State Rep. Ty Harrell will be on "The State of Things" today.

The Raleigh Democrat will join WUNC radio host Frank Stasio for a discussion about race and politics in advance of an upcoming conference at Duke University.

The two will talk "about the atmosphere surrounding a young African-American politican in Raleigh," according to a station promo.

Harrell, who represents a district that is overwhelmingly white, was highlighted as part of a "new guard of black Democrats" in the Independent Weekly of Durham last year, and has been compared to Barack Obama by more than one political observer.

Duke professors Bill Chafe and Paula McClain will join the 40 minute conversation.

The show airs at noon on 91.5 FM in Chapel Hill, 88.9 FM in Manteo and 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount.

It can also be downloaded after it airs here.

* WUNC reporter Laura Leslie defends N&O ombudsman taking job at state agency, arguing that he's an "excellent communicator" in a tough industry.

* Schools Superintendent June Atkinson tells Fayetteville Observer she has no plans to sue the state over her job description.

* Conservative activist Francis De Luca argues that Rev. William Barber of the state chapter of the NAACP should have to register as a lobbyist.

* The president of the state Bankers Association is pushing to rename Raleigh-Durham International Airport after the Wright Brothers.

* Cigar-smoking restaurateur says he has no regrets about opening two smoke-free places in Fayetteville, though one customer wanted to fight.

* WUNC reporter Laura Leslie notes that Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton's daughter, Elizabeth, has been a registered lobbyist for eight years.

* Republican consultant Carter Wrenn gives some more advice to Senate Republicans about how to hold the governor's feet to the fire on probation problems.

* Liberal commentator Chris Fitzsimon notices a "puzzling" entry on a list of politicians who should be considered for the U.S. Supreme Court: Mike Easley.

* N&O editor John Drescher remembers another side of former Gov. Bob Scott — the politician who refused to answer a difficult question from a reporter.

* Greensboro News-Record columnist Doug Clark wonders why the public campaign finance system should spend $200,000 to elect a powerless schools superintendent.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie mourns the end of NBC-17's "At Issue" weekly political news show, praises hard work of anchor Kim Genardo.

* Blogger Dr. Frank argues that the legislature's balanced budget requirement may be too restrictive during a recession since suggested cuts aren't even close.

Barack Obama is criticizing John McCain's tactics in a new robocall.

In an automated call to North Carolina voters, a supporter of the Democratic presidential candidate accuses McCain of running a "dishonorable campaign."

The call, recorded by WUNC reporter Laura Leslie, features Lenny Julius, an Emerald Isle man who met with Obama backstage before his speech at the Democratic national convention in Denver.

"I used to support John McCain. In fact, I served with him in the Navy," he says. "But this year, he's running a dishonorable campaign. This election should be about policies and ideas, not about vicious personal attacks."

After the jump, the script.

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Barack Obama suggested this weekend that children of illegal immigrants should have an opportunity to attend community colleges.

In an interview with WUNC this weekend, the Democratic presidential candidate said children who attend public schools should have the chance to continue to improve themselves.

"For us to deny them access to community college, even though they've never lived in Mexico, at least as far as they can tell ... is to deny that this is how we've always built this country up," he said.

The campaign of Republican John McCain issued a statement saying he was opposed to providing benefits to illegal immigrants, but did not address community college attendance, which has been a contentious issue in North Carolina.

"John McCain does not support amnesty or benefits for undocumented immigrants," his campaign said in the statement. "He has consistently opposed giving amnesty or public benefits to undocumented immigrants." (N&O)

Richard Moore says he has known for some time that something was up with the U.S. financial system.

WUNC radio reporter Jessica Jones asked the Democratic state treasurer whether, as an observer of Wall Street, he saw problems coming.

"Yes. Absolutely," Moore said in a segment dated Thursday. "Exactly when it was going to happen, what form it was going to take, I can't tell you I knew that. But everybody that I know of who was conservative and who wasn't getting paid to say, 'Everything is great,' kept wondering, 'How can you continue to have real estate prices go up, commodity prices go up, tremendous amounts of loans being made?'"

Moore also blamed poor enforcement of leverage requirements.

"There's a reason we put those regulations in place coming out of the Great Depression," he said. "We really have gotten away from that. And I'm not trying to sound partisan, but we have gotten away from that the last five to seven years."

In February, while he was running for governor, Moore said the state's roughly $70 billion pension fund had largely avoided securities backed by subprime loans.

What would Robert Pittenger do as lieutenant governor?

In 1988, Republican Jim Gardner was elected to gavel sessions led by a Democratic controlled legislature. They responded by stripping away much of the job's power, leading to the rise of Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight.

At a debate tonight on WUNC, Pittenger promised that he would help ensure GOP ideas were discussed in the Senate if he was elected. But with Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand holding the parliamentary conch, that could prove tricky.

After the debate, Pittenger told Dome how he would operate.

He said that he would recognize more Republican legislators to speak on the floor, allowing them to make amendments. (Currently, some never get that chance.) To prevent those bills from being voted on, Rand would be forced to rule them out of order.

"Is he going to do that 20 times a day, four days a week?" he asked. "There is going to be a time when the iron-fisted control of the Senate is going to be so obvious. He's not going to have the coordinated effort of a lieutenant governor who's working on his behalf."

Pittenger said as a state senator he'd seen Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue stop debate to "get her marching orders" directly from Rand.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor are scheduled to spar in their third debate on Tuesday night in Raleigh.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee, and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the Republican candidate, will field questions from moderators and viewers alike on WRAL-TV, but television stations across the state plan to carry the broadcast.

Viewers can submit questions before and during the debate at WRAL.com (keyword: DEBATE).

List of stations and sites broadcasting the debate after the jump.

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Kay Hagan will be on "The State of Things" today.

The candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate will be the only guest on the 40-minute show hosted by Frank Stasio on WUNC, an NPR affiliate.

Here's the promo:

Meet Kay Hagan: Kay Hagan has represented Greensboro in the North Carolina senate for five terms. Over that time, she has established a reputation for being pro-education and pro-business. She is often described as "tenacious" and as a "fighter," but Democratic challenger Jim Neal calls her "an ambitious career politician" who is "Republican Lite." North Carolina State Senator Kay Hagan joins host Frank Stasio to share her life story and her political track record.  

The show airs live on 91.5 FM in Chapel Hill, 88.9 FM in Manteo and 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount.

It can also be downloaded after it airs here.