A liberal public advocacy group says North Carolina's state legislators are doing a better job on ethics reform than lawmakers in Washington. It gave failing grades to six members of North Carolina's delegation in Congress who supported a reform bill that, the group says, doesn't go far enough.

The report from the North Carolina chapter of Common Cause praises two reform bills moving through the state legislature. Both would ban gifts to lawmakers.

In Congress, the House recently passed the Lobby Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.

Common Cause gave F grades to six Republican lawmakers who voted against strict disclosure amendments but then supported the final bill. They are Reps. Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Charles Taylor, Patrick McHenry, Sue Myrick and Robin Hayes.

Opposing the bill were Republican Rep. Walter Jones and Democratic Reps. David Price, Brad Miller, Bob Etheridge, G.K. Butterfield, Mel Watt and Mike McIntyre. Common Cause gave them A's.

The group also supported the stricter amendments, requiring stronger disclosure on lobbying expenses, and cracking down more stringently on privately funded travel.

The amendments, pushed largely by Democrats, ultimately failed.

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said Thursday that he thinks the state legislature has done better on ethics reform because of its more local nature and relatively less expensive election campaigns.

"At the state level, while we're increasingly seeing more partisan battles, it's still a body where legislators reach across the aisles and work with each other," Phillips said. "In D.C., it appears to be just a battle between two parties, who can stay in control."

'Idol' anger makes record

American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry came in fourth -- not too shabby in a nationwide talent show -- but that was enough to rile his hometown fans in McLeansville and get a congressman to give a tongue-in-cheek slam on the results with a statement in the Congressional Record.

Howard Coble, whose 6th District includes Daughtry's hometown, called the voting on the show the "biggest electoral debate since the Bush-Gore presidential election in Florida in 2000."

His statement in the Congressional Record admitted his relative ignorance about "American Idol" and pop music, but, Coble said, "I do know politics, and from everything I could learn, Chris Daughtry appeared to be the fan favorite."

Daughtry, 26, was voted off the music contest May 10.

Coble will present a copy of his statements in the Congressional Record, the official transcript of Congress, to Daughtry on Saturday as part of a community ceremony in the contestant's honor.

UNC criminal checks backed

A bill that would require fingerprinting and criminal background checks for UNC students has won praise from the parents of Jessica Faulkner, the UNC-Wilmington student from Cary who was killed in a dormitory there in 2004 by a fellow student.

The parents, John Faulkner and Desiree Randolph, have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the UNC system and the father of the killer, whose college application concealed the student's troubled past.

In a statement released by Wilmington attorney Thom Goolsby, Randolph said, "I am very pleased that someone in our government is taking action and trying to do something about the university's lack of interest in protecting our children."

The UNC system made changes to its admissions policies to include more scrutiny of prospective students' applications, but stopped short of widespread criminal background checks.

UNC officials said that such checks would be costly and would not reveal much because juvenile records are sealed.

This week, attorneys for Faulkner's estate sent a letter requesting a meeting with UNC system President Erskine Bowles and UNC-Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo to discuss admissions policies.

It said, "If we can prevent what has happened to this family from happening to another family, it will have been well worth our time."