For OLF impasse, Navy secretary takes helm

Busy man, the U.S. secretary of the Navy.

Navy secretary Donald Winter spent Tuesday morning meeting with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole about the agency's proposed airstrip in North Carolina.

Tuesday afternoon, he was with U.S. Rep. David Price.

And Gov. Mike Easley said Tuesday that he has been talking with Navy staffers in detail about finding a new site.

Dole, a Salisbury Republican, and Winter had a follow-up conversation to their exchange of letters last week regarding the Navy's plans to build an airstrip for pilots to practice nighttime carrier landings.

The Navy prefers to build the landing strip in Washington County. Dole and others want the Navy to look elsewhere. The Navy has acknowledged it will consider sites beyond the five it studied in a draft environmental impact statement.

Tuesday's meeting focused on how to develop talks among the Navy, Dole's office and state officials about other sites, said Dole spokeswoman Katie Norman.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, met with Winter and Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that would fund a new airstrip, according to Paul Cox, a spokesman for Price.

Price had told Edwards he was interested in blocking the funding for the landing field, and Edwards offered to broker a meeting.

"The secretary of the Navy seems to be willing to compromise with the state of North Carolina," Cox said.

Easley said he has been meeting behind closed doors with Pentagon and Navy officials to talk about alternative sites.

The sites the agencies have discussed are fairly close to existing military installations that wouldn't object, or in very rural areas in the eastern part of the state, Easley said during a visit to Capitol Hill.

Farmers' aid in spending bill

The emergency supplemental spending bill that the U.S. House takes up today includes relief for North Carolina farmers hit by a freeze early this month.

Cox said Price worked with other lawmakers to alter language in the bill for agriculture disaster relief. Farmers with insured crops who planted before Feb. 28 will be eligible, Cox said. The funding will provide the difference between insurance payouts and the crop losses.

The bill primarily is meant to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senate OKs pension bill

Former House Speaker Jim Black pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge in February, but he's still receiving a state pension.

A bill passed by the state Senate Tuesday would stop future politicians who, like Black, are found guilty of corruption charges from collecting their benefits.

But it wouldn't stop all benefits.

Sen. Majority Leader Tony Rand, who sponsored the bill, said it could not be made retroactive because of constitutional concerns. That means Black's estimated $3,444 gross monthly benefit is safe.

Legislators who are already vested -- generally those in office more than five years -- would still be able to keep the money they have already earned, though they would forfeit any money from this point on.

The law is not limited to legislators. It also applies to judges, teachers and state and local employees convicted of election fraud or public corruption charges.

"This would say that those who violate the public trust would not benefit from the public service," Rand said.

The Senate passed the bill 46-0. It now goes to the House.

Miller's kickoff on hold

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, has postponed his re-election kickoff because he is contemplating running against Dole.

"A funny thing happened on the way to my 2008 campaign for re-election to the U.S. House," Miller wrote in an e-mail message to supporters. "So we're postponing the kickoff fundraiser at the Irregardless Cafe, which we had scheduled for April 29, until we know what we're kicking off."

The talk in Democratic circles is that Miller is leaning toward running against Dole.

Miller, a three-term congressman, asks for the advice of his supporters. He says he is happy representing the 13th District, but is clearly intrigued by serving in the Senate.

"I'm disappointed that Senator Dole has simply toed her party's line on almost every issue, and mouthed stale partisan rhetoric, when we have desperately needed leaders in Washington who would ask hard questions and offer practical alternatives," Miller wrote.

(Lisa Zagaroli of The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.)