Candidates face need to disclose felonies

Candidates will soon have to fess up.

Under a bill passed unanimously in the Senate on Monday, candidates for state legislature, boards of county commissioners and school boards will have to state whether they have been convicted of a felony upon filing.

Formerly felonious candidates will have to fill out a short form from the State Board of Elections that discloses the offense, the county and state it was in, the date of conviction and the date they got their voting rights restored.

Failing to fill out the form property would be a Class I felony.

No compensation accord yet

The state Senate on Monday rejected the House version of a bill that would have made all forms of compensation for public employees public, save for those working public hospitals.

The House's addition of that exception led the author of the bill, state Sen. David Hoyle, a Gaston County Democrat, to urge his colleagues to vote not to concur.

"There was no resemblance to what I sent over," Hoyle said.

The no vote means a conference committee of House and Senate members will try to reach a compromise before the end of the session.

Hoyle had filed the bill after the Carolinas HealthCare System had refused to provide the total compensation paid to its executives to the Charlotte Observer. The system would only provide salaries.

The newspaper sued but lost at the appellate level.

That court decision has led other government agencies to begin denying requests for the total compensation paid to their officials.

Cope's tenure extended

Dana Cope will be on the job for at least another five years.

The board of the State Employees Association of North Carolina voted to give him another five-year contract to lead the 55,000-member group. He serves as CEO, lobbyist and spokesman for the organization.

Cope became executive director of the group, which represents state employees, in April 2000.

Edwards: Gonzales must go

John Edwards wants Alberto Gonzales out.

The former North Carolina senator is asking his supporters to sign a petition calling on the attorney general to step down because of his controversial testimony about President Bush's domestic wiretapping program.

Edwards' presidential campaign will send a copy of the U.S. Constitution to Gonzales for every signature on the petition, and pledges to send a "giant copy" if more than 25,000 sign.

"Alberto Gonzales must resign as Attorney General," Edwards said in a statement. "The Department of Justice cannot function effectively with the possibility of a perjury investigation hanging over the head of its chief officer."

Foe of Black's wins honor

The N.C. Press Association has honored Joe Sinsheimer.

The Democratic political operative was recognized Friday for creating jimblack mustgo.com, a Web site dedicated to bringing to light information about former House Speaker Jim Black.

Sinsheimer received the William C. Lassiter First Amendment Award, which is given annually to a non-journalist who has worked for open government and free speech.

The award is named for William Carroll Lassiter, longtime general counsel for the press association and former Raleigh city attorney. He died in 1998.

The award, inaugurated in 1988, often goes to politicians. Previous recipients include former U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger, state Rep. Jennifer Weiss and a Haywood County commissioner who opened public meetings.

Price speech canceled

U.S. Rep. David Price did not take on President Bush as scheduled on Monday.

The Chapel Hill Democrat had been scheduled to speak at the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank, to defend Homeland Security spending in light of the president's criticism of the spending bill.

But the speech was been canceled because of a death in the family. Price's staff said he hopes to reschedule.