Gov. Mike Easley has picked two deputies to replace retiring department heads until permanent successors are picked. Tracy Little will be acting secretary of the Department of Correction to replace retiring Secretary Theodis Beck.

Easley named Joanne McDaniel acting secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to replace retiring Secretary George Sweat.

Little was deputy secretary in the correction department, according to a news release. McDaniel was chief of staff in her department. The two will lead their agencies until Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue can install a replacement.

Carter Wrenn wonders if Gov. Mike Easley is projecting.

In a post on Talking About Politics, the Republican political consultant notes that Easley was a bit defensive of Correction Secretary Theodis Beck in criticizing the N&O and the Charlotte Observer.

The governor also says it's a shame that after 33 years of government service, with three weeks left until his retirement, the News and Observer did a 'hatchet job' on his State Correction Secretary, Theodis Beck. One almost feels the governor could have been describing himself. But if we're gonna define success in governing based on a standard of niceness – well, was the governor and Secretary Beck losing track of thousands of paroles ‘nice’ – or negligent?

Wrenn says that Easley's discussion of "niceness" is misplaced.

"After all, is letting a mental patient die after sitting in a chair for two days without care — 'nice'?" he writes. 

Jack Betts says Gov. Mike Easley missed the point.

Writing on This Old State, the Charlotte Observer columnist said that Easley's complaint that the N&O did a "hatchet job" on Correction Secretary Theodis Beck was off base. 

"Easley's problem is not that the newspaper did a hatchet job on one of his appointees; his problem is that he wasn't paying attention to what his appointees were doing — or in this case, not doing — and the newspaper found him out," he writes. 

Betts said that the real problem is unsupervised probationers commit too many crimes, especially murder and manslaughter, and the administration did little to address the problem.

"Look: The governor is a charming man, funny, witty, wise in many ways and one of the best woodworkers I know," Betts writes. "But on some issues he's full of bull. This is one of them."

Gov. Mike Easley said the "24/7 press cycle" has led to criticism of him.

In an exit interview with Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record, Easley said that the increased demand for news online had led to "gotcha" journalism.

"There's a 24/7 press cycle now," he said. "People calling all night long. They want access to the governor all the time ... So that's created a lot of competition, especially on the print side the pressure has been downsizing and original content. Original content is gotcha stories."

Easley said the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer had been hardest on him of state media because his administration would not release e-mails relating to personnel matters and corporate recruiting.

He said a recent series on problems with the probation system was a "hatchet job" on Correction Secretary Theodis Beck, though he argued that probationers killings are better than they used to be said the death of Eve Carson was being unfairly blamed on the system.

"Some young lady gets brutally murdered by a couple of probationers ... it's now the probation officers fault," he said. "When are we going to start holding some of these people accountable and get some of these executions going again?"

Easley said he tries to be fair to the media for his part.

"I try to keep my side of the window clean,"  he said. "My job is to be nice to other people and their job is to be nice to me. Just 'cause they're not doing theirs, doesn't mean I shouldn't do mine."

Who might take over as Correction Secretary?

With current Secretary Theodis Beck retiring soon and no announcement yet by Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, the appointment is still up in the air.

After a recent series in the N&O exposed problems with the probation system, the post may be one of the most closely watched in the new administration. (The other would be Health and Human Services Secretary, given another N&O series on mental health reform.)

In recent weeks, Crime Control Secretary Bryan Beatty's name has surfaced as a contender. He gave an ambiguous answer when asked by Dome.

Others in the mix: Jennie Lancaster, former superintendent of the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, and Dan Stieneke, chief deputy secretary under Beck.

Update: Stieneke has announced he would retire on Jan. 1.

Correction Secretary Theodis Beck fired back at the legislature.

In a letter to the editor printed over the weekend in the N&O, the longtime secretary argued that the recent series on problems with probation missed some details, including the effects of a Structured Sentencing law from the 1990s.

He also argues that the General Assembly has not given the department enough in the annual budget:

While the legislature has spent hundreds of millions on new prison construction, funding for community corrections has not kept pace. Since 1997, the General Assembly has chosen not to fund more than $130 million in additional corrections budget requests recommended by governors, which included more than 160 additional probation jobs. Further, the Department of Correction’s budget, as enacted by the legislature, has been balanced by using money from unfilled jobs for more than a decade.

After the series ran, Senate leader Marc Basnight said the department had a "rotten performance."

What will happen to members of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet?

As the two-term governor prepares to leave office in January, at least six of his top appointees have already said they will do the same, while others may be hoping to stay under Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

Here's the current rundown on their plans (question marks indicate decisions are not official):

Britt Cobb, Administration: Stepping down
Jim Fain, Commerce: Stepping down
Theodis Beck, Correction: Retiring
Bryan Beatty, Crime Control: Moving to Correction?
Libba Evans, Cultural Resources: On leave already
Bill Ross, Environment and Natural Resources: Hoping to stay?
Dempsey Benton, Health and Human Services: Stepping down
George Sweat, Juvenile Justice: Retiring
Reginald Hinton, Revenue: Retiring
Lyndo Tippett, Transportation: Hoping to stay?

We've put the question to each of the secretaries and will update this post as we get more definitive answers on the remaining holdouts.

As always, e-mail any tips, gossip and unsubstantiated rumors to dome@newsobserver.com.

Since 2000, 580 people were convicted of murder or manslaughter while on probation.

The N.C. Division of Community Corrections has allowed vacancies among probation officers to pile up in urban areas with heavy caseloads. They failed to convey to legislators the growing difficulties. And when they did ask for help, the legislature usually said no.

Community Correction head Robert Guy and Correction Secretary Theodis Beck both work for Gov. Mike Easley and have made significant financial contributions to his campaign. Beck held Guy's job for two years under form Gov. Jim Hunt.

Yet for the past decade, problems in the probation system simmered beneath the surface.

The arrests of Demario Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette in the killing of Eve Carson, the popular UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, were followed quickly by the news that the two had scant supervision while on probation.

Beck said his department should have paid more attention to the problems. (N&O)

How diverse will Beverly Perdue's Cabinet be?

As the governor-elect makes her decisions about the top 10 appointments to her administration, many observers will be looking at its diversity.

Gov. Mike Easley's original Cabinet from 2001 was described at the time by an N&O reporter as "perhaps the most diverse Cabinet in North Carolina history."

That group of 10 included three women (Administration Secretary Gwynn Swinson, Cultural Resources Secretary Libba Evans and Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Buell) and three black appointees (Swinson, Correction Secretary Theodis Beck and Crime Control Secretary Bryan Beatty).

Only five appointees were white men.

After a handful of personnel changes, Easley's Cabinet became a little less diverse by the end of his second term. It now has one woman (Evans) and three black appointees (Beck, Beatty and Revenue Secretary Reginald Hinton).

Six appointees are now white men.

As the first female governor, Perdue may face higher expectations for the number of female appointees, although her campaign team had fewer women than primary rival Richard Moore's. After criticism of the lack of diversity on her transition team, she added new members.