North Carolina's teachers and state employees can expect another year without a pay raise. Gov. Bev Perdue said that, while salaries will remain flat in the coming budget year, she aims to pay back the 1/2-percent pay cut that state workers and teachers received last year in the form of a two-day furlough.

Federal prosecutors say that a request for a trial delay by Ruffin Poole was based on "three faulty premises" and that the trial should take place in April or May - not August, as Poole has sought.

The assault of State Board of Education member Kathy Taft became a homicide Tuesday when she succumbed to her injuries.

PITTSBORO, N.C. -- Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones threatened repeatedly to send Andrew Young to jail Tuesday for being untruthful about copies made of a sex tape featuring former Sen. John Edwards and his onetime mistress, as well as photos of the then-presidential candidate and his love child.

Jack Hawke, a veteran political consultant and former N.C. Republican Party chair, did something last week he said he hadn't done in 45 years - left a campaign.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said she'd like to see the state move away from electing judges.

In Michigan, where many enterprises are struggling to survive, the renowned University of Michigan is in the midst of a construction boom and hiring spree. Michigan State University, on the other hand, plans to lay off faculty and cut programs, blaming state funding that is lower than it was a decade ago. Flagship universities in other states are also prospering, while their lesser-known counterparts suffer from vanishing state appropriations. 

So, why not change the arrangement and require big-name universities to take responsibility for their own financing, leaving more state money to support the other state schools? As legislatures face their toughest budget year since the recession began, the idea of giving a few universities autonomy to control their own finances has some appeal.

WASHINGTON -- Congressional investigators late Tuesday requested detailed documents from U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and a private contractor involved in the testing and cleanup of contaminated water at the Marines' Camp Lejeune.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The day Mary Lou Warren met Eric Schopler was so momentous that 42 years later she can tell you that he wore a plaid shirt, corduroy pants and a corduroy jacket and had mud on his shoes. He evaluated her son, George, who at age 6 was still in diapers and couldn't talk, and said, "I can help you." Six months later, George was speaking.