Just before a Roanoke Rapids City Council meeting this week, City Manager Phyllis Lee expressed surprise at the arrival of two out-of-town newspaper reporters.

In a friendly way, she inquired: "Why are you here?"

When told that the council was expected to remove Randy Parton's name from the theater the city built for him, Lee responded: "It's not on the agenda."

An hour later, the council rechristened The Randy Parton Theatre as The Roanoke Rapids Theatre. Immediately after the meeting, theater officials handed out a news release crafted by French West Vaughan, a Raleigh public relations firm.

Dated the day after the meeting, it began with this statement: "City officials agreed last night to change the name of the Randy Parton Theatre to the Roanoke Rapids Theatre ..."

It included this quote from Lee: "The people of Roanoke Rapids built this theater. It's time to put our good name on it."

And to think -- a name change wasn't even on the agenda.

Another McCrory hint

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory still isn't talking. But if documents are any indication, he's running for governor.

McCrory, a Republican, filed a statement of organization with the N.C. Board of Elections late Tuesday. The form discloses an intention to run for state office, election officials said.

Since the holidays, he has refused to comment but has left a trail of signals about his intentions.

Perdue out of debate

WRAL-TV wants the Democrats running for governor to participate in a live debate this month.

State Treasurer Richard Moore has accepted. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue "has officially declined" to participate in the station's Jan. 24 debate, WRAL-TV reporter Cullen Browder told Dome.

The station has a Republican debate set for Jan. 17.

David Kochman, a Perdue spokesman, said the candidates have already debated in Greensboro and have agreed to three more debates that will be broadcast on public television. He said the campaign had previously accepted an invitation to a debate sponsored by the NAACP.

That debate, set for Jan. 26, is to be broadcast on WRAL, according to its organizers.

Jones on horses

A new book lampooning D.C. politicians includes a jab at U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, a Farmville Republican.

"Homo Politicus," by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, is a collection of malapropisms and twisted logic from national pols.

According to a review in The New York Times, Jones makes an appearance for his remarks on a proposed horse meat ban:

"The horses are part of the history of this nation, and the West would never have been settled if it weren't for the horses."

Dome is not sure whether that is an argument for or against eating horses, since the West was also settled by cows.

Foxx a busy mailer

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx sent a lot of mail in 2006.

According to a recent review by The Associated Press, the Banner Elk Republican sent 785,415 pieces of mail at a cost of $164,548.

That put her in sixth place among U.S. House members in use of the franking privilege.

In all, House members spent $20.3 million in tax money to send meeting announcements, surveys and other mail to constituents.

The mailings are not allowed to be explicitly political, but some say they help incumbents improve their image.

(Victoria Cherrie of The Charlotte Observer contributed)