"Thank you for smoking," said the politically incorrect sign on Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham's desk. Graham, who died Thursday, was a throwback to an earlier era in North Carolina -- the time before mega-malls, sushi bars and no-smoking signs.

A dairy farmer once stopped by to see Gov. Kerr Scott at his farm in Haw River to commiserate with him about all his problems in Raleigh. "Kerr, just as sure as there is a God in Heaven -- and there are one -- politics is hell, ain't it?"

When Andy Schindler, chairman of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., stepped up to the podium last week, he admitted that he had some unusual economic news -- it was good. The news conference was not about layoffs, plants being packed off to Mexico or about Chinese imports flooding the country.

President George W. Bush has been the subject of a lot of second-guessing in recent months as American troops have played "Where's Waldo?" in the Iraqi sands.

This week , Vinroot, a 62-year-old lawyer , will ratchet up his campaign for governor with a series of news conferences across the state.

Since the Mexican consulate was built on the former site of a Taco Bell, I was eager to find out whether the new Canadian consulate was constructed in an old Molson beer brewery. Alas, the Maple Leaf flies in a West Raleigh office building. Oh, Canada.

Dan Blue said he will decide this month whether he will run in next year's U.S. Senate race.