Richard Moore aiding Perdue? Yes and no

Turns out, Richard Moore gave a little help to Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's gubernatorial campaign.

Among the contributions to her campaign was $250 from Richard Moore. This Richard Moore lives in Greensboro and heads a nonprofit foundation. He's not State Treasurer Richard Moore, who is challenging Perdue for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Moore, the Greensboro one, said he decided to support Perdue because he knows several people who are supporting Perdue and has followed her career.

"The problem of course is the Democrats are blessed with two good candidates," said Moore, president of the Weaver Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving Greensboro.

Moore's name does sometimes prompt a double-take, especially when he visits Raleigh. If he calls for restaurant reservations, the people on the phone sometimes snap to attention.

"Are you THE Richard Moore?" they ask.

"Well, I am THE Richard Moore, but not the one you're thinking of," said Greensboro Richard Moore.

Oh, and for the record, Greensboro Richard Moore is 16 years older than candidate Richard Moore.

"He's a latecomer to the name," Greensboro Richard Moore said.

A pension surprise

State employees' pensions are no longer public record?

Whoa, there.

That's not what the authors of the law say they intended. Just the opposite, in fact.

Sen. Richard Stevens, a Wake County Republican, said Tuesday that he and other senators were trying to open public records regarding all forms of compensation for state employees when they passed a bill last summer clarifying state personnel records.

The impetus was opening the hidden records of officials at Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte. But Stevens said the bill was even broader.

"We all agreed that any state money given to an employee should be fully disclosed," he said.

Stevens did offer an amendment on the floor, supported by the committee, which made it clear some records are not public, including whom one chooses as a beneficiary or which funds one chooses for 401(k) investments.

He was surprised to learn that the Attorney General's Office had interpreted the bill for the State Treasurer's Office as making state pension records secret.

"It is either being interpreted incorrectly, or we'll have to go back and fix it," Stevens said.

Coble votes no

Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican, was the only member of North Carolina's congressional delegation to vote no Tuesday on the economic stimulus package that passed the House.

Coble said the $150 billion package, which included rebates for individuals and tax incentives for businesses, would worsen the national debt.

Coble also was upset that the bill was brought up under a suspension of the rules, meaning there was no debate on its merits.

Elections may proceed

Elections will continue as scheduled in North Carolina following a federal court's ruling on a lawsuit that said the way the current legislative district lines have been drawn is unconstitutional.

A lawyer for the NAACP, which challenged the lawsuit, said the court ruled that the elections could continue as planned.

In November, a group of Republicans filed suit seeking to stop the 2008 elections if the state House and Senate districts are not redrawn. The suit says the current districts are unconstitutional because several counties have been wrongly combined to form voting districts. The suit also said incorrect census data were used to create the districts.

The NAACP said that if the suit were successful, it could weaken black voting strength in North Carolina and jeopardize the seats of 16 black legislators in districts across the state.

Federal judges provided little explanation for the ruling.

Wright's fine waived

The State Board of Elections has waived Rep. Thomas Wright's fine.

The Wilmington Democrat was fined $500 last year for failing to file his 2007 midyear campaign finance report.

This month, the board sent Wright a letter saying the fine would be waived as long as he does not get another fine in 2008. If he does, the waived penalty will be added to the new one.

Gary Bartlett, executive director of the elections board, said the fine was a moot point now that Wright's campaign committee has been shut down.

Starr to speak

Kenneth Starr will speak today to Campbell University law students.

The former special prosecutor whose investigations led to President Clinton's impeachment will give a lecture to first-year students on "The Nobility of the Legal Profession."

The lecture will be at 3 p.m. in the Ron Maddox School of Pharmacy Building.

(Mark Johnson of The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.)