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.

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger chastised Gov. Beverly Perdue Tuesday for using the state jet to fly across the state to rallies promoting her proposal to raise taxes by up to $1.5 billion.

"It is hard to believe Gov. Perdue is serious about cutting wasteful state spending," Berger said in a statement, "when she jets off on a taxpayer-funded, five-day 'Tax Hike Tour' in a state airplane."

Perdue's tax increase would burden families already suffering from the recession, he said.

Perdue led rallies encouraging public support for her proposal to raise taxes, saying the revenue is needed to avoid crippling cuts in education.

Perdue, "as all governors, has an obligation to travel the state and talk to citizens about the challenges confronting us, especially during these difficult economic times," said spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson. "The teachers and parents who would be affected (by cuts) deserve to hear that the governor is willing to stand up to protect the classroom."

North Carolina got most of its quarter-million-dollar deposit back after cancelling the order for a new state jet last fall.

Department of Commerce officials on Tuesday received a refund check of $230,625. The state made a $250,000 deposit last year on a $9 million Cessna Citation Encore+. Then-Gov. Mike Easley scrubbed the deal in October, after news media inquiries at a time when Easley was trimming state agency budgets by 3 percent.

The state lost $4,375 as an e-procurement charge and Cessna docked them $15,000 for "sales expenses," according to Commerce Department spokeswoman Kathy Neal.

The Commerce Department, whose mission includes recruiting new businesses to move to the state, uses state aircraft to take corporate executives around to potential sites in the state where the companies could set up shop.

N.C. Department of Commerce officials haven't quite asked for a refund on their quarter-million dollar jet deposit -- yet.

Commerce Secretary Jim Fain dispatched a letter to jet maker Cessna on Friday explaining that the state was scrubbing its planned purchase of a Citation Encore Plus, tab: $9 million. Last week, when news media inquiries prompted the cancellation, Fain and others made clear they would seek a refund of the state's $250,000 deposit, made in July.

In his letter, though, Fain indicated he'll wait to meet in person before asking for the money back. He made no reference to the money in the letter and wrote that he hoped the early notice would help avoid any "serious impact" on Cessna.

"We would like to sit down with a Cessna representative within the next ten days to discuss the scope of any such impact," Fain wrote, "and the resolution of any outstanding issues."

Department spokeswoman Deborah Barnes said those issues include the refund.