* N&O editorial writer Allen Torrey wonders whether it's really that much of a hardship to not buy liquor on Sundays, praises Chick-fil-A.

* Liberal commentator Chris Fitzsimon (sarcastically) suggests selling lottery tickets at unemployment offices and social services departments.

* Conservative Civitas think tank once again finds that many North Carolinians don't know which party controls the legislature. (It's Democrats, btw.)

* N.C. chapter of the NAACP confirms to the Wilmington Journal that it's looking into Sen. Kay Hagan's firing of two staffers.  

Cash Michaels says Barack Obama needs to win white men in North Carolina.

In an article in the Wilmington Journal, a weekly black newspaper, the longtime reporter and editor notes that the Democratic presidential candidate has not done well among white voters in Southern states.

He says North Carolina will be Obama's next "Southern test" — a state with a "well-worn history of denying quality black Democratic candidates election in statewide contests."

These have been contests where a significant number of white NC Democrats chose the Republican candidate who looked like them, over the black Democrat who did not. The 1990 and 1996 high profile US Senate races between former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, a Democrat, and conservative Republican incumbent Sen. Jesse Helms, are the most prominent examples. 

He says that it was clear in both of Helms' wins that white Democrats made the difference, especially after Helms' "racially provocative campaigns."

Previously: How Gantt fared in N.C. 

Rep. Thomas Wright put Jim Black in power. 

In 1999, the Wilmington Democrat was one of 10 members of the House black caucus who voted for Black as speaker instead of returning former Speaker Dan Blue to the position.

That angered some black leaders, who felt that Wright and others should have supported Blue, who is black, instead of Black, who is white. The Wilmington Journal, an African-American paper, called Wright an "Uncle Tom" after the vote.

Wright's decision may have helped seal the deal.

The day of the vote, he gave a brief nominating speech in support of Black. As head of the 24-member joint House and Senate black caucus, he was highly visible, and Black won the race by a single vote.

Later, Black put him in charge of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Capital, which handles state spending on construction, and the Health Committee.

After the jump, the vote split.

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An African-American newspaper in Wilmington has called for Rep. Thomas Wright to step down.

In an open letter to the Wilmington Democrat published yesterday, the Wilmington Journal's editorial staff called on him to step down after the May 24 crossover deadline:

If there is one unselfish act or sentiment left in you, given all that you face, we ask of you to think of the people who trusted you, and give them this important opportunity to have effective leadership again.

Step down, Thomas, as one last bold act of service.

The 10,000 circulation weekly, a member of the BlackPressUSA Network, was founded in 1927.