barry Smith of the Burlington Times-News, Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer and Laura Leslie of WUNC radio.

Not to mention, yours truly, the Legion of Dome.