NOBODY LIKES NOBODY: The popularity recession has settled in for most N.C. politicians. Gov. Beverly Perdue, with basement-dwelling approval ratings less than six months into her first term, travelled the state to rally support from unimpressed teachers and Democrats. The raspberries are bipartisan: both U.S. Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr's numbers are down. President Barack Obama is slipping, and his policies are less popular than the man.

SPARE A FEW THOUSAND DIMES? One state resident isn't worried about layoffs. Jeff Wilson of Kings Mountain took home $29 million, after taxes, when his father gave him a Powerball ticket that hit the jackpot. (Gotta figure Wilson is apologizing for having ignored any past fatherly advice). We get this question a lot, so before you ask, the lottery can't fix the state's budget problems because it raises only a small fraction of the state's education spending and state law mandates lottery profits go to four specific programs.

PLASTICS, PESTERING AND POTTY TIPPING: The legislature has been on an outlawing binge. It has banned plastic bags on the coast, bullying in schools and vandalizing portable toilets.

IN OTHER NEWS: The state got most of its deposit money back for a private jet officials decided not to buy after all. A new film production tax credit would lose money for the state at first. And Obama does still occasionally smoke, but that's not why he signed into law sweeping new regulatory authority over cigarettes.

After a state law goes into effect Dec. 1, anyone who "steals ... destroys, defaces or vandalizes" those blue and green plastic toilets-on-the-go faces misdemeanor criminal charges tailored to protect the devices.

The potential penalties for a toilet vandal include a fine set by a judge or a stretch in the county lock-up for as long as 120 days, depending on a person's criminal record. Not to mention the awkwardness such charges might bring to future job interviews.

Members of North Carolina's small but determined portable toilet industry pushed the newly defined crime through the legislature this spring, fed up with pranks that often leave them with busted toilets and a messy cleanup.

Rep. Lucy Allen, a Louisburg Democrat, sponsored the bill after hearing about the problems.

"People laugh when they see a bill like this," Allen said. "But it really is a serious problem." (N&O)