James Romoser has his list of potential Democratic Senate candidates.

The Winston-Salem Journal reporter's list mostly tracks names floated by Dome recently, although he adds a name we overlooked: Walter Dalton.

Dalton is a moderate Democrat and a good campaigner. After serving in the N.C. Senate, he was elected last year to be lieutenant governor, a job with high visibility but little real power.

* The parent company of the Winston-Salem Journal is closing its Washington bureau, which wrote, among many other things, this article last year.

* Asheville Citizen-Times Jordan Schrader reports that Gov. Beverly Perdue left a message Speaker Joe Hackney after seizing the rainy day funds. 

* Greensboro News-Record's Mark Binker finally gets a long-awaited ethics opinion on donations to the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.

* First Lady Michelle Obama visits Fort Bragg, meets with city council members, local civics and business leaders at a Fayetteville event. 

It seems that "chunked" is in common use.

Here are a few examples culled from North Carolina newspapers in recent years of the verb "to chunk" being used instead of "to chuck" (as used by former Gov. Mike Easley and President George W. Bush):

* Food correspondent Debbie Moose, in a March 23, 2008, article about Duke mayonnaise: "And she chunked another jar of Big D into our cart."

* Charlotte Observer sports writer Ron Green Jr. writing about Padraig Harrington at the British Open on July 23, 2007: "When Harrington chunked his 229-yard third shot into the water, visions of Van de Velde danced in every head."

* Winston-Salem Journal writer Lenox Rawlings writing about football on Jan. 9, 2006: "The Carolina Panthers, striving for legendary status as the NFL's ultimate playoff road team, read that conventional scouting report and chunked it into the Hudson River yesterday."

* Durham Herald-Sun columnist Jason Hawkins discussing a fishing trip on Aug. 3, 2003: "He said, something was wrong with the cantaloupe, and he chunked his half overboard."

The word seems to be mostly used in the context of golf, but other sports writers use it a lot as well. That could be because sports writers use a more colloquial voice or possibly because more of them are Southerners.

Eddie Speas once worked for disgraced Speaker Jim Black.

In 2006, the then-speaker was contesting the contention of an investigator for the State Board of Elections that Black broke campaign laws when he signed over blank checks to another legislator's campaign.

A quick refresher: Black was accused of redistributing campaign donations from optometrists by signing checks with a blank payee line. The checks went to Rep. Michael Decker, who had switched parties to help keep Black in power.

In March of 2006, Black's attorneys hired Speas as part of their argument that there was nothing wrong with the arrangement. Then working as a private attorney, Speas submitted an affidavit.

"Eddie Speas has gone through the law and has determined that none of those things were violations of the law," Black said in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal.

Decker later pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting he left the Republican Party and supported Black for speaker in exchange for $50,000 and a legislative job for his son.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue named Speas her general counsel Tuesday.

Only one person was added to North Carolina's death row in 2008.

That's the lowest number of death sentences in the state in any year since 1977, when a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed capital punishment to be reinstated. 

It's not an anomaly. Over the past decade, death sentences in North Carolina have steadily declined as a result of new laws and a broader reconsideration of the issue.

"Juries are increasingly returning fewer and fewer death sentences," said Jeremy Collins, the director of the N.C. Coalition for a Moratorium. "If you make a mistake in a life case, you do have the opportunity to right the wrong. And we do have a history of making mistakes here in North Carolina, specifically related to the death penalty." 

Executions are on hold in the state due to legal challenges, while three people who were on death row have been exonerated in the past two years. 

During the mid 1990s, more than 20 people a year were sentenced to death row. (WS-J) 

An Eastern Carolinian offered up the narrowest definition of Down East.

In a Nov. 23, 2002, article in the Winston-Salem Journal, Cape Lookout Coastkeeper Frank Tursi said the broader definition of the North Carolina region would "elicit sighs" from locals.

"While it is true that to 'upstaters' the term applies generically to everything east of I-95, to Carteret County natives the term is used to describe a specific piece of real estate that lies east between Beaufort and Cedar Island, between Core Sound and the Neuse River. This hundred or so square miles of mostly marsh includes such places as Otway, Davis, Atlantic, Bettie, Stacy, Lola, South River, Marshallberg, Merrimon and Harkers Island, which the natives consider is becoming increasingly gentrified...

An advisor to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole says the North Carolina media is to blame.

The National Journal yesterday cited Dole spokesman Dan McLagan, who argued that charges that Dole was "the senator from Watergate" were unfair.

He was also harshly critical of an analysis by the Winston-Salem Journal that found that Dole only spent 13 days in North Carolina in 2006.

