Charlotte woman may nail slippery lottery seat

The state lottery commission is set to add a new member to a seat that has been hard to keep filled.

Senate leader Marc Basnight on Wednesday chose Bridget-Anne Hampden of Charlotte for a slot on the panel that is in charge of starting and operating the state lottery.

The position was first filled by former Charlotte City Council member Malachi J. Greene, who stepped down in October, citing time concerns. Basnight then nominated Shirley Taylor Frye, a retired former administrator at N.C. A&T State University and Bennett College. She initially accepted Basnight's pick only to decline later amid concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving her husband's legal work.

Hampden would be the commission's eighth member, leaving one slot still open because of the resignation of Asheville's Gordon Myers, who cited a potential conflict of interest.

Hampden is the president and CEO of JHR & Associates, described in a news release from Basnight's office as a global management consulting firm whose clients include Lexmark International, Antigua & Barbuda Investment Bank and the WNBA's Charlotte Sting.

She previously was managing director and chief information officer of the corporate and investment banking group at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte.

Wachovia has already taken a close interest in the lottery, sending a representative to several lottery commission meetings. Financial companies are expected to compete for substantial contracts to handle lottery money.

Voting machine results out

Voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems is still in the running for state approval to sell its equipment to counties.

The State Board of Elections is scheduled today to name the companies it wants selling voting equipment in the state. Another board makes the final decision.

Diebold, which uses other companies' software, failed Monday to convince a judge that it should have liability protection if it could not provide all the information about programming code and code writers a new law says is required. Doug Hanna, a Raleigh lawyer representing the company, told the judge that Diebold would have to withdraw its bid without the protection.

After the court hearing, the State Board of Elections asked Diebold and other companies vying for contracts to list their third-party software and information they would not be able to provide, said Chuck Owen, a Diebold lawyer from Texas.

"To me, that's the reasonable thing to try to do," Owen said. Diebold had not withdrawn its bid, he said.

Gary Bartlett, state elections director, said the board wanted to give other companies the same chance Diebold had to say what they can and cannot provide.

Tobacco Greats proliferate

Every member of North Carolina's congressional delegation is a Tobacco Great.

That's according to the N.C. State University College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

This year, beyond its usual move of bestowing just one or two "Tobacco Great" awards in the state, the college is handing out more than a dozen plaques. The state's two U.S. senators and 13 congressional representatives are being thanked for their support of the federal tobacco buyout.

The buyout puts government checks worth $9.6 billion into the hands of farmers who will no longer be growing tobacco under the federal quota system. About $3.9 billion is planned for N.C. families.

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms also will receive an honor, the college's first "Distinguished Service to Tobacco" award.

The awards will be handed out today, NCSU's Tobacco Day, during a ceremony at the Jane S. McKimmon Center on NCSU's campus.

The college has been presenting Tobacco Great awards since 1971, each recognizing those in the tobacco industry who have contributed to the crop.