Gov. Beverly Perdue is not alone in China, and certainly not the only elected official from North Carolina. Eleven legislators also are there.
Senators Malcolm Graham and Bob Rucho of Charlotte, Floyd McKissick of Durham, Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville and Tony Foriest of Graham, and Representatives Lucy Allen of Louisburg, Bill Owens of Elizabeth City, Joe Tolson of Pinetops, Jane Whilden of Asheville, Margaret Dickson of Fayetteville and Wil Neumann of Belmont are visiting as part of a program organized by the University of North Carolina's Center for International Understanding. All are Democrats except for Republicans Rucho and Neumann.
Graham said no tax dollars are being used to pay for the trip. Funding comes from Duke University as well as corporate sponsors AT&T, Longistics and SAS.
The group is participating in a few events during Perdue's trade trip, such as Wednesday's visit to a middle school, but also are making their own stops, such as SAS' Beijing R&D operation. Lawmakers aim to learn more about a country and culture with which North Carolina must compete for jobs and business.
"We don't live in an isolated world anymore," Graham said. "We're not just competing with South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. We're competing in a worldwide economy."
Coin would mark sit-ins
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller want the U.S. Treasury to create a commemorative coin to honor the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth's civil rights sit-ins in downtown Greensboro.
On Feb. 1, 1960, four students from N.C. A&T State University sat at the whites-only lunch counter and refused to leave. The protest sparked a movement throughout the South.
Hagan, a Democrat from Greensboro, plans to introduce legislation ordering the treasury to mint 1,000 $1 coins to commemorate the anniversary. The bill would be deficit-neutral, her office said, and would cost the public $11 per coin.
The design would be selected by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which is being built at the site of the Woolworth's counter in Greensboro.
Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, will take the lead in sponsoring the bill in the House. Miller's district, which stretches into parts of Greensboro, includes the museum site.
Triangle feels lucky
Triangle residents buy the most lottery tickets.
According to figures the lottery compiled for its fiscal 2009 annual report, 40 percent of all lottery tickets were sold in the Raleigh area. Stores in the Charlotte region sold 24.5 percent of the tickets. The Greensboro and Greenville areas accounted for roughly 15 percent of tickets, and the western part of the state bought 6 percent.
The proportions are similar to those of 2008.
Instant scratch-off tickets were the big seller with sales of $798.7million -- 62 percent of sales in 2009. Powerball and Pick 3 each had a little less than $210million in sales. Pick 4 sold $15.8million in tickets, and Cash 5 sold $60million.
Goodwin throws political weight
N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin helped push the candidacy of new Rep. Chris Heagarty of Raleigh.
In the days leading up to Saturday's vote for Heagarty, Goodwin signed on to a mail piece endorsing him, as did two legislators, and the brochure was distributed to Democratic Party leaders in the 41st district. Ty Harrell resigned that seat in September amid a campaign finance investigation. Under the law, leaders from the outgoing lawmaker's party pick his or her successor, and the governor appoints him.
Goodwin and Heagarty are both Democrats, as are Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro, and Rosa Gill of Raleigh, who also appeared in the brochure. Goodwin was on the board of the N.C. Center for Voter Education for two of the seven years that Heagarty was director. The two are good enough friends that they were at each other's weddings.
Heagarty also was aided by an endorsement from Wake County teachers.
By MarkJohnson, BarbaraBarrett andBenjaminNiolet
