* U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan signs on as cosponsor of Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's big prison-reform study commission bill.
* Red Oak is asking the legislature to raise the number of barrels a brewery can distribute on its own without a distributor.
* Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton announces creation of the Small Business Assistance Fund to give low-interest loans to small companies.
* A state bill to regulate child beauty pageants gets some love from Jezebel, a nationally known feminist blog.



