Dome Memo: Over and out?

CROSSOVER OVER: The legislature went into a lightning round this week. To meet the deadline required for a bill to pass either the House or the Senate, lawmakers voted on hundreds of bills and dozens of amendments. Tempers occasionally flared, as when Sen. David Hoyle begged a bill sponsor to end debate and "put us out of our misery."

EASLEY'S NOT OVER: Mike Easley may no longer be governor, but he's still in the news. A series of stories in the N&O revealed that he took flights on private jets that were not reported, that his family drove cars that belonged to a car dealership for months and that a Highway Patrolman mysteriously visited his home recently. More news is likely to come.

COOP'S JUST STARTING: Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped by the White House Monday. Long thought to be a potential candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010, he is thought to have been lobbied by President Obama to run. But the official reason for the visit was to watch the president shake hands with the championship UNC-Chapel Hill basketball team.

IN OTHER NEWS: Former Carolina Panthers safety Mike Minter may run against Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell next year. Following in Rep. Heath Shuler's cleats? .... Gov. Beverly Perdue has said she will sign a smoking ban on restaurants and public places. Has Tobacco Road reached a dead end? ... Senate leader Marc Basnight celebrated his 62nd birthday this week, but he's not sure which day. As it turns out, his birth certificate may have the wrong date. Do the conspiracy theorists know about this? ... Former Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer has snagged a number of high-profile endorsements in the race for N.C. Republican Party chair.