When The News & Observer first asked for an interview Jan. 3, his deputy press secretary said no. When The N&O asked again, on Jan. 10, Jan. 23 and Feb. 13, the answers were no, no and no.

At a hastily called news conference Tuesday, Easley took one question each from the three N&O reporters who attended. When one tried to ask a follow-up question, Easley chided another of the paper's reporters for "bad behavior."

The session lasted 39 minutes, the first 23 taken up by opening statements from Easley and Dempsey Benton, the secretary of health and human services. Easley took six questions before he said he had to leave.

When reporters from The N&O waited outside the Capitol by the governor's SUV seeking an opportunity to ask more questions, the governor sent out a member of his security detail to open the doors to the vehicle, the engine running, as if the governor was about to come out.

Meanwhile, Easley ducked into a vehicle on the other side of the building.

He sped away.

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