Five counties, including Wake and Chatham, have asked for a 1 percent transfer tax on real estate sales this session. A fifth bill would give every county the option of levying such a tax.

The idea has been around at least since the 1980s, when six coastal counties got permission to levy the tax.

But thanks in part to opposition from the real estate industry, lawmakers haven't given any other counties the authority since 1989.

In the Senate, Wake Democrats Janet Cowell and Vernon Malone have sponsored a bill that would allow the county to hold a referendum for a transfer tax, impact fees or a sales-tax increase. Another Senate bill would let Granville County voters vote on a transfer tax.

In the House, bills that would allow a referendum on a transfer tax for Chatham and Moore voters were introduced at the request of House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat from Orange County.

And for the third time, Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat, has introduced a bill that would give counties a menu of options, including a transfer tax, sales tax hikes, hotel and meals taxes and impact fees, if voters approved.

Todd McGee, spokesman for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, said lawmakers seem more open to approving the transfer tax this session than they have been in a long time.

"In years past, it's been a downright 'No, we're not going to do that,' " McGee said.

Ridder, Black were chummy

When former House Speaker Jim Black's lawyer indicated last month that other folks might be "uncomfortable" now that Black is cooperating with authorities, he indicated that a newspaper editorial writer might be involved in some kind of quid pro quo.

The lawyer, Kenneth Bell of Charlotte, noted the type of law Black violated -- Bell broadly referred to it as "accepting illegal gratuities" -- could be trouble for others.

"Whether it's a golf outing after what some lobbyist or corporation thought was a successful [legislative] session or the offer of a favorable editorial for a good piece of legislation -- whether those are illegal gratuities," Bell said at the time, "someone may have to decide someday."

It seems now that at least part of what Bell was referring to includes interactions between Black and the former publisher of The Charlotte Observer, Peter Ridder.

In a recent column, the paper's editorial page editor, Ed Williams, wrote about the situation, quoting Ridder as offering general help to Black at one point as he invited him to a game of golf -- but insisting that he never offered Black anything specific.

Williams said Ridder never asked editors to write about Black or sought to deter them from writing about Black. Williams quoted the paper's editor as saying that Ridder, who is now retired and lives in California, did not influence news coverage.

Williams defended the paper's positions on Black and noted it sought Black's resignation as speaker a year ago, while Ridder was publisher.

"I feel slimed by him," Williams wrote.

Party hires fundraiser

The state Democratic Party has hired a member of John Edwards' money team as its new finance director. John Gardner will oversee all fundraising activities of the party in North Carolina.

Gardner most recently served as the North Carolina finance director for John Edwards' One America Committee. Gardner has also worked for the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry/Edwards Committee.