Morning Roundup: Primary voting continues, as DNC prepares for Obama

Today’s election will determine candidates in five statewide races, as well as several congressional and legislative races. But not everyone will need to – or can – vote. Click here for what you need to know.

More political headlines:

--President Barack Obama’s campaign has come up with a plan to reward N.C. supporters with a seat in Bank of America Stadium on the night of his acceptance speech in September. Dubbed “9-3-1,” the plan calls for guaranteeing one credential to any Obama backer in this swing state who is willing to do campaign volunteer work for three shifts – totaling nine hours.

--With seven weeks left until the Democratic National Convention, the scramble began Tuesday to convert Time Warner Cable Arena into a showcase for the re-election of President Barack Obama. Convention organizers took the keys to the arena on Monday, clearing the way to start the $7 million transformation for September’s event. See a photo gallery here.

--With a key piece of legislation now in place, leaders of Research Triangle Park plan to unveil a new master plan for the park by early October. During its recently concluded short session, the General Assembly adopted legislation that allows the park, in collaboration with local governments, to set up “Urban Research Service Districts” that could include a mix of retail, restaurants and residential developments.

--Columnist Barry Saunders: Anyone new to America witnessing the furor surrounding the president’s health care bill and the Republicans’ insistence on refighting that war might think real civil war is imminent, with tanks about to roll down Pennsylvania Avenue steam-rolling dissenters. After all, some opponents warn of death panels that will decide who lives and dies based on the cost of care. Relax, newcomers. Such hyperbole is just the way we do things around here.

--Hoover Adams, perhaps North Carolina’s best known small-town editor, an intimate of Sen. Jesse Helms, and a political figure in his own right, died Sunday after a period of declining health. He was 92. For 60 years Adams used the daily newspaper he founded, The Daily Record of Dunn, to chronicle the comings and goings of small-town life, whether in the news pages, or in his distinctive front page column “These Little Things.”