Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand are spending the next few days in St. Petersburg, as in Russia, as part of a conference of state senate leaders.

The conference, organized by the Senate Presidents' Forum, includes seminars with a variety of Russian and foreign affairs experts, plus tours of some of St. Petersburg's finest sites, including the Hermitage art museum. Participants also are alotted time for their own tours, allowing them to perhaps visit St. Isaac's Cathedral or the Kirov (also known as Mariinsky) Ballet.

Basnight and Rand, both Democrats, are not using public money for the trip, according to their staffs. The forum provides stipends to cover at least part of the cost. 

Dome has to wonder whether Basnight's seaside upbringing will foster a kinship with the Neva River city along the Gulf of Finland and how Russian greetings sound through an Outer Banks accent.

Mary Easley took trips to Russia, Estonia and France that cost taxpayers $109,000.

The first lady's trips were not publicly disclosed at the time, and she did not respond to a request for an interview. But expense reports and other documents indicate the trips were considered cultural exchanges to build links with officials in the countries visited.

So far, they have produced no tangible benefits.

In May 2007, Easley and an assistant traveled to Paris and Compiegne, France, to see the ambassador and visit major museums. Once there, she was chauffeured round-the-clock in a Mercedes-Benz that cost more than $27,000.

In May 2008, Easley and a delegation of state arts officials went to St. Petersburg and Tallinn, Estonia. On that trip, they saw the ballet, stayed in an $800-a-night hotel and dined at a first-class restaurant at a cost of more than $100 a person. (N&O)