FWD: FOX OUT: Doug Fox may want to go back to a typewriter. The chairman of the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission resigned after a reporter with The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer showed Gov. Beverly Perdue a racist e-mail Fox sent about President Barack Obama. The e-mail contained an altered picture depicting the White House lawn as a watermelon patch, with the phrase “There goes the neighborhood…" State Sen. David Weinstein has already said he wouldn't mind taking Fox's former job.
KIND OF BLUE: State Rep. Dan Blue will soon be state Sen. Blue. After winning a behind-the-scenes two-week campaign to get appointed to the seat of former Sen. Vernon Malone, the former House speaker said he wants to finish a few things up before moving to the other chamber. Presumably that means passing bills before next week's crossover that he can then vote on as a senator.
ORDER OF THE LONG LIST: Former Gov. Mike Easley found a lot of worthy North Carolinians. During two terms in office, the Southport Democrat named more than 4,000 people to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state's highest award. That's a rate of more than one a day. Recipients included his wife's parents, members of his Cabinet, the Blue Angels and actor Danny Glover, who is not a Tar Heel.
IN OTHER NEWS: Durham attorney Kenneth Lewis is the first Democrat to say he'd like to run against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in 2010. Attorney General Roy Cooper is widely expected to run as well. ... U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan would prefer that President Obama name a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, while Burr is looking for a "non-activist" judge. ... Under pressure by Governor Perdue and Chief Justice Sarah Parker, statewide elected officials and elected judges have all volunteered to take a half a percent pay cut in line with one faced by state workers.
