* House Speaker Joe Hackney refers anti-gay marriage bill to four committees, double the usual amount and likely a tactic to keep it from coming to the floor.
* House Republican Leader Paul Stam proposes allowing local governments to publish notices about public hearings electronically — instead of in the newspaper.
* Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican, says smoking ban creates "a Gestapo atmosphere," but the bill sails through a House Health committee.
* About 1 out of every 110 adults in North Carolina is in prison, according to new report. That's good compared to the South, but not the world.