The Dole campaign disputed the story, saying it did not count days she traveled here on her own dime, but it could not provide documentation. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee made an ad featuring the claim, and Democrat Kay Hagan frequently cited it.

McLagan said the charge was "unfair." 

"Unfortunately, the media in this state is to the left of Hugo Chavez," he said. "I have worked most states east of the Mississippi and a couple on the other side, and I have never seen anything like this. That was a great example of a hack job."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's latest ad criticizes U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole for her her work promoting Senate candidates in 2006.

What the ad says: Dole is shown flying in a cartoon biplane with President Bush over a map of the country. Narrator: "Where's Elizabeth Dole been? Campaigning for George Bush's policies. In 2006, she traveled to Pennsylvania, Washington, New Jersey, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia. Twelve states for Bush, while records show Dole spent only 13 days in North Carolina. The year before: Only 20 days. No wonder she's ranked 93rd in effectiveness. Elizabeth Dole. She'll travel the country for George Bush ... but she's not getting the job done for us. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."

The background: In 2006, Dole served as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a Washington-based group that helps Republican Senate candidates get elected.

On behalf of the group, Dole visited the 12 states mentioned in the ad, according to contemporary newspaper accounts and an official e-mail from Dole.

There are no formal ties between the group and Bush, although the president would have benefited from Republican control of the Senate.

The Winston-Salem Journal recently analyzed tax-paid travel records, news releases and media coverage to determine how many days Dole spent 13 days in North Carolina in 2006 and 20 days in 2005.

Dole said the newspaper didn't count all the time's she's been to the state at her own expense, although she could not provide documentation of those visits.

The Congressional data service Knowlegis ranked Dole 93rd in the Senate in 2007 in its annual study of effectiveness.

Is the ad accurate? Mostly. The descriptions of Dole's effectiveness, the states she visited in 2006 and the days she spent in North Carolina are accurate. But it is misleading to say that Dole traveled the country for President Bush.

Some folks in Mayberry are unhappy with Sheriff Taylor.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that some residents of Mount Airy, the hometown of actor Andy Griffith and inspiration for the fictional town of his T.V. show, did not cotton to a recent video showing him and Ron Howard endorsing Barack Obama.

Some folks, though, don't like to see the actors from their old favorite show taking sides in real-life politics.

"A lot of people are surprised at him, and disappointed, too," Russell Hiatt, who runs Floyd's City Barber Shop on Main Street, said about Griffith.

"Everybody's high on Andy."

But he said he wasn't shocked by Howard doing the skit.

"I'm not surprised with Opie at all," Hiatt said. "He hasn't ever even come here to Mount Airy."

Anothr Mayberry — er, Mount Airy — resident tells the newspaper that she understands why the two would endorse in character.

"Everyone relates to Andy and Opie," she says.

Editorial boards of the state's major newspapers are making their endorsements in the Senate race.

Here are links to the major unsigned editorials written so far about Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Kay Hagan.

Raleigh News & Observer: Hagan. "She is well-informed, not just well-meaning. She is astute. Her record in Raleigh indicates she knows how to make a legislative system work. It forecasts a promising career in the U.S. Senate."

Charlotte Observer: Hagan. "We believe she offers citizens the better hope of having an effective and independent voice in the Senate. She also offers them a voice that is more closely attuned to everyday life in North Carolina."

Asheville Citizen-Times: Hagan. "North Carolina needs and deserves a senator who stays in touch with her constituents and the changing dynamics of a fast-growing state. And it deserves a knowledgeable, collaborative, but forceful voice in the U.S. Senate."

Greensboro News-Record: Hagan. "She's responsive to constituents, communicates well, works hard, comprehends complex issues, makes good decisions and is not content to be average. She can become an outstanding U.S. senator."

Winston-Salem Journal: Hagan. "Hagan, 55, is a bundle of brains and energy. A lawyer and former banker, she has been a leader in the state Senate almost since the day she entered 10 years ago."

Wilmington Star-News: Hagan. "Washington is a lot different from Raleigh, but a knowledgeable, energetic and assertive politician such as Hagan can provide strong representation."

Durham Herald-Sun: Hagan. "Her record after 10 years in the General Assembly is pro-business and pro-education, with a deep streak of practicality."

Greenville Daily Reflector: Hagan. "She brings experience to this race that lacks a national profile, but aptly demonstrates her comfort with the legislative process and the capable leadership she brings to it."

High Point Enterprise: Hagan. "Over the span of Hagan's legislative career, we've seen a state senator committed to and capable of getting things done for the people she represents — and even once represented." 

Wilson Times: Hagan. "What sets Hagan above Dole is the fact that she has spent most of her life living and working in North Carolina. She has served her constituents in Greensboro well and has assembled a team that will work to represent the interests of all North Carolinians."