Group seeks bypass for billboard-trees fight

Maybe there's an alternative to the trees vs. billboards argument environmentalists and sign owners have every year.

And maybe a group meeting under the auspices of the state Department of Transportation will find that Third Way.

Over the past few years, environmental groups have successfully fought billboard owners' attempts to cut more trees around their signs so that people passing by have longer to read them.

They were tough fights that pitted billboard-loving senators against environmental groups, the DOT and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Last week, groups representing billboard owners, environmental groups, local governments, petroleum marketers, restaurants and hotels began meeting to fashion compromises on tree rules, zoning issues and other billboard matters.

The group is using a facilitator and plans to meet twice a month to come up with new rules, said Ted Sherrod, a DOT roadside environmental engineer.

"I guess using the expertise from a facilitator will hopefully allow us to end up with a third alternative that's better than what we've ended up with before," he said.

Have a ball

So you're heading to Washington for the big inauguration, you've got no plans for the evening before the swearing-in, and you've got a few hundred bucks in your pocket.

Consider a state society inaugural gala. Several societies - including North Carolina's -- are holding unofficial balls, most of them Jan. 19. They're bipartisan, black-tie affairs - though bolos are encouraged at Arizona's event, and cowboy boots are the expected fashion statement at the Texas gala -- and sometimes big-name politicians make appearances. (Don't expect the Obamas to show up, though.)

Many of the balls are sold out, but get details on the events at the National Conference of State Societies Web site: ncss.typepad.com/my_weblog/ about_ncss/.

North Carolina's state society inaugural ball will be at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel near Woodley Park in Washington. If you stumble outside and get lost, you could wander close enough to the zoo to hear the lions. (Ticket preferences go to society members who joined before March.)

Several other state societies have local balls and events. How do the venues stack up?

* South Carolina Society: National Air and Space Museum.

* Illinois State Society: Renaissance Washington Hotel.

* Texas Society Black Tie and Boots: Gaylord National Resort.

* Arizona State Society: National Historical Society.

* Hawaii State Society: Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

* New Mexico State Society: Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

* Florida State Society: Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Perdue going to Philly

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue plans to join a meeting of the nation's governors with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, chairman of the National Governors Association, is playing host to the sitting and incoming governors who attend the meeting.

The topic, not surprisingly, is the economic crisis.

The measure of the ad

Kay Hagan's pollster says the "Godless" ad backfired.

Democratic pollster John Anzalone told Politico's Scorecard blog that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's ad criticizing Hagan's links to a man who promotes atheist causes hurt her.

He said Hagan's internal polling showed Hagan's numbers skyrocketing after the ad aired.

"It would have been a much closer race [if she hadn't aired the "Godless" ad]. Kay would have won by 3 or 4 points, but instead she won big," Anzalone told Politico. "I just think Dole, in the end, did herself a disservice. She was going to lose that race, but she did not need to lose that race by that margin."